HELIX Ecodes installed --> PICS

[kwimberly]

Just installed my Helix halogen ecodes - got them for $200 shipped from eBay (using a 10% off PayPal coupon).

Quality seems just as good as OEM to me.

Bulb sizes are embossed on the housing, but here's what I did:

Low and High beams = H7
Citylight = W5W or Sylvania 168
Side Markers = PY21W or Sylvania 7507

I installed some amber 7507 bulbs for the side markers just so I could be legal and drive around before my "stealth" side markers show up. The stealth bulbs I ordered are Philips PY21W Silver Vision - they are chrome/silver when unlit and turn amber when lit.

It's pretty cool to have the city light - when I turn the light switch to the first position, the citylight (and side markers) come on.

Anyway - here are some pics. I'll take some night shots later on when I check out the aim.






Note the place for an HID ballast on the bottom









No idea what the little connector is for.

[HTA A4]

Those look real good Kevin! Good pick up

[ehfour]

Those look really nice

Hows the beam pattern?

[4Rings3Liters]

Those look really nice, I might have to get a set.

[EUROaleksey]

buy mine

[vinny.dtw]

I think if the projector trim was not blacked out, it would look a lot better. Making it black make it seems like a hacked up DIY job and makes it look a little bit cheap. Please don't get offended by this comment, I'm just making an observation, hopefully the beam pattern is pretty good on those things.

[kwimberly]

^^^^

no offense taken! There's plenty of stuff people do to their cars that I think looks bad!

[20vturbo]

just let us know if they fog a bigger projector lens would make it look better like the s4 bixenons

[absolutegtr]

I agree 110% with vinny. I would buy a set if they were like that.

Looks good though

[zz2h33]

very nice. did you put a protective film over the lens to protect against road blast? i would, i think you can buy the stuff now at local APS.

[Pothole]

these things dont have auto leveling, do they?

[kwimberly]

these things dont have auto leveling, do they?

These are halogen, so, no.

[jaynyce]

for some reason i was going to buy them but i think i'll stick to S4 Bi-Xenons...looks good though

[UhOhQuattro]

Need nighttime pics!

[kwimberly]

Most of you guys seem to have OEM HID headlights. My car came with halogen, and I don't have the dough to get an OEM HID setup, and I won't put an HID kit in these halogen housings.

Going out to see how they look at night...

[El_Chapusca]

please take pics of the cut off and beam patter thanxs

[oildrpr]

are they made for HID? why do they have a spot to mount the ballast if they aren't made for it?

[kwimberly]

please take pics of the cut off and beam patter thanxs

I'm reading Daniel Stern's article on proper aiming for ecodes. I need to do this tomorrow night. They are way off right now! Hitting the trees on the right side.

I can definitely tell that the pattern is different with ecodes - the swoop to the upper-right is more pronounced.

I'll take pics after they are properly aimed. I don't have a garage, so I need to find a good spot tomorrow.

[kwimberly]

are they made for HID? why do they have a spot to mount the ballast if they aren't made for it?

They are the halogen model ecodes. Maybe the housing is shared across HID and halogen, thus the little compartment for a ballast. The reflectors are halogen though.

[AudiOso]

Looks good!

[Siena]

Nice buy.

@ Kwimberly: Which connector were you referring to?

You had a couple of plugs in your hand.

[kwimberly]

Nice buy.

@ Kwimberly: Which connector were you referring to?

You had a couple of plugs in your hand.

The small, white connector. Any ideas?

[a4husslin]

sick. I joey modded mine to look like that before these came out. If I were in the market these would be mine. Black projector surround makes the headlights look sick. Im not a fan of chrome at all. Sick find!

[whiteUSPflow]

same here. I joey modded mine and came out really good, better then I expected looking at some peoples work. I painted them to look exactly like that and it cost me 15 bucks for paint so i was really happy.

but nice find and I hope there good quality and work out for you bud

[kwimberly]

I was too much of a chicken to joey mod mine, and I don't like the bird beak thing that's left after the clear corner.

Which reminds me - I have some OEM halogens for sale if anyone needs to practice joey modding! (although I think I'm about the only person on AZ with halogens)

[mxrz]

I won't put an HID kit in these halogen housings.

..

[A4 Moda]

Good Find.

Just make sure your projectors are actually optimal.
most aftermarket projectors cut out 30-50% of the light output because of bad materials and no real cutting of the lens itself.

[Papachristou]

do they make a set of these for hid?

[akinaboy]

I think if the projector trim was not blacked out, it would look a lot better. Making it black make it seems like a hacked up DIY job and makes it look a little bit cheap. Please don't get offended by this comment, I'm just making an observation, hopefully the beam pattern is pretty good on those things.

I agree.

[rxrep]

^^^ Agree too. While I would keep the outer part of the projector trim rings blackened out, the inner portion around the lens itself doesn't look right blacked out. IMHO it needs to stay chrome there.

Also, having run HID retrofits in halogen housings in this and my last two cars, I don't believe there is anything wrong with doing it. Everyone will give the propaganda that the beam pattern is ___ or whatever (like the lens isn't made for it or some BS), but I've had my HID fitted halogens shining on a wall right next to someone with bi-xenon e-codes, and on low beam, everything looked exactly the same. So while on paper everyone can believe what they want, in reality I've seen both sitting next to each other at various distances, and at no point did one look any different than the other.

[pOrKcHoP07]

^^ I fully agree. If aimed properly, there are no hotspots and they look just like xenons. Actually, don't know if this matters, but when I took the headlights off my car, I saw D1S/H7 Valeo written on it. Leads me to believe, they are the same just somewhat modified to accomodate for the ballasts.

[Pothole]

do they make a set of these for hid?

ya, but there chrome interior, so you would have to joey mod em, still cant find out if they support auto-leveling? anyone

http://www.parts4euro.com/DCShop/pro...roducts_id=527

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ighlight=helix

[kwimberly]

Finally got them aimed decent enough. I also noticed a little bit of fogging in the corner of one of the housings. I don't know if it's because of the 20 degree drop in temp (it was about 48 degrees when I was aiming tonight), or if I have a bigger issue. I found some good info from diagnosticator on fogging, but I hope it will go away after driving. I only drove about 3 minutes after I aimed them.

Anyway, here's the beam - not too bad.

[ehfour]

Wow

Those look good for H7 and Helix!

Thanks for the pics!!!

[chadb2434]

i LIKE!

[bmags88]

I'm reading Daniel Stern's article on proper aiming for ecodes. I need to do this tomorrow night. They are way off right now! Hitting the trees on the right side.

I can definitely tell that the pattern is different with ecodes - the swoop to the upper-right is more pronounced.

I'll take pics after they are properly aimed. I don't have a garage, so I need to find a good spot tomorrow.

Holy Crap! That is exactly how mine were. The passenger side was hitting the trees. What article are you reading?

[bmags88]

The small, white connector. Any ideas?

I said the same thing when i was installing mine. I just left it in there.

[kwimberly]

Holy Crap! That is exactly how mine were. The passenger side was hitting the trees. What article are you reading?

I followed this article, and I think I got them aimed pretty close to perfect. I'll probably have to redo them when I get my stealth side marker bulbs though.

[bmags88]

Great thanks. It's so weird i get that same cutoff as yours wher the drivers side looks perfect but the passenger side looks weird.

[kwimberly]

Great thanks. It's so weird i get that same cutoff as yours wher the drivers side looks perfect but the passenger side looks weird.

I think that's just because the driver's side extends over to the passenger side. If you follow the Stern article and actually tape off the proper marks like I did, cover the driver's headlight with paper or something and you'll be able to make sure the passenger side is properly aimed against the marks - and vice versa - cover the passenger side to make sure the driver's side is aimed properly.