New Beetle Bi-xenon FX-R retro

Well folks here we go with the how to bixenon install for the New Beetle.
For those of you who have been following James thread you will know that he and I have been heading in the same direction, but about 1,500 miles apart. It will be interesting to see how we both approached the same challenge.

We have been talking on the phone and comparing some notes, but in essence we are working apart, using FX-R projectors (I have the 2.0 model) and manufacturing our own adapter plates to fit the projectors in the stock housing using the stock adjusters inside the stock housing.
You can do this from scratch, but and it is a big but, 1. if you want to invest hours and hours of time, or 2. you can follow these threads and do as James and I have done or 3. you can buy a kit to DIY with most of the hard work done for you.

In order to do this retro you need to be somewhat handy with hand tools but not a journeyman wrench and I suggest you have a NB manual to see where and how to get the headlights out. I will go over this, but still think you need to have a manual handy.
I'm taking pictures now and will upload them as I work thru the process with you. That is somewhat of a mistruth as this process is now complete, but for this thread it will be as if we are doing it together.

I know you will have plenty of questions, so feel free to ask as we go thru this.

I got all of my equipment thru "the retrofit source", but feel free to get yours where you want to. Just be aware I am working with their products and yours may be different. As always this is for educational purposes only and if you screw up or break something, its on you not me. If this is not street legal where you are this is for off road purposes only. Most of all have fun and enjoy the difference in light output. Always aim your headlights properly and drive with the other person in mind, don't be an ass lol. If we don't use these responsibly they will out law retro fitting.
P.S. almost forgot I will be doing a complete video how to on this retro also.
Richard55

We want pics, Richard!

F8L said:

We want pics, Richard!

Click to expand...

By all means! Stop teasing! Lol.

lol have to wait for my daughter to get here to show me how. Oh to be young again

Waiting also.

spent today filming the video and taking stills of the process. They are coming.

crap can't figure out how to upload pics. HELP this pisses me off. why not just drag and drop like everything else.

Richard, you can e-mail them to me and I'll post them for you corey@idparts.com

thanks corey, but I want to place comments at the bottom of each pic. How do I upload to the reply section of the thread.

Richard55 said:

thanks corey, but I want to place comments at the bottom of each pic. How do I upload to the reply section of the thread.

Click to expand...

Do you have the pictures hosted on the web somewhere? If not then I don't know how else to do it on this site. Most other sites give you an option ot upload from your computer.

If hosted by Corey or myself you can just post the link to the picture and write something directly above each picture.

ill try thanks

What a beauty
Oh by the way you are on your own when you do this mod, you break it and it is on you. This is for educational purposes only and if it is illegal in your area it is for off road purposes only.



Tools needed



Find the headlight release lever


There it is, be careful, don't force it it will break


The hole, look at the upper left corner and this is where you can mount your ballest, inside the channel


Head light on the table ready to be operated on.


There are four tabs to release, be very careful as they will break.


Work your way around and you will find there are two steps on each tab, release them one step at a time. Then just pull the cover off the housing.


Now go to the black cover on the back and release it

You may need to remove the screw to get the back off, probably just push the tab down and remove the cover.


This is the insides, now to operate Doctor


Remove the black insert, two torx screws, 15


The black insert must be pushed up to get the ball to come out of the adjuster bracket, do not pull it straight out you will break it, look close you will see what I mean.


Push the metal part of this lever up and it will release one side of the projector. Now pull on both sides of the projector housing and you can pull it out of the housing. There is one more ball and socket you have to get to release, pull with even pressure and it will release, or make sure you have taken all the wires loose from the projector.


Getting to the pith of the matter, we are after the white adjuster, getting close now.

Remove the three screws, yes only three. This bracket must fit several different headlights


Finally, this is the white adjuster bracket you are after. Now the work starts.

This is the part we are after, the adjuster ring.


Pattern has been inked onto the aluminum stock and I am cutting out the adapter mount from the stock.


Filing out the inner circle of the adapter ring, the I used metal shears to trim the outer ring, drilled the holes, cleaned up everything with a file and it is ready to be used.


adapter ring all ready to be installed.


Side view of adapter ring and spacers.


Need to inlarge all the holes to 3/16 for #10 hardware to be installed.



Shot of light ready for adapter ring to be installed.


Close up of headlight ready to mount to stock adjuster mount.

The headlight with the shroud and the adapter installed


Same shot different angle

Now for the mounting of the ballasts. They are mounted behind the head light with hook and loop that has tape on one side to adhere to the channel.


Clean the outside of the channel real good so the tape will stick and mount away.



The wiring runs along the inside of the core support.


I mounted the relays inside the drivers side fender and kind of out of the way. I will find a better place later.

The only wire that will go to the right side is the connection to the ballast.


Use the stock wiring to power the headlights, grounds all together and the only wires you will use on the passenger side is the plug in to the ballast and the high beam wires. Low beam is controlled by the ballast but the high beam is hooked into the high beam of the stock wiring. I cut and put new wire ends on, then wrapped all together with electrical tape.


taped up


headlight installed


All wires tucked in and ready to go




Drill a 1" hole in the rear cover and install the wiring grommet for the light.

And then..... I am still working.... Blah

Just joining this thread now after a few days of reading on various NB bi-xenon builds.
This looks amazing!!!

Any updates since last October?

Where did you get the spacers?
You basically just ripped the guts out, cut a plate out of aluminum, bolted it to the housing and then bolted the light to the plate?
How is the aiming done, is it by +/- spacers or can you still use the original aiming stuff?

My headlight is pretty destroyed, the drivers light throws a beam wayyy to the left, and mostly up, and the passenger side shines up and away as well. All of the adjuster things are broken or aren't there. I never have to use my headlights except for the times when i get up early in the morning (Florida is brightly lit always).

Could a super simple aiming mechanism be made by using nuts on longer bolts to move the plate that the light is attached to. Meaning, the plate is sandwiched between the two nuts which are both turned and play a part in aiming the plate as a whole.

I know you can fix the adjustment mechanism, but I'm pretty sure mine is gone. I can't even remove my headlights normally. Clips break and stuff gets stuck, my cage is all bent and I usually end up pulling the lens instead of the unit.

I had the same issue with my beetle - the adjustment mechanisms on those headlights are cheap plastic and get messed up if they are over-extended (which is what happened to mine).

I spent way too many hours trying to fix those mechanisms to no avail.
I ended up buying aftermarket replacement assemblies and I'm happy I did.

The cage is messed up on mine too - both sides. Some of the guides are missing so the headlight doesn't rest quite how it's supposed to.
On my driver's side, I actually have to push the release lever about 20% past it's stopping point in order to release the headlight. And when I put it back in, it never feels like it's secure.

One day I know I'm gonna have to replace the gauges and brackets and whatnot but it doesn't really affect performance so I make do.

this system works great, way way way better than stock.

two years and still working great.