jrprich

But why would you ever need your high beams when running ACA HIDs

Z-Stallion

Great work! How did you level the low beams?

matthewlfd

Yup, thats where I got the headlight housings. The headlight lenses are plastic, the ACA projector lens is glass. I didn't take the headlight lenses off, just removed the ACA projector by taking out the 4 screws that hold it in. Anyone can do it.

Thanks. He sent a word document, I can post up the text, but I don't think the picture will come through.

Thanks!. Honestly I just eyeballed the projectors to make sure they were level and even when I drilled the holes to install them. Any adjustment from that point is taken care of by the stock adjustment rods...assuming you haven't broken one by breathing on it....ask me how I know

Toque

Because low beam HIDs have a cut off point. To go further you need high beams. Luckily for me in Dallas most streets are lit up so high beams are not needed. My low beams are amazing though.

Toque

MSG C5

I agree. I have 4300 temp HID lows in my set of ACAs and when paired up with my 4300 HID dogs, I have plenty of light for my suburban night driving. In fact, some grumps have already flashed me when the I have them all on. The LED corner switchbacks also help.

I thought about performing a similar retro fit to have HID highs, however I like maintaining my flash to pass option. Something not recommended for HIDs.

matthewlfd

Maybe you are misunderstanding this retrofit, a bi-xenon projector is a single projector that does high and low beams. I don't even have the actual high beam bulbs in the ACA light plugged in, just 2 trigger wires that lift the cut-off shield in the low beam projector. If my low beams are on, flash to pass works just fine.

The HID bulb never powers off between low and high, just the moving shield you see in one of the top pics I posted.

Toque

I'm wondering about the wiring of this. Its still plugs into the low beam plug ? What are u using to trigger the plate to move for the high beam ?

Toque

matthewlfd

The low beam harness on the car plugs into the ballast which turns on the HID bulb. The high beam harness on the car plugs into a female harness connector I made that has both pins of the red wires you see in the projector in my pics. When I select high beams, it puts current through the high beam wires on the car and into the two red wires in the projector that activates a magnet in the projector that moves the shield into 'high beam mode'. When the current is removed, a spring snaps the shield back into 'low beam mode'.

So the actual high beam bulb in the headlight housing is not plugged into anything at all.

Hope that makes sense.

Toque

Perfectly... thank you !
I may look into this.... as soon as my wife gets over my last Mod Bill...

Details on the parts $$, Part numbers, and where you got them ?

I already have the ACA setup in my car.

Toque

MSG C5

Thanks for the clarification as I was misunderstanding the mod. So basically, your ACA "highs" are still halogen?

matthewlfd

If you already have the ACA and HIDs, then you will need:

Projectors w/wires- $135 +s/h
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=101

D2S Bulbs - $90ish for OEM brand (Philips or Osram), might be cheaper on eBay. Or probably $15-20 for asian brands.

Harness to run from HID ballast wires to D2S bulbs...maybe another $20 or so on eBay.

matthewlfd

The ACA "highs" (large inside circle) are still halogen, but not plugged in and not used since the high beam function (and flash to pass as long as the low beams are on) is all done with the moving low beam shield.

Here is a video of what the projector looks like switching from low to high beam function.

http://youtu.be/XiTiCmtVAlA

Toque

Thanks !

This will give me something to work on once my wife calms down from my last mod...

Toque

chasboy

I have HID bulbs(low beam)+ballasts, HI-4 harness and Toshiba hi-beams installed. What would I need to copy your conversion?

95wht6spd

Were these the ACA's w HID or halogen bulbs that you modified?

matthewlfd

You would need exactly the same as Toque. The HID bulbs and connectors you have are for an HID bulb based in whatever size headlights you have.

With my setup you will no longer need the Toshiba high beams.

The automotive aftermarket takes a common size HID capsule and re-bases it to a 9005/9006/h3/h3/etc so they fit all sizes. The issue with this is that the housing is designed for the light optics of a halogen bulb of that size, not HID. The HID bulb has a different focal point and output power, so light out put is affected. This is where people get issues with glare, hot spots, throwing light everywhere, etc. Projectors designed for halogen bulbs tend to have less issues with tossing in re-based bulbs than reflector housings, but is not the best way to get the most amount of light output and least amount of glare.

When OEMs (or their tier 1s) design HID projectors, they design them all around the same standard size bulb...D2S. This is what my projector is designed for, and is the optimum setup for HIDs.

matthewlfd

The low beam projectors that these shipped with were H9 Halogen. I'm sure some vendors sell H9 HID bulbs that can be put in them also, but see my above comment about that.

JW Motorsports

The projectors used are actually made for HID (D1S). The manufacturer offered them with halogen bulbs to get the prices down on them. The projector optics were not changed.

For those that don't know these were originally offered with D1S bulbs and Phillips ballasts.

Cool DIY though.

nvusgt

great stuff, I've had my eye on theretrofitsource for a while, just no funds to do a cutsom setup like i want.

TheRadioFlyer

Nice setup.

You need to adjust your passenger side down a little. The Left part of the cutoff from each headlight should line up like so (reference the top):




I'm curious what you had in mind. I might be able to help.