Rep Power: 191

Well as my other thread states, I have some OEM replica black headlights coming and have been researching what bulbs to use as an upgrade without doing HID's.

Looks like Philips HIR would be the best replacement.

Anyone tried HIR in their OEM headlamp capsule before?

If not, I'll post some pictures and a review once they arrive and I put them in.

Doing both low/high.

 
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if you have the 04-05 headlamps that use 9006 and 9005 bulbs, you can mod HIR1 and HIR2 to fit them. its alot more light but you may need an upgraded wire harness to make use of the extra light. and if you have replica lights, i have a feeling they will not have as good a beam pattern as oem. if you have your oems but want black trims, keep the reflector and swap in the replica trim piece. oem has a much better beam to start with.

 
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Yes, I have a 2005 2dr.

Can anyone confirm if these headlights have a worse than stock beam pattern?
Black headlights

 
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Alright, now what is the exact way to disable DRL's on a 2005 LX? (Canadian Version, if that matters)

I tried searching, but it seems like everyone has a different way to do it, with mixed results.

 
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there are two fuses in the fuse box i believe. just pull them out. you can run the hirs at 1/2 power tho as drls without problem. halogens barely get used up at lo power. you may start to see them turn brown over time, in which case just use the hi beam at full power for 10-15 mins so the halogen cycle can clear up the bulb again.

 
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Thanks gearbox.

 
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are H4's the same as OEM in 01-03 civic's?
don't mean to thread jack just didn't feel it necessary to start a new thread for this...

 
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yes 01-03 civics use H4 bulb

 
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Here's an update.

Just got the headlights back from local tint guy, he 3M Rock-Guarded them.

I've had aftermarket headlights begin to flake only after a few weeks from stones I assume, so not taking any chances with these..or at least trying some prevention.

Modifying the bulbs by cutting that tabs was no big deal. Used a pair of jewelers side cutters.

Went to put bulb in hole, expecting they would fit snug. Nope, fit VERY loose. To the point where they would easily rattle out.
As well, some other differences between these headlamp capsules and OEM. Will mention as I go along.

So here's what I did if anyone comes across this themselves..

Firstly, on both bulbs to secure them, I stretched some rubber butyl rope around the base (basically to enlarge the o-ring of the bulb to seal better) and just cut some primary wire and tightened it under each screw (which threads are VERY DELICATE, do not over-tighten). Bulbs are secured very well this way.

Here's the low beam, you can see that I will more than likely need to cut the factory wiring socket to fit onto bulb socket. Seems very tight between bulb and mounting plate.


Here's the high beam socket, you can see that it is VERY recessed, and would be near impossible to attach factory wiring socket to it.


So took some material off with Dremel and cut-off wheel. Make sure to do this with no bulb installed and stuff holes with some paper towels or something to prevent any debris from entering capsule.


Now you can see there's clearance to plug in wiring socket, may also need to trim the factory socket to clear bulb mount.




Looks good from outside.


Both bulbs in, excuse the reflection.


PS: I have chrome/amber bulbs for turning lights.


Will see tomorrow if these work.
I'm all ready expecting condensation to accumulate in these capsules. I've NEVER had a set of aftermarket capsules that stayed clear without needing to remove them multiple times to address this issue, and usually only by true luck they've stayed good.

Wish me luck!

 
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Yeah, I know the wire under the screws seems pretty hack-jobbish, but the shape of the mount and the need to do something that worked quickly proclaimed.

 
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you can always open them up and reseal with added butyl. and i hope none of that butyl you used in the back is actually touching the bulb or its base. it gets extremely hot and the buytl will turn into near liquid and cause a mess.

 
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You're right. Before I try them out, I'm going to re-do them.

 
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I think I was too jacked up on coffee last night.

Here's what I did today.
Added an additional o-ring to each bulb. (black)




Fits just as they should now, and much more cleaner..

 
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All done.

Fitment was actually not too bad, and no crazy wide gaps surrounding the capsule.
Had to use a heatgun to soften the plastic arm of the headlamp to reach the hole in the fender where a push-pin is to be used.

Semi-adjusted lights on garage door, beams have a cut-off and are at least level with one another, will have to go out tonight to actually do it properly, and see how they perform.

Front end is begging for smoke fog lights now, will do those next year.

BTW, 15% 3M Pinnacle tint all around on Tuesday.

 
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BTW, I didn't need to modify factory electric sockets to connect with bulbs, they snapped right in place thanks to using the Dremel to trim capsule which was DEFINITELY required.

In conclusion:
* Add additional o-ring for each bulb
* Trim capsule as shown above
* Use heatgun to soften plastic to reach fender push-pin hole

Everything else was straight forwards.

Hope this helps someone.

 
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looks great, nice job installing em. hopefully the beam looks good enough compared to oem. any night pics?

 
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As per request.

Lights 80% aimed correctly.
Low Beams:

High Beams:

Low Beams:

High Beams:

Low Beams:

Low Beams:

Low Beams:

Low Beams:



Few notes:
The beams actually cross one another at about 15", but lay on the ground relatively decent. However, because of this there's a slight "dead zone" in the middle. This could be corrected by aiming the lights lower, and the beams should meet in exactly the center of the road.
Light output is more narrow than OEM, which made it a bit difficult to navigate dark parking lots, where alot of turning is required.
Lights are more focused than OEM, and have a few "hot-spots" rather than the flood-like effect of OEM.
High beams help a bit, but I find they shine WAY TOO high to be of very much use.
I did like how the beams were level, instead of having the driver side much lower than passenger side as found in OEM.

I found with OEM, the low beams were OK, but the high beams were really effective to use when no oncoming traffic was present. They REALLY lit up everything.
With these, the low beams have far greater distance and I can see much further and in fact have MUCH more confidence while driving at night.

Overall, I would recommend this combination of capsule and bulb for those looking to improve night time visibility.
Now that I think of it, for an aftermarket capsule these are pretty good. Different beam pattern than OEM, but with both pros and cons compared to factory.

Total cost of individual items shipped to Canada.
Low/high HIR bulbs: $111.20 USD
Black headlamps: $120.99 USD + $20 CDN C.O.D.
3M Rock Guard: $50
(4) O-rings; $2
Total: $300 USD

American's could do this for about $200.

 
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BTW, there was an elevated slope to the wall, that's why it seems like the lights are low in those pics.

 
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Holy **** that's a lot of light. Nice

 
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looks good but you may want to think about getting used oem lights and then opening both pairs and swapping the black trims into the oem reflector rear half. the hirs are prolly getting wasted due to the reflector not being as efficient. in looks bright, but oem would be a smoother beam.

 
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That is a possible idea, but I do not plan on swapping them.
I'm pleased with the result of these enough to not want to do anything more to improve the output.
However, if I had extra headlamps/time, that is what I would have done.
But I get the feeling that I would definitely somehow manage to accidentally crack some plastic while trying to perform a swap, so to me, it would seem high-risk.

I see what you mean about the high beams turning brown.
So I disabled DRL (interior fuse #3 and #12) and lit the highs for a few minutes which helped clear them, thanks for that tip.

 
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All right, so this week, we have had ALOT of rain, and my headlights now have ALOT of condensation.

So I'm going to take gearbox's advice and swap the black trim into the OEM capsule.
So far, I have the lenses off the OEM headlamps, and will preform the transfer this weekend.
Then seal the **** out of them with black silicone.

I knew this was going to happen, arggg.

 
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make sure to pick up a roll of 3M windoweld butyl sealer (soft and sticky stuff) at the auto store and shove that in the channels where the oem goo is. dont worry if you have excess, it will squeeze out when you close them and can be pulled off. silicone on the outside wont help, it does not bind to the rear black housing at all and will flake off over time. you need to seal em properly if you are going thru all the trouble. and if you want for extra protection, put some butyl around the outside too (only problem with this is its sticky so they are harder to hold, but once installed it doesnt matter).

 
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I have some of that 3M windoweld butyl sealer. It's the butyl rope I was referring to earlier.

Wouldn't that soften up as the lights warmed up?

If you've used it with success, then that's what I'm going to do as well.
I was actually gong to warm up the OEM gooey stuff on both sides with a heat gun, then press together with bar clamps and hold for an hour or so until cool.

 
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ive had the butyl on my tyc hid retro (not even mixed with the oem stuff cause most of it came out when i was playing with em) for almost a year thru very hot summer. it is still holding nicely and no leaks. i also had it holding my old halogens for several yrs and that was with the catz zeta ballasts which feed more voltage to the bulbs and raise the heat. never came apart. when you close it, you some pliars to clamp it together one section at a time and use a heat gun too so it fully closes. when it cools, it should stay together. i also have butyl holding on a bunch of led clusters in the headlight and around the car various places and those are still holding as well.

 
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I think after taking apart the 4th and last headlamp capsule, I'm finally getting good at doing it..ROFL

One swap is complete and hopefully 100% sealed!
I actually used some anti-fog lens cleaner on the inside of the lens before sealing just in case. It works on my glasses, so figured it was worth a shot as prevention.
Stretched out some butyl to go along the entire perimeter of the capsule.
Thanks for the tip using heatgun and pliers to seal the lens.


Will update once in car, maybe take some pics if it works out.

 
Rep Power: 191

Hmmm, looks like one of my high beam HIR's is pretty yellow or something. Should I be concerned?
I did re-enable DRL's, because of the bad weather we have had lately, would rather lessen the lifespan of my high's than my lows.
Other side looks fine. *shrugs*




OEM + HIR's (low)


OEM + HIR's (high)


OEM beam is definitely better, easier to drive with due to the flood like effect, much wider output. High beams actually work too..haha

Supposed to be pretty rainy the next few days, so will see how these hold up to condensation.

So basically I spent the money on the aftermarket capsules just for the silver reflector? Oh well, it looks nice!

 
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damn, thats a ton brighter than my hid projectors seriously. now you wont have to worry about em leaking later. the bulbs are normal to turn yellow/brown with drl use. this does not affect the lifespan much due to reduced power, but it doesnt allow the halogen cycle to keep the bulb clear since its not hot enough. running the hi beams for 10 mins or so will clear them up again.

 
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Pics, for the hell of it.

Bought the car in Sept. '10 completely stock and after taking care of maintenance first, I started adding a few things.

Weathertech window shields coming this week, been on back-order since Oct.
Front end was begging too much for fogs, so those come in the mail soon and so does OEM-style spoiler.

Previous owner screwed the trunk hinges, so the rear lines will get massaged out when spoiler goes on.

I'm in Canada, everyone is getting ready for winter mode.

 
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nice look. fogs will go well.