A bit of an update on the HID retrofit project I have been working on for the verada/sports style (multi-parabola) headlight.

I consulted an Authorised RTA NSW Engineering Signatory on the legality of retrofitting Xenon High Intensity Discharge projectors from a 2001 Audi TT onto a 2001 TJ Magna.
Interestingly enough, some of the 'myths' on ADR compliance were displelled...

1) The HID retrofit DOES NOT require auto-levelling
2) The HID retrofit DOES NOT require headlamp washers

These two things now make a retrofit far more possible to do.

The only thing is that I now need to fit Verada parking lights into the bumper as there are no parkers in the headlight (cannot just fit a bulb, as it is not in an approved reflector)

I have trial fitted the audi TT projector in a single headlamp, there are a few cosmetic issues at the moment (need to fabricate bezels etc for it), but it fits fairly well into the housing with good (downwards) adjustment, and the original rubber seals fit (with minor modification) around the P32 high voltage plug perfectly.

I may have to redesign the headlight a little, because there is no upwards adjustment (GRRRR!) due to the very poor design of the headlights.

Beam pattern is *unbefreakinglievable* - it makes the standard sports headlights look like candles!

The down-road illumination is brilliant, suddenly you can now see items at the side of the road, and road lines and signs practically GLOW! There is less glare for oncoming drivers, and a razor sharp cutoff line (usual with projectors).

I will be posting some pictures of the headlights in development tomorrow, and expect to have some down-the-road beam pics soon as well.

Cheers
Heath Young

are you going to me making these for us?

how much are they to convert ?

please keep us up to date, I know what you mean by the whole road just lights up, I drove my work car home one day, it was an Opel Omega 2002, it had the brightess White projector lights i've seen, when the lights are on, grass on the side of the road looks almost white with a tinge of blue instead of green, Street signs start reflecting as soon as the angle of the beam hits it, so from far away, signs reflect very well. I don't know about glare though, I would think that it would put a few ppl off course. Please don't forget, this is not modified, it is a stock Opel Omega 02.

>are you going to be making these for us?

If I can get the setup worked out to my satisfaction, and that of the engineer, then yes, I may be able to do a few of these for other people - you will, however have to fit them, and also fit the parkers as well.

I have found a nice set of parkers that should easily mount in the bumperbar of an executive to make the conversion legal - they are ADR 49/00 compliant, and they are also white LED - you will never have to change a bulb again!

>how much are they to convert ?

Take a deep breath :) They would be (for an exchange basis retrofit) roughly $1500-$2K to do.

It sounds painful, but when you consider the difficulties in obtaining the projectors (they are off a reasonably rare car, for starters) - and the headlights to buy (ie. TT from dealers) is roughly $1000 PER SIDE - add to that Ballasts, Bulbs, aluminium plate, perspex, chrome shrouds, not to mention the labour (removing front glass, fabricating adaptors, assembly etc) this really is a reasonable price - the headlights are very small.

I will be getting a better idea of how this will cost/go when I have completed the retrofit, and have it approved :)

Cheers
Heath Young

Here are some photos - unfortunatly, no beam pics yet, but they are coming tomorrow hopefully if I get a chance.

As you can see from the photos below - rear clearance is not an issue! Same as stock, so nothing behind the headlight needs moving, and full waterproofing at the rear is also maintained!

Changing bulbs is easy, but chances are, with a 2000 hour life, you may never need to! (But the ability to change the bulbe easily is an ADR requirement)

Also attached is a photo of the ADR approved parker - Hella model 2055 - uses white LED's - very cool :) Has to be mounted into the bumper though.

Cheers
Heath Young

What exactly are these?

What exactly are these?the flash arse lights you see on the expensive Euro cars... ultrabright high definition things... pretty damn good but also bloody expensive!

>What are these?

OK - I probably should have explained a bit better...

Xenon High Intensity Discharge is a type of bulb that uses a high voltage arc through a pressurised gas to produce light, rather than a metal filament. The technical name for this type of bulb is a short-arc xenon.

The arc is initiated by a high voltage pulse (15-30,000 v) and kept stable (both voltage and current wise) at 35W once initiated.

Xenon High intensity discharge bulbs are fitted to high-end luxury cars (this particular set was fitted to a 2001 Audi TT), and provide a brilliant, blue/white light that is three times as bright as the brightest halogen lights.

Retrofitting xenon projectors is the ONLY legal way of getting Xenon headlights onto a vehicle! There are 'conversion kits' that allow you to place a HID bulb into the low beam reflector, but you run into a major snag - the return wire hits on the glare shield, if you remove the glare shield, then you blind oncoming traffic - not to mention the horrible beam pattern.

The current ricey blue/green etc. coated halogen bulbs (e.g hyperwhite, HID look etc) try to mimic this light (and fail dismally) - there is no possible way for a halogen to have the same colour and brightness and lifetime (2000 hours) - the technology just isn't there, and never will get there.

This is as far as I know, an Australian first, and as far as I can ascertain, a world first - The first Magna/Diamante with true HID headlights :) Mainly because the headlight is a PITA to work with (cramped, offset, bad design etc).

Cheers
Heath Young

w00t

Maybe, you could even wire up a light or an LED inside of the headlight assembly for the parkers? As long as it's positioned good. I mean it can go at the corner, in between the lights, etc and it wouldnt be too hard.

Just a thought though.

Otherwise, that looks SICK!

I always like looking at HID light globes which change from redish to greenish, blueish etc :D

Maybe, you could even wire up a light or an LED inside of the headlight assembly for the parkers? As long as it's positioned good. I mean it can go at the corner, in between the lights, etc and it wouldnt be too hard.
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I would love if it were that simple, unfortunatly, the parkers have to be (for ADR compliance of the conversion)

350mm min from ground to centre of light emitting surface
400mm max from edge of vehicle to centre of light emitting surface
Mounted in ADR 49/00 Compliant housings

Add to this the requirement that for ADR compliance the correct bulb base, style and wattage for which the housing was approved MUST be used.

This means no high wattage bulbs (yet) - I think a 100W high beam will be neccesary to match the low beams :)

>Just a thought though.

Thanks, I spent an hour talking to the engineer on alternatives (like using LED's, placing the parker in the high beam headligh reflector, using a 5w bulb in the foglights, using a bulb in with the blinkers - all illegal unfortunatly)

>Otherwise, that looks SICK!

Doesn't it! :) Wait until I have the shroud completed around the projector so that you cannot see the mountings - it will be made from mirrored perspex, so it should look stock (still deciding whether to leave the projector unpainted, or painted black)

>I always like looking at HID light globes which change from redish to >greenish, blueish etc

Hehe - Called chromatic abberation (sp?) - a prismatic effect. The projector used on the conversion has a yellow/red cutoff, rather than some of the extremely blue cutoffs on the BMW E39 projectors.

It is possible to get a blue cutoff band, but this involves modifying the projector shield, something that would defocuss the cutoff band slightly, and would void the ADR compliance (hence why it isn't going to happen)

Cheers
Heath Young

I have modified the design again, the projector is mounted 5mm downwards, allowing upwards adjustment if necessary, and also reducing the amount of light going through the textured glass (upwards), thus removing any glare for oncoming drivers. The upwards adjustment is necessary to comply with ADR's, the projector must have the same amount of adjustment (10 degrees up/down) as the original reflector.

As it stands at the moment, there is next to no glare for oncoming drivers except for a slight deliberate amount, used for lighting overhead signs etc. This is created by the 'bar' across the lens - it may be removed, but then the headlights wouldn't be ADR compliant (cannot modify).

I have attached some photos of the progress...

Front Headlight Picture - This is the modified headlight with a mock-up bezel made from cardboard and foil (finally a use for something you learn in preschool) - it still looks pretty good, and covers up the base of the projector (and removes all of the problems with light leaks (which cause glare).

The final version of the bezel will be made from 3mm Mirror coated Acrylic plastic, so imagine the foil replaced with a mirror - should look almost factory. The beam photos were taken with the foil/cardboard bezel in place, there is no oncoming glare or odd light leaks, so it may be considered a success.

How to finish of the projector lens is also something that needs to be considered - there are a few options here - leave it as it is, paint it (black?), cover it with a chrome bezel.

The chrome bezel is probably the most factory-looking, I have found something ideal - a 3" rolled edge muffler tip, shortened to fit. The only worry is that it reduces vertical clearance, and, being made of 2mm steel(!) it makes the front of the projector heavy, increasing the chances of vibration on bad roads - and increasing the force on the pivot point - bad.

Beam pic on wall - shows the sharp cutoff normal in projector setups (compare with the reflector HID setup I had prior), and the slight colouration at cutoff. The photo was taken with the projector very close to the wall, to close for the lens to be properly focussed, hence why the cutoff in the 'street' photo is much sharper, and the cutoff far more colourful.

Street Beam Photo - as you may have guessed, this is a photo out of my driveway. It was taken at night, and the digital camera I use has bad focus in low-light shots - hence why it is a little blurry.

The sharp cutoff and colouration (red/yellow) are clearly evident, as is the unbelievable brightness produced by these projectors - this is a single projector ONLY - with the headlight assembled, and a grubby lens - it had my fingerprints both inside and out! :P

I will update this thread with more photos as the design progresses...

Looking great, dude. Can't wait to see a night time pic when you have both sides done.

btw.. you know way too much about headlights ;)

Looking great, dude. Can't wait to see a night time pic when you have both sides done.

btw.. you know way too much about headlights ;)

so much so I think he is a regular contributer to autospeed, am I correct Heath?, I remember reading some artical on autospeed and yourname was mentioned.

I havn't really contributed (as in paid contributions) - last time I had anything up there was on a turbo anti-lag system, but that was a few years ago (1999 iirc).

More likely to be on aus.cars - whom I will have to blow a collective rasberry to in regards to the legality of hid lighting :)

Cheers
Heath Young

More likely to be on aus.cars - whom I will have to blow a collective rasberry to in regards to the legality of hid lighting :)

Cheers
Heath Young

lol :lol: ahahhaha Rasberry havn't heard that one for a while :lol: