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

[OffTheWall503]

Great, detailed write up [MENTION=6284]brbauer2[/MENTION].

I appreciate you telling me about the ECE projector pattern, I had a feeling that's what was happening. If you ever wanted to, you could always remove the projectors and shim the projector shield to get the DOT projector pattern but that seems counter productive and at that point, may as well do a projector retrofit to the factory headlights.

I'm glad everyone has been trying my customized D2S/H7 bulb and having good results.

Is anyone else having issues with the bulb clips? Mine are starting to get pretty mangled with the constant removing/re-installing of bulbs. I may try to find a more bulkier, permanent replacement for them.
[MENTION=3476]Roflwafflez[/MENTION] - the H11 harness will work as well, it's identically the same with the exception of the 9006 to H11 wire at the drivers side where you plug it in to the H7 headlight plug, but since your harness has the H11 connector, you can swap it out for the 9006 to H7 wiring that came with your 4-hole bulb boots.

 

[Roflwafflez]

Great, detailed write up [MENTION=6284]brbauer2[/MENTION].

I appreciate you telling me about the ECE projector pattern, I had a feeling that's what was happening. If you ever wanted to, you could always remove the projectors and shim the projector shield to get the DOT projector pattern but that seems counter productive and at that point, may as well do a projector retrofit to the factory headlights.

I'm glad everyone has been trying my customized D2S/H7 bulb and having good results.

Is anyone else having issues with the bulb clips? Mine are starting to get pretty mangled with the constant removing/re-installing of bulbs. I may try to find a more bulkier, permanent replacement for them.

[MENTION=3476]Roflwafflez[/MENTION] - the H11 harness will work as well, it's identically the same with the exception of the 9006 to H11 wire at the drivers side where you plug it in to the H7 headlight plug, but since your harness has the H11 connector, you can swap it out for the 9006 to H7 wiring that came with your 4-hole bulb boots.

Went over to Home Depot and picked up some things: 2x exacto knives for cutting the boots, Loctite Professional as mentioned previously by [MENTION=6284]brbauer2[/MENTION], and for fun I picked up an infrared non-touch thermometer. Not sure how accurate any of the temps will be, but I plan on doing temps pointing at the projector lens in the front, as well as at the boot on the back for all of the setups (stock halogens, LEDs and HIDs respectively).

[MENTION=4498]OffTheWall503[/MENTION] With regard to the bulb clips, are you referring to the clips on the headlight itself that hold the bulb, or the adapters on the bulbs themselves? Also, I'm not sure I completely follow with regard to the harness. The harness that I ordered is an H7 harness, not an H11. I didn't get an H11 because I figured since all of the original internal wiring was meant for H7, that an H11 harness wouldn't be needed. I'll call over to TRS on Monday and confirm with them.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

Sorry Matt, I was referring to the bulb clips that hold the bulb to the projector. And your harness should be perfectly fine then.

 

[Roflwafflez]

Ah gotcha. I haven't even removed the stock bulbs once so far, so I can't comment on the clips themselves just yet. I'll keep an eye on them over time as I start removing/installing different bulbs and report back here if I find any issues.

-Matt

 

[Roflwafflez]

Got the grommets installed in the boots with the wiring for the the HIDs and the LEDs. The grommets are just a wee bit too loose in the boots, likely due to the size of the holes, but I'm hoping it won't be too much of an issue. Worst comes to worst if I feel they're too loose I'll find a way to anchor them to each other better. I also do have some concerns that despite the bigger boots, the LEDs might not fit all that well given how big the black copper heatsink is. We shall see in time.

HIDs on the left, LEDs on the right:

Also set the adapters on the HID bulbs with the loctite superglue. At first I was worried I was going to put too much glue, but now I'm worried I might not have used enough lol. Letting them set for a few hours, then I'll check and see how strong they are adhered to the bulbs:

Things are slowly but surely coming together!

-Matt

 

[brbauer2]

I would redo the adapters. Get a hair dryer and heat up the bracket and twist them off. You can then use acetone to wipe away the dried glue or file/sand away any unevenness in the glue.

I say redo them because you should be applying as much pressure as possible in the first 30-60 seconds to create the strongest bond.

 

[Roflwafflez]

I would redo the adapters. Get a hair dryer and heat up the bracket and twist them off. You can then use acetone to wipe away the dried glue or file/sand away any unevenness in the glue.

I say redo them because you should be applying as much pressure as possible in the first 30-60 seconds to create the strongest bond.

Oh I was definitely applying pressure when I put them together. I didn't just set the adapters onto the bulbs and let them sit. I put glue around the circular plastic edge of the bulb base, then lowered the adapter down onto the glue, picked up the bulbs and pressed them together for about 2 minutes apiece. Just took a look at them and they feel pretty solid.

Here's some images of both bulbs from the side. While the adapters do feel quite secure, I do see some small areas between the bulb and the adapter where they aren't flush and together:

On a side note, should we be worried about the temperature that the Loctite will be exposed to? According to the Loctite website, the professional super glue is rated to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm worried both about the adapter coming loose from the bulb while driving, but also the loctite itself combusting lol. Not sure if that last part is a valid concern, but you never know. Last thing any of us want is our pretty headlights (and cars for that matter) going up in flames haha.

-Matt

 

[brbauer2]

The head may when the bond, it's something to watch out for. Won't combust though.

Sent from my OnePlus 3

 

[Roflwafflez]

The head may when the bond, it's something to watch out for. Won't combust though.

Sent from my OnePlus 3

Would suck if the adapter came loose from the bulb while driving, because the bulb would almost certainly dislodge and might end up coming in contact with any of the housing inside and burning it. Definitely will keep an eye out for that.

With regard to the adapter not fitting flush above also, the reason they aren't flush is because of those small bumps that are located on top of the plastic base of the bulb. I should have taken a file and filed those bumps off before attaching the adapter. Might consider doing that just so it has better contact between the adapter and the base.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

I applied continuous pressure on my adapters for about 5 mins and then let sit for 2-3 hours. Haven't had any issues and attempted to pry with my hands and mine wouldn't budge. I doubt they will ever come loose. It could create issues if they work their way loose though.

 

[Roflwafflez]

I applied continuous pressure on my adapters for about 5 mins and then let sit for 2-3 hours. Haven't had any issues and attempted to pry with my hands and mine wouldn't budge. I doubt they will ever come loose. It could create issues if they work their way loose though.

Yea, I'm likely just overthinking the issue like I always do to be honest lol. I'm planning to do one more round of aiming with the stock halogens tonight (as well as get a few more baseline pics), then install the LEDs tomorrow and see how they compare.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

I'll be aiming mine (for real) at the shop after hours tonight, which will be nice because I'll have a perfectly flat surface with a flat wall to measure everything out. I know my horizontal aiming is off and I'm hoping this will finally settle it.

Plus it's been hard to find a spot where I have 25 feet of distance to work with.

 

[Roflwafflez]

I'll be aiming mine (for real) at the shop after hours tonight, which will be nice because I'll have a perfectly flat surface with a flat wall to measure everything out. I know my horizontal aiming is off and I'm hoping this will finally settle it.

-Matt

 

[OffTheWall503]

Got everything fine tweaked perfectly! Some useful numbers and pictures coming soon once I get home.

-Matt

 

[Roflwafflez]

Got everything fine tweaked perfectly! Some useful numbers and pictures coming soon once I get home.

-Matt

Woot woot, looking forward to it!

-Other Matt (lol)

 

[OffTheWall503]

Alright here we go!

Locations of adjustment

Horizontal adjustment: E7 male torx socket, wobbly adapter and 3" extension helps greatly. Drivers side is easily accessible with the items below, but passenger requires removal of the headlight for access. Double check your horizontal aim before attempting to adjust, it may not be needed.

Vertical adjustment: 7mm hex bit socket

Getting set

Car on a flat surface, 25 feet back from the wall, very tip of bumper is the front of the car

Before we go further, here are a few key measurements you need to know that will help you greatly with aiming.

Distance from projector to projector: 48" (center to center)

Middle point: 24" (dead center of the front bumper emblem)

With these points, we can determine that the emblem is the beginning point of our measurements. I lined my car up to the wall about 3 inches away, marked the center of the emblem on the wall, then measured exactly 24" outward left and right. This is the starting point for where you want to be horizontally. The goal is to get the step to begin at 24" to each side of the center, as seen below.

The next thing you want to take into account is the height. You will want to get up to the bumper (from the fenders) and measure from the ground to the center of the projector. My car is lowered with H&R Sport springs and has 16" wheels, so my height may vary from yours. However this is the starting point for determining the height from 25' back. The measurement on my car from the ground to the center of the projector was 28". Using this, we can determine that based on ECE projector pattern, you will want to lower it 3" from that when your car is 25' away from the wall, so the measurement we want (3" lower) would be 25" in my case. Now, it is the lower cutoff line that we use to determine that 25" height and not the upper cutoff line.

(ignore the 2.1-2.5, that number is for DOT projectors)

The ECE projectors are interesting because as you can see from the output, the cutoff curves. It comes in high from the left, gradually lowers to the low point of output where it meets the other projector and then the right cutoff meets and finishes much higher. I think I have figured out that the purpose of this pattern, and why a lot of people prefer European style headlights here in the states, is because they better light up the side of the road you're driving on (the right side). I have noticed after driving with these correctly aimed, that the output further lights the right sides of the road, so sidewalks, street signs and other focal points on YOUR side of the road are illuminated. Since the output starts at the low point on the drivers side, you are not blinding oncoming drivers. The same applies vice-versa if you are in Europe with a RHD car, where the pattern is flipped. I have also realized that these lights are designed to almost meet at long distances, so it tripped me out a bit in turns or on hills and seeing the steps so close. It is the point of the rise in the cutoff that we are focusing on and not where the steps are in relation to each other. This is partially why it took me so long to get the adjustments just right.

Here is a picture of my final output adjustments.

I wish I would've taken pictures of the output before adjustments, but mine were pretty far off. My left light was adjusted far outward because of my thoughts of the steps/cutoff above and only having 10-15 feet of driveway to base my measurements off of.

Some random shots afterwards.

 

[Roflwafflez]

Looks great! Also thanks for posting up the measurements. I'm sure it will greatly help myself and others with getting our headlights dialed in correctly.

-Matt

 

[brbauer2]

Looks great!

You said they were aimed outward, is there a left/right adjustment??

Sent from my OnePlus 3

 

[Roflwafflez]

So since I wasn't getting very good sleep, I decided to go ahead and attempt the XenonDepot LED install to see how it'd turn out. I have no installed pics because I didn't even get them back onto the car lol. Problems I ran into:

1) Dust boots are way too small to accommodate the copper heatsink. Their just simply is not enough room to fan them out correctly to work as intended. This could be remedied by purchasing much bigger (as in depth, not circumference) boots, however that might be problematic with install inside of the engine bay.

2) I now have a better understanding of what [MENTION=4498]OffTheWall503[/MENTION] experienced with his Morimoto 2Stroke LEDs with regard to weight of the LED bulbs and unseating. Every time I was able to snap the bulb into place, any minor adjustment I tried to make to fit the copper heatsink (or anytime I would try to move the dust boot into place for resealing) would unseat the bulb from the projector immediately. It was an endless cycle of snap the bulb in place, fix the heatsink, snap the bulb back into place, etc... Honestly, I feel that the three prongs that hold the H7 bulb in place are about as flimsy as they could be and I wouldn't be surprised if repeated install/uninstall of bulbs would snap one of them just from normal use lol.

For now, my conclusion on these LED bulbs for these headlights is a no go.

Since I had the headlights out at this point, I thought I might as well give the HIDs a go just to see if the super glued adapters would hold up...

Just as I applied some force to snap the bulb and adapter into the prongs on the projector housing, the adapter immediately came loose from the base. You can see in the image where the super glue dried. I'm not sure if it simply was not enough or if it was another issue, but they clearly did not adhere to one another very well. I'm going to stop by the store tomorrow to pick up some Acetone as mentioned a few pages back in the thread to remove the glue residue, then I'm also going to sand down the small bump on the bulb base so that next time they can sit completely flush with one another. I'm also considering ordering some of the adhesive you mentioned in your post [MENTION=4498]OffTheWall503[/MENTION] online as well. Of note, the second bulb installed into the housing without issue. No separation of the bulb/adapter on that one.

So long story short, tonight was a complete bust lol.

-Matt

 

[brbauer2]

You will run into issues with depth if going with a longer cap.

Sanding the nubs should absolutely fix the glue issue. Try to get each surface as flat as possible. Superglue does some amazing bonding with flat surfaces but can't fill gaps at all.