# HID how to (dial up = bad)



## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Ok, 
I can't believe I got this setup to work. I'll tell most of the story but not all since
1) I don't want to type it and 
2) you don't want to read it.
I'm going to leave out alot of the headache. Between each step was a mistake or screw up or wrong part or broken wire, etc. Anyone who has done custom that hasn't been done before knows what I'm talking about.
OK, so from e-bay and car-part.com I got me some 5 series headlamps that are HID and with the angel eye rings. (of course one wasn't an HID and just an H7 so I had to get a BMW x5 headlamp that was HID since they use the same projector) As I soon found out the rings are a perfect fit for B14 housings, except the system to light them up cannot be installed without some major plumbing. So much for that Idea.










Anyway, taking them apart is sorta like taking apart our headlamps. Put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 175 and pull, then put back in and pull again. A screwdriver helps for leverage.
















Here's the guts of it which I have to remove. I can't use any of the chrome colored shielding since it won't fit or line up properly. There goes another nice idea.


















Thats the VW/audi bulb and ballast connected to my bmw projector. It fits, somewhat snugly, but fits. It was a pain to actually get in the front of the car though.

OK,
Drill out a huge ass hole in the old headlamp once you remove the old low reflector and the mounting screws for it. Then drill some more. 








Don't put the projector on the inside. It won't fit.








Do put it in from the outside. Make sure that everything is levelled since you want that cut off line to be horizontal. You also want the projector to fit snugly so it won't shift. It has three prongs which hold the lens to the reflector. Drill out provisions for these so they hold the lens at the correct orientation.
















Here you see the difference between the old and the new:









Once thats done seal it all back up without the projector inside. Then put it in afterwards.









Put the unit back in the car and then put the projector inside the unit. 








You do it in this order so you can vertically aim the light. It is already horizontally aimed from before when you cut out the shape of the hole to hold the projector level. A bubble level helped here and guessing that the unit sits perfectly flat in the car which it does.
It doesn't clear the coolant bottle which means I'm going to have to move it back about two inches. I hope it clears the battery when I do the drivers side next weekend or I'm going to have to buy a trunk relocation kit .

See, it works:









(don't ask how many wires I had to figure out to get that to go. Yes it runs off the light stalk inside the car and uses the 'seths adapter' for the halos too)








now for it off:









Here's what the old headlight (OEM) looks like next to the HID unit. Obviously the camera had some trouble and I didn't use a tripod so bear with me. But you can see the color and size difference.









The old beam:








The new beam:










Ta daa:










Seth


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

so i take it u just bought the low beam?

looks nice, but those lenses seemed like a bitch to install


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

What do you mean by low beam?
I had the highs as well (from the 540i and X5), but figuring out how to install them and line them up seemed a futile excersize considering my driving lamps outpower them anyway.

Seth


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## Token Moron (Mar 28, 2003)

sethwas said:


> *What do you mean by low beam?
> *



from what i see, u only had the low beams in the install, outer lamps, from what i can see, you are still using H3 for your high beam.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Right.
I didn't mess with the high beams. I probably should have maybe I'll see what I can do with the other side, I'll see if its even possible.

Seth


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## whiteb14 (Jul 7, 2002)

great job seth! have u finished the passenger side head light yet?


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Nope,
Thats for next weekend. Law school sorta takes out my during the week time.

Seth


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## UNISH25 (Aug 12, 2002)

Deleted post


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## sno (Oct 4, 2002)

looks good.


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## LIUSPEED (May 29, 2002)

sethwas it great !

u gotta tell me how to do the retro fitting for the low and hi beam usin the A6 d2s


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Well,
About the High beam. It uses what looks like a H7 bulb but I'm not sure. Even if I did figure out how to mount that reflector I don't know how to wire the bulb to it since I don't have the corect 'adapter' to solder the bulb connector to.

Liu,
Show me a pic (preferably with a ruler so I get an idea of size since Audi makes the smallest HID projectors) of the unit so I can see if how I put my unit inside is the same for your unit.
(uh...huh-huh.....beavis he said unit...huh-huh)

Seth


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## LIUSPEED (May 29, 2002)

ill get pix soon.

i think mine looks like yours.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Woh,
Definately much shorter. The lens is more 'fisheye' and the support prongs are really short. I wonder how 'fat' the reflector is. You couldn't put that behind the halo unit because the lens wouldn't stick out far enough to go inside the little |OO|. You probably will have to mount the whole unit inside the halo. It can be done, just its more difficult since you need to rig some sort of aiming and holding mechanism.
You may be able to attach it to the inner plastic 'rings' that surround the old reflector units. This is the piece that is either chrome or black or gunmetal.
Seth


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## LIUSPEED (May 29, 2002)

hmm.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Well,
Here's my first solution. (I'll draw it ans scan it in later).
Basically take out the inside trim piece, the one that is either chrome or black. Over the low beam hole, from the inside, gue in a thick piece of plastic (about as thick as a DVD or 2). Cover the hole. Now trace out the shape of your projector and grind out that shape. Now the projector will fit inside properly and be vertically aimable. Also you can paint this plastic sheet so that it will 'blend' niceley from looking at it from the frint of the car.
Now all you have to do is grind out the back of the headlight so that the bulbous reflector will clear it and so that you can access the bulb and be able to tilt the projector once its inside.

Seth


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## krylonkoopaa (Sep 13, 2002)

soyou still use the halo adapter. for the hoigh beams right or the whole light didnt feel like doing much wiring?


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Yeah,
I still use the adapter. I run the ballast of the old low beam feed from inside the headlight unit. It was simly a matter of pulling those wires out. Then the highs are the old highs which is funny because it tuns off the super bright HID to go to the 'muscle inclined' high beams.

Seth


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

Here,
I hope you get the gist:










(remember this isn't what I did for mine, but it will work for yours.)

Seth


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## Ninety-Nine SE-L (May 5, 2002)

nice job seth.


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

OK,
I put the other side in. I 'knew' what I was doing this time so I flew through the install. 
Well, my first problem was that I mounted the projector about a half an inch lower than the other side. This is only a problem cosmetically. From a lighting side its identical, just now it looks 'correct' whereas the one I did last weekend now looks 'high'.
Also due to my choice in ballast the bulb mount touches the battery. It isn't a problem with aiming, just the battery slides around slightly, so it may 'bump' into the unit.
For this unit I drilled some holes and used some machine screws as 'aimers'. They actually work in holding the projector at a certain level, but ot adjust them yo have to remove the headlight fromt he car which is a pain. I still haven't gotten them to line up correctly.
I'll do it tonght or tomorrow because I want to shave off some material in the headlight to get the projector to sit more flush, and so the beam is ever so slightly more level. its off by just a hair. 
(all this mess is from my frame damage from a year or so ago. Otherwise there wouldn't be a clearance or aiming issue.)

Seth


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## sethwas (Apr 30, 2002)

For more information on the concept please look at:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/deepak/cars/hidfaq.htm


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