jb80 Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have a BD legacy, and I bought some JDM projectors for it. I opened them to do the cutoff, plus I'll probably black them out, and possibly install some xbaled halo's on the projector lenses. My question though, pertains to HID kits. I've read that its bad to put HIDs in some projectors that were originally for halogens. I live in an area with VERY few unlit roads, and I would certainly forego hid's, if it meant improper lighting, and blinding other drivers. Being that its partially an aesthetic choice (keep in mind, I'd be getting 4300-5000k, not that gay purple stuff), I don't see it being worth the cost of retrofitting for me. So my main questions are, Is it worth putting HIDS in halogen projectors? Are the more expensive kits like morimoto worth the 500% price increase over the DDMTuning kits? I read somewhere on HIDPlanet, not to bother with H1 hids. That it isn't worth it unless you're converting to d2s bulbs. Is that true, or just people being elitist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomistopheles Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 Some halogen projectors handle them better than others. The JDM projectors produce a ton of glare. You could try swapping in some clear projector lenses, that might reduce it to an acceptable level. I wound up ditching them entirely and did a mini H1 retrofit in some USDM two piece headlights. http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TurboThom/1997%20OB/USDM%20Retrofit/OUTPUT-COMPARISON_zps6e7ef457.jpg Morimoto bulbs are worth the price over DDM, and if you have d2s projectors the OEM philips and osrams are worth the price over anything else on the market. No idea if the Morimoto ballasts are worth the price since I'm still running my DDM 35w ballasts. The whole H1 vs D2s thing... OEM D2S bulbs are better quality and the aftermarket H1 projectors and bulbs can't quite match the performance. That doesn't mean they suck... it just means that the D2S stuff can be slightly better. A more even and wider beam pattern, better build quality, more consistent color, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jb80 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 What do you mean by clear projector lenses, aren't the JDM lenses clear? Sorry, I'm a lighting noob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomistopheles Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 The lenses on the projectors themselves aren't perfectly clear, they're made to disperse the light a bit. Measure the stock lenses while your lights are apart and see if you can find a suitable clear replacement http://www.theretrofitsource.com/index.php?cPath=29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jb80 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 And that's just a lens? So the whole retrofit isn't required? Also, if your only 2 choices were halogens in JDM projectors, or HID'S in JDM projectors, would you stick with halogen? I understand that a retrofit is the best solution, but unfortunately other things are a higher priority right now, and I don't think I'll be opening my headlights twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zues Marine Posted July 23, 2013 Share Posted July 23, 2013 he's talking about the glass of the projector, the plastic headlight lenses themselves have a clear opening in front of the projector I've been running DDM 4500K HIDs in OEM JDM projectors and haven't had a problem blinding other drivers and the light output was, clearly much better for $40 the DDMtuning HID kit has lasted me about 4 years without issue so if a retro is out of the immediate picture..a cutoff swap and HID kits will leave you satisfied Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jb80 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Sounds good, I did a little research on clear lenses and it makes a little more sense now. I actually read a post over on hidplanet where a guy clearcoated a frosted lens like ours, and it took away the frosted effect, so I may try that with some good professional quality clear coat, and see how it works. I noticed a TINY bubble or two in my projector lenses, is this normal? Also, it seems like my projector shield is already for LHD. The shield is higher on the left side. Does the lens reverse the light projection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomistopheles Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 If you don't see any obvious modification of the cutoff shield, it's still RHD. Remember that the lens flips everything upside down. The bubbles are normal, stock lenses aren't of the best quality. I never got flashed for the glare from HIDs in stock halogen projectors, but I had a friend drive my car towards me once and it was obnoxious as hell. Not as bad as HID in halogen reflectors but still super annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jb80 Posted July 24, 2013 Author Share Posted July 24, 2013 Great, thanks for the replies from both of you. While the retrofit seems like it'd be nice, I can't bring myself to do it in a car with 180k on the clock. Maybe if I get the forester I'm wanting. I think my plan now, is clearcoat the lenses, xbaled halos, and the ddm 35w kit. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevenva Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 You could buy new clear, (non-frosted, non-fresnel), lenses at TRS. Spraying them with clearcoat sounds wrong. RIP 96 Legacy 2.2 4EAT lost reverse @ 374,000 miles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomistopheles Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 The clear coat trick does work on frosted lenses. No idea how the longevity is though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScubieSteve08 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I know I'm reviving this thread from the dead but my question is for those who bought hids for the Jdm projector headlights buying a H1 hid kit will hook up no problem to my car? The car came with stock h4 harness from the non projector oem one piece headlights. I have not wired up the headlights yet to the car, I just picked them up and currently splitting them to do the lhd beam pattern conversion. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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