ES3_Ray

im not sure what you guys are talking about, but doing the retofit isnt that bad. just take your measurements and it'll come out close enough to use the factory adjustments to tweak them.

maybe i just havent run into a difficult retrofit yet.

Benbendx

iTrader: (1)

Sorry but I hadly know anything but I love the hid optics for my 2000 es300.

charley240

iTrader: (6)

ill post some pics of mine and youll realize that the setup was slightly more complicated than most. i really had to squeeze everything into my setup, and constantly adjust.
charley

ES3_Ray

did you do the projector retrofit to the factory hids? i was wondering how that'd turn out.

charley240

iTrader: (6)

yes i did, with e46r shrouds.
charley
finals are almost done, so i should be posting a new thread with it soon.
Charley

GoodRevs

Ouch, you chopped up HID housings for your retrofit? Any reason why instead of using the halogen housings?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

I'd be inclined to say, because it probably looks a hell of a lot nicer! Than the halogen housings - and everyone does it on those.

This looks awesome:

Benbendx

iTrader: (1)

I'm wondering why they stop making it after the 2nd gen. Did something go wrong?

JTS06Z06

That looks nice on that black one above with the HID housings. My 00 ES300 has factory HID with the autolevelling system. As much as I love the beam pattern of projectors I think im going to just leave it as is. I am used to OEM high end HID projector equipped cars like my 07 TL-S with bi-Xenon and I will say I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the output is of my OEM HID's in my 00 ES300. The autolevelling feature is kinda cool to.

I have done several retrofits in other cars I will agree with the majority it is a LOT of work and to do it perfectly requires a lot of time and patience.

James

Benbendx

iTrader: (1)

I wish there was a way someone can teach me how to do it, one bad thing is that I do not have a garage to store my car while I do a project like that.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^^ You don't really need a garage.

A buddy did a SL500 IIRC, bi-xenon setup on his Lancer, purely because he had a ton of projectors lying around, he has the time, and the patience to do it.

It took him a whole 3 hours to complete... The ES300, he tells me would be even easier since the lamp is simple and easy to work with in terms of room.

I might be getting a 3series retrofit done... not sure yet.

Benbendx

iTrader: (1)

Post some pictures up when your done ^_^. I'm still looking for a place that can do it for me xD

DixonPai

iTrader: (3)

DO IT i have finally got around completely readjusting mines correctly, and my width of visibility s so much better

JTS06Z06

3 hours is a bit rediculous especially if you want it done right and finished so it actually looks good. Most newer cars require the front bumper has to be removed to get the headlights out and that takes time. When I swapped in the clear lenses in my 07 TL-S just taking the front bumper off and being able to access the headlights took 3 hours alone. There is no way a projector retrofit can be done in a few hours. If you have absolutely every part you need to finish the job on hand I say at minimum all day from start to finish and thats if everything goes smoothly. Lots of cutting, drilling, dremeling, sanding, aiming, assembling, disassembling, more aiming, re-assembling, test fitting etc etc etc.

charley240

iTrader: (6)

01LEXPL,

If youre going to use up all that time to do a retro, id suggest not doing any of the e39/46/55 projector setups. They are extremely weak compared to other stock hid projectors. cutoff is fuzzy, lighting width is short, light loss with open projector is significantly high as well. anyways, goodluck.

for the other guy asking about how to do a retro setup, go to hidplanet.com.


Charley