Hi guys
Long time reader but seldom poster. Thought I'd share a recent mod I've done on our nosecone P85D.
As some of you know, the factory HIDs on the nosecone cars are among the dimmest on the market, I've also driven facelift models and I didn't like the scattered beam pattern of the newer LED headlights so i never looked into possible retrofits. Instead, I've decided to replace the projector module inside my headlight altogether!
Sorry I didn't take enough photos or videos to make this into a proper write-up, then again there are already enough videos and write-ups on headlight assembly removal/install. So I'll just stick to what i have.
Firstly I've ordered a pair of replacement 3" laser/led projector module. I've already tried simply replacing the HID with an LED bulb and it hasn't worked. I might write up another post on why that won't work another day but tldr, I've tried many already, and none have had the desired effect.
Here's the new projector module itself
View media item 122220
I've taken apart the projector lens as the module they sent was a LHD version, I'm in a RHD region so the beam pattern had to be reversed. That required a bit of modification to the bi-led shield.
View media item 122227
Once that was done, headlights had to come out. Refer to other online videos on how to do that. I may add links here if required.
View media item 122224
The hardest bit of the whole conversation, for me at least, by FAR, was removing the polycarbonate lens from the factory headlight housing. Again, plenty of videos/articles online but nothing prepares you for the actual job. Afterall you're basically brute-forcing apart a perfectly fine $2000 part, that tends to screw with my mind a little. It was made easier convincing myself that replacement projector headlight modules are relatively cheap and available on eBay , but still, was tough to do... Heat gun, patience and finesse is your friend here. In the end, getting the lens out wasn't even the worst part, cleaning out every bit of the original butyl sealant (so then new sealant can go on and be perfectly airtight/watertight) took me about 8 hours! I started in the day, it was well part midnight by the time I got to this point.
View media item 122223
I took the liberty of taking some before/after shots. These were taken with my phone, i know how pics of headlight can be a bit deceiving or inaccurately represent brightness, so I've tried my best to set the camera to manual mode and take all the shots under the same exposure setting to get a fair comparison
Camera was set at f1.5, 1/2 sec shutter speed, 4.32mm ISO 500 for all the pics. Taken on a Samsung S10 5G, at the same location but a few nights apart (cos needed to install it!)
This was the low beam BEFORE the install
View media item 122226
This was the low beam AFTER the install
View media item 122222
Then this was the high beam before the install
View media item 122225
This is the high beam (led+laser emitter) AFTER the install
View media item 122221
Needless to say I'm pretty happy with the outcome. The pictures don't do it justice.
The main objective I wanted out of the install isn't just to get a brighter headlight, but a much wider spread as well as a sharp cutoff beam pattern so then the brightness don't end up blinding other cars or mirrors, without substantially increasing energy consumption. (Factory HIDs are 25W, i measured the new projector at 3A on low beam, and the laser high beam was an extra 1A draw, so that's 36W on low and 48W on high)
This mod has achieved all of those when none of the HID/LED retrofit bulb options did. Most simply threw more lumens at the expense of more wattage, but none of the replacement bulb options improved the beam pattern.
I hope this have been useful to others. Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask any questions. Cheers.
Long time reader but seldom poster. Thought I'd share a recent mod I've done on our nosecone P85D.
As some of you know, the factory HIDs on the nosecone cars are among the dimmest on the market, I've also driven facelift models and I didn't like the scattered beam pattern of the newer LED headlights so i never looked into possible retrofits. Instead, I've decided to replace the projector module inside my headlight altogether!
Sorry I didn't take enough photos or videos to make this into a proper write-up, then again there are already enough videos and write-ups on headlight assembly removal/install. So I'll just stick to what i have.
Firstly I've ordered a pair of replacement 3" laser/led projector module. I've already tried simply replacing the HID with an LED bulb and it hasn't worked. I might write up another post on why that won't work another day but tldr, I've tried many already, and none have had the desired effect.
Here's the new projector module itself
View media item 122220
I've taken apart the projector lens as the module they sent was a LHD version, I'm in a RHD region so the beam pattern had to be reversed. That required a bit of modification to the bi-led shield.
View media item 122227
Once that was done, headlights had to come out. Refer to other online videos on how to do that. I may add links here if required.
View media item 122224
The hardest bit of the whole conversation, for me at least, by FAR, was removing the polycarbonate lens from the factory headlight housing. Again, plenty of videos/articles online but nothing prepares you for the actual job. Afterall you're basically brute-forcing apart a perfectly fine $2000 part, that tends to screw with my mind a little. It was made easier convincing myself that replacement projector headlight modules are relatively cheap and available on eBay , but still, was tough to do... Heat gun, patience and finesse is your friend here. In the end, getting the lens out wasn't even the worst part, cleaning out every bit of the original butyl sealant (so then new sealant can go on and be perfectly airtight/watertight) took me about 8 hours! I started in the day, it was well part midnight by the time I got to this point.
View media item 122223
I took the liberty of taking some before/after shots. These were taken with my phone, i know how pics of headlight can be a bit deceiving or inaccurately represent brightness, so I've tried my best to set the camera to manual mode and take all the shots under the same exposure setting to get a fair comparison
Camera was set at f1.5, 1/2 sec shutter speed, 4.32mm ISO 500 for all the pics. Taken on a Samsung S10 5G, at the same location but a few nights apart (cos needed to install it!)
This was the low beam BEFORE the install
View media item 122226
This was the low beam AFTER the install
View media item 122222
Then this was the high beam before the install
View media item 122225
This is the high beam (led+laser emitter) AFTER the install
View media item 122221
Needless to say I'm pretty happy with the outcome. The pictures don't do it justice.
The main objective I wanted out of the install isn't just to get a brighter headlight, but a much wider spread as well as a sharp cutoff beam pattern so then the brightness don't end up blinding other cars or mirrors, without substantially increasing energy consumption. (Factory HIDs are 25W, i measured the new projector at 3A on low beam, and the laser high beam was an extra 1A draw, so that's 36W on low and 48W on high)
This mod has achieved all of those when none of the HID/LED retrofit bulb options did. Most simply threw more lumens at the expense of more wattage, but none of the replacement bulb options improved the beam pattern.
I hope this have been useful to others. Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask any questions. Cheers.