INSTALL GUIDE: European headlight installation with LED headlight bulbs and LED running light wiring

[OffTheWall503]

I bought error cancelling ballasts, but I don't think they are needed on our cars. Maybe in Europe, but not here.

 

[Roflwafflez]

Wanted to snap a quick pic for those who have white FiSTs and wanted a better idea of what these headlights look like on our color. Overall, I have to say I'm loving them. Still haven't had a change to play with the aim due to rain, however I did get to drive around at night and I can tell they are aimed a bit too high.

-Matt

 

[Chris G]

Looks really clean. [emoji1360]

I've had mine for 6 months and still haven't re-aimed them. Oddly enough, mine are too low.

Wanna trade? [emoji23]

 

[Roflwafflez]

Looks really clean. [emoji1360]

I've had mine for 6 months and still haven't re-aimed them. Oddly enough, mine are too low.

Wanna trade? [emoji23]

Thanks. Nice, they been holding up well so far? I hope in the next week or two I can try to get them aimed properly.

-Matt

 

[Chris G]

Yeah. They've been great. I couldn't imagine going back to the factory halogen reflector setup.

I ordered them shortly after Matt got the LED wiring walk thru posted up.

 

[OffTheWall503]

HID experiment parts arrived, going to start working on it shortly.

 

[Roflwafflez]

HID experiment parts arrived, going to start working on it shortly.

Guessing that's H7 to D2S bulbs from the looks of it? Are the D2S able to install in different orientations? Would alleviate the need for the custom H7 return wire bulbs which would be awesome. Excited to see how this turns out.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

Yes sir. Working on it right now.

 

[nemesisfool]

I'm exited to see how they perform! I was looking at trying those bulbs out.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[OffTheWall503]

Success! I ran into some unexpected snags but I am very happy with the results.

While I was at it, I also installed the Osram turn signal bulbs that arrived.

Before

After

D2S bulb, D2S/H7 adapter and Osram Rallye bulb for comparison

Mock-up of how the adapter is "supposed" to be attached to the bulb, it slides on from the connector side and you can use anything you like to adhere the two together. I used tape for a mock-up.

I tried putting the bulb into the projector like this, however I found that the base of the bulb is too large compared to the base of the H7 bulb and won't fit fully inside without some trimming. Being only this far in, I didn't want to risk cutting the bulb and ruining it, so I decided to go another route. I put the adapter on the other side of the bulb and used some super glue for a quick mock-up to test. The other benefit to putting the adapter on the other side of the bulb is that compared to the H7 halogen bulb, the length is almost matched with the HID bulb only being a few MM longer, which helps give the best focus by matching where the halogen bulb would be sitting in the projector.

Note that the "tab" of the H7 adapter should be at 6 o'clock and so should the ground wire of the HID bulb.

Another angle of the tab orientation and ground wire. The Morimoto bulb has notches and cuts around the base of the bulb, which made lining up the H7 adapter a breeze.

Once I had it set right, I went around the top of the bulb with more super glue to make it permanent.

I used Wurth Fastfix, which is a liquid super glue that can bond metal, wood and plastic to each other. It worked perfectly for this. Here's both bulbs finished.

Fitment is perfect! Tabs were a little tricky to get to grab onto the bulb but a little bending with needlenose pliers did the trick.

For the bulbs, you will need D2S to AMP adapters (if you have a standard H7 HID kit) and I also grabbed these boots. I cut out a 1.5" hole in the stock boot and slide this into the gap, the smaller cover fits perfectly onto the top of the D2S connector adapter then the stock boot slides on. Sizing is slightly off and I'm not 100% happy with it. I will be going another route for this, but this worked for now.

View of the finished boot

First test mount and fire-up (during the afternoon)

Passenger side also on!

Test fire on both lights

And a video of warm-up at night.
[video=youtube;3o5sMEsS9sw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o5sMEsS9sw[/video]

The parts used for this project:

Morimoto D2S 4500k bulbs - https://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/bulbs/d2s-morimoto-xb-hid.html

D2S to AMP adapters - https://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/misc/amp-to-d2s-ballast-adapters-straight.html

H7 to D2S adapters - http://www.ebay.com/itm/H7-to-D2S-D2R-Adapters-for-Philips-Osram-Xenon-HID-Bulb-/270354512667

I ordered these boots to fix the shoddy attempt I made at sealed boots, these will be much better as I don't have to cut a hole for the D2S adapter and it has holes so I can feed all the wiring through. 75mm is the size we need.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/accessories/build-materials/rubber-housing-caps.html

The output on these is awesome! I did have to lower the vertical adjustment slightly, drove around until I got an idea of how much they needed to be adjusted. The Osram Rallyes are, in my opinion, the best option for halogen. This would be the best option if you want to do with HIDs. The only reason I say this is because I spent a couple hundred dollars trying to make plug and play style H7 HID bulbs work and they constantly kept falling out and output was questionable. The awesome part about D2S bulbs is that you can also use Philips 85122 bulbs and Osrams which are factory in a lot of high end vehicles. I went with Morimoto bulbs because they have some of the higher output for it's kelvin colors and are almost half the price of the bulbs mentioned prior. The warranty is also rock solid and TheRetrofitSource is a reputable vendor.

 

[Roflwafflez]

Looks great man! Thanks for posting up all the parts used to make this possible. Certainly might be going this route in the future if/when I feel the halogens aren't adequate enough.

-Matt

 

[SFP]

Nice! Ill have to redo my setup and get rid of the crap bulbs I have from that place that sold the modified tab ones. The turn signal bulbs are pretty dope aren't they?! For anyone needing them I have another set of the Osram turn signal Bulbs laying at the house

 

[Roflwafflez]

This makes me wonder if for others planning to do this upgrade if it would be better to purchase the D2S or D2H kit from Morimoto. Think it would remove the need for the D2S -> AMP wiring. Though in reality, I don't think the standard D2S 90 degree plug would fit very well, if at all, with our enclosed housings.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

The only issue with the 90 degree plugs is that the wiring would have to come out the bottom of the headlight, so I'd stay away unless you want to drill into the light.

 

[brbauer2]

The only issue with the 90 degree plugs is that the wiring would have to come out the bottom of the headlight, so I'd stay away unless you want to drill into the light.

I ordered the H7 to D2S adapters since I have a D2S setup lying around. I'll check and see how feasible it is to run it without using a D2S - AMP adapter once they get here in a few days.


I advise against retracting the leveling motor until we can get it to extend if at all. Aiming is still possible to a decent point, but it's not 100% ideal. More like 95%.
I was also able to get the Leveling motor to fully retract by running 15v @ 2a through the wires marked 'purple LED +' & the bottom 'black yellow ground ?' on the EDM side. Couldn't get them to extend though.

photo credit to dirtyblueshirt from fiestast.net

 

[OffTheWall503]

Now that would be interesting to see. I bet the Euro cars have a sensor for the automatic leveling though, right?

 

[brbauer2]

Now that would be interesting to see. I bet the Euro cars have a sensor for the automatic leveling though, right?

I would think it's just a simple accelerometer in the housing. I tried all combinations of power and couldn't get any extension though.

Could be why some people are having trouble aiming only one light. Leveling motors at different extensions.

Sent from my OnePlus 3

 

[OffTheWall503]

That's very true. I'd be curious to see what you find.

 

[kansei]

Now that would be interesting to see. I bet the Euro cars have a sensor for the automatic leveling though, right?

leveling knob on headlamp switch

nice work on the d2s > h7 adaptation. It's probably earlier in this thread somewhere from when you first tried HIDs but where did you end up mounting the ballasts?

 

[OffTheWall503]

leveling knob on headlamp switch

nice work on the d2s > h7 adaptation. It's probably earlier in this thread somewhere from when you first tried HIDs but where did you end up mounting the ballasts?

It isn't the neatest, but the passenger side ballast is tucked near the coolant reservoir and the drivers side is tucked in between the battery and airbox. For the relay harness, I can it under the gap of the front grille cowl to get to the passenger side and it's grounded at the battery.