Boraflux
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2006
- Location
- Pinckney, MI
Any reliable vendors converting factory US headlights to HID? I'm not having much luck with Midwest Light.
Last time I checked they were the only ones that were doing MK4's. Other than that, you'd have to go the DIY route.Any reliable vendors converting factory US headlights to HID? I'm not having much luck with Midwest Light.
So does VXTuning actually do their own retrofits or do they buy the pre-packaged garbage headlights? Not sure how there's a shortage if they're putting together their own retrofit kits? I haven't had any trouble getting ballasts, bulbs, and projectors, which is all you need for a retrofit. I guess they might buy some sort of headlight assy too. Who knows?There's VXTuning, but most of their HID's say "pre-order.
However, I just checked again, and this message is new:
UPDATE 11/2021
We are now accepting pre-orders for our next shipment which will be available first quarter of 2022 (Late Feb / Early March 2022). Due to the worldwide chaos happening around the globe right now, we will be having only a limited amount of sets available for pre-order.
If you decide to place an order, please note that they are NOT IN STOCK and are being sold on a “pre-order” basis right now. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via Email. THANK YOU!
I think it depends if you want one for a Golf or Jetta. They are quite different beasts when it comes to a retrofit. I am in the middle of a second retrofit on my Golf, but that DIY is unlikely to apply to anyone due to the customization that needs to be done because of the housing and using a mini D2S 3" projector. If you want to use just a standard mini H1 projector in a standard housing, there are also some good write ups on Vortex. The only writeups I've done are for the Mini H1 for a Golf (that have been through completion and I am using on my car currently)Sooo anyone have a good how to do for this?
Ok right on. Yeah my V2.0 retrofit is with DEPO housings which had projectors in them. They must have a custom mount that utilizes the existing holes of the "reflector" even though it's flat since they have a projector flange mounted to it. The Depo housings I'm using came with glass, although I poached those glass lenses for my current retrofit, so when I finally get around to figuring out what I'm going to do for my mounting solution, I'll have to source another set of glass lenses.I don't know for sure, but I think I saw photos once of huge stacks of chrome inserts that they get made. I think they start with a Depo housing, insert a custom chrome or black (or mix of chrome and black) insert into the Depo housing, and then add all the electronics, etc. If requested, they will add a glass lens too. They used to offer either VXTuning-branded or Morimoto electronics, but now they don't specify. They also used to use Morimoto bulbs and projectors. I am pulling this from memory from 2017, so I may have some of the details wrong or some of these things may have changed. It may also differ when comparing the Golf and Jetta headlights.
If one assumes they are not telling fibs in their ad copy, they are building custom to use the excellent FXR 3.0 projectors in the 2.5" lens flavor. I'd love a set, and since I have a bit o' time to get the '02 otherwise squared away I may get a set. What I'd really like is is just the buckets and projectors so I can rig the wiring myself and outfit them with a pair of lightly turned up Hella ballasts( or perhaps the Hylux A0050's ).So does VXTuning actually do their own retrofits or do they buy the pre-packaged garbage headlights? Not sure how there's a shortage if they're putting together their own retrofit kits? I haven't had any trouble getting ballasts, bulbs, and projectors, which is all you need for a retrofit. I guess they might buy some sort of headlight assy too. Who knows?
Imo. Ditch HID. Go LED.Any reliable vendors converting factory US headlights to HID? I'm not having much luck with Midwest Light.
@PakProtector, if you want their headlights, the wiring would be really easy to custom make. For my retrofit, I have completely customized the wiring harness to my liking. Only took a few splices and some off the shelf adapters to make it happen. I rigged it for different things to come on together, and the only things that will be exiting the housing will be the D2S bulb adapters. Everything else will remain as factory, internal.If one assumes they are not telling fibs in their ad copy, they are building custom to use the excellent FXR 3.0 projectors in the 2.5" lens flavor. I'd love a set, and since I have a bit o' time to get the '02 otherwise squared away I may get a set. What I'd really like is is just the buckets and projectors so I can rig the wiring myself and outfit them with a pair of lightly turned up Hella ballasts( or perhaps the Hylux A0050's ).
I have proven to myself that I can build a lot more cheaply...and while I like the 'no trouble, plug an SEE!' effect, I could instead spend the $$ towards a set of new BEW nozzles...LOL
cheers,
Douglas
This isn't great advice currently, as the technology with LED's in projectors has not surpassed an HID bulb in projectors. There's a lot of tech jargon that I won't get into for sake of rambling, but it comes down to how the light is emitted as well as the projector bowls. You can't (well you CAN technically) just slap an LED bulb into a projector housing and expect it to perform the same as an HID in the projector bowl housing. Today's projectors are designed to reflect the light of an HID capsule, not an LED. With an LED bulb you're going to get a lot of dark spotting, as well as a terrible hotspot, which means you aren't going to get the light dispersed in an even fashion. You'll still get a cutoff, but it won't be quite as clean or reach as far as the HID bulb.Imo. Ditch HID. Go LED.
You want to look for cree (name brand) and for lux. Lumens means diddly squat.
If you need more info... go over to candelpowerfourms.
Minimizing scatter isn't for looks, it's not for color...it's to oncoming traffic. You do NOT want to throw that light into oncoming traffic's eyes. If you have your cutoff properly adjusted, you have all the light you need. If you have even a "wee" bit of scatter above the cutoff, that's being thrown into oncoming traffic (as well, that scatter isn't going to do you any good for lighting anything up. You cannot adjust that out no matter how far down you point your bulb. The bi-xenon highs are PLENTY bright if you need them in a dark situation. So bright in fact they make my 30" light bar useless. The highs on a projector retrofit will literally drown out a light bar.While the sharp cut off looks nice, especially when coated by a violet flicker...I don't particularly like living with it. Even a wee bit of scatter from something else is useful to avoid having everything above the cut off go suddenly dark is not to be despised.
cheers,
Douglas
With that said, I really must have lucked out with the Katana LED bulbs in my Subaru Tribeca B9's projectors. It must have been a case of sheer luck based upon what you took the time to explain (not being sarcastic). The only reason that I did not go the HID route was because the folks using HID were having some hassles with the electrical system (I can't remember exactly what it was). Now LEDs in reflector housings....places like headlight revolution will tell you that they will work out in a reflector headlight and I have seen it work ok but not in every housing.@PakProtector, if you want their headlights, the wiring would be really easy to custom make. For my retrofit, I have completely customized the wiring harness to my liking. Only took a few splices and some off the shelf adapters to make it happen. I rigged it for different things to come on together, and the only things that will be exiting the housing will be the D2S bulb adapters. Everything else will remain as factory, internal.
This isn't great advice currently, as the technology with LED's in projectors has not surpassed an HID bulb in projectors. There's a lot of tech jargon that I won't get into for sake of rambling, but it comes down to how the light is emitted as well as the projector bowls. You can't (well you CAN technically) just slap an LED bulb into a projector housing and expect it to perform the same as an HID in the projector bowl housing. Today's projectors are designed to reflect the light of an HID capsule, not an LED. With an LED bulb you're going to get a lot of dark spotting, as well as a terrible hotspot, which means you aren't going to get the light dispersed in an even fashion. You'll still get a cutoff, but it won't be quite as clean or reach as far as the HID bulb.
That being said, Morimoto makes LED retrofit projectors. But the quality of light output is still sub par to that of a true HID retrofit. There's been a lot of side by side tests. Their Bi-LED projectors also cost $400 for the set. As well, the LED's are built in, meaning there's no changing a bulb if one goes out. You're dismantling your retrofit to take the entire projector out and have it replaced.
For the price and quality, a true HID retrofit is still the way to go. All the companies doing retrofits for these vehicles (across all manufacturers) are only offering it with HID's for a reason. If the tech was there for LED bulbs to work in a standard projector, it'd be here already. Same way that if they could design an LED/HID bulb that drops into a standard reflector housing and have the sharp cutoff and no scattered light, it'd be here. Those are challenging and take R&D time.
I do think in the future that they may achieve the technology in an LED bulb that can drop into a projector and surpass the quality of an HID and I'm all for that, but it's going to take a projector that is designed for said LED. The big challenge being there's literally thousands of crap LED bulbs on the market with different arrays of LED's. So one projector will not work for all, it would have to pair with a bulb. Whereas a HID bulb has the same design across ALL the bulbs, so a universal projector can be made for them to achieve the same result.
Luck is probably part of it. I won't delve any further in this as people usually want to say "well my setup is great". There's no convincing people who aren't willing to have a deeper understanding of all the factors at work (not saying you in particular, just people in general). So my advice would be, if you want the info, spend some time on HIDplanet and researching the types of light, retrofits, and engineering behind it all.With that said, I really must have lucked out with the Katana LED bulbs in my Subaru Tribeca B9's projectors. It must have been a case of sheer luck based upon what you took the time to explain (not being sarcastic). The only reason that I did not go the HID route was because the folks using HID were having some hassles with the electrical system (I can't remember exactly what it was). Now LEDs in reflector housings....places like headlight revolution will tell you that they will work out in a reflector headlight and I have seen it work ok but not in every housing.
Imo. Ditch HID. Go LED.
You want to look for cree (name brand) and for lux. Lumens means diddly squat.
If you need more info... go over to candelpowerfourms.
I would love to say that my setup is great and happy when it actually is, but I will be the first to call it when things don't go well. I know that I should not argue with the often emphasized fact that we lack equipment to verify what our eyes cannot see on forums like candlepower & HIDplanet. However, to me seeing is believing. It's like any experience in life. No one can make a persuasive argument to me that I did not encounter a given thing. It's kind of like voting. They say I don't vote, I can't complain. Yet, I do indeed complain.Luck is probably part of it. I won't delve any further in this as people usually want to say "well my setup is great". There's no convincing people who aren't willing to have a deeper understanding of all the factors at work (not saying you in particular, just people in general). So my advice would be, if you want the info, spend some time on HIDplanet and researching the types of light, retrofits, and engineering behind it all.
For a beetle? I did a 2001 and a 2003 using stuff from the retrofit store (morimoto mini and h1 bulbs) but it was somewhat involved.Sooo anyone have a good how to do for this?
If you do a retrofit yourself, you can have some awesome projector HID headlights for under $200, which will out perform anything on the market (other than higher quality projectors, which will cost more money). Look into DDM tuning retrofit kits. Modifying the headlight housing/bucket and installing the projector is the DIY part.You have any kind of write up or pics?
I have 3 N B’s that I’m not happy with the lighting on these specific MKIV platforms , and considering that my daughter a I have both clocked deers recently I’m looking into doing something else hopefully better that doesn’t cost an arm and leg.
yes you are correct... at a certain price point.. for $40 you can get a pair of HID's that are great... for about 6 months, too many parts made too cheaply. ballasts and relay systems are garbage at anything under $200.. but for $25 you can get a set of drop in LEDs that unlike most junk HID's (for the price) will not kill oncomers eyes.@PakProtector, if you want their headlights, the wiring would be really easy to custom make. For my retrofit, I have completely customized the wiring harness to my liking. Only took a few splices and some off the shelf adapters to make it happen. I rigged it for different things to come on together, and the only things that will be exiting the housing will be the D2S bulb adapters. Everything else will remain as factory, internal.
This isn't great advice currently, as the technology with LED's in projectors has not surpassed an HID bulb in projectors. There's a lot of tech jargon that I won't get into for sake of rambling, but it comes down to how the light is emitted as well as the projector bowls. You can't (well you CAN technically) just slap an LED bulb into a projector housing and expect it to perform the same as an HID in the projector bowl housing. Today's projectors are designed to reflect the light of an HID capsule, not an LED. With an LED bulb you're going to get a lot of dark spotting, as well as a terrible hotspot, which means you aren't going to get the light dispersed in an even fashion. You'll still get a cutoff, but it won't be quite as clean or reach as far as the HID bulb.
That being said, Morimoto makes LED retrofit projectors. But the quality of light output is still sub par to that of a true HID retrofit. There's been a lot of side by side tests. Their Bi-LED projectors also cost $400 for the set. As well, the LED's are built in, meaning there's no changing a bulb if one goes out. You're dismantling your retrofit to take the entire projector out and have it replaced.
For the price and quality, a true HID retrofit is still the way to go. All the companies doing retrofits for these vehicles (across all manufacturers) are only offering it with HID's for a reason. If the tech was there for LED bulbs to work in a standard projector, it'd be here already. Same way that if they could design an LED/HID bulb that drops into a standard reflector housing and have the sharp cutoff and no scattered light, it'd be here. Those are challenging and take R&D time.
I do think in the future that they may achieve the technology in an LED bulb that can drop into a projector and surpass the quality of an HID and I'm all for that, but it's going to take a projector that is designed for said LED. The big challenge being there's literally thousands of crap LED bulbs on the market with different arrays of LED's. So one projector will not work for all, it would have to pair with a bulb. Whereas a HID bulb has the same design across ALL the bulbs, so a universal projector can be made for them to achieve the same result.