V2.0 DIY Bi-Xenon Projector Retrofit, MKIV Golf

[KrashDH]

Alright, so I decided to venture out and do a V2.0 of the Bi-Xenon retrofit that I completed a while back, here's the thread to that:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=491034

Here's what I'd like to accomplish differently for this version...

• Integrate the fog lights
• Use a D2S projector/bulbs
• Accurate leveling of the beam off the car
• Maximize the wiring internal to the headlight
• Be able to remove cover without wiring interfering
• More clearance for the headlight lens/projector lens
• Minimize custom parts
• Bolt projector to reflector housing
• Have the option to use auto leveling motors in the future?

There will probably be more that I think of as I go, but that's it for now.
Here's the things I've gathered so far:

Cheap Ebay headlights (I'll be sanding the lenses immediately to have them clear coated:

Morimoto D2S projectors with 5500k D2S bulbs:

D2S adapters, 90*:

Relay harness, NON Bi-Xenon (I will be running the shutters/hi beams off stock power)

Fog light switch and wiring:

Iris Shrouds:

H3 LED fog bulbs:

I think the posts are limited to 8 photos so I'll continue...

 

[KrashDH]

Now to take care of the hi beam splitting, I found these guys...H7 male, to Y split H7 female/ballast male (9000?). The waterproof plug will go right to the D2S projector female, and the H7 female will power the LED hi beam bulb in the stock location:

Now to tackle the projector mounting to the reflector. I'm going to be utilizing the stock mounting (4 holes, 8-32 bolt) of the D2S projectors. I did some searching and found this nifty jig plate. It's made for the Hella G3/G5, which supposedly share the same bolt pattern. Or I should say, the D2S projectors took the bolt pattern from the Hellas.

You basically choose your adapter (blue plug, H7 in our case) and fit it into the stock projector. Slide the center hex couple/jig assembly thru it, and use the correct drill bushing guides to punch/drill holes in your reflector housing. This should clock the holes correctly to the H7 bulb position. You will need to remove reflector material like in my previous write up so the D2S can sit deeper into the bowl, but because of how the jig is made, you can use a hole saw with a guide adapter in a hand drill, and use the center hole of the hex coupler as a guide for the hole saw arbor. This will remove the material evenly, in the center of the reflector:

To avoid having wonky washers on the backside of the curved housing, I picked up some nylon spacers, which I will modify 1 side to the contour of the reflector where they end up sitting (the 8-32 screw will pass thru these). I will still use a washer and nyloc nut on top of these:

Here's the dimensions of the mini H1's vs the D2S: EDIT: The dimensions below are incorrect according to physical measurements. Information is in the following posts

Overall, the D2S are 3mm longer, or about 1/8". That's negligible really, What matters here is the other circled number.

72mm vs 53mm. The D2S is shorter from the lens to the mounting point. This gives us Golf people an extra 19mm or 3/4" of clearance to our headlight lenses (which has been the issue with our retrofits in the past) compared to the mini H1's. That's huge!

Final thing I'll note while I wait for everything to get in...
I mentioned earlier I want to be able to pop the cover off like stock to have access to to the guts of the headlight (for bulb changes, etc). We know from my previous write up that there are wires that do need to come out of the headlight...in this case it will be the D2S adapters (red plus with the 2 connections for the ballast), and on the drivers side only, and adapter from the low beam that connects to the relay harness (that will power L&R low beam lights from battery).

It's hard to describe, but when I do it, it will make sense. I plan on cutting out a half moon shape on the bottom of the headlight, on the bucket side (not out of the cover) and just fish the sets of wires out of that cut out. That way no wires come out the back cover, and I can take that cover off and on easily (which isn't the case if you have wires and a seal coming out of the back cover).

That's it for now, I'll be updating this thread as I go once the parts get in. I should start seeing some stuff at the end of this week.

 

[PakProtector]

I am having some significant difficulty believing in that 53mm number. Scale the drawing; the lens is 3" in diameter.

Also, I have been warned about those red connectors a few times. Lightwerkz has a better one for $5 more.
https://www.lightwerkz.net/index.ph...remium-amp-d2s-ballast-adapter-90-degree.html

I believe that you will find the 4TL-R to have the shortest face to tip of lens dimension, and it is 66mm IIRC. not-Mori 4TL-R's https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fre...ector-use-D2S-D2H-Xenon-Bulb/32759121526.html
cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

I am having some significant difficulty believing in that 53mm number. Scale the drawing; the lens is 3" in diameter.

The lens is 70mm...2.75". Simple math using just a scale...not very accurate, I calculated around 51mm. I think that 53mm number is pretty spot on. Google search as well there are a couple side by side comparisons of the 2.

The diameter of the lens won't even be a concern, since it wasn't the lens that was hitting the glass on the H1 retrofit. It was the corner of the shroud, which will always be the first to contact the side of the headlight cover.

Also, I have been warned about those red connectors a few times. Lightwerkz has a better one for $5 more.
https://www.lightwerkz.net/index.ph...remium-amp-d2s-ballast-adapter-90-degree.html

I went directly on Mori's site too and it shows the same dimension as those drawings above.

Thanks for the link to those connectors. Lightwerkz is who I purchased the projectors from. I may buy a set of those, it's probably good to have spare everything anyway so I'll pick up a set of those.

Looking possible to add switchback tubes to the lights when I have the lenses off

 

[Nuje]

For the fog lights, you gotta do something better than those wimpy H3 bulbs you posted above. Those don't put anything close to enough light to be anything more than decorative; I used a set and ended up just wiring them up as DRLs because they did nothing for illumination.

On my current install (below), I put a set of HIDs in the foglight (bottom centre, unlit; the white light is the signal light which runs white until I flip the turn signal switch); I tried high-power LEDs like these, but they protruded too far out the back of the housing.

 

[KrashDH]

For the fog lights, you gotta do something better than those wimpy H3 bulbs you posted above. Those don't put anything close to enough light to be anything more than decorative; I used a set and ended up just wiring them up as DRLs because they did nothing for illumination.

On my current install (below), I put a set of HIDs in the foglight (bottom centre, unlit; the white light is the signal light which runs white until I flip the turn signal switch); I tried high-power LEDs like these, but they protruded too far out the back of the housing.

Yeah I have switchback LEDs in my truck that are parking lamps/signals.

I've been searching forums and can't find a definitive answer, but with the parking light function on the euro switch (middle position) does it light up the amber turn signal so its solid? Or does it just turn on the city light in the high beam bucket?

I'm going to add a switchback strip to the headlight that I would want to come on with the parking lights. If it works like that, of like to T off of that turn signal wiring and the city light wiring to run the switchback strips. If it doesn't, I'll have to figure something else out...

 

[Nuje]

I wired up my switchback light (the centre white one in the photo above) separately - tapped a +12V accessory source - so it definitely does not react to the "city/parking" position on my euro switch. How it functions would be determined by how you wire it up; remember that there are three wires that go to that bulb - +12V "normal" (white); +12V signal (white turns off, amber turns on), and ground.

Pick the wires that do what you want the outcome to be.

 

[KrashDH]

I wired up my switchback light (the centre white one in the photo above) separately - tapped a +12V accessory source - so it definitely does not react to the "city/parking" position on my euro switch. How it functions would be determined by how you wire it up; remember that there are three wires that go to that bulb - +12V "normal" (white); +12V signal (white turns off, amber turns on), and ground.

Pick the wires that do what you want the outcome to be.

Yup I definitely know the switchback functionality since I wired them up in my truck (which is very finicky, had to make some resistor harnesses).

I think I answered my own question though. With the euro setup on golf's, middle position (parking) should bring on that city light in the high bucket. I'll tap into that to run the white of the switchback strip. Signal for the strip will just tap into the turn signal hot. I'll ground off any of the options inside the headlight.

That should keep all the wiring internal for those components.

Your lights look good!

 

[KrashDH]

LED Strips

These are the LED swtichback strips that have the "waterfall" effect for the amber turn signal. They say you can run them inside or outside the headlight, I'll be keeping them inside so I have no extra external wires:

Flexible, adhesive on the back, simple to hook up. If all goes well I should be able to just add them right in with the existing internal headlight harness, tapping off the city light hot for the white and turn signal hot for the amber.

It's nice that they can be cut to length too. Pieces are starting to trickle in, the projectors showed up at work after I left, so I haven't gotten a chance to unbox them.

Edit: Headlights, Euro switch and harness, HID harness, and projectors are in. I'll be separating the headlights this weekend and preparing the lenses for real clearcoat

 

[KrashDH]

Opened the headlights

Well, this weekend I received the headlights so I opened them up to see what I was working with.

Unfortunately, this aftermarket set isn't set up like the OEM version when it comes to the adjuster. You can see the OEM version in the other thread.

I won't elaborate on how to open the headlights in the oven again, but 250 degrees @ 8-10 minutes did the trick. The way the wires were routed in this version I couldn't sneak out prior to baking, so I left them in. 250 isn't hot enough to damage them.

Here's the back of this aftermarket headlight. You can see the 2 black plastic pieces screwed to the low beam reflector. The bottom one has the swivel ball on it, the top one receives the adjustment screw:

This might be an issue because...when I just mocked the projector centered over the bulb opening, I looked down the barrel of the mounting hole that will be closest to that adjustment screw base (which is molded into the reflector) and visually it looks like it will interfere:

Depending on this, I may not be able to use a thru-bolt like the other 3 mounting holes...I may have to use a self tapper covered in some JB weld or something of that nature, after I level the projectors. I may be able to just leave that bolt/tapping screw out completely, but I'd rather not do that.

Here's a side shot of the Mori D2S:

Here's the front of the reflector taken out. I pre sanded the low beam bowl for paint, but since I will be "modifying it" (hacking it up..) I didn't go full bore:

I also prepped the lenses for clearcoat. It's touch scratching up a "new" lens, but from experience with aftermarket housings, the clearcoat doesn't last. Hitting them with a few layers of car clearcoat should last them a lifetime too:

The rest of my parts got in the weekend, so I should be chipping away at this now.

The other thing to note is the shape of the Mori D2S bowl. It's not round, but more oval-ish. My original plan was to just use a hole saw to cut out the reflector, but there will be some additional mods needed with a sanding wheel and dremel.

You can see that you couldn't get away with any hole larger than 3" because you start impeding on that adhyster screw mount:

I will start with a 2-3/4" hole, which is the size of the projector bowl top-to-bottom. Side to side, its approx. 3" so I'll need to oval out the hole accordingly. Should note that I will likely have to take the shrouds to a belt sander because they will be too "tall" in stock form.

On the previous build, I got lucky because the depth I mounted the mini H1's at corresponded to me not having to modify the shrouds, but I'm thinking these D2S will sit a bit deeper in the bowl for V2.0.

More to come

 

[PakProtector]

So, is the 53mm measurement legit or no? Tip of the lens to the reflector.
cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

So, is the 53mm measurement legit or no? Tip of the lens to the reflector.
cheers,
Douglas

I didn't even measure I spaced, but I can tonight. Sure doesn't look like it's 36mm difference between the flange of the reflector to the lens tangent point and the flange of the reflector to the end of the threaded shaft...

Edit:

Well it looks like Morimoto has been putting out some information.
I got ahold of the guys at TheRetrofitSource and they were kind enough to unbox the H1's (V7.0) and the D2S (5.0) and actually measure (since I can't at the moment.

From them:

The 5.0 is roughly 70mm from lens to bowl and 142 long

the 7.0 is 72mm from lens to bowl and is 129 long

So we are gaining only about .080 clearance on the D2S compared to the mini H1 (from lens to mounting flange), but the overall length now got longer than the claimed "3mm" (it's now 13mm, just under 0.5 inches.

That overall length will definitely come into play but I don't think it will be the end of the world, just will mess with people who try to do their research ahead of time when space is limited like our vehicles!

 

[PakProtector]

The 7.0 I have( sourced from Princess ), and they meet the dimensions provided by TRS and Mori. No 5.0 in hand though....

cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

The 7.0 I have( sourced from Princess ), and they meet the dimensions provided by TRS and Mori. No 5.0 in hand though....

cheers,
Douglas

I still plan on measuring tonight the 5.0 just so we have solidified info. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[PakProtector]

With e-codes I could fit a D2S projector of comparable size into a Jetta light. Got mention that MD2S 5.0 fits the Jetta lights when mounting by the threaded shaft. MH1 7.0 sink in further due to the H1 shaft is thinner and it goes deeper into the H4 hole. Lot mo' clearance...but here, enough is enough and the D2S projectors are IMO, better than the H1's. Still likely to try screw and nut with 4TL-R's... but those maybe for sealed beams.
cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

All Parts Arrived...

I received everything in last night. I had stopped at Lowes on my way home to grab an 11/64 drill bit (which it said they had 5 in-stock) and of course they were going through a re-model in their drill bit area. No one had a clue where any drill bits were. So that put a damper on how much I could get done last night.

Anyway, here's a shot of the jig and clocking washer to be used. The top set of bolt holes will be used (closest inboard) and one set up from the bottom match those top ones. I measured the projector mounting holes vs this jig (I was gambling purchasing the jig hoping it would work from my research):

I then marked approx center crosshairs on the lights so when I remove material I can orient, if I need to. I also marked 2-3/4" top to bottom centered over the hole as well as 3" side to side. This is the approx dimensions of the projector bowl. This is rough though, the final shape will have to be dremeled in:

The clocking washer slips over that hex coupler and sits in the bulb holder like so:

3 of the 4 bolting locations will work, while 1 of 4 is interfering with the top screw adjuster mount. It's basically right on it. Luckily there's a lot of material (molded to the reflector) so I should be able to pilot drill into it and mount that 4th location with a self tapping screw. I probably don't need it, but I'll at least drill for it:

Also, I'm almost 100% positive I'll need to mod the back cover to allow the D2S connection some room, so I ordered a set of Morimoto extensions:

I may be able to let the hacking commence at lunch today.

 

[RexNICO]

...
Anyway, here's a shot of the jig and clocking washer to be used. The top set of bolt holes will be used (closest inboard) and one set up from the bottom match those top ones. I measured the projector mounting holes vs this jig (I was gambling purchasing the jig hoping it would work from my research):

...

Tell me more about this jig???

 

[KrashDH]

Tell me more about this jig???

It's used for the Hella G3/G5 mounting flange, which happens the D2S uses the same bolt pattern. At the moment, I can't remember what the other set of 4 go to, but it is not appropriate for the mini H1 pattern.

It comes with all of the plastic blue bulb interfaces (Ie h4,H7,9004,9007, etc). You pick your correct bulb adapter (blue) and insert it into the reflectotor where the bulb goes. Insert the jig coupler (the hexagon) through the plastic bulb adapter and it clocks the bolting pattern to the bulb slot.

Then you just drill thru the appropriate holes into your reflector. They are essentially drill bushings.

Not saying it will get it perfect, but it will be really close. Final alignment should be done on the car or via a level surface (for the Golf, the bottom 2 bolting locations on the headlight should be level, so you can level those on a flat surface to get your projector clocking correct inside)

I'll see if I can get some action shots once I get there.

 

[KrashDH]

Slow Progress

Unfortunately things have not moved at the pace I'd like because of my hand injury so I'm trying to do everything one handed.

I was able to mount the jig and drill the 3 holes. The previous pictures showed how the jig sits, but this is how it secures while you're drilling:

Just for fun an action shot using the jig:

Now. 8-32 thread has a major diameter of .164". This particular jig can only handle up to a 5/32 (.156") drill bit. Since you want the holes through the reflector to be larger, I piloted with the 5/32 in the jig then followed it up with an 11/64" (.172") with the jig off.

This would be almost perfect if the holes are perfectly aligned, but I'm guessing the stackup tolerances between the mold of the reflector and installation on the car will make me upsize the holes so I can clock and lock the projectors down.

Hopefully I'll get some fitup done this weekend in-between trying to get the boat ready to sell!

 

[RexNICO]

It's used for the Hella G3/G5 mounting flange, which happens the D2S uses the same bolt pattern. At the moment, I can't remember what the other set of 4 go to, but it is not appropriate for the mini H1 pattern.

It comes with all of the plastic blue bulb interfaces (Ie h4,H7,9004,9007, etc). You pick your correct bulb adapter (blue) and insert it into the reflectotor where the bulb goes. Insert the jig coupler (the hexagon) through the plastic bulb adapter and it clocks the bolting pattern to the bulb slot.

Then you just drill thru the appropriate holes into your reflector. They are essentially drill bushings.

Not saying it will get it perfect, but it will be really close. Final alignment should be done on the car or via a level surface (for the Golf, the bottom 2 bolting locations on the headlight should be level, so you can level those on a flat surface to get your projector clocking correct inside)

I'll see if I can get some action shots once I get there.

Cool, thanks for the explanation.


Where does one source something like that?

 

[KrashDH]

Cool, thanks for the explanation.


Where does one source something like that?

I just Ebay'd it. Pretty sure it's from overseas but mine came out of California

 

[KrashDH]

Save yourself the $$$...

...and don't bother with the jig.

It gets the holes close. but not close enough. You will still need to rotate the projector.

So plan#2...I'm going to use the JB Steel Stik and fill 2 of the 3 holes that I drilled and leave 1 for locating. I'll then get the projector leveled and apply a couple dabs of the steel stick directly to the reflector and projector to keep it in place. Verify then that it is level on the car and with the projector steel stick'd in place, drill the remaining 3 holes (2 for bolts, one for a self tapping screw that I'll coat with epoxy or some steel stick).

The other thing to note is that when you cut out the center of the reflector so that the projector can sit back into it, the bottom 2 mounting holes will be up against the reflector, but I will somehow have to space out the top 2 mounting holes from the reflector to ensure that the projector is level with the reflector. Stacking washers behind the projector flange would be a simple way to do this.

I did make some progress though.

Rough cut with a Dremel cutoff wheel:

Finall edges with a sanding drum:

My buddy also laid down 4 coats of clear on the lenses I prepped, once again a big shout out to him, they came out glossy and clean without any orange peel. They should last a really long time.

Here are a couple mock-ups of how the light will look. I have not painted or anything like that. It's just a mockup. Undecided if I'll paint the hi beam reflector black or not. Its really useless against the hi beams of the projector:

There is definitely more room between the shrouds/projector and headlight lens this time with the D2S:

Might be a few days before I do the next phase, getting some pins taken out of my wrist tomorrow morning so I'll have to let the incision heal up for a couple days.

Not much left though, paint, level projectors, re-assemble, and wire up!

 

[PakProtector]

For V 3.0, try the 3" FXR projectors...
cheers,
Douglas

 

[KrashDH]

For V 3.0, try the 3" FXR projectors...
cheers,
Douglas

Ha, we'll see how 2.0 turns out...

Painted the low buckets last night, letting them cure for a couple days.

Leveling the projectors into the low beam bucket is going to be a bit trickier than anticipated with this mounting method

 

[Hyde7278]

Subscribed

 

[KrashDH]

Painted the low buckets, turned out good for rattle. Although, you won't be able to really see it anyway, I could have left it as is, but the chrome would pop at the bottom of the iris shroud since it's got a flat on it:

Hoping to put on a charge this weekend on the project

 

[Nyk]

Looking good!

 

[KrashDH]

Well, it's been a while. Modifying the D2S in those previous housings wasn't going to cut it for me. The goal was to have a better mounting solution that provided a horizontal cutoff from the get go without a bunch of tinkering. As well, I didn't want to shaft mount it this time.

I started looking into aftermarket headlights that came with mounted projectors, which lead me to the Helix and Ecode styles.

After seeing some photos of both opened up, I decided to pull the trigger on these:

Here's what the opened up Depo unit looks like (via another member):

I reached out to Depo to get some mounting info prior to receiving the headlight units:

Even with all of this it's going to be pretty tricky. 2 of the mounting points of the Depo headlights are almost a match with the upper mounting points of the D2S.

The two lower bosses that come in the Depo reflector will have to be removed (red X's) as they will interfere with the magnetic coil for the high-beam.

I'm think that since it only takes 2 holes to align the projector (done by the upper 2) I can make a couple of spacers (purple), epoxy/JB weld them in the location of the lower mounting points of the D2S then bolt/secure the projector that way:

We'll see what this brings, it's a gamble, but excited to try it anyway.

 

[hillbily tdi]

The 7.0 I have( sourced from Princess ), and they meet the dimensions provided by TRS and Mori. No 5.0 in hand though....
cheers,
Douglas

Pak, what does the cutoff look like on these projectors? I bought 2 but still have them in the box. When I looked at the box there were no markings to denote LHD/RHD or for what side the projectors are set up. I grabbed them when they were on sale and figured that I would get around to the project sooner or later, and have only recently begun to cobble together the parts for the retrofit.
Side note, has anyone found a source in Canada for the reducer bushing as noted in the vortex thread,

 

[PakProtector]

The cut off needs a bit of bulb shimming. They are LHD 7.0, so nothing different there. I think that the Aozoom C212 are a wee bit better in terms of pattern, bulb alignment, cut-off and high beam. The 7.0 don't quite get the shield out of the way, but in practice it is quite far enough you'd never miss it.

The high beam shield should look like the cut off line; as in the raised bit that clips the light lower for the driver's side should be on the passenger side.

I am still running the 2" micro H1's in my fog light position, with H4 main reflectors as back up/supplementary light.
cheers,
Douglas