Tools at the ready; plastic trim clip pliers for separating the lens from the housing, gloves to keep my hands from spontaneously igniting, two flathead screwdrivers (one to smooth the butyl rubber in the channel, one for prying if needed), and Philips screwdriver that was already used to remove the 8 screws behind the housing.

Mind these clips while separating the lens from the housing.

When one becomes two:

Set the lens aside to make room to work and make sure it gets placed on a soft surface to keep from scratching them.

In order to separate the projector mount and high beam reflector sub-assembly from the housing I recommend pushing the tabs on the plastic sockets inward with a pair of pliers while slipping the sub-assembly over them. Don't do what I did and try to separate the plastic socket from the ball joint on the housing. Stuff might break.In my case stuff did break as you might see in the other photos. There are two of these plastic sockets. Both of them are above the projector of the sub-assembly to the left and right. Then rotate the headlamp adjustment screw counterclockwise to release the sub-assembly.

Here's the back of the sub-assembly. The projector is mounted with four screws indicated by the arrows.

Halogen projector on the left, HID projector on the right. Top mounting points are identical.

The bottom mounting points on the other hand were not.

This wasn't an issue though as it was easily remedied by drilling new holes using the halogen shield as a template. Disassembly of the projectors was required.

 

Bottom mounting points lined up perfectly!

Next on the docket was swapping out the frosted lens of the HID projector with a STI-R clear lens. This is done to provide a very defined cutoff and help with color flicker. Driver preference of course. Others find a sharp cutoff very distracting and opt to keep the default frosted or fresnel lens. The lens holder needed to be widened ever so slightly as the clear lens was slightly larger than the inside diameter of the lens holder. Use a flat head screwdriver and carefully bend the retaining ring tabs back and push the lens through the back of the lens holder to remove the retaining ring.

Remember that Dremel I wished I had? Well I really needed one now.

Time to get to work with a grinding stone attachment and set to around 10k RPM.

Before (left) and after (right). I didn't time it but I think it took me about 20 minutes to get the lens holder wide enough to accommodate the new lens.

Comparison shots below:
Frosted lens:

Clear lens from halogen projector:

STI-R clear lens:

Time for reassembly! Mount your freshly modified HID projectors in the same spot as the old ones, carefully slide the projector and high beam reflector sub-assembly back over the plastic sockets and rotate the adjustment screw clockwise to secure it. Grab your best butyl rubber and have it handy to stick inside the housing channel before sticking it back in the oven.

 

You'll also need a decent set of clamps to push the lens back into those deep channels filled with warm gooey butyl. These are NOT those decent clamps as they're too small and don't provide enough force to push the lens down far enough into the channel. You'll also need to get the 8 metal screws ready to go. Once the plastic lens has been pushed far enough into the channel get those screws back in because tightening screws through warm butyl is better than doing it through cold butyl. Also because that warm butyl will have found its way into the holes for the screws.

Once the headlamps have cooled you can mount the turn signal bulb, side marker bulb, and high beam rubber grommet into the back of the housing. You'll need new rubber dust caps for the low beam lights as the old grommet is no longer sufficient to seal the back of the housing where the HID bulb is located. Cut a hole in the center of the dust cap just large enough to slip the igniter cable through (ballast connector side), push the igniter toward the inside of the rubber cap, seal around the cable with silicone on the outside and allow it to dry for 24 hours.

Install in vehicle, aim, and enjoy!

I'll try to get some output shots posted later.

 

Nice retrofit! I've been lurking on hidplanet ever since I got my Morimoto hid kit, but always to scared to do a proper retrofit.
Respect man.

 

Nice retrofit! I've been lurking on hidplanet ever since I got my Morimoto hid kit, but always to scared to do a proper retrofit.
Respect man.

Thanks! I used HIDPlanet for inspiration as well. I had been mulling doing this swap for a good while but I kept going back and forth about whether or not I should open up my existing housings and also whether or not I should go bi-xenon. Since I wanted to get the SE lights on my XLE that sweetened the deal. And finding a decent set of low beam RX350s on eBay helped as well. I saved about $130 going that route instead of getting bi-xenon. As cool as bi-xenon is I wasn’t feeling adventurous enough to cut into the projector mount in order to accommodate the solenoid. For some reason I wanted to be able to reverse it just in case. But that’s just me being weird.
Here are a couple of output shots from just across the street from my place. I’ll try get a better one tomorrow night after the gym.

 

My bi-xenon project is gonna be limited to my other rig; ‘07 Highlander. FX-Rs in that one with Denso ballasts and the same bulbs I used in the Camry; Philips XV2 4800k.

 

Legit retrofit! What bulbs/ballasts are you using? I'd love to do the RX350/Sti-R swap on my '15. But I don't have the guts to take it on myself or the money to pay someone else. I'd run Osram CBBs if I could fit a D series bulb.

 

Thanks! I had pre-existing Hylux A0050 ballasts paired with Philips XV2 4800K bulbs. Ballasts have worked pretty well the whole time I’ve had them so I kept them and got the D2S connectors above so I could continue using them. I didn’t have the guts to deal with my permasealed OEM assemblies either. Have you thought about going the aftermarket route at all?

 

Silly question but I've googled everywhere and everything but couldnt get a clear answer....but is it at all possible to swap out just the projector reflector housing (where you insert bulb) without baking the headlights? Im a great cook but definitely not a baker. Im just trying to see if I can do any mods or have the option to mod anything without baking the headlamps. tia

 

Not a silly question at all! In fact I think @molson.david modded his headlamps without baking them open.

Here’s the thread that references what he had to do.

I also used Blochead21’s thread on the process.

Without their contribution I wouldn’t have gone forward with it.

 

@xantic Great informative post btw, exactly what I was searching for.

 

Glad to help!

 

Hate to bump this thread but I recently had my headlights on my 15 retrofitted and the outcome was not as expected. I’ve attached pictures of the outcome and what I have seen others achieve. I purchased the RX350 projectors with STI-R clear lenses from LightWerks. I’ve talked to members in a Facebook group and they have mentioned adding spacers(?) such as the image I have attached. Any advice?

I’m running Osram 5500k with a Morimoto XB Ballast

 

Yeah, it looks like your lens swap changed in focus. You will have to space out the lens to get the right focus point. You will know when the cut off line is super sharp and likely brighter as well. It’s going to take some time to get it right but yeah you will have to redo the retrofit.


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If it hasn’t already been done I’d start with making sure the lens holder has been widened to accommodate the lens properly to ensure it sits flush with the lens holder (see post #3). If you’re unable to do so then you can definitely try adding washers/spacers to the lens holder. Loosen the lens in the lens holder just enough for you to be able to rotate the lens while it’s on so you can get the best pattern possible as well.

 

I should add that they were purchased from LightWerks with the performance tuning option. If I am correct, those things should have already been done. I reached out and they are claiming that my lenses are foggy and are ensuring that it has to be something my installer did. Here is a photo of my lenses

 

Kinda hard for me to tell on my phone. It doesn’t look too bad, I’ve seen much worse, but they could be better. Only way to know for certain is to bake them open and test output without the lens.

 

Thanks. I don’t see hope my lenses would have such an impact on the output? They’re not foggy. I don’t see how mine would make the projector output swoosh up on the sides or not show the purple/blue near cutoff.

 

The headlight lens wouldn’t cause bowing but a misaligned lens in the lens holder sure can. Which bulbs are you running?

 

I’m running Osram’s 5500k. From my understanding, the installer did no modifications (other than making it fit in headlight) on the projector. Wild aligning the lens be a job for my installer or should it have been done with the tuning service? Sorry for ask the questions

 

The reason you space out the lens is because the clear lens may have a different thickness when sitting in the lens cage. When the light from the bulb bounces in the projector “reflector bowl” it will throw light forwards. When this happens and because the reflector bowl is round it throws the light towards a focal point which the lens will capture. If your focal point is too far behind the lens you don’t get all the light past the lens so you get this blurry light that is scattered behind the lens. The proper way is to space the focal point at the right spot in the new clear lens to project a focused and sharp light past the lens. Hence, sharp cutoff line.

Edit: I think in this case, it’s far forward.

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Gotcha. I paid for the tuning for this and I was expecting it to already be spaced from LightWerks. Is that not the case? What does tuning involve because I thought that should’ve been what they did.

 

Tbh idk if the clear lens install is part of the package. It seems like they had someone just do the swap and mold onto the headlight without doing the lens. Unfortunately, if they used the potted method they pretty much sealed it up. Going to be a big job to take it back out depending on how they installed the bolt and nuts for the projector... def. see if they can get this fixed. The lens in the picture does look okay and should still shine past the OE lens well enough. A good lens polish would for sure help but that’s not the issue right now. Spacing is.
I did myself Acura TL and Mini 4.0 D2S quad on my headlights. Not easy but it all was more than worth it. My 2020 PanDemonic project lol

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I bought the performance tuning. On the receipt it states it comes with the STI Clear Lenses and a professional tune. They are adamant that it’s my housing lens. I am going to get them cleared to prove that is not the case.

 

Nice post, thank you!

 

Dumb question but where did you get the RX350 low beam projector. Everything I am seeing/finding is the bi-xenon. I don't have any issues going bi-xenon but i didn't even know there was a non xenon rx350 projector. It would make wiring into my ct200h easier...

-Nigel

 

I got them a few years ago from a seller on eBay who I guess no longer does business there. As I recall they came off of a BR-Z/FRS and they were just single xenon.

 

Would the ct200 shields fit the RX projectors?
My buddy is pretty sure he has a pair with no shields.
pm me if still interested.

 

That's a fantastic question on the shields.... I haven't a clue to be honest with you..lol.

Now thinking about it, I'll probably just end up getting the rx350 bi-xenons and getting a high beam splitter harness so that way I would have both bi-xenon and halogen high beams. I figured I'd save on actual wiring , but really it's really hard..lol It's just two wires to the solenoid that activates the shutter.

I noticed two things that aren't pictured and I was wondering if you happened to have pictures that you could post.

I see that you used the universal caps for the rear housing. Can you post a picture of what that looks like if you have it. And also how you fit the d2s adaptor through the cap or is that residing in the headlight itself?

Do you also have a picture of where you mounted the ballasts?

I've done projector retrofits in the past but ALL components are normally located in/on the headlight so it looks OEM. This is the first time I'm going to be doing it where it appears there is not enough room inside and on the headlight housing to make it pass the "don't give it another glance, as it looks OEM" type of look...lol

Thanks much,
-Nigel

 

I cut a hole in the center of the cap that was just large enough to feed the connectors through and to accommodate the width of the cable. I did a test fit of the D2S adapter and the cap and made a note of how far the cap should go in order to make contact with the housing to create a seal. Then I used silicone to make a seal around where the cable is fed through the cap.

As for the ballasts I placed them in the void between the outer fender and the engine bay. I haven’t found an elegant solution yet for securing them but as far as I can tell they don’t move around a whole lot anyway.

Hope this helps!

 

I "closed the shop" long time ago and don't remember if I ever seen the ct200 projectors. Assuming Toyota used the Camry projectors only single xenon RX350 would drop in with no modifications.
The bi-xenon version is pita to mount into the Camry headlight.
BTW, my buddy has confirmed, he has a pair with no shields and with shields.
I've used Toyota OEM rubber socket covers p/n 90075-65002.
These are not the gen 7 headlights, pics are posted just to give an idea how it should look. You'll need to trim them though and depending on the D2s adapter make an adapter to make them sit tighter. And at least for the gen 6-7.5 Camry the best location for the ballasts is on top of the frame, right under the headlight. Use plastic interlocking Velcro fasteners, to mount the ballasts.

 

Thank you both for pictures!!

I like both. I do know the rx350 bixenon will drop into the ct200h's housing no problem.

I really like that Toyota rear grommet! I wonder if this will fit my headlight. I'm going to order one and play around with a donor/junked headlight I'm going to buy on eBay for $70ish bucks... I figure it's way easier to play/mod adjust on a donor and figure out what works and or doesn't work than taking my headlights apart only to be presented with something I didn't think of and now I have to get it back together because I am waiting on a part that I didn't think I needed.

I do like how the d2s connector fits and looks OEM with the Toyota gasket!

-Nigel

 

Me tuning my rx350 bi-xenon.

Mods done: Removed the RV shield, clear STi-R lenses. Initially I added two small washers total (1 on each lower post) but then when testing the distance at around 50-60' I was not happy with the blurriness of the cut off. Color was beautiful but wasn't worth the loss of actual distance. So I removed the two washers and not doing any type of spacing. The two pictures are where I am at currently. Quite happy. Though not the same vehicle, it's going to amazing when they are both done and also paired with diode dynamics elite series fogs.. I'm still blown away at the light output from one foglight. The spread is so wide.

Diode Dynamics Elite series fog in selective yellow. This is one foglight shining down from my deck into the yard. The beam still goes to the right past the shed/fence. I was by myself so couldn't take a wider shot while holding the foglight and camera at the same time...lol

-Nigel