Hi all,

I originally wanted to upgrade the headlamps to the JDM/EUDM projector headlamps, but it still hasn't been confirmed if they will fit yet. Since nighttime visibility is pretty crappy, i decided to throw in a set of HIDs for now. I've used DDM tuning kits on my past cars, gf's car, friend's cars, etc and have never had any issues. Plus at 50$ for the hi/low headlamps and 35$/kit for the foglamps (+S/H), you can't really beat that.

Headlamps are H4
Foglamps are H8

This was my first time installing a low/high kit for a H4 car, but it was pretty straight forward. I used this below link plus vids from YouTube to get the general idea:
http://www.ddmtuning.com/support/ind...ttachment/48/2

Surprisingly, flare is NOT bad at all on the USDM headlamp. If you look at your headlamp, you will see a shroud that goes around the bulb which prevents flaring and forces the bulb to reflect the light to the housing then outwards. Light dispersion is decent, but still lacking, imo. There is no hard cutoff like a projector, but when parked against a wall, there is a decent line:





If the JDM/EUDM projector headlamps do not fit, i will retrofit a set of projectors into the USDM housing. I came from an Audi (which, imo, has the best lighting for any car on the market) and i miss having amazing night time visibility.

I chose 4300k headlamps (which is the most lumens and closest to white) and 3000k yellow fogs. 4300k is PERFECT with zero hint of blue. It is all white.







View from inside the cabin:


Bonus pic of the JTech LED bulbs i used for the license plate. These are just as blue as the picture shows. Not really a fan of the blueness, i'll probably replace them eventually:

 

I was afraid of that. Thanks for the night time pics. I like the OEM cutoff and spread with regular halogens. Looks good and people say they are good brights and very nice coverage. I mean I got HIDs laying around but I remember the spread and cutoff on regular halogen housings in my other car - not so great. And I tried LED Cree bulbs that are supposedly 2400 lumens but they are no where near as bright visibly compared to halogen and the spread is horrible.

Like you, im gonna retrofit when I can with projectors from TRS. If I'm gonna do HID might as well do it properly.

 

Can you take a photo against the wall? Would like to see what the cut off looks like.

 

I haven't seen this elsewhere, but how do you replace the fog light bulbs?

I too replaced mine with 4300k/35W ac digital ballasts and loving it!

 

It's in the manual. Basically there is one screw on each foglight that you take out, then push the flap up and in to have access to the bulb.

 

Huckleberry - sure, i'll try to get you a picture this weekend

nullxposur - exactly what noripwr said. use a Philip's screwdriver to access the little door. I ended up taking off the entire under tray (also all Philip's screws) for more room and to mount the ballast to the chassis

 

Sorry for the late reply. I took this pic before going on vacation a couple weeks back and completely forgot to post it. Taken via cell phone from inside the cabin:



Also, i got caught by a redlight cam. Shows what the HIDs look like in motion:

 

nice vid. ull be more satisfied with a retrofit foreground spread. i light up like 4 lanes with mine.

 

Surprisingly good light pattern with a Plug and Play HID kit! Looks nice

 

Wow this car looks awesome!!!! I want mine to look just like that. Sorry about the red light cam btw lol

 

Where did you get the LEDs for the plate ?
Thanks
Sorry for that long quote on my last post.

 

Awesome vid. Now we know scientifically the Fits definitely can't run those yellows. In my mind I am still wishful. LOL

I popped in my own PNP hid I had laying around the house and I had the same kind of "cutoff" as in the pic. Not happy with it. I also had to aim the housing down to reduce glare, which makes the road in front of me look like that in the video, which didn't do me any good for the road far ahead of me.

I've honestly seen a lot of PNP HIDs here in SoCal, and in some cars its alright, but it still doesn't compare to HIDs in projectors - heck even crappy projectors. Since I want the OEM look, I'm sticking with my halogens until I retrofit my TRS projectors into the housings.

 

Thanks for the comments

Lol.. I really thought I would make it. I was flooring it, but the car wasn't moving as quickly as it would in my old car.

Ryu/Nori - I already ordered the TRS fogs and will be getting the JDM projector headlamps. i'm not happy w/ the PNP kit either since visibility isn't as great as my Audi was. i will be pulling the kit out and selling soon

did you see the pics of the Lightwerkz retrofitted headlamps? there is a photo showing the spread in a garage. looked kind of weak. wondering if it's because the projector needs to sit so far back in the housing?

 

You know there was a Friday when I was literally having road rage, ran 3 stop lights thinking I'd make it. I'm not going to say where, but on the 3rd stop light I ran, 5-10 seconds later I heard police siren and saw police lights. Luckily it was a bend and not a straight street after that last stop light, and because there was traffic I eased myself into the slow lane behind a bigger SUV. I saw the police car coming up, slow down as if looking for someone, then sped away in search of that 'someone'. I hope it wasn't me.

On a side note, I was emailing TRS about the d2s and the panasquare shrouds I wanted. They were the ones that emailed me back that thread of Kenny's projectors done by Lightwerkz and I posted it here.

I agree the spread on that retro looked weak and I know the A4 and Mk6 GTI i've driven looked brighter/better coverage than that, which makes me question the picture. Afterall, TRS morimoto lenses are top notch so its either the 35w bulbs or the color. Maybe it's a 10k or 12k bulb and also, the pic seems to be taken in a lit garage rather than pitch black. You have to agree though, the cutoff is pretty darn good.


I'm thinking of trying out the stock TRS bulbs once I retro and if the output looks like that Lightwerkz pic, I'll probably switch over to the osram d2s CBI since they seem to have really positive reviews.

 

osrams are top notch. ive read lots of good things about them as well. looking forward to seeing your retro project

I agree, too many factors on that picture. also not sure if that camera's light meter and auto color balance made the picture look out of the norm

 

I have TRS retrofits on my car, although I think it's an older model since I got it 2 years ago, it's alright. The front lighting is decently bright but I wish there was a little more width as well. I don't think it could stand up to a true retrofit, but would rather go this route for the ease of installation.

 

Hey! You made all those GK5 test drive videos on Youtube, right? I thought your username looked familiar. Very entertaining, haha

 

Yup, I kept looking at Jason's youtube vids when he was trying out the GK for us in SD. Lots of fun with the ladies huh

On a side note, I read elsewhere in other forums before that the retrofits on TRS don't have much width to them, or maybe i should say projectors in general. On the Mini forums, a lot of people complain about not much spread compared to OEM HIDs with AFS which imo is understandable. Other oem brands w/o AFS seem to remedy this by having some kind of illuminated corner light.

 

i disagree. the new Morimoto D2s 3.0 has some real good spread. at least mine does. i retrofitted my wife's accord with the Mini H1 6.0 and those aren't as wide and as bright.

 

Even if the JDM projector headlights would fit they would have a RHD cutoff... We drive with a LHD cutoff.

Doing a retrofit is pretty easy and you get amazing light output.
I’m going to get a mini D2S 3.0 for my fit.
I had the previous mini h1 6.0 from TRS and I was always excited to drive at night. lol
Compared to stock halogen. Especially the crappy halogen in my civic. lol