Just a general shout out: has anyone got any information on or seen examples of retrofitting HALOGEN projectors to their headlights? I know there's plenty of HID examples out there, but I'm not a fan of HIDs (looks or legality issues).

I'm thinking maybe one day trying to retrofit halogen projectors into 3rd gen headlights (stock magna ones that is; wouldn't waste a pair of paras on the attempt). Halogen projectors have been around for years before HID was popular, from the likes of Merc and Beema and so on. I'm guessing they wouldn't come under the same ADR as HID kits, so you wouldn't have the legal compliance troubles, right? I need good light for night driving, so paras may be out of the question as I hear their beam pattern is rubbish, but if I could convert the stock headlights to projector setup (say with Osram Nightbreakers in them) it might be a good compromise between practicality and looks.

I don't claim to be the first to have this idea, but I haven't been able to find any useful info on the net about it. The closest thing I've seen so far is TecoDaN's headlight job, but I can't figure out if it is HID or not, and there's no thread on it here. Spent a couple of hours googling as well.

Any ideas, anyone?

whatever mod you do will be illegal unless it has adr approval

ok, firstly don't bother modifying the standard 3rd gen headlights- mainly coz they're pretty damn good as they are. when people modify the headlights it's mainly the para's since they're so crap at lighting up what's in front of you, this is coz they're built not just for australia but to export as is. another reason is coz the glass for the headlights are designed specifically for standard halogens and if you fit a projector inside the beam will be way off.

secondly projectors aren't better than standard halogen headlights, they look good, and they throw an alright beam but the spread of the beam is where the difference is (well, this is from my personal experiences). the standard halogens will throw a beam that has a wide spread, whereas projectors throw the light in a bit of a narrow kind of way (if that makes sense..), you'd have to adjust how wide or narrow you want the beam to go and you'll have a sharp "cut-off" point of where the beam will go

finally, PM me about Dan's lights. he won't like me telling everyone about them.

A past member named Heathyoung retrofitted some projector lenses into the low beam reflector of the third gen parabolic headlight assembly. Looked and performed exceptionally well. Do a search for that.

have you tried just replacing the standard globe with the osram nightbreakers? You might see some improvements.

another reason is coz the glass for the headlights are designed specifically for standard halogens and if you fit a projector inside the beam will be way off.
Exactly, it'd be nearly impossible to get a projector properly outputting through the factory headlights. Unless I'm missing something in the picture in my mind, you'd only be able to use para's to properly achieve this. Having said that don't see why you would. Decent set of globes in the factory lights like Boozer suggested is going to be very nearly as effective for visibility.

whatever mod you do will be illegal unless it has adr approval

Really? So it comes under a different ADR too? Well actually, that kinda makes sense now that I think of it. Haven't had a chance to dig through all the ADR overviews though.


ok, firstly don't bother modifying the standard 3rd gen headlights- mainly coz they're pretty damn good as they are. when people modify the headlights it's mainly the para's since they're so crap at lighting up what's in front of you, this is coz they're built not just for australia but to export as is. another reason is coz the glass for the headlights are designed specifically for standard halogens and if you fit a projector inside the beam will be way off.

secondly projectors aren't better than standard halogen headlights, they look good, and they throw an alright beam but the spread of the beam is where the difference is (well, this is from my personal experiences). the standard halogens will throw a beam that has a wide spread, whereas projectors throw the light in a bit of a narrow kind of way (if that makes sense..), you'd have to adjust how wide or narrow you want the beam to go and you'll have a sharp "cut-off" point of where the beam will go

finally, PM me about Dan's lights. he won't like me telling everyone about them.

Yeah, I've heard the stock headlights are pretty good as-is. Was trying to find a good compromise I guess. As to beam pattern I figured if you could get similar results as HIDs + projectors with some decently powerful halogen bulbs (perhaps even overwattage? *playing with fire, I know*) it might be worth a try. Will need to think on the implications of that some more.


A past member named Heathyoung retrofitted some projector lenses into the low beam reflector of the third gen parabolic headlight assembly. Looked and performed exceptionally well. Do a search for that.

Thanks, found that yesterday too. Was looking for any info on halogens specifically, as I hear the lens assembly is designed specifically for either halogen or HID, so there are differences in the way it produces the beam pattern, etc.


Exactly, it'd be nearly impossible to get a projector properly outputting through the factory headlights. Unless I'm missing something in the picture in my mind, you'd only be able to use para's to properly achieve this. Having said that don't see why you would. Decent set of globes in the factory lights like Boozer suggested is going to be very nearly as effective for visibility.

I get your point, but there are some examples of people defluting their lenses as well, which I neglected to mention (*wait - the lenses on the stock headlights are plastic, not glass, right?*)

And I guess your all going to call FAIL when I tell you that I don't actually have a 3rd gen yet anyway :facepalm Probably in the next 2 months though :pray:

Standard 3rd gen headlights are glass- which is one reason as to why they're so good. Since you haven't got a 3rd gen yet, just wait till you drive it at night, the lights are pretty decent. If you want more light, look in to the higher output globes like the others have said.

Unless you're really keen on doing this mod, my suggestion is to get para's and modify them.

Right, thanks hojo. Well, defluting glass is too difficult for my liking. I was planning on doing the para install once I get my 3rd gen, but now that we'll be moving to Wonthaggi as well I'm going to need good light for country roads. Paras are probably out now. Sounds like this mod may be more trouble than I anticipated, so I'll probably ditch the idea as well. We'll see.

although i have a TL, i had previously upgraded my globes from standards to Osram night breakers, there is a clear and distinct difference between the 2. I've just installed philips xtreme globes in the car a moment ago, yet to take it out at night, so will give you the verdict of which one would be better (whiter, brighter,etc)... at this stage, i got a feeling that the Osram is the better one, its a slightly whiter lighter light compared to the xtreme

ok finished work at 8 and was on my way, i don't think there is any difference at all between the 2, not that the eye can see, with the only difference between the 2 product label being 10% brighter than the other (osram night breaker being 90% brighter than standard and philips xtreme being 80% brighter than standard), so whichever is cheapest go for it... both made in germany anyway so you won't have much in the way of questionable quality

Right, thanks. Have been planning on getting Nightbreakers ever since we got some cheap blue ebay bulbs for our TS and hated it. Can anyone confirm that the Narva BluePower bulbs are indeed rebranded Osrams? Seems to be the case, but I'd rather be sure.

Right, thanks hojo. Well, defluting glass is too difficult for my liking. I was planning on doing the para install once I get my 3rd gen, but now that we'll be moving to Wonthaggi as well I'm going to need good light for country roads. Paras are probably out now. Sounds like this mod may be more trouble than I anticipated, so I'll probably ditch the idea as well. We'll see.

From experience, with a decent set of aftermarket bulbs, ie; narva/phillips you really dont need to upgrade to hids unless you want that type of light. Crystal Visions are a decent set to upgrade to from experience

From experience, with a decent set of aftermarket bulbs, ie; narva/phillips you really dont need to upgrade to hids unless you want that type of light. Crystal Visions are a decent set to upgrade to from experience
What experience is that mate?

I went from Philips +50s to 35w HIDs in my paras and they made a fair improvement to the high beams. Although as with most aftermarket HID installs, they're far from perfect, so I can understand why people are apprehensive about them.

On the other hand, my dad has a good set of Hella driving lights on his Territory. He originally had them installed with Philips +80 bulbs. He replaced them with 55w 6000k HIDs. The difference was simply phenomenal. Distance didn't really improve (still about 500m with good spread :D) but that distance is now lit up like daytime - night time highway driving is amazing. No issues with cut-off, scatter or glare either.

To the OP, as you've been made aware, the stock (non-parabolic) Magna headlights are actually pretty decent. There's been discussion on the forums that Magna headlight wiring is subject to reasonable voltage drops (about 1.5v, which translates to around a 1/4th drop in light output) . If you didn't want to go HIDs (which I understand), I'd upgrade the wiring and put Philips +80 or Nightbreakers in.

What experience is that mate?

I went from Philips +50s to 35w HIDs in my paras and they made a fair improvement to the high beams. Although as with most aftermarket HID installs, they're far from perfect, so I can understand why people are apprehensive about them.

On the other hand, my dad has a good set of Hella driving lights on his Territory. He originally had them installed with Philips +80 bulbs. He replaced them with 55w 6000k HIDs. The difference was simply phenomenal. Distance didn't really improve (still about 500m with good spread :D) but that distance is now lit up like daytime - night time highway driving is amazing. No issues with cut-off, scatter or glare either.

To the OP, as you've been made aware, the stock (non-parabolic) Magna headlights are actually pretty decent. There's been discussion on the forums that Magna headlight wiring is subject to reasonable voltage drops (about 1.5v, which translates to around a 1/4th drop in light output) . If you didn't want to go HIDs (which I understand), I'd upgrade the wiring and put Philips +80 or Nightbreakers in.

Hey mate. Which HID kit are you using? I want to start using some too, but am worried the bulbs will touch the bulb covers we have in the parra's. Maybe its my turn to have a look at your car. ;)

What experience is that mate?

I went from Philips +50s to 35w HIDs in my paras and they made a fair improvement to the high beams. Although as with most aftermarket HID installs, they're far from perfect, so I can understand why people are apprehensive about them.

On the other hand, my dad has a good set of Hella driving lights on his Territory. He originally had them installed with Philips +80 bulbs. He replaced them with 55w 6000k HIDs. The difference was simply phenomenal. Distance didn't really improve (still about 500m with good spread :D) but that distance is now lit up like daytime - night time highway driving is amazing. No issues with cut-off, scatter or glare either.

To the OP, as you've been made aware, the stock (non-parabolic) Magna headlights are actually pretty decent. There's been discussion on the forums that Magna headlight wiring is subject to reasonable voltage drops (about 1.5v, which translates to around a 1/4th drop in light output) . If you didn't want to go HIDs (which I understand), I'd upgrade the wiring and put Philips +80 or Nightbreakers in.

HID's in driving lights are a different kettle of fish to retrofitted HID's in headlights.

100% HIDS for 4WD use are what's the norm now if you want the BRIGHTEST and BEST light output, no doubts halogens are falling behind here, But whacking a HID globe in a magna headlight just does not work properly.
Osram nightbreakers - much much more outlightput (comparable to 100w globes with a test I did at work) and at $30, you can't go wrong.