Worlds First 2011 Jetta With HIDs!!!

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~Jb

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Location
immaturCity
TDI
the blinding one
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Well about a week ago I installed my HID fog lights, and it was a walk in the park. There is nothing to it, remover the bumper, swap the lights, done... :)

Like so:




Then come the headlights :mad:

Lets just say there is nothing "swap" about the bulbs in the headlight housings, there is no major modification needed to the housings, however the new HID bulbs did need to be modified some to fit. After a week of planning the day came to attempt this.

Again off came the bumper, and lots more planning started. The first light install took almost 3 hours to figure out, try this, try that, but at last success!




With everything figured out now it was time to wrap this up, the next light took me a total of 30 minutes to modify, and install.




Bumper back on, everything buttoned back up, quick headlight adjustment, and we are back in lighting the way business!!! :D

It took lots of blood (sliced my finger pretty good), sweat (this is AZ), and tears (crying at the sight of success), but she is all done!!!

6k Headlights & 6k Fog lights:







It does not always fun to be a early adopter, but it does feel great to be the first!!!

Cheers,
~Jb
 
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chittychittybangbang

Veteran Member
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Jun 8, 2007
Location
TX
TDI
none
Sounds like fun working in AZ heat, it was 8 degrees this morning in the northeast.

You may have heard this before, but it's not a great idea to put HID kits into halogen headlight housings because the reflector pattern isn't designed for it and you'll get lots of glare and blind other drivers. The pics show this. Be considerate of other drivers is all I'm saying!
 

snakeye

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2009
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta and Wagon, GLS 5sp
Now just watch out for cops and people like me that will put it into 3rd and drop the clutch when being blinded from behind at night. :)
 

compu_85

Gadget Guy
Joined
Sep 29, 2003
Location
La Conner, WA
TDI
... None :S
Looks like you have a ton of glare. Get a better camera, turn down the exposure time, put a halogen lamp in one side and leave the HID in the other and reshoot that picture.

-J
 

dzcad90

Rolex & gin
Joined
Mar 15, 1999
Location
Joliet, IL USA
TDI
Jetta - 97 (RIP), '03 (Sold), '09
This is what a proper HID lighting pattern should look like:



European spec 2000 Audi S4 housing (Right hand traffic)



US DOT Spec 2000 Audi S4

Note the smooth distrobution of light and lack of hotspots in the lights designed for an HID capsule.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
It is not always fun to be a early adopter, but it does feel great to be the first
It feels great to be the first inconsiderate person to stick HID bulbs into the 2011 Jetta headlights which were set up for incandescent bulbs? :confused: Seriously, this is a bad idea for a number of reasons, the horrible, glare-prone light distribution being numero uno.
 

~Jb

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Location
immaturCity
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the blinding one
lol, I figured there would be lots of people giving me the ole "HIDs should not go in these housings speech", and that is fine. These pics were taken with my cell phone and do no justice to the actual light pattern. This was not a hack job, I did alot of homework, and made triple sure I knew what I was doing. The light pattern is not significantly different then stock, brighter sure, blinding no. Take a look at your 2011 Jetta housing there is a shield for the actual bulb, something alot of housings do not. These HIDs are no different then say Silverstar halogen bulbs.

In the end you guys can talk negatively about what I have done, but I have done this correctly and respectfully. The light pattern is nearly stock and I can see further and wider then before, and safer.

Feel free to give me all your expert opinions as to why I am so inconsiderate or have no idea what I am talking about, I enjoy comical reading after a hard days work.

:) ~Jb
 

mo_focus

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Joined
Nov 14, 2002
Location
stouffville, Ontario, canada
TDI
84 944
Looks great, I was told the same about no projectors are required for the Jetta bc of the sharp cut off of the beam. but i still like the look of the projectors.

BTW you are not the first one! i was ;)
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5084137-2011-Jetta-HID-s-using-mk5-s

just kidding, are you getting any CEL on for bulb out yet?

I'm working on getting a set of projectors in the headlight housing and also have a mk5 projector fogs that will be converting to HID's as well. Just waiting to see if GLI would have OEM hid's or not, if not then i'll go with my own HID kit.
 
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Pyke

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Location
Texas
TDI
2011 Jetta TDI--- DSG
I like bright headlights like yours... I miss that from my old car, able to see great at night which was perfect for the country (deer).

This being said, do be careful of blinding people.

Now, did you say that these lights cost you $12,000 dollars? "6k...6k..." Please explain... if so... wow...
 

mo_focus

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 14, 2002
Location
stouffville, Ontario, canada
TDI
84 944
I like bright headlights like yours... I miss that from my old car, able to see great at night which was perfect for the country (deer).

This being said, do be careful of blinding people.

Now, did you say that these lights cost you $12,000 dollars? "6k...6k..." Please explain... if so... wow...
6K refers to colour of the bulb, 6000 Kelvin :)
 

~Jb

Veteran Member
Joined
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Location
immaturCity
TDI
the blinding one
Looks great, I was told the same about no projectors are required for the Jetta bc of the sharp cut off of the beam. but i still like the look of the projectors.
BTW you are not the first one! i was ;)
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5084137-2011-Jetta-HID-s-using-mk5-s
just kidding, are you getting any CEL on for bulb out yet?
I'm working on getting a set of projectors in the headlight housing and also have a mk5 projector fogs that will be converting to HID's as well. Just waiting to see if GLI would have OEM hid's or not, if not then i'll go with my own HID kit.
Thanks Mo, funny stuff. No CEL whatsoever. As I said in past threads, most of my modifications are temporary until the GLI parts come out and I can get my hands on them.

I would love to retrofit projectors, but im not going to spend 12k ;) on an extra set of OEM housings and some projectors. Not to mention the time. :confused:
 

TwoTone

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Location
DMV
TDI
05.5 Jetta (sold)
lol, I figured there would be lots of people giving me the ole "HIDs should not go in these housings speech", and that is fine. These pics were taken with my cell phone and do no justice to the actual light pattern. This was not a hack job, I did alot of homework, and made triple sure I knew what I was doing. The light pattern is not significantly different then stock, brighter sure, blinding no. Take a look at your 2011 Jetta housing there is a shield for the actual bulb, something alot of housings do not. These HIDs are no different then say Silverstar halogen bulbs.

In the end you guys can talk negatively about what I have done, but I have done this correctly and respectfully. The light pattern is nearly stock and I can see further and wider then before, and safer.

Feel free to give me all your expert opinions as to why I am so inconsiderate or have no idea what I am talking about, I enjoy comical reading after a hard days work.

:) ~Jb
LOL lots of bs to justify a hack job
 

dzcad90

Rolex & gin
Joined
Mar 15, 1999
Location
Joliet, IL USA
TDI
Jetta - 97 (RIP), '03 (Sold), '09
Look at any modern automotive headlight bulb. It's constructed in a very specific manner and meets precise specifications even between manufacturers. The filaments are in the same alignment and are of the same length between manufacturers. The bulb is also keyed to ensure that it is inserted into the light housing only one way. Reflectors are designed to reflect a very specific pattern of light from a very specific light source. Rotate or move this light source in any way and the pattern of light that is output is different, and random at best.

An HID capsule (bulb) is different in it's entire operation. The capsule has two electrodes that are not connected in any way. The capsule is filled with a mixture of metal salts and xenon gas. When high voltage is applied to the electrodes, the gas facilitates an arc. The arc then heats up and evaporates the metal salts and a plasma arc is then created between the two electrodes. This design wastes much less energy as heat and outputs much more visible light, which is why HIDs are generally brighter than their conventional counterpart lamps. The arc that is created between the two electrodes is generally random and can move around, which is why HIDs are not suitable for use in reflector or projector housings not specifically designed for use with an HID capsule.

In short, I can only infer that the only homework that was done was finding the best price, and maybe taking assurances from the seller that "Yeah, these bulbs will work in your car...."
 

NedWrecks

Well-known member
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Jan 10, 2011
Location
Tracy, Ca
TDI
2011 Jetta
LOL! I'm not a big fan of "non-OEM" mods unless they are under the hood.

I guess my opinion counts since I do own a 2011 JTDI
 

snakeye

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2009
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta and Wagon, GLS 5sp
lol, I figured there would be lots of people giving me the ole "HIDs should not go in these housings speech", and that is fine. These pics were taken with my cell phone and do no justice to the actual light pattern. This was not a hack job, I did alot of homework, and made triple sure I knew what I was doing. The light pattern is not significantly different then stock, brighter sure, blinding no. Take a look at your 2011 Jetta housing there is a shield for the actual bulb, something alot of housings do not. These HIDs are no different then say Silverstar halogen bulbs.

In the end you guys can talk negatively about what I have done, but I have done this correctly and respectfully. The light pattern is nearly stock and I can see further and wider then before, and safer.

Feel free to give me all your expert opinions as to why I am so inconsiderate or have no idea what I am talking about, I enjoy comical reading after a hard days work.

:) ~Jb
Hopefully your headlights won't produce too much glare and won't blind other drivers. However if you get flashed by other drivers it's a sign that they ARE blinding others, in which case I would undo the mod for safety reasons.

Also, you say you did your homework, so you must know whether they're legal or not. From what I've read they're not, so if they're bright enough to catch a cop's attention, that would be another reason to undo the mod.

When I drive on the highway I sometimes find some cars' stock headlights a bit too bright. I don't even want to imagine what HID bulbs would do to such headlights.

Not to offend you, but the bolded part of the quote makes me believe that you really didn't do enough research about HID bulbs.
 
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~Jb

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Location
immaturCity
TDI
the blinding one
What a beautiful day, where do I start? You know I used to think that stereotypes where dead, but this TDI forum has so far proven that no matter the German car, whether it is built in Europe or Mexico, the owners still find ways to be a prick.

I am glad to hear from all the Google experts here claim HIDs cannot go into non projector housings. First off, no one here, including myself, know for a fact whether or not HID bulbs can go in the 2011 Jetta headlight housing, so enough with the "have fun blinding people speeches".

HIDs in reflector housings is nothing new, something I thought the "experts" here would have known. Let me think of of a few car models that have stock HIDs in reflector housings, G35, ML, Escalade, Maxima, oh not to mention my last daily driver Lexus IS300, all cars that came with OEM HIDs in Reflector style housings. Whats to say that the same thing is not true on the new, cost cutting, low budget, americanized Mk6 Jetta?

Can anyone post here, that without a doubt the 2011 Jetta GLI will have HIDs in factory projectors? Early spy shots show no projectors in VW's American GLI. Hell HID projectors are not even available on the 30,000 € German spec Highline. VW seems to be on a mission to compete, lets see 200hp GTI motor into a heavier new Jetta platform, so what would be its closest competition? The Civic SI comes to mind, um no projectors, not even a HID option.



I said it before and I will say it again. Most here need to either get off their high horse and actually contribute to this forum constructively, or simply stfu. No matter how many of you veterans post about how you hate the new changes, or nit pick every shortfall of the new VW, I and many others are making forward progress with the cards dealt and reality that is the Mk6 Jetta. This "blind, shooting in the dark, one rule applies to every application" BS is getting old quick, if documenting my hard work is going to be scrutinized to this degree, I would be more than happy to look for another forum to share my experience and modifications with.


~Jb :cool:

 

DasTeknoViking

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Location
Palatine IL
TDI
B4 TDi, A4 R32
Reflector style HID headlights use D2R bulbs which are specifically designed for reflector style headlights.
Projector headlights run D2S bulbs.


Note the dark outline on the R bulb vs the S bulb. R bulb is designed to shine the light ONLY into the upper part of the headlight. Where the S bulb shines the light on the whole reflector.

Used to own cars with both projector and non projector headlights, as a matter a fact I ran HIDs out of a 97 A8 in my 93 Sentra SE-R back in 98 when I was a tech @ Audi, light output was awesome, it blinded everyone... now I stick to E-Codes with stock bulbs.
 

snakeye

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2009
Location
Montreal, Canada
TDI
2003 Jetta and Wagon, GLS 5sp
vwvortex? If you think you'll get a better response you're in for a surprise lol.

Look people get extremely frustrated being blinded by drivers using retrofitted HIDs, so until you can prove that your HIDs do not blind others, you'll be considered one of those guys.

Right now you're just saying you did your homework and provided pics that look nothing like what dzcad90 posted. The line on the garage door doesn't look crisp and seem to be horizontal; the left side should be aimed lower to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

I assume the 4th pic was taken standing, which would be in a higher position than someone sitting in a car. It was also taken at an angle, from the other side of the road, exactly where oncoming traffic would be located. That being said the amount of light being shot at the camera's direction seems to be a bit excessive, but maybe you're right and your camera doesn't do justice to the actual light pattern.

I'm sure if you can provide some more info that you gathered about HID and actually prove that you did your homework, and that your headlights don't cause excessive glare, most people here will gladly listen. We should be able to have a civilized discussion instead of throwing insults back and forth.
 

scurvy

Good Ol' Boy
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Chicago IL USA
TDI
2006 Golf
HIDs in reflector housings is nothing new
Of course not. But those reflector housings were designed to work with HID bulbs, not incandescent bulbs!

Not sure how to make it any easier for you to understand, but incandescent bulbs and HID bulbs do not produce light in the same way - reflectors optimized for one never work well with the other.

Just look at the difference in the photo you posted and the ones dzcad90 posted - the light output & cutoff is quite literally night & day from the horrible mess of glare & hotspots you posted. You claim that this is due to the crappy cellphone pix, can you provide better pix taken with an actual camera?

If knowing better and not bothering to throw the money & time at being annoying to everyone else on the road makes me a 'stereotypical armchair engineer', then I'm happy to be that way! :cool: Glad I'm putting my engineering degree to good use.

if documenting my hard work is going to be scrutinized to this degree, I would be more than happy to look for another forum to share my experience and modifications with.
Have fun on whoretex! (until you get sick of those dbags and go pout in the corner again)

vwvortex? If you think you'll get a better response you're in for a surprise lol.
Couldn't have said it better myself. :D
 
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TwoTone

Veteran Member
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Location
DMV
TDI
05.5 Jetta (sold)
We all know he's blinding people, look at the pictures. The cut off is a mess, but hey he did his homework and knows what he's doing.
 
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