Question about bumper, headlight removal, and HID - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Noo · 08-03-2010, 05:58 PM

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the forum. My native language is not English, so I'm sorry if I'm making spelling/grammar mistakes. I had a couple of questions for my 08 Camry LE I4.
1) I want to do the HID headlight retrofit for my car. I found that many owners here did the retro with TSX projectors. I also heard the S2K and SC430 projectors are among the best. I'm confused which one I should use (I can afford a retro with less than $1,000), given that I want the best light output: being wider, further, and more intense; minimizing glare but still being able to see the road sides.
Could anyone post some pictures comparing some projectors? I searched and found many pictures, but their links have been broken. Besides, does anyone here do the mini H1 retrofit? How's that compared to other projectors?

2) I know I have to remove the bumper and headlights for retrofit. However, I found inconsistent information about the bolts and clips to remove the bumper so that I can work with the headlights.

HID info (I think someone should have this thread sticky so that newbies like me don't have to go through A LOT of threads) Thank you for the great pictures!

Anyway, in thread 38, my car doesn't have the 2nd from outside grill clip (picture 2a), so all I need is to remove the center grill bolt and rubberized grill bolt (picture 3a). Is that correct?
In pictures 4a and 5a, bolts/clips in the fender area should be removed too. How many bolts/clips are there that I have to remove in that area? It seems there are 3 of them, but I looked at the repair manuals (ET-5) and found that there are only 2 over there. Are the pictures confusing or did I missunderstand? Which one should I remove? I don't want to remove unnecessary bolts/clips.

Thank you very much!

P/S: Sorry if my language is not good!

Pawel062 · 08-03-2010, 10:22 PM

dont do tsx. much better stuff out there. find a set of mdx 07-2010 d2s projectors, solara 07-09 d4s projectors, or rx non afs projectors. all 3 are pretty easy to do. rx afs u need to make a bracket for, same for fx-r and oem fx. s2k u also need to make a bracket for. mini h1 are pretty much like fx-r minus a few inches of width. i had lots of projectors so far so i seen most of em. the sticky on top should include my ultrimate hid/retrofit thread. there should be a link to hidplanet. on hidplanet in the university section is a thread labeled hid comparison pictures made by forum member JVX. those are most of the projectors out there.

remove all the bolts and push in clips on top from that picture. in fender liner remove the top clip via a flat head. it's right about that hump where the fender and bumper meet. theres another one below that which has the flat head engraving. once thats gone pull the hump back and u'll see a 10mm screw to remove. it's same on both sides. best to turn the steering wheel to have easier access. once those are gone it's either 5 or 6 screws in the splash guard then u lift the bumper up and over the center arm and pull out the sides. be careful to not scratch headlights(tape em up) or the fenders(also tape them up). best to do with 2 people and when pull out the sides keep looking at headlights so they don't get scratched.

should answer most question. pm me if u have more as i'm know as the hid nut around here.

molson.david · 08-03-2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

I want to do the HID headlight retrofit for my car. I found that many owners here did the retro with TSX projectors. I also heard the S2K and SC430 projectors are among the best. I'm confused which one I should use (I can afford a retro with less than $1,000), given that I want the best light output: being wider, further, and more intense; minimizing glare but still being able to see the road sides

well,for these money, I think even less,someone can do retro for you. PM Pavel.he'll be glade to help.
I was thinking about retro too,but my budget more limited and so far I'm very pleased with my partial retro, tsx-r lenses and more opened shields in stock projectors and H11 HID kit.I even got mdx projectors and extra pair of headlights,but still not sure if I'll get much more light from d2s projectors than I got know. at least my retro lights up road better than my brothers gs350 with stock hid,even by his opinion.

Pawel062 · 08-03-2010, 11:13 PM

david.....gs350 depending on year had side mounted bixenon projectors/single xenon. u might as well put 2 hid flashlights n use those bc they were that bad. the mdx if u cut the shield so width isn't limited like the solara has and drilled holes larger so u can move shield down 1mm then u would be amazed at the output.

molson.david · 08-04-2010, 05:07 PM

pawel,
gs is 2010.
so u saying that i have to make left and right side of the opening the same (they not identical now), remove "hill" on top of the opening and lower shield on 1mm? what about 2mm or 3?
I can do that, got tools and skills.

I understand what bigger "hole" will do, but what lowered shield going to give me? wider beam?

Pawel062 · 08-04-2010, 09:25 PM

if u remove the shield from mdx u will see that in the center of the hotspots there is some light on the sides. u should also notice that the shield is covering up this extra light. remove the width limiter on the shield makes both sides of the projector equal. then lowering the shield will uncover this exposed light. problem is the cuts have to be precise and well rounded bc everything is magnified. i can do this mod for u, test the projectors and perfect it for u. just send me the projectors and say 70 bucks and i'll get it done. if not i can cut the shield out from the bracket, notch it, and ask my buddy JVX to make u a custom prism tail shield so u can have that flair of RGB like my shield/retro has. pm me

sorry for off topic.

Noo · 08-04-2010, 09:50 PM

Hey Pawel,
Thanks for a lot of useful information. I read many threads on HIDPlanet, including the projectors comparison. By looking at the light against the wall, it is hard for me to tell which one is better (except some obvious differences) in terms of many different factors. Just a quick question, what do we expect from the light against the wall in case we want the projectors illuminate further and wider? I heard some say the light should be more intense at the cut-off. The S2K projector seems to achieve this, but its light is not as wide and intense in other area as others.
I also saw some are using custom shields and lens. It seems to be a lot of work to do!
Those projectors have squirrel spotters to illiminate street signs as in our Camry, don't they?

P/S: What makes S2K to be considered the best for single xenon? Most expensive?

Pawel062 · 08-04-2010, 10:09 PM

s2k have awesome length meaning distance and awesome width. the bright hotspot will give u length and brightness in front of the car. u'll see the beam bouncing around at 100 feet plus depending on roads. s2k are know for their width. they are really wide. only thing that beats them is the ls430s because of the 2nd reflector. those they aren't as bright so won't light up as much distance. both i would have in my car any day. because i broke so many parts building up my retros i went with more of a budget setup but also very modable setup. mine is rx afs with custom shield and e30 lenses. it's wider than s2k because of the custom shield(though s2k with custom shield will beat it), it shines far, and shines alot on the road. s2k is so expensive bc it has the width from the get go and clear lenses. also theres not that many s2k headlights around. people take care of the cars. pm me if u have more questions. can do the setup for u and/or help u decide on one to do yourself.

molson.david · 08-05-2010, 09:14 AM

Pawel,
what about filing down or cutting off the "hill"-bump on the top of the opening? bottom of thre openning looks similar to the camry shield,but top not streight like on camry,it got "wave" or something.
I lowered bottom shild on camry projectors and it geve me more light on the road and now light closer to the bumper than before. did you modified bottom of the openning on acura shield?

Pawel062 · 08-05-2010, 09:28 AM

its just a foreground limiter. if u put them on u'll see that hump shape on the ground. can be removed or left. the fogs fill in the spot anyway.

Noo · 08-19-2010, 09:07 PM

Hey Pawel,
I nearly finish my retrofit with the S2K projector. I have one noob question: for the headlight wires, mine are black and white, so which wire is positive? My kit has white wire to be positive; is it the same to the car? I don't have the voltage-meter, so will my car be damaged if I connect the wrong wires? I guess a big problem!

Passenger-side:

Driver-side:

Thank you!

P/S: What are some possible wire colors for positive terminal?

Pawel062 · 08-20-2010, 11:02 AM

any wire with some black is usually negative. positive is usually colored. which wires are those in the picture. if they are the originals h11 low beam plugs and u trying to connect to the input of the relay harness then it's ok to swap em. meaning either way won't kill anything. usually most ballasts and relays have protection so u won't fry anything.

from the looks of it... first picture the black is negative and white/yellow is positive. second orange is positive and black/white is negative.

nj0ywatch1np0rn · 08-20-2010, 01:15 PM

Pawel062, do you have any pictures of the recut shield for the MDX?

Noo · 08-20-2010, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pawel062

any wire with some black is usually negative. positive is usually colored. which wires are those in the picture. if they are the originals h11 low beam plugs and u trying to connect to the input of the relay harness then it's ok to swap em. meaning either way won't kill anything. usually most ballasts and relays have protection so u won't fry anything.

from the looks of it... first picture the black is negative and white/yellow is positive. second orange is positive and black/white is negative.

Is the Camry reverse polarity? I have to plug in the white wire of the kit (positive) to the brown/black wire of the H11 harness so that the lights work.
However, I have a hard time to find the best place to sit the ballast (It is the I4 Camry). I found a couple of pictures in this forum where people mount it. My kit does not come with zip ties or brackets, so I have to use 3M tape that I have now. On the driver side, I stuck the ballast between battery and the fuse box and stick some tapes on the front and the top. I don't know if they hold the ballast. On the passenger side, I placed the ballast under the headlight (on the frame) and put some tapes too. I have a feeling this side is going to break! How about others? Should I buy some zip ties? Anyway, it took me about 2 hours for the installation. I'm really afraid to do this job again! :-(

Thank you!

Pawel062 · 08-20-2010, 11:33 PM

get some clear silicone and use that along with the tape and put them both under headlight. since u say ur doing relay harness u can have connector in either way and nothing will break. it's too late for me to go look exactly how my connectors are connected but flip and see which way works.