[toucam]

Greetings,

I’ve been lurking this forum for a while and thought I would show the difference between a H7 HID KIT and a proper retrofit of OEM stuff:

The pictures say for itself but I can easily say that retrofitting headlight is definitely the best thing one can do to his car! Vehicle is i30CW imported from Korea, country is Vietnam (LHD)

I’ve never seen OEM projectors retrofitted on an i30CW before at least in Vietnam

The stuff: Infiniti OEM FX35 Projector + FX-R clear lenses + Philips 85122+ Morimoto ballasts 35W 




H7 HID KIT vs OEM FX35







Low beam & High beam



The difference is breathtaking, I could not believe it on my first drive with the new projectors, the FX35s are known for width and evenly distribution of light in front of the car with just the right amount of foreground light. I can "really" see where I'm going now
Anyone who is still on the fence of doing a retrofit should not hesitate for a second longer, go for it by all means!

[meehalych]

toucam
I believe this type of light is forbidden in Russia, although it is fantastic, but it seems to blind the oncoming drivers.

OFF:  Are you from Vietnam? I have 12 friends there

[toucam]

Nope, the ones that blind oncoming traffic are those rubbish, cheap HID KITs fitted without any kind of projectors. What I have is no difference from an Infiniti FX35 and better than those of Mercedes and Audi, you can look straight into the headlight with no glare whatsoever!

Looking good  what a difference 

[baroudeur]

The U.K. MoT test from 2012 will include checking  HID headlamps for self levelling/washers. It may be that only type approved O.E. systems will pass.

[Dazzler]

That is amazing toucam  Are they expensive? would it be hard to talk us through what is involved in the changeover? 

[Phil №❶]

Unless they're fitted with self levelling devices & the car maker offers them as optional equipment, they are illegal in Australia.

Although the projectors may assist in glare reduction, my experience is when a car is on an undulating surface, momentarily you can get a whack right in the eyes. Human eyes take time to recover from this "glare" and at speed, that can add up to a long distance virtually blind. I love the lights & would fit them in a flash (no pun intended) but I think they're dangerous.

[toucam]

Unless they're fitted with self levelling devices & the car maker offers them as optional equipment, they are illegal in Australia.

Although the projectors may assist in glare reduction, my experience is when a car is on an undulating surface, momentarily you can get a whack right in the eyes. Human eyes take time to recover from this "glare" and at speed, that can add up to a long distance virtually blind. I love the lights & would fit them in a flash (no pun intended) but I think they're dangerous.

I have been blinded countless time by cars fitted with OEM equipment with auto levelling when they go over bumps. I suppose it helps to a certain extent and it's there to be in compliance with regulations. OEM projectors designed for xenon (at least for D2s bulbs) is so so much better than the OEM projectors designed for halogen (i30 case in point).  As you can see with OEM xenon projectors, there is zero glare above the cut-off point, it's a different story with those projectors fitted on i30, there is glare even with H7 halogen bulbs especially H7 Osram Night Breaker Plus and other types of aftermarket H7 halogen which many members here have fitted on their cars. It's also a lot safer to drive at night because you can see so much better in terms of width and distance.

What dangerous to me is HID KIT in projectors designed for halogen, HID bulbs with halogen reflectors and 5000K, 6000K HID fog light with no control of beam pattern whatsoever. 

[Phil №❶]

Don't get me wrong, I think they're great, simply illegal here though. 

[toucam]

That is amazing toucam  Are they expensive? would it be hard to talk us through what is involved in the changeover? 

Thanks Dazzler!

I ordered all my stuff from theretrofitsource, a well-known US-based company specialises in mostly OEM lighting equipment.

If I remember correctly, here is the breakdown:

FX35 Projectors + FX-R clear lenses: $190
Philips 85122+ D2S bulbs: $90
Morimoto 35W ballasts: $110
Relay wire: $30

For the i30, there is no need to get shrouds so it's a saving of $40 

The FX35 was a little bit larger than expected so there was a fair amount of hacking and trimming to get it fitted, I had a retrofitter do it for me. For the i30 I would recommend FX35 if you are willing to hack things up, otherwise a pair of LR3 made by Koito (taken from Land Rover LR3, hence the name) is simpler and does not require much of cutting.

However, retrofitting on i30 is usually more complicated because it is already equipped with projectors which are much smaller than the FX35 (and OEM ones in general) and the retrofitter had to make modifications to mount it on the existing frame, good thing is I can still make adjustment vertically and horizontally.

[toucam]

Don't get me wrong, I think they're great, simply illegal here though. 

True, I think in Europe and the States it's most definitely that auto-levelling is required for headlights with xenon.

[Phil №❶]

What age / type of vehicle do you have, a lot of people would be worried about voiding their warranty. Did you void yours. 

[Dazzler]

So about US$420 + a bit of labour ... So it's not plug and play then 

Still would be nice to have though! 

847563 .. it would only void related warranty items and only if they could prove it was related...

Obviously if it burnt out the electrical system or caused alternator problems or something you would be in trouble.

[Phil №❶]

dazzler

I get a little nervous when the word hacking is used, but I see your point. 

[toucam]

What age / type of vehicle do you have, a lot of people would be worried about voiding their warranty. Did you void yours. 

Mine is a Korean made - year 2009, we only have one trim level which is i30 CW  no SX, Comfort or anything like that! My warranty ran out, it was only 1 year in Vietnam anyway!

[toucam]

So about US$420 + a bit of labour ... So it's not plug and play then 

Still would be nice to have though! 

847563 .. it would only void related warranty items and only if they could prove it was related...

Obviously if it burnt out the electrical system or caused alternator problems or something you would be in trouble.

I was bit concerned about the electrical system as well but for all xenon systems, power will be fed directly from the battery via a relay harness wire bypassing all stock wiring so it's very safe! 



FX35 on the left and LR3 on the right but unfortunately this is not a plug and play job!

[toucam]

For those who are interested, theretrofitsource is doing a sale, some of the items are a steal.

Head over their forum under "Members: For Sale", you will find projectors going for $50 a pair including clear lenses, those lenses alone cost about $40 already! Browse around and you can get projectors, bulbs, ballast all brandnew for about $200.

[Dazzler]

Thanks toucam. If I still had our CRDi I would probably take the risk of conversion but the Wife has our only i30 now (a CW) and she hardly drives at night (and only does about 6000kms a year in total)

But I am sure others will be tempted 

[toucam]

Thanks toucam. If I still had our CRDi I would probably take the risk of conversion but the Wife has our only i30 now (a CW) and she hardly drives at night (and only does about 6000kms a year in total)

But I am sure others will be tempted 

Dazzler, is that a Camry I see in your sig?  They have halogen projectors if I am not mistaken? Would you be tempted?

[Dazzler]

Thanks toucam. If I still had our CRDi I would probably take the risk of conversion but the Wife has our only i30 now (a CW) and she hardly drives at night (and only does about 6000kms a year in total)

But I am sure others will be tempted 

Dazzler, is that a Camry I see in your sig?  They have halogen projectors if I am not mistaken? Would you be tempted?

It is a Hybrid Camry and yes it does have projectors but they are pretty good already (a lot better than the i30 lights) so I doubt I would bother...If I blow a globe I will probably go to +50's or something but like I said they are fairly bright with a good throw already 

[toucam]

Thanks toucam. If I still had our CRDi I would probably take the risk of conversion but the Wife has our only i30 now (a CW) and she hardly drives at night (and only does about 6000kms a year in total)

But I am sure others will be tempted 

Dazzler, is that a Camry I see in your sig?  They have halogen projectors if I am not mistaken? Would you be tempted?

It is a Hybrid Camry and yes it does have projectors but they are pretty good already (a lot better than the i30 lights) so I doubt I would bother...If I blow a globe I will probably go to +50's or something but like I said they are fairly bright with a good throw already 

I said that because here in Hanoi we have lots of Camry imported from the States and the output is terrible, they are like candle! However the domestic ones equipped with xenon throw pretty good light.

[Dazzler]

I said that because here in Hanoi we have lots of Camry imported from the States and the output is terrible, they are like candle! However the domestic ones equipped with xenon throw pretty good light.

Ours aren't Xenon but I would say the brightness and throw would be at least 50% better than the i30 (Like the i30 with high performance globes in) 

[Reaper]

This looks very good, great work there