Midwest Light Creations- HID Headlights and Retrofit Kits (Headlights by Jeff)

Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Scorny,

If you have already purchased 1156 bulbs I think they will fit. If you have not, best be safe and get 7507. If 1156 is incorrect, I apologize. Of course, I don't make these headlight housings, and 1156 was what was listed by the manufacturer. It may have been an error on their part.

To make things right, anyone here who has purchased a set of Jetta lights from me, and has already purchased 1156 bulbs, I will refund the cost those bulbs.

Jeff
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
I just ordered a set of Jetta lights for our 2004 Wagon. Can't wait to get them installed :)

Jeff is really good with answering questions and handling PITA customers like me
 
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Nickmix

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2011
Location
Virginia
TDI
2003 Jetta GL TDI
I love my new headlights. Way more light output than regular e-codes and the install was pretty straight forward.

I did have to disable my DRL's though due to the headlights coming on while the ignition switch is in accessory position. This would happen with the headlight switch off. I had always planned to disable them but never got around to it.
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i finally got mine wired up how i want them and love them as well. after a failed attempt at relocating the ballasts under the dash, i ended up slightly modifying and fitting the ballasts in neatly into the headlight housing so all i have coming out is the ballasts power wire which i sealed up with some leftover bits of dynamat xtreme. i added a relay for ballasts power in the relay panel and ran 12/10 ga power wire out, as well as for relay'd fogs and high beams and redid a whole bunch of engine bay wire and very happy with the results. great lights for the price! wish i had never wasted the money on the junk OEM HIDs a while back....
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
i finally got mine wired up how i want them and love them as well. after a failed attempt at relocating the ballasts under the dash, i ended up slightly modifying and fitting the ballasts in neatly into the headlight housing so all i have coming out is the ballasts power wire which i sealed up with some leftover bits of dynamat xtreme. i added a relay for ballasts power in the relay panel and ran 12/10 ga power wire out, as well as for relay'd fogs and high beams and redid a whole bunch of engine bay wire and very happy with the results. great lights for the price! wish i had never wasted the money on the junk OEM HIDs a while back....
I have the OEM HID's and while this set is for my wife's car, I don't think the OEM VW HID's are junk?

What happened?

Do you have any pics of the new lights?
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
the OEM hid's i had had semi-broken adjusters, which after many agonizing hours trying to mcguyver a fix, i gave up. the actual HID itself, of course, is very good, but just insanely priced for what it is... a headlight. i also like having the fog option instead of the dual blinker lens. i still need to fine tune the headlight adjustment, but it's pretty close and the cutoff is good. i would also like to get in another car and come at it on the road to see how it is for oncoming traffic.

what went wrong with my relocation of the ballasts into the dash was not using high-voltage extra-insulated wire.. perhaps this was stupid of me, but i didn't really think this fairly heavy duty 14ga wire would have issues, but it did, and that was the culprit afaict. i also had issues the first time around with not enough insulation at the 10pin connector, because i was sending the HID power wires through there since there were unused slots, but i managed to get that to work, but still the wire in the front harness i made was failing, even though when i unwrapped it there were no obvious signs of "arcing" or whatever.

i will try and remember to take some pics of the lights tomorrow.

i really like how i ended up wiring it, with the ballasts tucked (safely) in the housing, and the angel eye lighting, + high beam shutter wired internally, + thicker wire for the high beam and fog, all relayed in the relay panel with 12ga wires going to the lights.
 

79TA7.6

Veteran Member
Joined
May 8, 2006
Location
Live: Wilbur/Creston; Work: Moses Lake Washington
TDI
2003 TDI Jetta, 2002 TDI Golf, 2005 TDI Golf
i really like how i ended up wiring it, with the ballasts tucked (safely) in the housing, and the angel eye lighting, + high beam shutter wired internally, + thicker wire for the high beam and fog, all relayed in the relay panel with 12ga wires going to the lights.
Got pics of your setup? I would love to see how you accomplished this.
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
i will try and remember to take some pics of the lights tomorrow.

i really like how i ended up wiring it, with the ballasts tucked (safely) in the housing, and the angel eye lighting, + high beam shutter wired internally, + thicker wire for the high beam and fog, all relayed in the relay panel with 12ga wires going to the lights.
I've asked Jeff to mount the ballasts on the bottom of the light housing but putting them inside is very clean indeed.
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Hey guys,

I just wanted to mention a few things. First of all, it has been great talking to a lot of you and making up lights for you cars. It is always nice to see positive feedback about the lights and to see happy customers. I want to make sure that everyone knows that installation of these lights is about a 1-2 hours job for someone that has no experience taking lights out. There are two wiring option; with and without a relay harness. The relay harness is the better performance option, as it allows the HID ballasts to get power directly from the battery, rather than through the stock wiring system. But for those who do not want the added wires, I am happy to wire everything up directly.

I want to caution people though. What Burpod did was really cool, but also very complex. He essentially redid all of the wiring inside the headlight, and rewired all of the stock wiring for the cars headlight system in an attempt to relocate the ballasts into the dash. It was really neat helping him through that process, but I would not recommend it for 99% of us on here. The results can be great, but the process can be a real pain. In Burpod's case I think his car was out of commission for a full week if not more while he tracked down problems that resulted from rewiring everything. It is definitely one of those things that can quickly turn into a nightmare if you don't know what you are doing. Burpod has a thing for wiring (he has rewired entire cars multiple times) and is very good at it. Just keep that in mind.

It is also important to note that he has a set of the Golf lights. There is a significant amount of room inside those lights. The Jetta lights really do not have room to place the ballasts inside the headlights. Also remember that the ballasts get extremely hot. In addition to the ballasts, there would be the HID bulb, and the fog light if you had that on as well. The 35W ballasts for example can produce heats upward of 200 degrees. The bulbs are very hot as well. That is a lot of heat for the interior of a light which is very confined, which is a big reason why ballasts on OEM setups are most commonly mounted outside the headlight unit. I'm not saying that it WILL cause problems, just that the effects of having both in the same very small space have not been tested. For those who want things to be more compact, mounting the ballasts outside the headlight light is a better option than inside. As tongsli noted, I would be happy to mount ballasts to the exterior bottom of the headlights for customers.

Back to the rewiring thing for a moment. Another thing to consider would be that there is almost no way that I could provide any type of warranty or replacement once a process like this starts. There are just too many things that could cause issues. In other words, if you change the light, you get to enjoy that change forever! I think most of us here understand that well enough. From working in customer service in other fields though, you'd be surprised how many people try to return things like that. So I just wanted to make sure everyone knows.

Anyway, if any of you have other question about the lights, feel free to let me know. Glad you all like how they look.

Jeff
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i have only one pic now, when i put in some new bulbs, i will take a finished pic of the internals, but here is how i fit it. before final packing, i used felt tape on the sides of the ballast parts. i shaved a rib off the inside of the removable cover + the adjustment holder (the piece that would be the levelling motor). i used some leftover bits of dynamat foam hoodliner to pack the angel eyes converter, and the ballast wire is soldered directly to the bulb. you could fit it with the connectors on i am sure, but i had already cut the wires and was just trying to get this done... afaict, the light still adjusts properly with the screws so it's not too tight in there. the ballast power wire i sent out thruough the hole jeff made and sealed it with dynamat xtreme

 

kiwibru

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 1999
Location
Distant island in WA. state
TDI
Golf 2-door, 2k Silver. Red RTDI now gone but not forgotten!
Jeff, thanks for the great words of wiring wisdom. I love working on my cars as much as I can but I must admit, my eyes can glaze over when it comes to advanced wiring. Having installed a few aftermarket gauges and wrestling with under the dash wiring yoga moves can certainly prove challenging!
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
as jeff mentioned, the ballasts do get hot, so my relocation of the ballasts inside the housing is a bit expiremental - not sure if heat will cause any issues (i don't *think* so), but for the price of the ballasts themselves and not having to zip-tie or whatever them somewhere around outside the light, i'm willing to take a little risk... :)
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
as jeff mentioned, the ballasts do get hot, so my relocation of the ballasts inside the housing is a bit expiremental - not sure if heat will cause any issues (i don't *think* so), but for the price of the ballasts themselves and not having to zip-tie or whatever them somewhere around outside the light, i'm willing to take a little risk... :)
As you might recall, the OEM HID's have the ballasts on the bottom of the light housing. The difference is there are screws to attach them. I don't think jeff will use zip ties ;) but velcro would work just fine. There is room under the light and between the front bumper frame for them to fit.

I need to stop reading this thread because it just makes me anxious to get them!
 

burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
i thought about screwing them onto the back of the housing like the OEM or OEM-replica ones, but wasn't sure i'd be able to get a nice snug fit with that plastic cover being fairly thin, and then i realized i could fit them inside, so ended up trying it that way, so far so good...
 

DPM

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 16, 2001
Location
Newtownards, N. Ireland
TDI
2019 Rav4 AWD Hybrid, Citroen C4 BlueHDI
not to hijack I hope, but if anyone needs a small and easy-to-mount ballast look here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140857752...sid=p3984.m1439.l2649&clk_rvr_id=509130821157

Tiny little box, runs cool. I put one on the lo-beam of my bike (a BMW F650GS), mounting it trough the rear cap. Strikes perfect every time with no CAN-BUS errors.

Highly recommended, no affiliation. I'll remove this if you don't like it Jeff.
 

jobob307

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2006
Location
janesville, wi
TDI
2001 jetta, 2002 jolf
I love these lights. Although I recommend trying them before re installing the bumper. I had to pull mine a second time. I had to space out the bottom of the housings a quarter inch to get them aimed correctly. Probably due to running rear wagon springs.
 

Scorny

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2012
Location
Barrie,Ontario.
TDI
2 ALH TDi's
I love these lights. Although I recommend trying them before re installing the bumper. I had to pull mine a second time. I had to space out the bottom of the housings a quarter inch to get them aimed correctly. Probably due to running rear wagon springs.
Take this guys advise...
Mine is not aiming properly and I don't want to mess up the adjusters .
We all know how fragile they are.I'm going to probably have to take this headlights apart and I'm not sure if I want to do that..
Sigh..
 

kiwibru

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 1999
Location
Distant island in WA. state
TDI
Golf 2-door, 2k Silver. Red RTDI now gone but not forgotten!
Could be a HID mount problem. Mine went back for the upgraded mounting process as the original set had one side kind of skewed out to the right in a major way.
YOu should talk to Jeff! He will make it good for sure.
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
Hey guys,

The adjusters on these headlight are like all the MKIV Jetta headlights, and over tightening them will force them out of their sockets. Horrible design flaw if you ask me, but that is what Hella decided to do..oh well. I personally have attempted to correct for this issue by putting silicone adhesive inside the adjuster sockets to increase the amount of friction there so that they are more difficult to pop out. Still, we all know that they should not be forced. We've sold about 25 sets so far, and of them about 2 have had this issue of not being able to be aimed high enough.

JoBob is absolutely right in saying that you should aim and test these before finalizing and putting the bumper back on. Also, it is important to check the height on a flat surface. Testing them on an inclined driveway for example will give you a false impression of where they are aimed.

To make sure that nobody gets stuck with the lights not being able to go high enough, I am going to start including spacers with all light sets. This will allow you to space out the bottom, as Jobob did above. Essentially you could just place the spacer between the headlight screw tab and the car. Remember, even a small in the spacing at the bottom like adding a few mm worth of space can cause your light output to move up by a hand full of feet when projected outward, so but a few of these very small spacers will allow you to adjust the light a good height. I would recommend adding an extra spacer or two and using the adjuster screws to bring the light back down. This way you can have some room for adjustment like normal. Again, this is just in the event that yours max out their adjustment height and are still not high enough.

But like kiwibru said, if anyone has any issue with their lights whatsoever, please let me know, and I will make it right. We have had minimal issues reported so far, and while I don't know that issues will ever be zero for any product, I would like to have as few as possible and more importantly, happy customers. I've also taken note of a number of things that I plan to improve on in V2.0 of these lights, as we are striving to make these better and better.

Jeff
 
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Occams_Razor

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Location
Dayton, Ohio
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2003, Reflex Silver
I have a question... I have eCodes already with installed levelers, (and the level solenoids are wired up and operating manually from inside the cabin). I like them because I can adjust the level of the lamp "on the fly" depending on weight, (I have a 2003 Wagon). Do these lights have the provisions for the levelers and if so has anyone set them up and got them working?

I haven't seen a picture of the inside of the housing to see what is what in there.
 
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Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
They have the "provisions" but do not include the leveling motors. The headlights themselves have the wiring for the leveling motors. All that would need to be done is to remove the bottom tab that sits where the leveling motors go and plug in the connector. So yes, you could easily put in the leveling motors as the wiring for them inside the headlight assembly is there.
 

Occams_Razor

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Location
Dayton, Ohio
TDI
Jetta Wagon, 2003, Reflex Silver
They have the "provisions" but do not include the leveling motors. The headlights themselves have the wiring for the leveling motors. All that would need to be done is to remove the bottom tab that sits where the leveling motors go and plug in the connector. So yes, you could easily put in the leveling motors as the wiring for them inside the headlight assembly is there.
That's what I needed to know... :D

Of course if I buy a pair of these what am I going to do with my pristine eCodes? (Australian VW headlight covers since new)

Any possibility of a core exchange? ;)
 

loudspl

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Location
Osakis, Minnesota
TDI
02 ASV w/ 02J
Is it possible to run HID bulbs in the H3 fog provision concurrent on its own 35/55w ballast with the 9007 hi/lo HID conversion?

If you have a clear lens on the H3 will it work to add additional light or would it create too much heat in the MKIV Jetta housing?

Looking for maximum output for nighttime mountain driving :)
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2010
Location
Columbus, OH
TDI
2003
It is definitely possible. You would just need an extra set of ballasts, a H3 HID bulb, and possibly a relay harness (I have not tested the voltage at the fog lights, if they are 12V like everything else though, they could be wired up to power ballasts directly without a harness).

However, a 55W would be a pretty good risk in terms of heat. I honestly don't know about 35W. I would say that 35W is likely safe, but don't quote me on that.

I think the better option for further increased light output would be to add some projector fogs into the bumper grill inserts. Those would give you a safer and less scattered output, and would avoid the risk of overheating.
 

tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD


In FULL sunlight. I cannot photograph them at night because my phone can't meter them. They just show up as bright light. I'll have to try my regular camera.



First of all, I LOVE THESE LIGHTS. The following list is what I like with these lights over the OEM HID's (which I have on my car)

1.I hate the high beam on the OEM HID which is an H7 Halogen bulb. When I flash my high beams, it just sucks. and reminds me that I hate the high beam bulb. So I rarely, if ever, use my high beams. With these lights, the cut off shield is lifted up and it uses the same bulb for high beams. Awesome.

2.The stupid parking light is USELESS. I'm on my third set of BAX9's LED's from ebay. The ones I have installed now use 17SMD LED's and it's decent but I've got a set of 36SMD LED's on the way to test. The Angel eyes Jeff installed are SUPERIOR to the stupid parking light and little bulb. The projector Jeff uses are a larger diameter than the OEM HID's. So the Angel eyes are pretty large as you can see if my first photo. At night, the angel eyes blow away every LED Bax9 that I've tried so far.

3. The fog lights are integrated into the main light housing. I threw in some H3 Halogen bulbs into the fog light socket but have yet to run the wire to the switch. When I get bored, maybe I'll do that as well since they're integrated. There are no fogs on the OEM HID's. None. That sucks.

4. Jeff wired and mounted my ballasts on the back of the lights. Easy to change if needed. I asked him to wire mine so I didn't need a relay or harness. This was very important to me because this is my wife's car. The easier/simpler the better. I also like the ease of installation. I attached the OEM connector and was DONE! Now, if you do it this way, then your high beams come on when I pull the stalk back but require a wiring modification in your car if you want to push the stalk forward and drive with your high beams on for a long time. Since we live in a populated area, we rarely do that. In fact, the HID's are so good in my own car I rarely have to use the high beams at all. But I don't live in the country like some of you.

Because of these lights, I'm buying some parts from Jeff to convert my high beam H7 to HID, the way it should be done. I like these so much I'm tempted to buy a set for me :)

But now when we take my wife's car on long trips, WE CAN SEE! My eye sight is not getting any better and I have to wear readers now to post on the forums :(

Thanks Jeff!!

There is only (1) thing about the OEM HID's that I like a little better and that is the cut off. The OEM lights go a bit higher on the right side. But that's it. I'd trade that for the HID high beams any day.
 
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tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
I have a question... I have eCodes already with installed levelers, (and the level solenoids are wired up and operating manually from inside the cabin). I like them because I can adjust the level of the lamp "on the fly" depending on weight, (I have a 2003 Wagon). Do these lights have the provisions for the levelers and if so has anyone set them up and got them working?

I haven't seen a picture of the inside of the housing to see what is what in there.

Ramon, you cheap bastard ;) crack open the wallet and get a set of these. I guarantee you they are SUPERIOR to your ecodes.

My wife's ecodes are now sitting in the basement. One of the tabs broke off when I was opening them to grab the signal bulbs.

The e-codes sucked ass. I hated driving my car, then driving hers. If Jeff had been around making these when I bought the e-codes for her car, I would have never bought the e-codes. I'm just glad her lights are as good as mine now.

Now....I just need to get powered seats into her car. Just kidding.
 
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burpod

teh stallionz!!1
Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Location
cape cod, ma
TDI
82 rabbit vnt ahu, 98 jetta vnt ahu, 05 parts car, 88 scirocco.. :/
tongsli - yup... oem HIDs are wayyyy over-rated, i love these lights too :D the oem replicas i got a while back (in my jetta) from vancity are nice, but these are much better!

also, i put in the newest version of the philips h1 55w X-treme power bulbs i got from rallylights.com, and they are freekin awesome, especially relay'd with the 12ga wire i ran for each bulb.
 
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tongsli

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2000
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
2000 Jetta TDI, 2004, Jetta Wagon TDI PD
tongsli - yup... oem HIDs are wayyyy over-rated, i love these lights too :D the oem replicas i got a while back (in my jetta) from vancity are nice, but these are much better!

also, i put in the newest version of the philips h1 55w X-treme power bulbs i got from rallylights.com, and they are freekin awesome, especially relay'd with the 12ga wire i ran for each bulb.
Everyone with OEM lights, E-codes or DEPO ebay lights should replace them with these lights, IMHO.

I'm trying real hard not to pull my OEM HID's and to replace them with these too.

I'm going to convert my H7 Halogens to HID, and will convert my Micro DE's to HID, which should help
 
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