E46 HID retrofit installed! (tons of pics inside)
#31
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so they dont get the urge to mess with it like the douches at the honda dealer flashing them on and off. this way, there wont be any problems later if something happens. ill know it wasnt because of them. and most shops even the good ones will test the lights and just leave it on a few seconds which is bad. supposed to let it warm up a few minutes. so its an easy way to disable them.
here are a couple more pics from tonight, i passed a modded s2000 as well and put his light to shame lol. i hope his bulbs were really old or something cause it was sad how dim they were. and i didnt get flashed at all tonight yay. the fogs are pretty good also, esp with the boost now. lights up the foreground nicely when turned on. the aiming is near perfect around 2 inch drop at 25ft. high enough to see (i dont need hi beams now), and low enough not to blind anyone. i checked out my car from far away like what other drivers would see, and i had to squat down so far i was on my knees and lower before i was able to see below the cutoff. prolly due to the sharp downward curve as you move to the side. and above the cutoff, it was fine to look at without being blinded. a tad bit bright, but not any worse than other hid. driving around today was so much fun i loved it. i give this retro a 9/10 only because of the shaking over bumps. but everything else like looks, brightness, is all amazing. i just hope they dont break for a while lol. either the china ballasts, or the chrome burning off the bowl, or the lens that i glued on falling off haha. there are alot of potential problems waiting to happen. i keep spare 15 amp rod fuses in my car and also an extra relay just in case.
hids alone ( a bit overexposed lol)
with boosted foggies
here are a couple more pics from tonight, i passed a modded s2000 as well and put his light to shame lol. i hope his bulbs were really old or something cause it was sad how dim they were. and i didnt get flashed at all tonight yay. the fogs are pretty good also, esp with the boost now. lights up the foreground nicely when turned on. the aiming is near perfect around 2 inch drop at 25ft. high enough to see (i dont need hi beams now), and low enough not to blind anyone. i checked out my car from far away like what other drivers would see, and i had to squat down so far i was on my knees and lower before i was able to see below the cutoff. prolly due to the sharp downward curve as you move to the side. and above the cutoff, it was fine to look at without being blinded. a tad bit bright, but not any worse than other hid. driving around today was so much fun i loved it. i give this retro a 9/10 only because of the shaking over bumps. but everything else like looks, brightness, is all amazing. i just hope they dont break for a while lol. either the china ballasts, or the chrome burning off the bowl, or the lens that i glued on falling off haha. there are alot of potential problems waiting to happen. i keep spare 15 amp rod fuses in my car and also an extra relay just in case.
hids alone ( a bit overexposed lol)
with boosted foggies
Last edited by gearbox; 04-19-2008 at 10:06 PM.
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thanks for the advice, i started making the holes for the projector. so i should have a ballast to measure the aim.... yeah got to get one before doing anythink else
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yeah just get a matsushita or something for $50. and a lawn and garden battery from advance. when it drains, you can just have them recharge it.
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i'm glad the e46's worked out for you. I know some people automatically dismiss them because there other projectors out there. But i think the e46's give off decent amount of lightfor there size.
You might be able to get a sharper cut off if you go with ece shields.
You might be able to get a sharper cut off if you go with ece shields.
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i actually really like the beam shape now. its high in the center and slopes down alot on each side. i think thats why the side light is so bright cause it doesnt lose intensity being far above the ground. also its nearly impossible for crosstraffic to see below the cutoff unless im going over a big hill ofcourse. on a flat spot like in the pic above, the cutoff on the sides is barley a foot off the ground.
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tonight i drove around, and they dont seem as bright anymore. i think my eyes adjusted already and now i want more light haha. i have a problem. i think im gonna have to switch back to clear fogs and run them all the time lol.
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thanks. i found after looking at the cutoff for a while that it turns inwards more than going straight out, maybe thats why its so bright in the middle which is good. i put in clear fog bulbs so i will have some more pics in a few hours to compare. i think its gonna be quite a bit brighter. the yellow was just too dim and making the hid look weird too. the fog cutoff has some cool colors now too after boosting them. before it was all yellow and orange, now its blue and purple lol. so maybe it will match the hids better.
Last edited by gearbox; 04-22-2008 at 06:18 PM.
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okay i was driving tonight and ran into my friends bmw, and it looked like ours were both the same? lol. im surprised how bright his beam was with regular 85122+ bulbs and me with 50w. looked nearly the same. so maybe these arent as bright as i make it out to be. anyway, here are some fog pics i just took, they dont really work that well cause they are so bright and all the foreground makes it hard to see in the distance. so i dont think they will see much night use.
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last two pics are pretty close to how it looks. its not that bright, but the zeta kit makes a huge difference. if i turn them on after the hid is on, i can't even see them until the boost kicks in a few seconds later lol. if they were higher off the ground, i could prolly drive with just those fogs. i am still thinking of a way to make a high beam, but cant really think or anything. i guess i dont really need it anyways
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wow this is old. they were sold quite a while ago. i have the ebay aftermarket 'oem style' halogens now and philips xp bulbs. i hardly ever drive at night to care. i may swap in some real oems one day, but for $100 for a pair of brand new stock looking lights im happy.
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