[Built B16A]

Be sure to take pictures as you progress! That's the best part for us : )

but of course.

fedex tracking says i get my new toys on wed.

 

[wastedonanime]

So I finally caught up on the full extent of a project like this. I think its safe to conclude that the TSX projectors do not support bi-xenons (aka low/high beams in one unit) and so in order to do so, it would require a different unit from i.e. a TL. Wondering if anyone has or could draw up a wiring diagram for a retrofit for the bi-xenons (maybe I missed it?). The retrofit sounds great, but I would rather not lose the high beams for greatly improved low beams if at all possible. Given, personally I don't use the high beams that often if at all months at a time, but you never know when (I) might need them.

Also for clarification, is it true that:

1. The projector (housing?) can be purchased w/o the light assembily which will provide appropriate beam patterns for the bulb it was designed to work with.

2. Given that 1 is true, you can purchase an aftermarket HID conversion kit and combine that with the projector housing to make a fully functional and properly working unit?


Basically, I am trying to find out if I can purchase the bulb/ballast/igniter that will (more or less) 'easily' retrofit with the original wiring and purchase the projector housing seperately. Somehow I have the feeling the answer is "yes" just because it would not make much sense for the answer to be no. Stuck at work so can't do the appropriate research and I can't wait til later. ^ ^

 

[Built B16A]

ok, 1st of all, you need to do alittle more research. i understand your asking questions, and we're all here to help, but they'res alot of answers on the net. and the website is. www.hidplanet.com

its a huge forum dedicated to retro's, and im sure they've done everything, every hallogen housing you could imagine, and every projector under the sun.




ok. so you want to buy a ballast/ingnitor set that makes wiring a ease. its actually quite simple. even though sometimes some ballast like a large gauge wire for power, and use your headlight switch for a signal for a relay, but if you look on that forum, there is a guy that sells the 9006 male plugs and plugs for most common ballast plugs, so you don't have to splice anything.

if you not framilure with the basics of HID's, there's only 2 kinds. D2S, and something else. the only difference is the D2S uses a projector and goes through a refractive lens. the other type like the 350Zs, they use a reflector style HID. they both have cut off sheilds, but the projector tends to be alittle sharper.

anyways, do some reading up on that forum.. TONS of info.

 

[wastedonanime]

Ah thanks. I shall. Admittedly I am pressed for time with work and school so I am trying to take shortcuts where ever I can, but yes. I think at this point it would be better to just do the research instead of asking 1001 questions. :-( Sorry!

 

[aaydemi]

Also for clarification, is it true that:

1. The projector (housing?) can be purchased w/o the light assembily which will provide appropriate beam patterns for the bulb it was designed to work with.

2. Given that 1 is true, you can purchase an aftermarket HID conversion kit and combine that with the projector housing to make a fully functional and properly working unit?


Basically, I am trying to find out if I can purchase the bulb/ballast/igniter that will (more or less) 'easily' retrofit with the original wiring and purchase the projector housing seperately. Somehow I have the feeling the answer is "yes" just because it would not make much sense for the answer to be no. Stuck at work so can't do the appropriate research and I can't wait til later. ^ ^

1. yes
2. no, sort of. Aftermarket conversion kits are specific for housing/bulb "types" (H4, 9006, etc). When you order an aftermarket kit, you'll have to specify what type of bulb your housing currently holds (in the case of the Element, H4). Most standard HID projector housings use a D2S bulb, where the little prongs around the bulb are made to fit a D2S housing. You probably can find an aftermarket kit that comes with D2S bulbs, but you'd have to do some searching. As the previous poster mentioned, do a bunch of research on hidplanet...there's tons of information available on the forums, plus complete D2S kits available for purchase.

 

[Built B16A]

ok. i got my toys in. and doing some research, ive found out you can space the refractive lens from the bulb and reflective dish, and put out some nice blue color above the cut off area.

pretty neat huh! hahaha

and here are some pics of my setup.

i dont' know if i'll have the time to finish it this weekend, but i plan on working on 1 lamp tomorrow, and the harness with a mini relay and fuse.. just to protect my little E.

 

[Built B16A]

well, i finished my retro.. but my web hosting is down.. so hopefully i will be able to fix it, and publish my gallery, and you can see my wonderful TSX headlights!

 

[Built B16A]

well.. i finished them. but my webhosting is down.. so i had to attach them.

while i was at it, i blacked out the housing, and did the washer color mod. behind the plastic, you can barley see the interworkings. when people do retro's they usually use shrouds to hide them, but im flat black.. can't go wrong.

once my webhosting comes up, i'll start a new thread.

 

[pdivizzle0112]

looks nice, but still seems unfinished without a shroud, even if its flat black. you could see the zip ties

 

[wastedonanime]

Looking very nice!

 

[Built B16A]

actually, since everything is flat black, you can't see them.. the only way is to shine a flashlight inside.. daytime, dusk, whatever, you just can't see inside them. i showed you on a counter face up, on the car, you can't see them.

a before and after pic... left being retro'ed, and the right side un touched.

the following pic is all done.

 

[pdivizzle0112]

is there a way you could post a write up on how to install the wiring and all? im also interested in modifiying my headlights however i want to make it look as clean as possible. how much were the materials needed and where did you order the projectors?

 

[Built B16A]

if i could cover up the bulb holder, and the back of the projector housing, youde never guess it was a hack job, or aftermarket.

however, wirring was an art of its own. i used a mini relay, and wired it with a fuse, just to protect the cars electrical system. basicly, i wire the ballast and HID's direct, and use a relay to switch the current and the signal was the low beam from the headlight switch.

i bought the projectors, and ballast on ebay. everything can be bought online, and alittle electrial stuff at the auto part store.

said and done, i think i invested 400. thats with my wirring and evertyhing.

however, i didnt use the high beam because my TSX projector is single xenon lens.

 

[wastedonanime]

is there a way you could post a write up on how to install the wiring and all?

There is a very informative thread on HIDplanet which the diagram above was taken from. I just ordered the parts to make a wiring harness and will post a parts list and progress pictures. Basically you just follow the diagram above.

Parts list:

03'-06' Left/Right Element Headlamp Housings
04'-06' TSX Projectors
Pair of Phillips 85122 D2S Bulbs (from hidplanet.com)
Philips Generation-3 Ballasts (from hidplanet.com)
Pair of KC 2"x6" Halogen (H3) Driving Lamps
Wiring harness parts

• 10 AWG Wire
• 10 AWG Ring Connectors
• 10 AWG Automotive Fuse Holders
• 30A Automotive Fuses
• Bosch 30A 12V Relays (shown in the picture above)
• 12V 5-pin Relay Sockets
• 1/2" Split Loom Tubing
• 10 AWG Heatshrink Butt Connectors
• H4 Male Plugs

 

[ELEGuy]

Retrofit completed. Much larger pain than anticipated due to several unexpected things. End result is a 3/4 finished project. Will be completed next week (with the driving lights put in).

Went with the original chrome trim for a bit of contrast. Could have stayed with the black but it's too late now (well, it's never too late but as far as I am concerned its over and done with). Didn't bother with a shroud/bezel. Partly because I like the 'raw machine' look but 95% because I didn't want to bother with it. : )~ I'll have some nighttime pics up when I have them aligned and I can have my amateur photographer friend take some pics with a camera that cost the same amount as this mod.

HOLY CRAP THIS THREAD IS THE TRUTH! i was asking about it over here:

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=472113#post472113

nice work

 

[wastedonanime]

Round 2 (which is really round 5?). After a long list of problems I started all over with new headlight housings. It came out much better. Light is being projected (although severely dim) 5 lots down (1/2 acre square properties). Its rougly 200 feet? Something like that. I am getting sufficient light upto roughly 50 feet away and couldn't be happier with the mod completely and thoroughly, properly done.

 

[wastedonanime]

Finally got some pictures with a 1/2 decent camera.

04-06' Color Modded Acura TSX Projector Retrofit w/OEM Phillips 4100k Bulbs.


Just parking lights.

Fog Light rewiring mod w/2500k (yellow) fogs.

Headlights & Fogs. This is 30 seconds after the HIDs were turned on. What you can't tell here is that when you're looking at the headlights, the housing is actually much dimmer and you can see the circle where the light is coming from like any other projector HID vehicle. Lousy camera : (

Light shoots wide, far, and bright. It's actually reaching the end of the street and illuminating the very bottom of the transformer in the ground.

How far? Picture on the left is me running away from the car down a straight road. The second picture shows the bottom of a pole literally ~150 feet away. The fading light is a result of manipulating the projector to generate a color band along the top band (look below). At an extremely far distance, it appears like a gradient of light. The bottom foot or so of this pole is being illuminated from the headlights.

Good visual of the cut off line. The light is shooting a little higher since the car is resting on an incline driveway. The carport is level but only 1/2 of the E is on level ground. The light shoots downward at a slope of 2" for every 25 feet as specified by law. This is why it's important to use projectors with HID bulbs...

Color modded splits the top of the band into several colors. It's a nice effect when the top of the line flashes your eyes but here's what it looks like against the wall.

Thats it!

 

[LRAO]

...

How did you re-wire the set up so that your fog lights would/could work independent of the headlights (i.e., you can run the fogs without the headlights)?

Thanks.

 

[wastedonanime]

http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=502297&postcount=14

Credit goes to Fujiisan for coming up with this. I just restated it with pictures for an easier way to DIY. I find it's nice to have with the HID's since here in NY, you have to have your headlights on (or now some kind of forward lighting?) on when your windshield wipers are on. Would rather run halogens than the xenons.

 

[kastivich]

Round 2 (which is really round 5?).... Light is being projected (although severely dim) ...

Just curious, what do you mean by this? Are you talking about the normal beam pattern or did something else happen to make the beam lose intensity?