I thought you been done had this set up already.
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For me about the only few things that bugs me about the LC is the headlight. They just dont put out enough light when you have seen the light from another newer headlight. Is there no one that just tried putting HID's in the normal lights. or does HID's always need a projector lens?
Then what about using a LED's? I am doing my research and found that the Philips Lumiled ZES's and Cree XMP-50(i think thats what they are called) are great bulbs. And if i only want to use them for low beam then they should work just find knowing the low beam is fired back in the normal LC headlight housing.
Then what about using a LED's? I am doing my research and found that the Philips Lumiled ZES's and Cree XMP-50(i think thats what they are called) are great bulbs. And if i only want to use them for low beam then they should work just find knowing the low beam is fired back in the normal LC headlight housing.
If you do some asking around, you will find that most (if not everyone) agrees that a retrofit is the proper way to upgrade your lighting. Swapping HID bulbs into a OEM reflector housing will send light everywhere and blind oncoming drivers (and I think it's illegal in most states). That being said, I am aware that a good retrofit isn't cheap. The parts alone are usually in the hundreds (at least) for quality equipment and if you don't have the know-how to attempt it yourself (not that hard actually), you can double that easily.
However, I can tell you that despite the cost associated, the retrofit has been one of the best modifications I have done, hands down. If you need to, just upgrade with some basic halogen bulbs for the time being and start saving for a proper retrofit build, that's what I'd recommend.
As for the LED's, from what I've heard, the technology isn't quite there yet but is getting close. They don't throw the light as far down the road as a good quality HID kit and I'm waiting to see if things improve enough to warrant switching from my HIDS when the time comes.
Hope this helps!
Is there any vendor that offers aftermarket headlights including bulb and housing? I would imagine it would cost hundred but wondered for those less MOD inclined if there are any plug and play options. Thanks!
Muddy Bean
Breaking something or fixing something
I've been on the club for a while now and I've seen the HID retrofits. They are obviously an amazing mod. But you guys that run HID's in your high beams....how do you flash your high beams if you ever need to, and when you are constantly turning them on and off on country roads with occasional oncoming traffic doesn't the warmup time annoy you?
As far as I know, there are no plug and play options. I think a few guys have bought the Depo lights, shipped them out to be built and then installed them themselves. This way you don't risk messing up OEM lights and don't have as much downtime.
It seems that even the diminished light output of a cold HID bulb will still get the message across, i.e. "slow down, something ahead of you" or "cop around the corner" etc.. As for the extended warm up time, you can get different ballasts that help with that, but once they have been allowed to warm up for the first time, the subsequent dousing and then re-lighting is much shorter as they don't need to warm up every single time, if that makes sense. I drive back roads during the winter and I have had no real issue with HIDS as high beams.
I suppose you could look into LEDs for the highs, but I don't think you'll have the same result.
a quad retrofit is serious dollars sending it out to done.
From lightwerkz.net
Jerry, thank you for contacting us! Quad conversions are upwards of $2,000. Just low beam estimate would be $1,075 plus return shipping. Quad setups are total overkill in 95% of cases. The low beam conversion will still outperform anyone on the road with you. The projectors are bi-xenon so they have a high beam mode that would activate in sync with the factory high beams for ultimate performance.
That's just what I've been told. The headlights in the link are quads for 2k
I want the low beam rx 350 thing for 1000$
From lightwerkz.net
Jerry, thank you for contacting us! Quad conversions are upwards of $2,000. Just low beam estimate would be $1,075 plus return shipping. Quad setups are total overkill in 95% of cases. The low beam conversion will still outperform anyone on the road with you. The projectors are bi-xenon so they have a high beam mode that would activate in sync with the factory high beams for ultimate performance.
That's just what I've been told. The headlights in the link are quads for 2k
I want the low beam rx 350 thing for 1000$
Lightwerks is the best in the business as I understand it, so it comes as no surprise that their products come with a hefty a premium. I did not pay near $2k for my quad set up and I had it built by a guy in RI who I would recommend wholeheartedly. However, if you want the best of the best and have the means to pay up, Lightwerks seems to be the place to go.
Yeah that video is great, I definitely was not accusing you of being snobby or anything, all's good here!
Muddy Bean
Breaking something or fixing something
Ok makes sense. I can't imagine any LED currently on the market can outperform a good hid system.
- Thread starter
- #32
I'm about half way in and now I fully understand why a company like Lightwerkz would charge the amount of money they do.
- Thread starter
- #34
I went with RX-350 projectors.
Guys, this project was a LOT of work. Lots of mistakes were made, but I got it done and the results are, in the words of Trump, tremendous.
Here is the setup in the low beam location:
Projectors: RX-350 Bixenon (bixenon means it does both high and low beams)
Bulbs: Morimoto XB 5500 Kelvin
Ballasts: Fast Bright F5 55 watts
Harness: TRS HD 9006
Shrouds: Apollo 2.0
Here is the setup in the high beam location:
Projectors: None
Bulbs: Morimoto XB 5500 Kelvin
Ballasts: Fast Bright F5 55 watts
Harness: TRS HD 9006
The goal behind this retrofit was to eliminate the need for off road lights. I absolutely accomplished that. I have double high beams which is just glorious. Here's how it works. The projectors in the low beam location are "Bixenon" meaning they are both high and low beam projectors. The bulb in the bixenon projectors actually produces the same output for both high and low beam. So what happens when the high beams are switched on is a shield inside the projector flips down via a solenoid and allows the light to go further.
For the high beam location, I did not want to go with another projector because I didn't feel like it was needed. Again, the Bixenon projectors in the low beam location already give me that nice even light spread when switched to high beams, so I didn't need another layer of that. What I wanted was just a nice flood of light that shot into the distance, and it's perfect.
The sub panel's under the headlights are off to paint so they are not installed in these photos.
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Bravo! That looks awesome man, I think you'll be happy with that set up for a while. It's always funny how people start to work on it themselves and then have that "aha" moment where they realize that professionals charge what they do, it's not exactly a walk in the park in a lot of cases.
