Farenheit vs. Silverstar Comparison (with pics)

[magyver]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm
im satisifed with my hid kit but i will tell you this, if you are going to go hid and go all out I would definately recommend retrofitting an OEM projector into your headlight housing. Granted a step up to an hid conversion is 10x better than halogen bulbs but a step up to a projector hid conversion is even 10x better than that. Esp if your wanting preformance.

Ill try to snap some pictures out on a dark highway just to show you the spread on my lights, its insane.

This might scare some people away but to do a hid projector retrofit you have to cut into your headlight = cut a big hole into the back of the headlight to fit the projector into. Then make or buy a shroud to cover the projector and do any other finishing work necessary to make the project as OEM as possible.

where did you get your projectors/kind (make)? i see them on ebay where they rip them out of bmw/audi/lex and sell the whole kit HID/projector so i was curious if thats wher eyou got yours? ive been bidding on several projectors out of luxuary cars but dont have the nuts to go too high... but for now, im just gonna use a pair of projector fogs and custom mount in headliight housing for now and put the zeta on it w/ some halo's... but i have a feeing its gonna look like arse and need a back up plan..

any secret store or somthing or whatver you know about buying projectors would be greatly appreciated!

[Vintalage]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm
This might scare some people away but to do a hid projector retrofit you have to cut into your headlight = cut a big hole into the back of the headlight to fit the projector into. Then make or buy a shroud to cover the projector and do any other finishing work necessary to make the project as OEM as possible.

And if you are scared to cut into your headlights, have a retrofitting company such as hidtech.com or illusionlighting.com do it for you. Hid tech is cheaper but still seems to be just as good as the more expensive Illusion Lighting.

By the way, most of the headlights pictured on the two sites mentioned above are more than likely linked to owners who visit car forums like we do. I've noticed that.

[Vintalage]

Originally posted by magyver
where did you get your projectors/kind (make)?...

any secret store or somthing or whatver you know about buying projectors would be greatly appreciated!

I'll take this question. hidtech.com is where he purchased the projectors (as he posted earlier in the thread). They are Valeo projectors. I'm sure he'll go into detail with the specifics you need/want.

[blake]

i want HID's

[Panacea]

Mike, as far as organizing things, it will probably just cause debates... I mean, people swear up and down that their 7000-12000k are brighter than stock halogens, no matter how much information we provide....

It would be nice, but yeah... haha

Oh and seth, I haven't been on HIDforums for like 6 months

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by magyver
where did you get your projectors/kind (make)? i see them on ebay where they rip them out of bmw/audi/lex and sell the whole kit HID/projector so i was curious if thats wher eyou got yours? ive been bidding on several projectors out of luxuary cars but dont have the nuts to go too high... but for now, im just gonna use a pair of projector fogs and custom mount in headliight housing for now and put the zeta on it w/ some halo's... but i have a feeing its gonna look like arse and need a back up plan..

any secret store or somthing or whatver you know about buying projectors would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Vintalage Yes i got my projectors at hidtech.com best place IMO. Only other place that I know of is e-bay but projectors are very fragile and who knows what condition they will come in. Hidtechs are all brand new oem projectors and they have the low beam projectors like mine or the bi-xenon projectors like rba007 did.

As for buying projectors there are several main kinds of projectors that everybody seems to like. For color get the Valeos or S2K = honda s200, Bosch projectors out of a bmw seem to be real nice and then theres the Hella bi-xenon projectors which are very good.

They will usually come in a kit which is the projectors/ 4100 or 4300k bulbs and hella ballasts. I would stick with 4100 or 4300k bulbs and go no higher for several reasons and the gurus at hidforums will tell you the same thing.

but anyways my projectors are the Valeo ECE Spec projectors ECE meaning european spec. Theres DOT which is US and ECE Spec, the main diffrences are beam patterns, cutoffs, etc. Mine has a shield flipper that has an option to flip to RHD which is cool. im running 4100k phillips D2S bulbs and hella ballasts. THen i also have some OEM BMW angel eyes with the fiber optic cables that I retrofitted in there as well just no leds yet to light them up.

ok i give i guess ill post a pic of upclose shot of my setup halfway installed.

[Panacea]

Hey, can oyu post a pic from behind? I wanna see how you're hooking everything up..

[Panacea]

I was looking at HIDtech's site... Not bad pricing at all! Very good actually... Unfortunately, I want smaller bixenons, not the A6's They're way too big. What's the smallest bixenon projector I can get? I wish they'd offer more htan just hte A6

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by Panacea
Mike, as far as organizing things, it will probably just cause debates... I mean, people swear up and down that their 7000-12000k are brighter than stock halogens, no matter how much information we provide....

It would be nice, but yeah... haha

Oh and seth, I haven't been on HIDforums for like 6 months

yeah its just all a big debate. Mostly depends on if you want color or performance or a little of both.

Its highly recommended 4100k or 4300k bulbs which are OEM ratings. I mean they are OEM bulbs for a reason. And definately for preformance those bulbs give out the highest lumens. I also would go no higher than 7000k why? becuase phillips only makes up to 7000k and theres a reason for that. Only buy phillips or Osram bulbs when buying HID's, you buy those jap crap bulbs and they will blow up within a while and at $120+ a set of bulbs that HURTS.. Also the japcrap bulbs have film on them and you dont want that. If you want a bluer bulb get the phillips Ultinom (sp?) bulb which I believe is rated at 6000 or 7000k - go no higher than that.


Other pointers:
Also when you get a projector the bulb sizes you use are D2S or D2R, so if you have a 9007 hid kit you cant just put those bulbs into a projector, you have to buy new bulbs.

Get a ballast with the igniter included into the ballast, ive read the seperated ones arent good. Hella is the choice ballast for all pro HID'ers and the choice that most car companies use when HIDs come stock on that car.

When you retrofit a projector into the GA headlight assembly mount it as far forward as you can because once you put the GA factory headlight lense on it cuts down on the light and on the color above the cutoff. Thus proving the GA headlight lense isnt infact 100% clear it also distorts the light a little which sucks.

When you retrofit a projector into the housing you have that big gaping hole in the rear and you have to seal that up for weatherproof reasons, there is NO room behind the headlights for this and i have yet to come up with a foolproof way other than a very thin layer of fiberglass. And yes you will have to cut out a portion of that crap behind the headlights, me and rba both did.

When you mount the projector into the GA headlight you have to make sure it is 100% level both horizontally and vertically or you cant aim them how they should be. And as we all know aiming the GA headlight suck. I spent a good 3-4 days on this part just getting the projectors fitted into the headlight where I wanted them.

Your going to have to make or buy a shroud to cover over the projector and some shrouds will cover the hole that you cut in the rear of the headlight from the frontside so it isnt as easily seen.
You can buy oem mercedes, audi shrouds on e-bay that i have seen recently or you can make your own out of aluminum, mixing bowls, ive seen people go as far as using aluminum vodka bottles, pie pans all sorts of stuff. This is where creativity comes to play. Then if your shroud doesnt cover the hole from the front view, then you will have to make a sort of shield that covers that it. That acryclic mirror that rba007 used works really well.

This isnt a mod that you do in a weekend by any means. Dont be stupid like me and do it on the only pair of headlights that you have = no drivey car... If you mess up and cut too big of a hole or do something else its buy new headlights time, this mod you have to plan out ahead of time (way of mounting, hole cutting,etc) or you make a $$$ costly screw up.


Theres alot of tips and common questions, sorry it was so long. If anybody else wants to know anything look on hidforum.com or ask here.

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by Panacea
Hey, can oyu post a pic from behind? I wanna see how you're hooking everything up..

I dont really have any pictures right now, im in the middle of trying to fiberglass that rear opening. But hooking everything up as in the projector? if so theres one big wire probably 4gauge that comes off the ballast that goes to the back of the projector. Then i have my angel eyes hooked up via the fiber optic cables with a little bit of enginnering i made a led holder out of pipe fittings to hold the led to shine down the fiber optic cables.

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by Panacea
I was looking at HIDtech's site... Not bad pricing at all! Very good actually... Unfortunately, I want smaller bixenons, not the A6's They're way too big. What's the smallest bixenon projector I can get? I wish they'd offer more htan just hte A6

E46 is the smallest bi-xenon projector on the market. It comes from a BMW. And Its a bosch projector. I think your only bet on picking up a pair of those is via e-bay or getting on hidforum classfieds and looking or asking for them.

[Panacea]

I'm really thinking of screwing the new computer and upgrading my lighting... Can you see a lot further ahead?

My major concerns right now are A) Money, B) Glare C) aiming D)retrofitting

From your pictures it seems to glare a lot, is it as bad as in the pictures?

Aiming, well I've stripped one headlight and that sucked major assage. F'king headlights are a f'king ass raping to begin with.. I hate GM and their pi$$ poor designs!

How hard is it going to be to aim these? How can you make sure you get them level, and straight in the housing like the halogens would be? That's one of my major conerns... geting it in there striaght.

Retrofitting. I really really want bi-xenons. Do you think they're necessary? I like the idea of having hi's and low's but I want someone that's reputable, but HID Tech doesn't have but one stinking kind of Bi-xenon

Is the shroud necessary on the inside? What a bout painting the bottom portion black? I guess the heat buildup might cause the paint to start releasing gases, ruining fogging up the housing. U think using a hairdryer for about an hour or so on it will heat it up enough so it won't cause a problem?

Another concern would be sealing it back up... I took my crappy housing apart, but can't get all the old adhesive off, and Re-sealing may be a little difficult?

haha, I think that's all my worries. I'd love to do the Valeo's for the size, but I want Bi's haha

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by Panacea
I'm really thinking of screwing the new computer and upgrading my lighting... Can you see a lot further ahead?

My major concerns right now are A) Money, B) Glare C) aiming D)retrofitting

From your pictures it seems to glare a lot, is it as bad as in the pictures?

Aiming, well I've stripped one headlight and that sucked major assage. F'king headlights are a f'king ass raping to begin with.. I hate GM and their pi$$ poor designs!

How hard is it going to be to aim these? How can you make sure you get them level, and straight in the housing like the halogens would be? That's one of my major conerns... geting it in there striaght.

Retrofitting. I really really want bi-xenons. Do you think they're necessary? I like the idea of having hi's and low's but I want someone that's reputable, but HID Tech doesn't have but one stinking kind of Bi-xenon

Is the shroud necessary on the inside? What a bout painting the bottom portion black? I guess the heat buildup might cause the paint to start releasing gases, ruining fogging up the housing. U think using a hairdryer for about an hour or so on it will heat it up enough so it won't cause a problem?

Another concern would be sealing it back up... I took my crappy housing apart, but can't get all the old adhesive off, and Re-sealing may be a little difficult?

haha, I think that's all my worries. I'd love to do the Valeo's for the size, but I want Bi's haha

yes i can see tons further ahead and into the ditches quite a bit more. I will try to get some pictures on a dark highway but i cant get them until friday most likely. Then pictures wont do justice as in person but ill try to get what i can.

No they shouldnt have one spec of glare in them thats why the projectors have a cutoff shield- no light goes above cutoff. My picture glares because i took that photo right into the cutoff thus thats why its purple. The color you will ONLY see at the cutoff everywhere else its very white i.e above cutoff and on the ground.

If you stripped your headlight your going to have to buy a new one, aimage is a big part of this project unfortunately. You have to have them aimed right or they wont preform like they are suppossed to and if they are aimed too high then they will glare into other peoples eyes and hid glare SUCKS ! it will give you a migrane in an instant i found that out.

Getting them in there straight is really hard, I was VERY lucky my mom had her bmw which had factory hids and i aimed mine to her bmw specs. By pulling hers up 25 feet to our garage wall shinning the lights on it and then marking off her beam pattern. Pulled mine up into exact same location and aimed mine per that. Without that help its going to be really hard, your going to have to do the wall trick also and ive got a guide online if i can find the website that i used for directions on aiming.

If you drive alot at night on dark roads bi-xenons are nice but i also drive around at night on really dark roads and my low beams are actually brighter than my factory high beams EVER were. So i cant imagine bi-xenons. Like i said i will try to get a good picture of them. Hey get on e-bay and look up depakmanuel hes a big hid seller and highly reputable IIRC he has bi-xenons not sure if they are the bosch kind though.

Yes shroud is very necessary, if you dont have it light will excape out the side of the projectors and glare, plus you need them for cosmetic reasons. Look at a projector and check out the sides they have big square holes in them thats what the shroud covers. I dont think I would paint the bottom of the reflector black, it "might" cut down on a tad glare but mine are factory chrome and like i said i have no glare at all above cutoff so i think painting them black is a waste of time and it will give you that ricer look that nobody wants.

sealing the lense back on is the easy part, it should be cake for you i have issues becasue of my angel eyes. Get a utility knife and scrape all the factory glue and rubber crap off as much as you can and putting the lense back on should be cake, then silicone around the lense. Now for the back thats a diffrent story, it wouldnt be so hard if we had more room behind the headlights. but I dont really know the answer to that yet as im still trying to figure that out myself.

[SC/TGrandAm]

heres the aiming tutorial

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/hl-aiming.htm

dont know how much sense that will make to you now as it didnt make didily squat to me until i got my projectors and lit them up onto a wall and then it came to me.

[Kdawg207]

Damn nice dude

[SC/TGrandAm]

^Thanks! !

[SilverEcstasy]

Originally posted by SC/TGrandAm

When you retrofit a projector into the GA headlight assembly mount it as far forward as you can because once you put the GA factory headlight lense on it cuts down on the light and on the color above the cutoff. Thus proving the GA headlight lense isnt infact 100% clear it also distorts the light a little which sucks.

See! I knew they weren't clear after seeing mine then seeing someone's busted lens headlights and seeing how much brighter they were w/out the lens. Honestly, i'd just recommend buying aftermarket supplier OEM spec GA headlights. After seeing ViperGTSR_500hp's aftermarket lights, they are alot lighter on the lens.

What about HID's doing the same damage my Farenheits are doing to the inside of the lens? (flaking or speckles)

[Vintalage]

Originally posted by MikeNT256
What about HID's doing the same damage my Farenheits are doing to the inside of the lens? (flaking or speckles)

That shall not happen. HIDs do not produce as much heat as factory halogens.

[SC/TGrandAm]

Originally posted by MikeNT256
See! I knew they weren't clear after seeing mine then seeing someone's busted lens headlights and seeing how much brighter they were w/out the lens. Honestly, i'd just recommend buying aftermarket supplier OEM spec GA headlights. After seeing ViperGTSR_500hp's aftermarket lights, they are alot lighter on the lens.

What about HID's doing the same damage my Farenheits are doing to the inside of the lens? (flaking or speckles)

where did he (viperGTSR) get his from? That would rock and make this retrofit 10x better.

HID's wont melt the lense or anything they produce about the same heat as stock and run off of a whole 35 watts. At start up a considerable more amount but for a brief few seconds.

But yeah they definately arent 100% clear, pretty close but you cant tell until you take the lense off and put it over your eyes and hold it up to a light. You then will tell a diffrence from bare eyes and looking thru the lense, also the lense disperses and/or distorts the light wierd which i do not like but u live with it- the curvature of the lense causes that. I wish we had flat lenses like on bmw's. fock you gm once again.

[SilverEcstasy]

When he got into an accident, he took his car to my dad's shop and his insurance gave the money for aftermarket replacements. Basically, just call around your area for OEM style aftermarket parts.