2K1 CCS RETROFIT w/ 'FX-R' 50W-DDM DL50 R8-LED

My HID adventures began many months ago when I was looking to improve on the factory HID System.

a) My very first upgrade was new bulbs from TRS but as things prooved, that wasnt enough.

b) Came across JVXs site where he showed me how to mod my A6 Projectors.
That followed with new E30 Lenses and custom shields but in the end the width was still nowhere near where wanted it.

c) Got my hands on RX-NON AFS as thats waht JVX recomended for my project. Swapped out lenses and created few different custom sheilds but even that wasnt enough, so with that I had nice width but not enough intensity.

d) Got some 50W DDM Ballasts to go with the project but then some people were comparing the DL50 with the boosted 85122s and the difference was amazing, so after short while I dropped the cash and bought some DL50s.

e) My RX DL/50 setup was bright but halogen high beam just didnt cut it and seeing how Matt rolled out the FXRs, I was sold, and then proceeded with 2 pairs which were intended for a quad setup but then lack of space and complexity had me split the one pair and make a second set of Mercury Headlights a topic of which you can find around here.

f) Finaly I found a set of new headlights and decided to do one of my best retro wtih the best possible materials etc... non of that hack job type of stuff... and with that I arrive here.


The Parts List:
FX-R Projectors
DDM Ballasts
DL50 Color Shifted Bulbs
48cm LED Strips (White)
2 BiXenon Logos (TRS)
H7 PnP Hid Kit for High beams
or H7 Silverstars... wiring Dependant.

The headlights were taken apart, the front shroud will soon be painted and reinstalled with the LED strip.

The FXRs have been installed and sadly I didnt use any of the mounting holes.
I had to notch the side of the projector to make room for a bolt that pulls the upper part to the OEM mount.
Otherwise the entire projector assembly can be supported by the bottom moutn which is nothing more then a L shaped Alum Extrusion secured to the OEM mounting holes and using the bottom bolt on the High Beam Solenoid to secure the projector itself.

This is what the OEM Carrier with the FXR installed looks like.


Bottom View...

Top View...

Top View Close up shots of the mounts.




BiXenon logo will go on the side...




OUTPUT of the FXR

Here is the outter piece with the LEDs mounted...

This is the finished result of my final headlight retrofit...

The headlight contains a BiXenon FX-R Projector purchased from TheRetrofitSource, as well as the LEDs and the BiXenon stickers...

The outer shroud was painted flat black and the LEDs were mounted along the outline of it, the path I chose made the most sense as the LEDs were not long enough to go besides the turn signal area...

Here are some of the final pictures.

For more information on the build visit the following site.
[URL="http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3006002/20"]CarDomain 2k1 CCS Log[/URL]


Progress Pictures...







Installed:













Lights w/ Flash

Pics were shot with 0.56X Wide Angle lens so the beam may look narrow then it really is... but at least it fits in the picture otherwise I wont be able to fit in the photos...


Street Low/High Beams




Parking lot Low/High Beams



Automatic setting Loading dock...



By a wall...

The LEDs are a nice touch, good work...Did you get a new lens, or just polish up your old one? I dont remember mine having the horizontal lines. It would be nice if they made angel eyes or the BMW halo lights for our cars....Maybe you should modify those ones next, would love to see it on the DIY thread hehe

The lenses on the car are from a used pair of Halogen headlights. The HID headlights have slightly different features to them.

As far as the BMW Angel eyes, the headlight just doesnt have those features.

Now its possible to drop in twin projectors with custom shrouds and do the BMW look but for now I am keeping it next to stock.

The hardware behind my headlights is where its at and what counts for night safety.

The current set up is around 70% Brighter then the brightest OEM HIDs on the market so I am extremely happy with them.

A future upgrade is going to be projector set up for the fog lights.

So my question then is, what headlight assemblies did you use? Ive been looking into it and i think the pre-00 assemblies wont fit in our years (00-01). Correct me if I am wrong tho. Also since you are the electrical guru, what would i need to do to go from a standard bulb to the HIDs? I see most of them on ebay already come with the ballasts attached to the assemblies, but i would imagine the wire harnesses are probably totally different???

Well to start the answer there are two different headlight shapes... the difference is in the lower inner corner closest to the grille... on the pre 00 cars its rounded and the 00-01 they are sharp corner... there is difference in teh trim piece as well...

Now an actual HID headlight has some ribs on the glass itself which causes the cutoff from the projector to become somewhat blurry... and you dont want that if you will go through the trouble of installing HIDs...

I would suggest a BiXenon projector in place of the original because the high beam feature is simply priceless. The dual high beams is pure insanity...

Now as far as wiring... its quite simple...
DRLs run off circuit in series through both high beams....
when you activate the headlights low beam one relay closes causing only the passenger side to be powered... so the the high beam adds a second relay which causes the high beam to be wired in parralel in order to power the bulbs 100%...

As for the low beam you have a positive and negative wires... all you do is you take those two and you run them on the input side of your ballasts... which will be +/- an HID kit can be picked up from DDM for about 25$.... and you may need AMP Connectors and some philips bulbs...

I have a lot of parts gathered so let me know if you want them and I will be sure to hook you up.

I have some wicked LEXUS projectors which work fantastic in the assemblies but you will have to come up with a way to drop them in...
If you want them 100$ they are yours.
OUTPUT...


I have new Philips bulbs which I can sell you for 60$/Pair...
With a wire harness shipped I can do 200$... all you need to do is pick up some Xenon ballasts... I have some of those too...

Basically if you want a complete package please let me know... I will see what I can do to help you out.

Parts list... of what you need for a bad A** HID SWAP.


2 Halogen Housings 00-01
1 HID kit (2 ballasts, 2 bulbs < Bulbs are generic you need D2S)
2 D2S bulbs Philips 4300k.
2 Projectors.
2 AMP connectors (Ballast AMP to D2S conversion)
6hrs of your free time...
Some hardware bits screws nuts some brackets maybe... tools...
and thats all it takes.. fairly simple...

Wish you were closer so I can do it for you.

ok cool man, yea im not too good with electrical wiring...im still trying to learn to use a fluke meter at the moment. I think im going to continue doing some research but at least now i have a place to start, thanks...for now im going to see if i can find some hid assemblies for a resonable price, and get the ballasts and bulbs later when i can decipher the +/- wiring. The UK and Germany have several for a good price but unfortunately shipping is a little pricey. This would be so much easier if mine would have come with HIDs to begin with

Trust me its a simple 2 wire hook up... and nothing more.

Also if you plan on doing a projector swap go with the halogen housings... otherwise stick with OEM HIDs..

I hve one or two here in my house let me see if I can post some pics.

can you put standard halogens in projector housings??? i didnt think that was feasible, i figured they would have to be converted to HIDs...if not that would make it way simpler as all i would need is the housings, and maybe brighter bulbs...then i wouldnt even need the ballasts. if you have pics of the oem halogens please post.

also if you can post a picture of the ballasts and the wiring going to/from them that may also help