My Homebrew Ecodes with clear lens

[infinkc]

I picked up a set of clear reflectors that another member was making, finally had time to install them. They were made pretty nice, i did buff them out further.

I decided to also change the lens out to a clear lens from the retrofit source.

Sorry no night shots yet of how the beam looks now, its still daytime.

Here are the stock lights with the clear lenses, and clear reflectors
http://imageshack.us/a/img822/6830/bqyp.jpg

Clear lenses
http://imageshack.us/a/img507/3479/mzdf.jpg

Clear reflectors
http://imageshack.us/a/img43/2951/9g5m.jpg

After heating the light up and removing the cover
http://imageshack.us/a/img90/1683/dey5.jpg

Trying to get to the projector lens, this is not for the faint of heart. There were more screws still to get to the reflector. The light is very tricky to come apart.
http://imageshack.us/a/img594/2241/crcb.jpg

Factory lens, notice how blurry it is and has a line in the center
http://imageshack.us/a/img694/135/83tm.jpg

Side by side, factory on the left, clear on the right. Notice the difference?
http://imageshack.us/a/img14/8594/vrkt.jpg

All back together, used some new butyl sealant
http://imageshack.us/a/img18/6752/1wvr.jpg

Closer shot of how it turned out
http://imageshack.us/a/img690/3460/nn30.jpg

[s4buckeye]

P - R - O

[AC419]

Great job!! Looks awesome.. Post some pics of the cutoff :)

[Vectors2Final]

Damn! Looks good.

[stingray84]

Great job! Looks just like ecode without spending $1.5k. What did you use to heat up the cover, heat gun? Is it hard to take the cover off once heated? How difficult is it to put it back together? I assume you'll have to take the existing adhesive off, clean the surface and apply new ones. How do you control the adhesive squeeze out with butyl sealant? It looks very clean on your picture after the re-assembly.

[Vectors2Final]

I think I could work up the balls to change the reflector... Not sure about the lenses lol

[AKPS4]

What is the difference in light output with the clear lenses? I def dont have the balls to do this for fear of water penetration/fogging issues down the road and then denial of warranty because of tampering with the housings. Best of luck. These came out awesome.

[coolwater]

Looks great.
Are those clearer lenses euro spec or something?
I ask cuz they seem to fit perfect.

-cW

[jlaudio]

Looks great.
Are those clearer lenses euro spec or something?
I ask cuz they seem to fit perfect.

-cW

most likely another brand of reflector is all. any brand should work as long as the size is the same
awesome job op! i wouldn't dare tinker with these headlights

[infinkc]

Great job! Looks just like ecode without spending $1.5k. What did you use to heat up the cover, heat gun? Is it hard to take the cover off once heated? How difficult is it to put it back together? I assume you'll have to take the existing adhesive off, clean the surface and apply new ones. How do you control the adhesive squeeze out with butyl sealant? It looks very clean on your picture after the re-assembly.

I used a heat gun to open them up. The writeup for the J-Codes. http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/319845-DIY-J-Code-tinted-front-reflectors

The sealant that the factory uses is fairly wasy to work with, its kinda like clay, you just warm it up and start pulling on it, and it comes off. The butyl stuff is pretty much the same, it comes in a roll, and you just place it in the slot that the lens sits into, heat it up and press the lens back on. Pretty simple and not messy. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=792




Looks great.
Are those clearer lenses euro spec or something?
I ask cuz they seem to fit perfect.

-cW

They are called ZKW-R lenses, you can get them from a number of sources online. They fit perfectly back into the lens holder.http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=136

If anyone plans to swap their lens, there is a free shipping code for the above links "trs/hidp"

Here are a few more pics.

Clear lens
http://imageshack.us/a/img809/184/7gxd.jpg

Headlight all apart, you can see how many screws there are that you have to remove, its pretty crazy that they put so much engineering into these lights. This is how much you actually have to take apart to get to the lens.
http://imageshack.us/a/img600/3866/ftj2.jpg

[Vectors2Final]

Wow.... Yikes

[dropshadow]

I'm curioius to see the cutoff too. The line in the OE projector is because the bixenons use the same bulb for high & low beams, but have a shutter that closes over half of the bulb housing. Phil's writeup for the B7 is the closest I could find to illustrate this:


The headlight use the same bulb for Low & High beam. Here is how it works:

This is a picture of the beam housing removed from the headlight. You can see the D1S bulb installed. Also note the grey metal plate in the front.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/fly300kts/Headlight%20Comprehension%20Guide/IMG_7399Large.jpg

Same housing, side view: you can see that the grey flap is in contact with the housing: This is the LOW BEAM POSITION

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/fly300kts/Headlight%20Comprehension%20Guide/IMG_7401Large.jpg

When you select High Beam, via an electro magnet, the grey flap tilts forward: This is the HIGH BEAM POSITION

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c395/fly300kts/Headlight%20Comprehension%20Guide/IMG_7402Large.jpg

[ihkskim]

glad to see my reflectors have been put to good use. =)

[infinkc]

I'm curioius to see the cutoff too. The line in the OE projector is because the bixenons use the same bulb for high & low beams, but have a shutter that closes over half of the bulb housing. Phil's writeup for the B7 is the closest I could find to illustrate this:


The cutoff is the same, since i didnt modify the shield. Its only brighter since the light isnt diffused. Will try and get some pictures tonight of the difference.

[SteveYem]

glad to see my reflectors have been put to good use. =)

Some time this summer I will be installing my set to replace my "j-code" blacked out reflectors. This thread was very motivating for me : )

[S4 Wheelman]

damn, wish these reflectors were available/i knew about them when I had mine done. Was too scared to try myself so a friend did them but just painted the reflector black. Came out good, but 1 step off from oem I guess.

[Sasho]

Great job man!

[TuanTime]

Would love to see these mounted on the car.

[pandi]

I tried to PM that guy before to get the clear reflector but no response. It looks good.

[dropshadow]

That guy posted in this thread.

[JRunior]

The cutoff is the same, since i didnt modify the shield. Its only brighter since the light isnt diffused. Will try and get some pictures tonight of the difference.

I definitely recommend modifying the shield. It has much potential.

http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/wp-content/uploads/catablog/originals/1108_6499.jpg

http://www.lightwerkz.net/photo/wp-content/uploads/catablog/originals/1108_6500.jpg

[stingray84]

I used a heat gun to open them up. The writeup for the J-Codes. http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/319845-DIY-J-Code-tinted-front-reflectors

The sealant that the factory uses is fairly wasy to work with, its kinda like clay, you just warm it up and start pulling on it, and it comes off. The butyl stuff is pretty much the same, it comes in a roll, and you just place it in the slot that the lens sits into, heat it up and press the lens back on. Pretty simple and not messy. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?products_id=792

Thanks for the detailed write-up! I'm very tempted to try this myself.

[ihkskim]

any pics of the orange leds going thru the clear reflectors? i never installed the set on mine and im curiuos to see how it turned out

[stingray84]

any pics of the orange leds going thru the clear reflectors? i never installed the set on mine and im curiuos to see how it turned out
The side marker bulb should be white it's just the reflector is orange. You can disable the bulb in VAG-COM.

[ihkskim]

The side marker bulb should be white it's just the reflector is orange. You can disable the bulb in VAG-COM.

no its orange.. i know cuz i made the clear reflectors and the led turned orange w/o the reflector =). i just forgot to check how they looked after i test fitted the clears

[stingray84]

I see. You can still disable them via VAG-COM no problem. Any chance you are making more of those clear reflectors for A5/S5 headlights?

[ihkskim]

nah prob not. my office smelled like a methlab when i was doing it, plus they are pretty fragile

[infinkc]

Update, finally put them on and took pictures. They are quite a bit bright when driving, you really can see the full beam pattern now. You can notice the sides, the light extends out more.

Stock
http://imageshack.us/a/img109/9282/mlxe.jpg

Stock on right, clear on left:
http://imageshack.us/a/img191/4179/q9ga.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img38/8916/l2q3.jpg

Both clear lenses
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/3053/auut.jpg