gezer77

I'm planning on doing a retrofit, I have E46 BiXenons and I am buying another set of headlight housings to work on since it's my first retrofit. I was wondering whether these projector housings are harder to work with/smaller than the OEM headlight housings. Here's the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-02...mZ170270006450

Also if these suck, does anyone know anywere else I can buy OEM headlight housings besides eBay and a Honda Dealer?

Thanks

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the projector housings are really small, i doubt you could fit anything bigger than e46 single or valeo without alot of cutting. may want to just get some new aftermarket clear headlights (oem style) off ebay for $100. cheap and you have more room.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

i agree with gearbox. your going to need to do a lot of cutting to get the bixenons to fit. It'll probably easier with the single xenon e46's.

gezer77

Okay, should I spend 100 and get clear eBay housings (non projector kind) or should I buy used OEM housings and try and wetsand them to get them as clear as possible.

Also 2001 to 2003 are going to all be the same headlights correct?

And are Coupe/Sedan headlights different? or are the just the taillights different?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i would go with new, so the lenses are good. headlights are different between coupe sedan, but they are minor things like design wise, the lights both fit fine. the only thing i heard was sometimes the parking light socket wont fit so you need one from a coupe. as far as i know tho, the aftermarket lights use all the stock connectors and sockets you already have.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

just buy the clear ones. You'll thank your self later. Wet sanding is a Pain in the butt.

You should have a lot of room if your going with the 01-03 replicas. Just make sure your rotational is as straight as possible. That'll make or break your retrofit.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

yep. like everyone else said, buy new clear OEM type housings. i did a TSX retro in TYC housings, but it was tough. check my sig for a link. in hind sight, i would do OEM housings next time.

gezer77

Thanks for all your help guys. I just want to run these by everyone because being my first retrofit I would really like to not just throw away 100 dollars.

Are these good right here? In terms of quality, I would assume yes maybe just re-seal them with silicone? Anything else I need to look out for?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-03...mZ200264854440

Thanks.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

they should be fine. just reseal it with oem nissan head light sealant. I think its around $20 at the nissan dealership.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i used those for my retro, great quality and no complaints. they were actually sealed with stronger black goo than stock so it took a bit longer to get em open. i would take out the clear plastic corner piece tho it looks weird, and also maybe the reflector piece. i had my retro open to clean and the second time i used window weld and just put it all around the edges. its a bit messy but i think it works. the problem is silicone only sticks to the clear lens and not the black housing. so when i tore up the silicone to reopen them, it just about fell off one side like nothing. i prolly shouldve used the window weld on the inside, but i didnt have the time to mess with taking out all the old goo and refilling it so i just went outside.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you would need ALOT of fabrication and the skill level to retro these is alot higher... i speak from first hand expierence...

the problem with these is that the insides are TOO small...to fit ANY projector... its not long enough...you would have to rebuild the rear of the base and extend it....


here is my TSX retro of that housing...






very very very tight fit... i had to shave the TSX projector down to its core


after i finished molding it and painting the back....looks oem =]








as gearbox said, stick to the OEM style housing and retro in those...these are very very hard to retro...and unless ur pretty skilled and have done many many retros, i suggest you not buy this housing and try to swap projectors...

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the valeo single and prolly e46 single would fit without modification but thats it. and i doubt youll be able to adjust the aim because the bowl takes up the whole space.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

^iono bout those either, the TSX projector is quite small when you shave everything.....yet it was a ridiculously tight fit...

its hard because you gotta put teh projector in so that it will have a stright cut off AND....AND...you have to align it to hit the hole of the housing (where the projector lense sticks out)

electric130

iTrader: (44)

the TSX is still alot wider than the valeo, just the bowl alone. can't shave that any. i had both side by side at one point.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

^i see wt u mean...but the legnth area to work with is very very minimal....and neither e46 nor tsx will fit w/o a leghtening of the rear... i tried both... =]

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

i did valeo with no shaving at all. my first noob retro and i was done in less than a day

gezer77

Okay, I ended up getting the same headlight housings as Gearbox said that he bought.

I fired up my headlights for the first time today to see if they worked. Everything powered on so I'm pretty excited to start on this project.

Hopefully I can get it done during my Thanksgiving break. I'm a little worried though because I can already see 1,000 roadblocks that I will have to figure out. I'm not too good at this most likely, as this is my first major modification to my car.

I attached some output picks if you want to see.

I have E46 BiXenon projectors, with stock ballast and bulbs as far as I'm aware.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just post if you have questions. hidplanet.com is a great help too. those are good projectors. if you want, you can run 50w ballasts to the philips bulbs for brighter output. be careful wiring the hi beam of those projectors, if its the 3 wire version you can easily fry it without proper wiring. its a huge pain and lots of confusion. theres a thread on hidplanet if you search university section. main reason i used single xenon e46 lol.

gezer77

Yes I will definitely be posting questions on here, and I have been reading on HIDplanet for a while. I have learned a lot there.

As far as the BiXenon wiring, that thread at HIDplanet was confusing me, but hopefully when I look at it again more closely I can figure it out.

If I follow what it says on this website, http://integramod.tripod.com/product...lasts.html#top do I run the risk of burning something up?

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

thats kind nice that guy makes premade circuit boards to work with the solenoids. I remember i tried to use the harness on hidplanet to get them to work..but i could never quit get it to work consistently.

gezer77

Okay I'm in the process of trying to get the Highbeams to work on my projectors. I ran across this website http://integramod.tripod.com/product..._ballasts.html , that said I could wire up my solenoid using the circuit board on my OEM ballast. I opted for this because I am lost at wiring (electrical stuff in general, I'm learning slowly) and could not understand HIDPlanet e46 solenoid diagram.

Well I'll try to explain this my best, but here is my problem. On the guys website he says, "So all you have to do is cut the red wire going from the ballast to the solenoid, and connect it (on the solenoid side) to your switched +12V source".

So I took switched +12V source to mean the yellow wire (9006 power 12V). But I should have realized before that if I do this whenever I turn my headlights on, my high beams will be on. Lol, well that's exactly what happened so that can't be it.

So then I thought, well I bought a premade wiring harness, for H4 to BiXenon and they had connectors for solenoid, they were just the wrong ones. So I cut the connector to that part and hooked up the positive wire to the 12V solenoid wire inside of ballast. Powered everything up, and still nothing.

So then I tried testing the wiring harness solenoid wire with multimeter. I connected the postive and negative to it, and nothing. Zero V at all. So I have no power running through my solenoid wire right (on wiring harness)?

I tried to get a reading with the headlights: on, off, and highbeams on. Still nothing. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just scrap high beams all together? I got the lows powered and working.

I attached some pictures. Sorry if this is long, thanks a lot.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

are you sure you were reading the connections right? you know our cars are negative switched, right?

gezer77

could you be more specific, which connections do you mean? I did know that we have a negative switched (ground switched same thing right?)

Problem is I don't completely understand what this means in terms of my problem.

I have the 12V power from my harness. And isn't it grounded already with the stock wiring between ballast/solenoid.

Or am I way off somewhere?

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

you could just tap the 12v source into a switch..for example on my old 7th gen i used the oem fog light switch in my car. I ran the wire into the fire wall and just connected to the switch.

Any time i wanted high beams, you just push the switch.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

you have +12 that comes on with the parking lights and stays on. the low ground only comes on when you turn the switch to headlights on. the high ground comes on with the high beam switch and the low ground drops out at the same time.

gezer77

Okay, so I'm about ready to install these on my car, but I just have two quick questions. The first is:

When I go to put the headlight assembly back together, and I stick it in the oven, do I need to do anything else? Or just apply pressure and let it melt back together, is that a good enough seal?

Second is on the back of the headlight assembly, do I need to seal that hole as well? Is it sealed on stock headlights? isn't it just a rubber grommet? If I do need to seal this, what are some good methods?


I also have the e46 Ballast, do I need to put them inside of something so they don't get wet, or are they waterproof enough to where I can just mount them?
Thanks.

electric130

iTrader: (44)

the back of my headlights are nowhere even close to being sealed. i think that's why i haven't had any problems with fogging either.

gezer77

I figured out I can reuse the rubber grommet from my stock headlights, so I'll do that.

My only questions now are do I just reheat the headlights in the oven or should I do something more to seal it.

And do my e46 ballast's need to be waterproofed. I'm going to check out HIDplanet and see if I can find that. I have been unsuccessful so far.

I put the lights on tonight, and just did some rough adjustments. I drove around the neighborhood and wow it is amazingly bright lol.

All I have left is to aim them, and to put everything back together. I'm pretty excited, surprised my first retrofit went as smooth as it has.

That's my output picture, and also what I hope it will look like when it's put back together.

TemjinX2

iTrader: (11)

long as you didn't take off too much of the oem sealant when you took off your covers then it should be fine.

the e46 ballasts dont need to be water proofed, there already water resistant unless you plan on submerging the front end of your car in water.

Maple50175

iTrader: (1)

Stock ftw!