DIY: aftermarket bixenon ecodes - better than OEM for less

[therealet23]

get the D1S version, otherwise you will lose the auto-level feature. The item description is incorrect, as all B6's have a 10-pin connector (B7's have 12 for xenon and 10 for halogen)

Oh ok thanks!
The Depo H7 dont have the autolevel wiring in it?

Also, are the headlights (car wiring) already set for the city lights? I have already ordered the h6w led bulbs from the ebay link as well.

[Matt Devo]

Oh ok thanks!
The Depo H7 dont have the autolevel wiring in it?

Also, are the headlights (car wiring) already set for the city lights? I have already ordered the h6w led bulbs from the ebay link as well.

there's no need for halogen headlights to have auto-level motors, so I'd expect they aren't wired for it (OEM halogens aren't). City lights don't require any changes to the car wiring, the difference is internal to the headlight housing (they just take the place of the turn signal being on constantly)

[therealet23]

Oh ok. Why didn't you try Led turn signal bulbs? Do you think they will need a resistor or anything?

[Matt Devo]

Oh ok. Why didn't you try Led turn signal bulbs? Do you think they will need a resistor or anything?

there's absolutely no benefit to running them, and the bulbs themselves aren't visible, and they would likely require some sort of circuit to fake the load the lighting control module is expecting.

[Fast4esT]

Nice work Matt, this sounds great, yeah my stock 02 low beams are pretty sad, I often want to use my high beams while driving in the city at night as the light output is low. I also have tinted windshield I'm sure that does not help. These lights looks great though, how difficult is it for an armature who is not an electrical genius. The parts you listed is everything need to go from stock 02 halogen lighting to the bixenon setup you have now?

Thanks for writing this up!
By the way, got the suspension I stalled, much former ride than old setup, rear height is spot on perfect, fronts have some unsightly gap I'm hoping will settle . Thanks

[Matt Devo]

Nice work Matt, this sounds great, yeah my stock 02 low beams are pretty sad, I often want to use my high beams while driving in the city at night as the light output is low. I also have tinted windshield I'm sure that does not help. These lights looks great though, how difficult is it for an amateur who is not an electrical genius. The parts you listed is everything need to go from stock 02 halogen lighting to the bixenon setup you have now?

Thanks for writing this up!
By the way, got the suspension installed, much firmer ride than old setup, rear height is spot on perfect, fronts have some unsightly gap I'm hoping will settle . Thanks

The wiring is pretty straightforward as I documented - all you're doing is changing the connector type really. The "hard part" is making the adapters for the projectors out of the lexan, which just requires some patience and trial/error.

As for the suspension, there's so many factors that affect ride height. If the fronts don't settle to where you are happy, then consider adding the ECS coilover sleeves

[A4orce84]

Hey Everyone,

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents into this thread. I recently got side-swiped and used the insurance money to do this mod:


The other guy's insurance gave me near $700 for an OEM replacement single-xenon headlight, so I took the money and Matt offered to help do the headlight upgrade. Following his post, I ended up buying the depot headlights off ebay ($240) + the HID Kit ($270) + bulbs (high beams, side-markers) for a grand total of around $550ish bucks.

After getting everything installed and aligned, HOLY CRAP! It's like literally night and day difference with the Morimoto HID Kit. Not only has normal low-beam light output GREATLY improved, but having the addition of bi-xenon (for high-beams) makes it literally like day-time outside whenever I need them. I would definitely recommend this mod to anyone who is wanting any type of improved light-output, and would push for getting newer projectors along with a HID kit, than just new bulbs / ballasts alone.

Obligatory Car Shot with lights installed:


Thanks,

--Asif

[therealet23]

Hey Everyone,

Thought I'd throw my 2 cents into this thread. I recently got side-swiped and used the insurance money to do this mod:


The other guy's insurance gave me near $700 for an OEM replacement single-xenon headlight, so I took the money and Matt offered to help do the headlight upgrade. Following his post, I ended up buying the depot headlights off ebay ($240) + the HID Kit ($270) + bulbs (high beams, side-markers) for a grand total of around $550ish bucks.

After getting everything installed and aligned, HOLY CRAP! It's like literally night and day difference with the Morimoto HID Kit. Not only has normal low-beam light output GREATLY improved, but having the addition of bi-xenon (for high-beams) makes it literally like day-time outside whenever I need them. I would definitely recommend this mod to anyone who is wanting any type of improved light-output, and would push for getting newer projectors along with a HID kit, than just new bulbs / ballasts alone.

Obligatory Car Shot with lights installed:


Thanks,

--Asif

Looks good!
Any output shots?

[Fast4esT]

please post pics of the city lights too!

[Fast4esT]

i might have to make a few of those adapters, I have access to a laser cutter at school right now. you have an 02 correct? you did not have city lights stock right? how did you get them to function?

[Matt Devo]

please post pics of the city lights too!

pics w/city lights on are in the OP

i might have to make a few of those adapters, I have access to a laser cutter at school right now. you have an 02 correct? you did not have city lights stock right? how did you get them to function?

no NA B6 A4/S4s have city lights; we have dual-filament turn signals which are on constantly (when the lights are on). E-code headlights instead have single-filament turn signals, and have the city lights on constantly instead of one filament in the turn signals. The difference is just in the internal wiring of the headlight housing, no changes are required to make them work.

I have an 02, but that's not relevant here. All B6s are the same in terms of how they are wired to the headlights (those with factory HIDs having additional wiring for the auto-level motors)

[screwball]

I can email you a file if you want to laser cut the MiniH1 mounting templates. I CNC'd a batch last time out of 0.040" aluminim sheet, but they were pretty dinky and it was a pain in the nuts on the CNC w/ .125" tooling.

[Fast4esT]

Thanks, yeah

[screwball]

Sent PM

[Fast4esT]

Thank you!

[therealet23]

So I got my depo ecodes and just out of curiosity I wanted to hook up my stock components to see what the cut off looked like. The output actually isn't that bad, they come with a clear lens, but the cutoff is horrible (IMO)!! the tick mark is sloped and resembles an ECE cutoff but its way too high. Its very hard to align.

These aren't a total loss though, I would recommending just swapping the shield with a DOT one or modifying the current one to make the step less dramatic. If this is was done I believe it would be comparable to the mini h1 or oem projector (minus the bixenon functionality).

[Matt Devo]

So I got my depo ecodes and just out of curiosity I wanted to hook up my stock components to see what the cut off looked like. The output actually isn't that bad, they come with a clear lens, but the cutoff is horrible (IMO)!! the tick mark is sloped and resembles an ECE cutoff but its way too high. Its very hard to align.

These aren't a total loss though, I would recommending just swapping the shield with a DOT one or modifying the current one to make the step less dramatic. If this is was done I believe it would be comparable to the mini h1 or oem projector (minus the bixenon functionality).

they're supposed to have an ECE cutoff, but the cutoff shield itself is only part of the problem - projector bowl shape is an issue as well. I had a friend test these out using OEM bulbs/ballasts with the Depo projectors, and really can't recommend that setup - it's a clear step down from stock US-spec xenons.

[therealet23]

they're supposed to have an ECE cutoff, but the cutoff shield itself is only part of the problem - projector bowl shape is an issue as well. I had a friend test these out using OEM bulbs/ballasts with the Depo projectors, and really can't recommend that setup - it's a clear step down from stock US-spec xenons.

Yeah I tested them with OEM bulbs and ballasts. I think if the cutoff shield was modified or switched to the DOT one it would be fine as they seemed to be pretty wide and have an even light output with minimal dark spots.

[Matt Devo]

Yeah I tested them with OEM bulbs and ballasts. I think if the cutoff shield was modified or switched to the DOT one it would be fine as they seemed to be pretty wide and have an even light output with minimal dark spots.

there's really nothing wrong per se with the cutoff shield, and there are significant hotspots near the cutoff. I don't think changing the cutoff shield would make enough of a difference

[sjaudi]

Very clean! 👍

[Fast4esT]

has anyone done this with the version 6.0 mini h1 kit? i am currently trying to install it and the templates are not clearing the projector bowl and the inner holes are not lining up. curious if anyone has run into this. im currently trying to line everything up and make it fit, but im runing out of plastic trying. haha

[therealet23]

there's really nothing wrong per se with the cutoff shield, and there are significant hotspots near the cutoff. I don't think changing the cutoff shield would make enough of a difference

I did this (put the oem cutoff shields from my d1s oem projectors and I believe that for the low beam, this is a better (wider and with good foreground limiters) than the mini h1. Also, I do not have hotspots above the cutoff with this setup. For the high beam the mini h1 definitely wins hands down though. Also the fact that the whole set up is plug and play using oem ballasts is another plus. So all in all, if you dont have the original DOT d1s cutoff shields or want to modify the extreme ECE cutoff that comes stock on the depo, IMO, you would have a better low beam than the mini h1 (though I cannot speak for the mini h1 6.0). With this set up, there is an intense color flicker as well and I DID NOT have to color mod the lights. Driving on the highway, i can see the blue/purple reflect off the signs and it looks very exotic.

I would like my lights to be even brighter though and am thinking about purchasing 6000k d2s bulbs and using 55 watt ballasts. I would secure the d2s bulbs to the d1s holder like this:




If anyone is interested in my mini h1s to purchase let me know as they are collecting dust in a box.

[ponchiz]

Very glad I found this thread!
I'm looking into upgrading my headlights as well since the plastic on the wiring inside the housing is falling off. I was looking around at what to do and I stumbled on this thread. I do have a question though. The updated TRS kit has an option for a H7 wiring harness. Wouldn't this be easier to install instead of going with the 9006 wiring and then splicing wires? I have stock US Spec Halogen lights but will be purchasing the DEPO suggested in this thread. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Fast4esT]

for ease of fitment, look for the mini h1 version 4 or 5. i just got version 6 and fitment is a real hassle

[Matt Devo]

The updated TRS kit has an option for a H7 wiring harness. Wouldn't this be easier to install instead of going with the 9006 wiring and then splicing wires? I have stock US Spec Halogen lights but will be purchasing the DEPO suggested in this thread. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

The Depo D1S ecodes discussed in this thread have connectors for the factory HID ballasts, so you have to cut/splice no matter what. The TRS ballasts all have a 9006 connector on them, so that's what it makes sense to splice in. The TRS H7 harness would only make sense if you were installing a TRS HID kit into housings with H7 low beams originally, but even then you'd have a lot of excess wiring to deal with though.

[ponchiz]

for ease of fitment, look for the mini h1 version 4 or 5. i just got version 6 and fitment is a real hassle

What issues are you having? Should be a simple fix, no?

The Depo D1S ecodes discussed in this thread have connectors for the factory H
ID ballasts, so you have to cut/splice no matter what. The TRS ballasts all have a 9006 connector on them, so that's what it makes sense to splice in. The TRS H7 harness would only make sense if you were installing a TRS HID kit into housings with H7 low beams originally, but even then you'd have a lot of excess wiring to deal with though.

Thanks. That's pretty much the only question I had. Great writeup by the way.

[Fast4esT]

The projector does not fit flush in the housing, and there really is no room for grinding away materials. The projector housing hits against the screw posts on the headlights where you bolt it in. With the template mounted to the projector you end up with an 1/8" gap between the bracket and the post. Using plastics fif the nracket its xcary to think hiw easily it could snap. The projector is also a little longer than the depo projector.

[ZipMeUpJ]

The projector does not fit flush in the housing, and there really is no room for grinding away materials. The projector housing hits against the screw posts on the headlights where you bolt it in. With the template mounted to the projector you end up with an 1/8" gap between the bracket and the post. Using plastics fif the nracket its xcary to think hiw easily it could snap. The projector is also a little longer than the depo projector.

damn. i have the v5 mh1s.

[Fast4esT]

As far as I understand those work perfectly

[ZipMeUpJ]

As far as I understand those work perfectly

i mean will the brackets youre making still work for mine?

[therealet23]

i mean will the brackets youre making still work for mine?

I had the mini h1 4.0 and it should work for you in valeo oem headlights or depo as long as your cut the bracket correctly.

[ZipMeUpJ]

I had the mini h1 4.0 and it should work for you in valeo oem headlights or depo as long as your cut the bracket correctly.

did you cut it yourself?

[Fast4esT]

The bracket template that is shared on page 1 of this post will work with your h1 kit yes. I laser cut mine.

[ZipMeUpJ]

Im trying to find a place local that can laser cut or has a proper jig. Just went to a glass shop and they only have a hand jig, not even a good dremel


My right bulb just went out so im trying to get this retro done asap instead of buying another halogen bulb

[Fast4esT]

Pm me

[brady.]

apologies to revive this, but unless there is a better more current headlight setup, I picked to do this mod since my front left headlight housing is cracked and causing severe corrosion.

can I do this mod with the version 6.0 Morimoto Stage III HID? specifically refering to post #107. I have all parts ordered but the TRS HID kit. thank you kindly

[JAYINH]

I picked up this kit from TRS that has the adaptors for the B6 already made. new housings are supposed to be here today and then I can install the kit.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.UwOexMKx4yU

[JUSADUB]

I picked up this kit from TRS that has the adaptors for the B6 already made. new housings are supposed to be here today and then I can install the kit.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.UwOexMKx4yU

I need to do this.

[brady.]

apologies, i have to be missing something. why not the ones linked in the OP? are all the other parts on part list necessary? I do need new housings as my left front is damaged hence me looking into upgrading current. thank you .

[BARRY]

shame they didn't copy the design of the S4 headlight. the larger lens looks so much better on the car. BTW Thanks for the very informative write up and information everybody!