john8642

Thanks for the great write up. Do you have a picture of the fuse box cover that you had to modify?

dork

john8642, I apologize for the long delay. I was out of the country for about 3 weeks. This is the only photo I have of the fuse box. You can see the fuse protruding from the side--it's the little rectangular tab in the lower right corner of the picture.

There's a wire that looks like it's translucent red in color that seems to run from the fuse around the corner to the side of the box. In actuality, it's coming up from under the battery shroud, winds around and enters the side of the fuse box.

I cut two small slits in the fuse cover to accommodate both inserts. The cover is so remote it'll never get wet unless you garden-hose the area. If you have to have pictures of the cover out of the engine bay, let me know. I'll be away from home for a few days.

john8642

Thanks. I was having trouble picturing it until I went back to your autozone link and realized that the fuse tap was at a right angle to the board. I purchased the Hi-4 harness and HIR bulbs for now, but will upgrade to this setup when funds allow.

jon792000

So, I think what I'm hearing, is that to significantly improve C5 head lighting, it will be expensive and uses the German lamps (55 watts). No magic bulb to plug and go..

jmohn

That's a long thread you revived.
Essentially , yes, improving the lighting will cost "something".
I've had "E" code lights in a couple other vehicles (Porsches) and they are vastly better than anything, halogen based, in U.S. vehicles (I would say comparable with a bi-xenon system for "usable" light down the road). Personally, for the Corvette, I went with a "4-on" harness (self wired) and 4 9011 HIR halogen bulbs and I'm well satisfied. They're not bi-xenon or "E" code but very acceptable (to me) and they only cost about $100 for the bulbs, $30 for wire, fuses and relays (and a little time wiring and modifying the bulb bases).

If I were looking for even better lighting I would go with the "E" code lights, mostly from an esthetic viewpoint, I just don't care for the "look" of any of the HID solutions on the C5.

mrlmd

I got the 4-on harness years ago and with the stock bulbs it improved the lighting maybe a little bit. I just got 4 HIR bulbs, (2) 9011's and (2) 9012's for $77 and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I'm very happy at the improvement, and the cost. The lows are 55W and the highs are 65W and no need for any wiring changes or modifications, just change out the bulbs. One thing to remember - as with any bulb change - make sure you install them properly, flush in their sockets, so they are aimed properly.

mrmagloo

I too did the HIR upgrade and thought it was a great bang for the buck improvement after proper aiming. However, you are always looking for more and I've been coveting Radioflyers ACA projectors, but $650 is a tough nut to swallow when you have a million other priorities like tires, wheels, top, etc.

So my question is, seeing the export route is abut the same cost as the ACAs, how does the end results compare between the two? Exports vs ACAs?

TheRadioFlyer

Comparison using OP's photos to the closest matching photos I have. The Radioflyer lights are the SLC V3 headlights on my personal vehicle but use the same light source and projectors as the Bi-xenon ACA headlights making it a fair stand-in. Please note, This is the closest to an objective comparison possible since the OP and I do not have the same Camera or lighting conditions. This is just to give an idea.

E-code Low beam


Radioflyer low beam:


E-code high beam


Radioflyer high beam (Low beam remains on. High beam illuminates objects above the normal low beam cutoff)


Black Asphalt comparison (real driving):

E-code:


Radioflyer: (taken with cell phone camera)




For what it's worth, The E-code is in my opinion the next-best thing to our headlights and is a substantial improvement over factory. Radioflyer lights offer the following advantages:

1) Pattern Width: Our Projector optics give a MUCH wider pattern than any reflector-based system. The width of Radioflyer lights pattern illuminates spans nearly the full width of the windshield to the passenger side and almost past the A pillar in the driver's side. This helps substantially with positional awareness particularly on unlit roads and on sharp turns. The Sharper cutoff allows our lights to throw light further without glare to oncoming traffic resulting in the longest possible visual range. The T-84 does have a cutoff, but it simply isn't as sharp as a projector and it's focus is not as precise resulting in a comparatively shorter "throw" and a limitation on vertical adjustment.

2) Bi-xenon High beam: Bi-Xenon projector function allows instant high beam which creates a "floodlight pattern" from the projectors with no cutoff. If on a rural road with trees, you will truly appreciate the wall of light you can create

3) True HID light source: With no filament to break, HID bulbs have a longer lifespan than halogen bulbs and are available in pure white without any loss of intensity. The pure white light (5000K) illuminates objects in their natural color allowing the eye to effectively identify and navigate even unfamiliar roads without contributing to night driving fatigue.

4) Wattage: The E-code kit with upgraded harness draws 90w of power for the low beam and 100w for the high beam. Compare this to the Radioflyer kit which draws the factory 55w for low beam and nearly no additional power for high beam (using the high beam power to only activate the Bi-xenon solenoid and LED high beam bulb) This means the Radioflyer kit can run safely off the factory headlight harness and does not put extra strain on the charging system.

5) Modern Aesthetics: The T-84 to the untrained eye looks nearly identical to the OEM headlight. The ACA looks Anything but OEM, but looks like what GM Should have done when they built the C5:

dork

I've been on E-codes for a coupla years now. I'm glad I chose them over the HID's. I've ridden in a c6 that had HID's installed, and those experiences reinforced my contentment.

I think the fairest recommendation I can make is, choose the system according to your most anticipated regular-driving terrain. That is to say, if you're driving in mostly urban settings--street, freeway, and city residential with the rare occurrence of dimly-lit subdivisions, HID might suit you better if you like their aesthetics and are getting some illuminating aid from routinely-spaced street lighting (or signage--any ambient light source will do, of course). Hills and especially rolling hills won't matter at all.

I'm in the Mississippi backwoods. Think "country". Probably 80% of my driving is usually unlit interstate or winding asphalt country roads. The nearest bright light is the moon when it's in phase. The surrounding area within 100 miles of home is just a maze of rolling hills; in these situations, the HID light pattern is a real hindrance for two reasons--the extremely bright foreground night-blinds me to distant but upcoming roadway, especially on newly-laid pitch black asphalt. The HID cutoff is worse than useless in the rolling hills; my friend was constantly switching them on when allowable (because of oncoming traffic) through the hilly terrain. Deer, skunks, etc., are a regular hazard out here after twilight. The cutoff required my friend to slow down so as not to outpace his vision when he was on lows. LOTS of unlit steep rolling terrain here. He's ridden with me when I've driven the same route in my car and he was struck by the difference in usable light under these conditions. In both our opinions, the soft 'cutoff' combined with the dimmer foreground lighting from the E-codes provide allow for a better view of what's far out in front (400-500 yards in hill country [from one hill's initial decline to the crest of the next], and 5-7 seconds' distance at 80mph on flat ground). Obviously the local terrain is a heavy influence on our opinions, but we're just two guys. Since he doesn't drive much at night and he doesn't want to spend 'all over' again, he's content with his HID setup. But he lives outside of Jackson; it's both flatter there and well-lit.

A couple things not mentioned--the E-codes aren't made in China or Taiwan. I don't remember where the heavy-duty harness was made (I think USA), but the lenses and housings were made in Sweden and Germany.

Secondly, and maybe more to the point of the entire thread, the E-code system is Daniel Stern's only upgrade recommendation. ALL the light vendors (including those not on this forum) recognize and recommend his authority. His disdain for HID upgrades is bottomless; both because (in his opinion) the quality control in the East can be minimal, and because he states that a lot of the HID modifications aren't up to US DOT regulations. I never worried about US DOT. I bought into "no China for me". My father would roll over in his grave; my last name ends in '.. O-N-G'. I just didn't wanna spend that kind of money on Chinese "quality" (be it China or Taiwan), nor even consider taking that chance no matter the vendor pledge nor reputation. I wanted to plug 'em in and forget about them forever. Maybe that's likely with HID upgrades, but the light vendors here said, "go talk with Daniel Stern", and I believed in their testimony--that Stern is "the authority".

And just in case you've not heard of him: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html
About halfway down this page:Give him a holler. He'll spend the time to advise you according to need and budget.

95wht6spd

I have the Euro spec lights on my C4, and HID ACAs (not bi-xenon, etc.) on my C5. The ACA are a lot better that the stock lights, but the E code on the C4 are much better than the ACAs. The E code were much more involved to install since I upgraded the wiring, fuses, relays, etc.

Bill Curlee

MAN,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, That's one HELL of a post!!

Koufax

When I go to the oegmparts website and punch in parts 16524063 and 16524064, I get prices of about $513 apiece. Have the prices gone up that much or am I doing something wrong?

Whatever I do, I will be asking my dealer to install. I have neither the time nor the skill. If there a need to splice just the right purple wire to install the upgraded harness, it sounds like something that the dealer might not want to touch. Is this likely to be problematic? Or am I misreading that part of this thread? I'm not interested in upgrading the fog lights, just the regular headlights.

All advice welcome.

bobs77vet

very interesting thread is there any thing new on this front? or does any one have a better source for the parts? a quick google search is showing about $296 per lense.

thanks bob

Koufax

You could look at this set-up. It's what I went with after reading all this material.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-sale-gp.html

The low beams have the cutoff that the OP doesn't like. The LED high beams light up the world like the sun - but they are made in China, in case that matters to you. The OP would find them quite sufficient for his rolling hills in pitch black driving. My night driving is also pitch black, but more on curvy roads through woods. Daniel Stern would not approve of all the light that shines in places where there is no road - the light dispersion is wide and high. I don't mind it at all. Deer lurking in the woods are less likely to surprise me.