Questions about an HID Retrofit

[darksparkz]

I've read through many threads both at HIDPlanet and a few HID threads here.

I have purchased Philips LVQ212 ballasts and Phillips 85122+ burners. The car would be an 07 Camry SE with stock halogen projectors.

I am either considering to do the retrofit now, or just mod my stock projectors to fit the D2S bulbs.

If I do decide to do a retrofit, I would have no idea how. From my understanding, a retrofit is removing my stock projector by dremeling it off and using an HID projector, ie s2k or TSX, and putting it in. I don't quite know how I would make the new projector fit, via just epoxy or some type of mounting screws? I have absolutely no idea in terms of a retrofit knowledge, that's probably one of the reasons why I'm debating wheter to retrofit or not.

If I do retrofit, what would be a good projector to choose from. I've found that the sizes of the stock projector is a length of 5.75", width of 4", height of 4.25", and diameter of the lenses is 2.25". S2K projectors can go for upwards of $300, while TSX ones are only around $120 or so. Is there a huge difference between the two? Any other recommendations, would TL projectors fit?

Thanks for all the help, this would be a fairly confusing mod for me to do by myself, but I want to do it right.

[white3ch0c0late]

You wouldn't be dremelling off the old projectors. You would be opening up your headlamps, and I'm sure the old projector is simply held on by a few screws. Once you take that out, you need to find a way to make an HID projector fit... generally, you would drill holes either in the housing or in the reflectors (which in this case you don't have), and mount the projector with screws.

There is no clear-cut way to do a retrofit-- every retrofit is unique and custom. I might have the same projector/bulb setup as another person, but I can guarantee you that the ways that we mounted our projectors are very different.

[Epsilon]

S2K projectors FTW!

[thapranksta]

Anything can fit. You just have to find a way. Some are just easier to fit than others. There's a guy on here that put TL projectors in a Gen 5. He had to remove some of the bottom of the reflector but (I think) it all worked out at the end.

And as Epsilon said, the S2K is a stronger projector than the TSX and it has a sharper cutoff line. The S2K is one of the hardest projectors to retro. The TSX is one of the easiest projectors to retro. The S2K is significantly costlier than the TSX. At the end, it is up to you.

[Epsilon]

The TL Bi-xenon projector is known for its great output both low beam and high beam wise. But that output can be bettered 10 folds by swapping the factory lens used for the projector with a pair of clear lenses from the ZKW bi-xenon projectors. The ZKW units are very rare because they are only found in one car, the 04 BMW 330XI. Due to this rarity the units run from $350 to $450 depending on the condition of the projectors. The result is output is crisp and clear, The cut off line gets razor sharp, and you get crazy blue color on top of the cut off line.

[TitaniumSE]

^ I don't see the pics..haha.

[darksparkz]

Hm, I don't think I'll be doing the s2k projectors due to the high prices on them.

I know TSX is considered to be one of the best bang for buck projectors to get. Any opinons on TL ones or E46s?

I don't think a bi-xenon projector would work correctly for me, due to the 07 Camry has seperate high beams and low beams, 9005 for highs and H11 for lows.

[white3ch0c0late]

Originally Posted by darksparkz

Hm, I don't think I'll be doing the s2k projectors due to the high prices on them.

I know TSX is considered to be one of the best bang for buck projectors to get. Any opinons on TL ones or E46s?

I don't think a bi-xenon projector would work correctly for me, due to the 07 Camry has seperate high beams and low beams, 9005 for highs and H11 for lows.

Well, TLs are bi-xenon. I think they might be a bit too big for the Gen 6 housing.

But I'd say in overall output... S2K > TSX = TL > e46 ----- what I meant there is that the TSX and TL have very similar outputs, but one is single xenon, and one is bi-xenon.

[lollonais]

This might be an off question or already discussed, but does lexus have any HIDs? if they do, would those fit better since they are the same company. Also, why would Toyota make the camry with projectors and not give the option of HIDs.

[darksparkz]

Originally Posted by lollonais

This might be an off question or already discussed, but does lexus have any HIDs? if they do, would those fit better since they are the same company. Also, why would Toyota make the camry with projectors and not give the option of HIDs.

I don't think it would be any much easier to put Lexus projectors in. I've heard good things about both RX330 and LS400 projectors though.

Yeah, I wish the Camry had an option for HIDs or something at least.

Looks like I'm probably going to lean towards the TSX projectors, is the best place to buy these off classifieds of forums? And what do people mean by 'I want clear lenses if possible'?

Would I need a chrome shroud or anything like that?

[thapranksta]

The clear lense projector has a sharper cutoff. The freshneled lense has a blurrier cutoff. Most people prefer the sharper cutoff. The clear lense was the first batch of TSX projectors and the freshneled lense are the latest and most recent batch. They changed them (I think) because the blurrier cutoff is 'better' for your eyes.

You can find TSX projectors on forums and on ebay. Sometimes the forum is cheaper and sometimes ebay is cheaper. On both of them, you have to look out for shady individuals. Read the detail and check feedback. HIDPlanet has a lot of stuff in place to prevent fraud though. PMs are not allowed to prevent back dealing, members have to take a picture of what they have along with their user name and the date, and members can't post email until a deal is done.

Edit: Lexus projectors are not easier to put in. A projector is made to fit in the particular car's headlight is designed to go into. Ease of retrofit has to do with the size of the projector and how the projector was actually mounted in the car it came from. The TSX projector has two mounting holes on each side and is designed in a way that makes it easier than most to retrofit in other headlights.

[n8dogg455]

don't rule out the FX projectors
they will make you work harder for more color, but i have no complaints

being one of the smallest bi-xenon projectors make it easier to fit them

just rememeber to take your time

[thapranksta]

Also, it is possible to have quad high beams. Just because you have separate high beams doesn't mean that you can't get bixenon projectors. You can wire everything so that your high beam bulbs come on and the high beam on your projectors also comes on at the same time. That is a LOT OF LIGHT! It is high beams so you shouldn't turn them on when another car is in front of you anyway.

[white3ch0c0late]

Originally Posted by lollonais

This might be an off question or already discussed, but does lexus have any HIDs? if they do, would those fit better since they are the same company. Also, why would Toyota make the camry with projectors and not give the option of HIDs.

Lexus HIDs are no easier to retrofit than any other projectors. Every projector is designed for a specific car, and only that car.

Toyota is not giving an HID option on the Camry because the Camry projectors are halogen projectors. They are not designed to house HIDs. Luckily for many of the members here, the projectors on the Camry take decently well to HIDs with minimal glare (and none at all if you cover the squirrel spotters), but putting HIDs into the stock Gen 6 projectors will yield a worse overall light output than retrofitting true HID projectors.

Why didn't Toyota put HID projectors in the Camry? I don't know. I'm sure they have their reasons.

[white3ch0c0late]

Originally Posted by darksparkz

Would I need a chrome shroud or anything like that?

Well, it depends on the projector you get, and the look that you're going for. Since you're retrofitting the Gen 6, you won't need a shroud, as you can probably use the stock bezel/shroud, but you'll probably need to devise a custom way to mount the projector inside 'cause from what I remember, JSM1284 retrofited TSXs into his Gen 6, and he really had to cut down the mounting bracket a lot and make a custom bracket to mount in order to get it to fit.