HID projector HID e-code headlights for MK4 Jetta?

shoebear

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Can you help me find MK4 Jetta HID projector headlights for sale that have true HID projectors already installed? Ideally e-code also, but that's not a requirement. I want to pay about $200-400, not thousands.

I ordered a set of what I thought were that, complete with bulbs and ballasts, from eBay. They cost a little under $300, and I also invested in leveling motors, a leveling rheostat. So I'm out about $375 or $400.

However, the headlights turned out to be halogen projectors which had an HID retrofit installed. NOT what I wanted or thought I was getting!

For a detailed explanation (with photos) of halogen vs HID projectors and DOT vs e-code beam pattern, see HID vs Halogen; DOT vs e-Code. The short version is that halogen projectors produce a concentrated spot of light directly ahead, while HID projectors produce an even, semi-circular flood of light.

For another $50-150 and probably a day of work, I could swap out the halogen for HID projectors. However, I don't want to spend the money or put my headlights in the oven, and I don't have the time. So I've requested a money-back return from the vendor.

I've inquired of other eBay vendors who have similar lights, and so far a couple have responded that their lights are for halogens or that they don't know. Based on their reply, I don't know that I have confidence in ANY of the replies. I think they are mostly resellers who don't even have the headlights in stock, much less have any experience with them.

So if any of you have true HID headlights that you like or if you know someone who does, and those headlights are still available -- please let me know.
 
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shoebear

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Here's a write up over on Vortex on the kind of thing I'm after.

DIY / Review: Helix Jetta OEM HID Replica Projectors

Based on the beam pattern photos, they appear to be true HID projectors with a passable beam quality. But these exact headlights are no longer available -- there is a version available on eBay, but the bulbs have switched from D2S (an exclusively HID base) to H7 (originally a halogen base, but HID bulbs are available in H7 also).

99-05 VW JETTA BORA MK4 OEM HID REPLICA E-CODE PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS - H7 HOUSING

I suspect that the projectors have been switched to halogen as well, but the vendor can't give me a definitive answer.
 
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Nuje

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I have a set sitting in my garage.

I bet I bought from similar vendor on eBay. But I decided to make them the way I wanted them to be, so I went out and bought a pair of genuine Morimoto D2S projectors, cooked the headlights, and did the retrofit; it ain't pretty on the inside, but from the outside - OMG - these things put out some nice light! Especially after doing the wiring mod so that when I flip on the high-beams, I get not only the Bi-Xenons flipping out of the way, but the high-beam bulb comes on.

I'll see if I have a photo of them...
Found it:
 
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shoebear

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Thanks, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. His website must be down, though... I'll check again tomorrow.

I have a set sitting in my garage.

I bet I bought from similar vendor on eBay. But I decided to make them the way I wanted them to be, so I went out and bought a pair of genuine Morimoto D2S projectors, cooked the headlights, and did the retrofit; it ain't pretty on the inside, but from the outside - OMG - these things put out some nice light! Especially after doing the wiring mod so that when I flip on the high-beams, I get not only the Bi-Xenons flipping out of the way, but the high-beam bulb comes on.

I'll see if I have a photo of them...
Found it:
Wicked awesome! Those are nice looking lights. And as far as I'm concerned, the more light on high beam, the better. Did you do any kind of writeup on what you did?
 

Nuje

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Haha - let's just say my process wasn't exactly linear on the lights. Some dremel and plenty of epoxy as far as I remember. :)

I ended up not totally digging the black inner housing, so I bought some more "conventional" looking dual-bulb housings, and putting a set of FX-R projectors in those.

So - if you're interested, let me know.

(FYI, I started with a set of Jeff's lights (vendor linked above), but wasn't totally happy with what I got, so sold those and went my own way. My happier with my lights - the difference between the Morimoto projectors and others is significant; Morimoto puts out much more even, intense lights.)
 

Nuje

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Oh yeah - the yellow bulb in the top right position is a H7 LED sitting in the "fog" position. I rewired, though, to make it a DRL - only consumes 5W or so, but shows up extremely well in bright daylight.

(If you click/tap on the image above, you'll get a giant 6.7MB full-resolution photo to see all the details)
 

shoebear

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Thanks, Nuje. I'm going to talk with Midwest Lighting first, but I may get to the point of doing my own "Frankenlights". If I get there, I'll let you know.

Do you recall what version of the Midwest Lighting lights you got? He's now up to 4.0, which feature "an H1 6.0 HID Bi-Xenon projector, which provides an even light pattern with a sharp cutoff." What issues with his lights led you to sell them and build your own?

I like the idea of using the fogs as DRL's. I've disabled my DRLs because I kept burning out my headlight bulbs (did I mention I drive about 700mi/week?). Also the energy waste. But I do like the visibility that DRLs provide, and if I could run LEDs as DRL's I would.
 

Nuje

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I think I got the his 3.0 lights. The light output was "meh" - decent distribution, but not nearly as bright as I was hoping. THat's where I discovered that genuine Morimoto projectors make a difference.

The "fun" thing about doing your own Frankenlights is that you get to make all the decisions - once everything is apart, it's super-easy to re-wire things the way you want them to work, make accommodations for what bulbs you want to use, etc. Provided you have a house-partner who doesn't mind giving up the kitchen table for a few nights - it's a fun little endeavour in the depths of winter. :D

I'll try to dig up some images of the lights that I put together after the one pictured above, and are currently on my 2003 Jetta Wagon (and impressively, put to shame the OEM HID Bi-Xenons in my Mk7).
 

Nuje

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Both of the pairs of Morimotos I ended up with used the D2S bulbs.
The first pair (in the black lights above) were the Mini D2S (pretty sure that's what they were called).
The second (significantly better - although much harder to retrofit because they're so big) were FX-R.
Ahh - here are a couple photos.
FX-R projector - pointing to my homemade adjusting screw:


Finished light:
 

Nuje

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I think I paid like $90 for the pair off eBay - here's a link to similar (if not the actual ones).

Note that the little line of amber LEDs across the bottom were less than useless as a signal light - in daylight they were all but invisible. So, that led to a lot of "eagle eye" LEDs, cut up pieces of orange lens, and plenty of epoxy. To make the turn signal even more pronounced, I also put a "switchback" LED (white in DRL mode, but then blinked amber when it gets the turn signal wire gets activated) in the "foglight" housing - required some drilling out to seat it in there, but does the trick quite nicely.

Here's the "behind the scenes" on the LED "strip" along the bottom:
 
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TwinTurboKen

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Those are from midwest lighting on my car.
They are true bixenon H1 HID projectors.
I did have to adjust the rotation slightly on the projectors and tighten the projectors as well as fix a slight ground issue with one of the city lights. hopefully if you get them from there you don't have those issues. He responds quickly and helped with wiring diagrams and such so I didn't have to ship them back to him to get it fixed. I'm good with soldering and wiring so I fixed the wiring issue myself which was not his fault, but the fault of the manufacturer of the housings.

His wiring harnesses they come with are great. plug and play hi/lo beam works perfectly out of the box with the factory jetta wiring.

I use a euro switch with the pin bent over to disable DRLs and prevent the projectors from lighting up without the headlight switch set to headlights.
When in parking light position just the city light bulbs come on. I still need to wire in the fogs to the euro switch as a car without factory fog lights does not come pre-wired for them. Just a matter of running a wire from the euro switch to the headlight harness and a power source. I do believe there are pre-made harnesses for doing just that though.

Also should note since they are e-code housings you will need to use euro bulbs for the signals and fogs, usually napa has them but oreillys or other chains like it won't carry them usually.
 

shoebear

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I think I paid like $90 for the pair off eBay - here's a link to similar (if not the actual ones).
If that's what you started with, you totally reshaped the lights, including swapping the low and high beams. That sounds like a fun endeavor, but one that I don't have time to do at this stage in my life. I wonder if your starting point was THESE instead.

Note that the little line of amber LEDs across the bottom were less than useless as a signal light - in daylight they were all but invisible. So, that led to a lot of "eagle eye" LEDs, cut up pieces of orange lens, and plenty of epoxy. To make the turn signal even more pronounced, I also put a "switchback" LED (white in DRL mode, but then blinked amber when it gets the turn signal wire gets activated) in the "foglight" housing - required some drilling out to seat it in there, but does the trick quite nicely.
You may have gotten a little ahead of technology in this. It appears to me that LED lighting strips are a hotbed of innovation right now, focusing on brightness, evenness, flexibility, sequencing, and switching logic. For example, Morimoto has XSB strips due out shortly that include inputs from your running, signal, and head lights. When only your running lights are on, the strip is bright white (or you could probably hook this to the DRL output on your headlight switch). When you turn the headlights on, the strips change to dim white, and either way, they flash bright yellow when your turn signal is on. Other strips include automatic sequencing for turn signals. There are a ton of LED strip products out there now, each with a little different spin.

Those are from midwest lighting on my car. They are true bixenon H1 HID projectors. I did have to adjust the rotation slightly on the projectors and tighten the projectors as well as fix a slight ground issue with one of the city lights. hopefully if you get them from there you don't have those issues. He responds quickly and helped with wiring diagrams and such so I didn't have to ship them back to him to get it fixed. I'm good with soldering and wiring so I fixed the wiring issue myself which was not his fault, but the fault of the manufacturer of the housings.

His wiring harnesses they come with are great. plug and play hi/lo beam works perfectly out of the box with the factory jetta wiring.

I use a euro switch with the pin bent over to disable DRLs and prevent the projectors from lighting up without the headlight switch set to headlights.
When in parking light position just the city light bulbs come on. I still need to wire in the fogs to the euro switch as a car without factory fog lights does not come pre-wired for them. Just a matter of running a wire from the euro switch to the headlight harness and a power source. I do believe there are pre-made harnesses for doing just that though.

Also should note since they are e-code housings you will need to use euro bulbs for the signals and fogs, usually napa has them but oreillys or other chains like it won't carry them usually.
Thanks! I talked with him for close to an hour on the phone the other day, and he sounds like a great guy, focused on bang for buck.

I especially appreciate the beam photos. That's a nice beam, but there is definitely a significant hot spot on low beam. I think that's characteristic of the low/high beam compromise I would have to accept if I use bi-xenon lights instead of separate high/low beams.
 

TwinTurboKen

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you see more of a hot spot on high beam than low beam. The light output is very good on the road and high beam puts out a huge amount of light. Those pictures don't really do it justice due to camera contrast and proximity to obstructions where the car is parked. the light output is a very nice wide beam. It took me several road tests to adjust the height and side to side of the lights to where I wasn't shining light in rear view mirrors or oncoming vehicles windshields. Once I got all that dialed in, now I never get headlights flashed at me.

However I do see many cars that came with HID projectors that are adjusted far too high and its like they constantly have high beams on when they are behind you, but they don't, they just adjusted their headlights too high to light the road out to a further distance with the cutoffs. In lower cars like our jettas that is very blinding. Also a reason I didn't want e-code projectors as many roads around here are 4-lane plus, so with e-code projectors you would be blinding every car you are passing on the left, and every time the road bends to the right, you are blinding oncoming traffic while driving around the curve. Just some food for thought.

Found a couple other pictures I took.

That's wet road at night in the rain with no street lights around.
Again pictures do it no justice with the limited contrast of the camera phone.

 
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dhangejr

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I'd like to find someone who swapped bi xenon into the eBay helix/depos. Vortex has a good one with e55 projectors. I've seen a few others using h1 mini... sadly; I can't see any of the photo bucket pics. :(
I was talking to a guy on Facebook "headlight jubkies " page and he all but told me not to even try with these housings. I think he's trolling. He says only h1 mini will fit. I already have bulbs and ballists and don't wanna buy d2s to amp and bulbs again. I did this on my e36 and wish I'd w gone d2s projectors.
Basically looking for any advise before I go screwing up my 230$ headlights . Money is limited but I want quad high beams (halogen and hid) or is a just went with Jeff at Midwest. I emailed him but never heard back.
Please Excuse mistakes I need to get off the phone and start using the computer
Dennis
 

dhangejr

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Well , I got the lights completely apart , the mini d2s is going to be a pain in the helix oem reps, but it is going in the high beam spot come hell or high water. Then as suggested in this thread I'll reverse the f unction so the crap oem projector is used for high beam , and I'll put some super brite h7 led's in there. Should be pushing close to 12000 lumens per side before and light bar modification I should choose :)
Wish me luck
 

Lavabo

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hi!
wich led are you using?

im in the same boat, i took apart some projector headlight (cheap as helix) i got at scrapyard
At first i was trying to put mazda projector they are bigger, not sure about the brand ... im not interested in HID , more interested in LED ... i tryed to mod a projector to accept h7 but did not finnished yet (other projects)
also i wann put glass cover instead but it seems projector are tight fit, the glasse does not fit well ...

keep going
 
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dhangejr

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Im gonna try and make a 9006 work in the h7 spot. There should be an adapter. Probably need to modify the covers.
I must warn you LED will suck in a job projector housings and most will stick out wat to far absorbing engine bay heat which could start a fire

I was mistaken when I said LED These bulbs HIR . These 9006 bulbs look like hid!
http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html


Ps from what pro hid builders are telling me the morimoto mini h1 fits easily into the helix.
Moreover , they make one smaller too.

I'm using morimoto md2s 4.0!which is larger in every way.

I just biugh some cheapos 2.5" projectors off eBay to see how they line up
 

J_dude

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Hey @Nuje any way you could repost the pics of your headlights here? Seems they don’t show up anymore.
 

Nuje

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Sorry about that; Dropbox changed their direct-link system a few years ago and rendered my previous links duds.
Where it started:


Various bulb-holders that it started with:


Custom LED strip (a bunch of LED bulbs):


Here's the adjusting screw one:


Can't remember what went wrong with that one, but I took it apart and put it into a different housing which turned out like this:




Low beams:


High beams:
 

J_dude

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Sorry about that; Dropbox changed their direct-link system a few years ago and rendered my previous links duds.
Where it started:


Various bulb-holders that it started with:


Custom LED strip (a bunch of LED bulbs):


Here's the adjusting screw one:


Can't remember what went wrong with that one, but I took it apart and put it into a different housing which turned out like this:




Low beams:


High beams:
Thanks!
 
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