Bi-xenon upgrade

[Crazypete00]

After reading tufftys thread and asking a few questions regarding his bi-xenon setup i decided to give it a go.

I have a s3 with xenon lights, they are rubbish, over the passed few years i have noticed them getting worse even when new bulbs are in. So i sourced some bi-xenon projectors and a few other bits like the white headlight clips that always break and some new ballasts.

the bits

the projectors

I forgot to take some pics of the taking the headlights out and removing the covers. its fairly straight forward, getting the cover off i used a hot air gun, i found the easiest way was to start heating from the indicator and work your way down.

once the covers are off, you can either un screw the white headlight adjusters all the way until the reflectors come off the end, or inside the reflectors the white part which the screw goes into can be pulled off, takes a little force so i prefer the first option.

The white adjusters to unscrew

This is where it gets interesting. When tuffty did his conversion he used A3 halogen projectors, which are roughly 2.5" (the same as the old style bi-xenon kits, new ones are 3") however, the s3 standard xenons are smaller again i think they are 2". The reflectors need a bit of trimming to make the most of the additional size of the new projectors. get the dremel out!

left - standard s3 xenon, right is the after market bi-xenon

below is the reflector, the thin lip on the inside of the reflector is the part that needs trimming. the stand off screws also need to come out as the holes dont line up with the new projectors. also the white xenon levelling clip is the original so will be replacing that with the new design.

I'll post more pictures up tomorrow.

 

[Crazypete00]

out came the dremel to open up the hole for the larger projector

Because the new projector holes dont line up the holes on the reflector, the posts need a little trimming (only the top 2)

This picture shows the projector and why the posts needed trimming

Fixing the projector into the reflector was a little tough. didnt really have much materials to hand to create any fancy fittings. Managed to find my old mecano kit and used some of the parts to create what i needed. The top left fitting you can see is adjustable so that hopefully i can perfectly align the cut off lines, the top right one which you cant see in this picture is the same.

Threw this picture in as i replaced the xenon clips at the same time, the one on the left are the oem, the one on the right is the re-enforced one which hopefully wont break.

Next picture, needed to connect the cable for the bi xenon flap. Soldered it straight into the connector. saves having to cut or strip and sheath.

Fitted back on the car without the plastic covers on so that i can align them

Before final fitting i blew out the insides on the lights with compressed air to clear out the dust. Heat the glue up and press the covers back in. refit bulbs and thats about it.

I noticed when i was doing the aligning how much brighter the lights are, using the same bulbs and ballasts at this point. looking forward to see the difference at night.

 

[westcoast a3]

That's fantastic write up and is on my list to do, could I ask where you got the after market bi xenon projectors ?? Cheers

 

[Crazypete00]

managed to pick up the projectors from ebay for £35, i wanted the morimoto kit but decided to try a cheaper set to see if going bi-xenon was possible and if it would make any difference to my light output. comparing them to the morimoto they are pretty much identical, maybe the glass in the morimoto might be of better quality.

 

[westcoast a3]

Do you have a link ?? Cheers think am going to buy two new headlights and do the swap just in case lol

 

[Crazypete00]

this is the link. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400611137090?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

also so your aware, if you buy non genuine headlights they will have halogen projectors fitted. it will be slightly different fitting than in this guide. the main 2 differences are, the halogen projectors are already 2.5" so no need to dremel out the reflector holes. also the stand offs are different and easier to fix the new projectors in. take a look at Tuffty's minor modding thread, page 74 i think it was. he used halogen lamps.

 

[westcoast a3]

Mate thank you very much legend

 

[Crazypete00]

done a few trips in the dark and the bi-xenons are amazing. I actually feel safe driving at night. the dip beam is so bright i dont feel the need to use full beam very often. and then when i do use full beam its like daylight. so glad i did this mod. also still using the old ballasts and bulbs.

 

[<tuffty/>]

this is the link. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400611137090?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

also so your aware, if you buy non genuine headlights they will have halogen projectors fitted. it will be slightly different fitting than in this guide. the main 2 differences are, the halogen projectors are already 2.5" so no need to dremel out the reflector holes. also the stand offs are different and easier to fix the new projectors in. take a look at Tuffty's minor modding thread, page 74 i think it was. he used halogen lamps.

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/my-minor-modding-thread.76389/page-72#post-2297465

<tuffty/>

 

[Prawn]

Well, on the back of tufftys posts, and now this, I've also ordered some bi xenon projectors for my new lights, and hopefully soon I'll be enjoying the same daylight experience you guys are!

Good work Pete

 

[superkarl]

what does 'bi-xenon' mean?

 

[westcoast a3]

Using one bulb for both dipped and full beam

 

[Crazypete00]

there's a little flap in the dipped projector that when you put your full beam on the flap opens and allows more light to be omitted out of the xenon lamp.

my main reason to do this was because my normal xenons were rubbish and i wanted a better light on dipped, not so bothered about the bi-xenon bit. the bigger 2.5" projector is alot better than the standard 2"

 

[Prawn]

I can't wait to see what mine are like! I've been in desperate need of better lights for years.

It's worth noting, for clarity, that when using the Bi xenon units, you still retain the normal halogen main beam bulbs as well, the bi xenon bit just opens up the HID output too when on main beam for additional light.

 

[<tuffty/>]

I can't wait to see what mine are like! I've been in desperate need of better lights for years.

It's worth noting, for clarity, that when using the Bi xenon units, you still retain the normal halogen main beam bulbs as well, the bi xenon bit just opens up the HID output too when on main beam for additional light.

Its like having ye-olde spot lights

<tuffty/>

 

[Prawn]

I cannot wait to head out for the first time with Bi xenons and some uprated main beam bulbs and light up the world for a proper back road blast!

 

[Crazypete00]

i find that the cut off is alot sharper aswell compared to standard. just make sure you align then before refitting the plastic covers, i had to reopen one of the lights to tweak it slightly.

 

[Prawn]

Did you make your bracketry for holding the projectors adjustable too then Pete?

 

[george_seamons]

Be a real man and have HID's in your main beam too

Mine is like a football stadium!!!

 

[Crazypete00]

Did you make your bracketry for holding the projectors adjustable too then Pete?

ye they are very slightly adjustable. cant really see it very well in the photo, but in this one

top left bracket you can just make out the elongated hole with a screw in it. there's also one in the top right corner and it allows me to twist the projector slightly to align the beams. at first i put the projector in parallel with the reflector casing but found out i needed to twist it very slightly clockwise on the drivers side and anti clockwise on the passengers side, maybe 5-10mm to make the beam level.

the strips of metal are from my old mecano kit if anyone remembers playing with mecano as a kid.

 

[azzzah]

Deffinately want/ need to do this! Not very confident with anything to do with wires though! Anyone fancy holding my hand whilst i do it?

 

[westcoast a3]

Could I ask @Tuffty did you get complete headlights or with out motors for auto levelling ?? If not complete was it hard to swap the motors ?? Read you thread and it doesn't mention if you did or didn't

Cheers

 

[<tuffty/>]

Could I ask @Tuffty did you get complete headlights or with out motors for auto levelling ?? If not complete was it hard to swap the motors ?? Read you thread and it doesn't mention if you did or didn't

Cheers

The units I bought had no motors... I just swapped mine over... mine came with a fixed adaptor in the place of the motor... remove this and replace with the motor

<tuffty/>

 

[westcoast a3]

Thanks very much

 

[Sam_]

Do you reckon 3" would fit?

 

[lorryz]

Do you reckon 3" would fit?

I bought the MORIMOTO FX-R 3.0 with the 2.5" lens, which is meant to have better output than the Mini H1.

I mocked it up weeks ago. Its tight but, it just fits. So i doubt you would fit anything larger.

Plus, the stock headlight has a 2" hole for the projector. The ebay cheapy lights have a 2.5" hole for the projector.

So if you went bigger you would have to cut a perfect 3" hole into the projector shroud or use an aftermarket shroud.

 

[Crazypete00]

2.5" fit into the halogen lights without modding.
to get the 2.5" to fit in the standard xenon headlight the hole needs trimming. you could probably fit the 3" in, but will need alot of trimming.

its amazing how much extra light the upgrade gives and the cut off pattern is much sharper.

 

[Prawn]

Argh!

I'm still yet to find out how good these are!

Mine are wired up, and I've fired them both up to test they work, but I'm yet to get them mounted in the slam panel and aligned at night to see how good they actually are! I've just got too many other jobs on at the moment.

So close, yet so far!

 

[superkarl]

what is the best approach with this then? OP route, or tufftys route?

My headlights have gone incredibly cloudy over the past couple of years, im not sure its worth even trying to polish up, so would using a cheap set of headlights be my best option, or would using the lenses from cheap headlights on my oem ones be a better idea?
Think I will opt for the projectors used in this thread, and source some decent bulbs from t8ups maybe.
Not too sure where to get headlights from, ebay there is so much choice and variation in price.

 

[westcoast a3]

I used fxr 3.0 and there super amazing but need to modify the rear cap trying to find the place for by lights same as tufftys for 43 pounds each

 

[Crazypete00]

@superkarl

depends how much you want to spend and risk. i used my S3 headlights mainly because i didnt want to buy a set of A3 halogen units. however if i f'd up then i would of wrecked my S3 units and needed to buy A3 ones anyway. lucky for me i didnt F it up and it didnt cost me much. from memory it was around £35 maybe a bit more. Well worth the upgrade and time spent fiddling with it.

i would stick with a 2.5" lense so that you only need to trim the reflector a small amount and has no issues with the rear cover fitting.

 

[Alex C]

@Crazypete00 could you get the pictures back up?

 

[Crazypete00]

@Crazypete00 could you get the pictures back up?

hey Alex, sorry about the missing pictures. I changed hosts recently. i will re-add the photos, for now they guide is located here aswell - http://www.awelswynol.co.uk/p/how-tos-audi-s3-bi-xenon.html

 

[Tj 0785]

Are these the right ones cause my lights are practically dangerous
http://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/261271557871

 

[Crazypete00]

no they just look like adapted bulbs. its a fairly big job to change it to bi-xenon but the light output of both main and full beam is 100% better. like you my main (dipped) was dangerous so much so that i stopped driving at night. the kit i got was like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/woo-RHD-2...hash=item5d4648d642:m:mpzFJw_Cv0GSb-v55P6z3BA

you replace the projectors, i think part of my issue was burnt out projectors not allowing much light through but also the standard projectors are 2" where as the bi-xenon are 2.5" so more light output.

 

[Tj 0785]

Ok cheers il give it a go anyway but . If I screw it up ( v likely) do you think a auto electrian would charge for this

 

[Alex C]

why wouldn't an auto electrician charge?

 

[Tj 0785]

I meant how much sorry

 

[Crazypete00]

its a pretty big job, getting the new projectors too line up correctly takes some time. i would say 2 days work including removing and refitting.

 

[Tj 0785]

Cheers