Starting D4S HID Retrofit <PICS>

[LNGasMan]

I've been gathering components for the last few months for this retrofit. The goal, OEM looking HID retrofit with all OEM components.

Here is the Asian style housing that gave me the idea for this. On the early gen6 Japanese made Camry's, the housings have a place to mount a ballast.



So, I tried to find some on ebay and couldn't win any OEM with all the mounting tabs intact. But I noticed the lighted halo lights use the asian style housing. So I bought a pair of the chrome halos.


I then searched for a ballast to fit the underside of the headlight housings and found that the late-model Lexus (06+ IS250/350) use a ballast that fit the dimensions and shape.


These turned out to be D4S, so I also bought some Philips D4S bulbs to go with (cannot use D2S with D4S).


And the bulbs and ballasts needed D4S projectors, so I found some Lexus IS350 bi-xenons.


As you will notice, the IS350 projectors have a large 3" lens and the Camry has a 2.5" lens. The IS350 projector also has a side mounted bulb and is bi-xenon which poses many mounting issues.

So, I have acquired in the past some Lexus RX330 AFS projectors to use if I can't make the IS350 projectors fit.


But I'm not a big fan of bright chrome or lighted angel eye halos, so I will remove those shrouds and install standard SE shrouds when I do the retro. I plan to start with the left side this weekend and will post pics of the progress.


So, a recap of the main components I have to start with:
Pair Halo Headlights
Pair SE Spare Headlights
Pair IS350 D4S Ballasts
Pair IS350 D4S bi-xenon projectors
2x New Philips D4S bulbs
4x RX330 D2S projectors (For back-up - I can modify the D4S bulb to fit)
2x Rolls of Nissan Butyl rubber sealant
4x silica gel packs from HIDplanet

[lammydi]

I can't wait for your final pictures!!!

[phuangk]

arrrggg... I wonder what's your total cost for all of those.....

[LNGasMan]

Originally Posted by phuangk

arrrggg... I wonder what's your total cost for all of those.....

I'll tell you that I won't be telling my wife how much.

Rounded numbers:
IS Projectors = $100
D4S ballasts = $150
D4S bulbs = $100
Halo headlights = $175
SE headlights = $100 for the pair

Having a D4S retrofit done right... Priceless!

[phuangk]

Originally Posted by LNGasMan

I'll tell you that I won't be telling my wife how much.

Rounded numbers:
IS Projectors = $100
D4S ballasts = $150
D4S bulbs = $100
Halo headlights = $175
SE headlights = $100 for the pair

Having a D4S retrofit done right... Priceless!

[LNGasMan]

Originally Posted by phuangk

Dealers charge upwards of $800 to $1200 for the xenon option when buying a car that comes equipped. I paid $350 for my PNP HID kit last year and was disappointed with the output and all the covering of the squirrel spotters. My D2S retrofit is nice and the output is better than most other HID equipped cars out there - 10x better then the kit, but I want all OEM components for reliability and I made a few novice mistakes when I did my first retrofit (only I notice mistakes). D4S is newer technology so there are fewer spare components for sale increasing the prices. Buying D2S components is much less expensive.

D2S projectors, $60 pair
D2S ballasts, I've seen some go for as little as $20 each.
D2S bulbs, $35 pair.

[desentrix]

OMG. Can't wait to see the final result!

[xfyre]

looks sweet...can't wait for final output pics

[white07cam]

youve definitely put a lot of thought into this, good work so far and good luck!

cant wait to see the final result

[Netforcer]

Wow... all that for a function that you'll only use for a couple hrs each day... hahaha... the satisfaction better be priceless

Good luck with the project!

[08 SILVER SE]

please dont leave us hanging. i will be checking back monday to see what you have done.

[LNGasMan]

Originally Posted by 08 SILVER SE

please dont leave us hanging. i will be checking back monday to see what you have done.

I won't forget to update.

My agenda tomorrow after work for this weekend:
1.) Build a mock-up with one of my junk headlights to explore the mounting options with the larger IS350 bi-xenon projector.
Plan A: If it is feasible, then I'll fabricate the brackets necessary to mount them in the headlight housings.
Plan B: If they won't fit, Lexus RX330 AFS projectors. These will be easy as I can use the shield from the stock camry projectors as the mounting brackets in the housings. I've seen this done with the TSX projectors.
Then:
2.) Bake apart the left angel-eye headlight and mount the ballast and new projector.
3.) Install left headlight housing/projector/ballast on car (without lens and shroud) to check alignment, orientation and make final adjustments.
4.) Once all adjusted, install SE shroud and lens and bake back together.

[LNGasMan]

Okay, here's an update of the progress this weekend. I decided against using the IS350 projectors mainly due the the side mounted bulb insertion. So, here are some quick pics of the progress:









Still light outside, so I'll post night pics later.

[darksparkz]

Looking good so far!

The RX330 are one of the easiest projectors to retrofit into the Gen6 headlamp housings, fairly easy mounting screws and such. When I did the TSX, it required quite a bit of fabrication, including cutting into the headlamp housing itself to allow it to fit.

Can't wait to see cutoff pictures, it should work great.

[rydr1]

wow! now that is thinking ahead.

nice job man.