HowTo - Swapping Hella EvoX-R bi-xenon projectors into facelft headlights

[julex]

Gotcha. My driveway and garage door works for me, it is very reproducible alignment and people asking why I have aluminum strips on my driveway and garage door is priceless

[julex]

Update:

I did the second light today. This one had standard butyl for sealant so opening it was super easy. Since I already had done one light and it worked, this one was very easy and quick to do. Yay.

Hint: if you can locate glue overflow on your housing and it is slightly tacky and separates when pulled, you have butyl. If it is rubber like, not tacky, and is super sturdy, you have the super sealant.

[mithril]

Based on that I'd guess your other headlight must have been replaced at some stage, glad to hear the second one was much easier to do. I'm going to have to take mine out and add more butyl. A big rainstorm equalled heavy condensation yesterday in one light and after looking at it with the light on I released there is at least one section where light is escaping and therefore the butyl seal is incomplete and that would extra allow moisture in. Yay, fun times. Might also take the opportunity to tweak the projector a little bit as it now appears to me that my bowls are too high and therefore almost all of the hotspot is above the low beam cut off. Makes the highbeams really bright by comparison but it's definitely decreasing my distance light on low (if I'm correct).

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...l=1#post491749

[julex]

Based on that I'd guess your other headlight must have been replaced at some stage, glad to hear the second one was much easier to do. I'm going to have to take mine out and add more butyl. A big rainstorm equalled heavy condensation yesterday in one light and after looking at it with the light on I released there is at least one section where light is escaping and therefore the butyl seal is incomplete and that would extra allow moisture in. Yay, fun times. Might also take the opportunity to tweak the projector a little bit as it now appears to me that my bowls are too high and therefore almost all of the hotspot is above the low beam cut off. Makes the highbeams really bright by comparison but it's definitely decreasing my distance light on low (if I'm correct).

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...l=1#post491749

Now that you mentioned all this, I might have the same problem with one light. The hotspot seems a bit dimmer than the other one. It is probably shifted - damn you .

[mithril]

Hopefully it's the Easy Bake light? ;)

[julex]

Hopefully it's the Easy Bake light? ;)

Both are butyl now it is easy mode on both . I need to look at them at night, maybe I am "seeing things" lol.

[mithril]

Crikey :( Ever have one of those eureka moments with a problem only to release it was your own stupidity that caused the problem in the first place? Solved the condensation issue. When I reassembled the lights I accidentally reversed the rubber gaskets for the bulb covers and installed the drivers gasket on the passenger housing and vice versa. The mismatch wasn't enough to cause a pooling leak, but it was enough to allow moisture in. Put the gaskets in the proper housings and voila, not more condensation... and the first Pineapple Express of the year dumping 200mm of rain on Vancouver this weekend has been a pretty good test ;)

[julex]

Excellent, you found the issue without undoing the whole lights.

I got lucky with my projectors, they are aligned well, no dark spots and the low beam starts in the right section of hot spot so no overly bright foreground. No need to take them apart

[mithril]

My hotspots are still too high, the centre is a good 2 - 3" above the low beam cutoff @ 25', so I will unfortunately have to take the lights apart again. However fixing the condensation issue means the urgency is less and I'm only trying to address 1 issue now instead of 2

[julex]

sweet. Thanks for the original post. My conversion would be more pleasant if not that one housing with super-man glue on it, haha.

[FITZ TITS]

So what happens with the halogen high-beam? Does that also come on when you activate the highs?

[mithril]

The halogens always come on regardless of whether you have single or bi-xenon's. The difference is the bi-xenon projectors have a mechanical actuator which moves the cutoff shield to increase projector output on high. Swapping to the EvoX-R's doesn't change the factory behaviour of the lights.

[FITZ TITS]

The halogens always come on regardless of whether you have single or bi-xenon's. The difference is the bi-xenon projectors have a mechanical actuator which moves the cutoff shield to increase projector output on high. Swapping to the EvoX-R's doesn't change the factory behaviour of the lights.

So you just blast off with factory halogen highs and the redirected lows from the bi-xenon unit?

[mithril]

There's no redirection. The factory lights work exactly the same, the cutoff shield is on an actuator which flips it out of the beam when high is engaged.

[FITZ TITS]

There's no redirection. The factory lights work exactly the same, the cutoff shield is on an actuator which flips it out of the beam when high is engaged.

Gotcha.

[PipeHitter808]

How much more work would it be for 2001 Allroad? I can not find much information on "plug n play options" for pre-facelift cars with OEM HID set ups. I went static and am pretty low to ground and want to get better light output. Already have done extensive cleaning to the headlight housings, and put new Phillips 85122 bulbs in.

[mithril]

From first page of thread ;)

The Allroad lights are 2.5" so this isn't a direct plug and play swap, but it can be done: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...5-gt-FX35-PICS. That said, I think you'll find EvoX-R's would be more than just an improvement on high beam. If nothing else they will not have the 10yrs of use on them and I'm pretty sure the Allroad projectors also got the kind of matte chroming on the bowl as opposed to the mirror chroming on the Evo's.

[Castor Troy]

mithril still waiting for that PM offering to do mine ;)

[studioRS]

Received my EvoX-Rs last week, lovely set of glass and reflector! Plan to install soon.

[mithril]

Just a couple picture updates from the other night. One of the things that I always find a bit frustrating is the fact that threads like this one always post output pictures showing cutoffs against white or light gray walls, I realized that I'm guilty of my own pet peeve :( Part of the problem of doing this is that, unless you're heading for a crash, it's entirely unrepresentative of normal use conditions and gives an elevated impression for how bright the lights should be. I know that when I look at these shots I always subconsciously wonder why these people's lights are so much brighter than my what I see at night in my car.

Case in point these pictures were all taken within 20mins of each a few nights ago. They're just quick snaps with my iPhone but still convey the details. The wall in the parkade was freshly painted white and the pic makes the beam look a bit brighter than it really was (although the high beam shot is pretty close). The other set was on an access road into a local provincial park that has no street lights and high tree overgrowth that allows almost no light in. It's always a little fun to flick on the high beams as there's parking all along this road that's invariably has one or two very fogged up vehicles at that time of night

Hopefully this gives some impression of how bright the lights are in standard "forum cutoff post" pics but also, and more importantly, in a more real world scenario. It should also be noted that all the other pics were using a 3 year old set of Phillips 85122+ bulbs. I've since replaced them with Phillips 85122XV's which are supposed to be a couple hundred lumen brighter and run at 5000K instead of 4300K. Not sure if there's really that big a difference but I got a good deal on them so whatever.

[Dr. Funk]

Any thoughts on the morimoto mini swap? Probably not a direct fit like these are, though seems like all the b5 guys are doing that kit..

[mithril]

Pretty sure the B5 crowd uses the Morimoto Mini's simply because their size allows them to easily fit in the smaller housings. The main reason for the popularity of the Mini is that it's the smallest common aftermarket projector which means it can be it into the largest range of housings, it's never rated as highly as most other projectors for beam width, hotspot intensity or high beam distance. It's not a bad projector, it's just that the compromises needed to make it small do have an effect.

The E55 which the EvoX-R's are based on is still one of the best bi-xenon projectors on the market which, while 12+ yr old design, is still used as OEM on current model Merc, BMW, Cadillac and Mitsubishi to name a few. I wouldn't even really consider what I did a "retrofit" as it didn't require any fabrication or custom mounting, it was just simple unbolt-old-bolt-in-new upgrade. While I'm sure you could swap in the Morimoto's if you really wanted to personally I don't see the advantage in making a custom mount to swap in projectors that aren't as good as the direct bolt in replacement.

My $0.02, probably worth the same...

[Dr. Funk]

I want to do this.. But can only find pre facelift v8s.. They have 2.5in projectors vs the 3in e55 size.. Any recommendations? Is there an equivalent 2.5in projector?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mithril]

No, but if you look further up in the thread there's a link to another forum where a guy retro'ed these lights into a set of AllRoad housing. The prefacelight V8 housings are different from the AllRoad of course but both use the same 2.5" project so I imagine the swap would work just as well.

[Nemesis2747]

Wait, I'm a little confused. I have a 03 2.7t. Facelifted? What size lense does it use? Up until I read this is thought it was 2.5. I'm planning to swap the lenses ( maybe projectors too) and add in a switch back led turn signal/DRL halo.

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[mithril]

It should be 3", all the facelift models w/ xenon lights got bi-xenon projectors which are the 3" Hella E55's. The allroad was the only exception because it never got the facelifted front end. I'd skip the halo's and DRL led's, they just don't look right on these cars but that's just my opinion of course.

[studioRS]

@mithril - thanks for the excellent DIY on this! Just swapped mine over this weekend and combined with a new high-pressure AC switch replacement, getting sorted today.

Adding to the photo library for the thread and my tips on what I encountered.

Comparision of old Hella E55 in background to new EvoX-R in foreground. The difference is stunning. You can see the wavy lines in the E55 lens, none in the EvoX-R—at all.







Removing the butyl in the housing channel, Heat gun and flathead screw driver.


Channel cleaned up best I could.


...ugh... All wires to H7 highbeam with cracked insulation. The more you move them, the more they crack (I'm at 163k mi). I've been here before, 11 quattros later, totally know the drill. The wires are fine, just the insulation is shot.


Unclip the connector, uncrimp the copper spade and install small heat shrink tubing on existing wires all the way down to the bottom. Then, I grouped the ground wires together and added larger heat shrink over. Re crimp spade, solder with flux, reinstall.



EvoX-R is direct bolt on fix!



All buttoned up, ready to go.



I even used German boxes to store the parts while rebuilding.


Cheers, Thompson

[mithril]

Wow, my OEM bowls were in nowhere near as bad shape as yours. You should see a nice improvement in output :)

[Kruat]

Thanks for the write up, where are you sourcing the EvoX-R lens from?

[mithril]

The EvoX-R projector is a Morimoto product so I assume any place that carries Morimoto should be able to source it. I bought mine at The Retrofit Source (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...l#.V1Xs8fksBjY), however what we're talking about here is the entire projector, not just lenses. If you want just the clear lenses to swap into your OEM E55 projectors you want the 3" ZKW-R's (https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...l#.V1Xs-fksBjY).

[studioRS]

Yes, when I looked at how bad my OEM reflector bowls were I knew this was going to be a sweet upgrade.

[studioRS]

If you are going to remove the lights and disassemble, I'd upgrade the whole lot with the EvoX-R reflectors and lens. The low cost vs high improvement can't be beat on this upgrade.

AC got sorted today with a new high pressure switch, runs like a top nice and cold.

Just a note, when installing the passenger light, the black stub (that inserts into the white holder on the radiator housing) was cracked. ...ugh... This again!?! It wasn't broken off, just cracked on one side.

Easy fix, the center of these is hollow. Just drill through the plastic housing and insert a section of wooden dowel. Seemed to do the trick.

Now for the drivers side, the white plastic piece broke in two removing the light. Rather than buying a new one, I rebuilt the two halves with Zap medium superglue, 1/8" Birch plywood, aluminum printing plate scrap, fiberglass and epoxy.

[studioRS]

When I drove to the shop to get the AC high pressure switch changed, system refilled, both headlights were not installed and the auto bulb check went haywire — dipped headlight and turn indicators came up as errors. Ok, totally understand they weren't plugged in.

Q... Installed lights last night, plugged in as normal, didn't test as it was late. This morning in the garage as soon as I put it in Reverse, the dipped headlight bulb check stayed on. I turned on the lights, both low beams looked fantastic in the garage, flicked the high beams, tested turn indicators what seemed all looked good, but the headlight bulb check was still illuminated? I'll test further today.

- Do I need to check and reset an error code with my XTool VAG401 and or VAG-COM ?
- Wonder if the EvoX-R high beam / low beam solenoid polarity has anything to do with it ( I know you said it does't)?
- What about the polarity of the high beam H7s? Those shouldn't matter?

- Anything else to check? TIA

[studioRS]

...and read your post here.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ht=dipped+beam

I have a friend that has VCDS and will enlist his help. Looks like I need to clear fault code of running the S6 with lights out and readjust?
Looking for help on procedure in VCDS, TIA.

[Kruat]

You'll need to run the test plan to clear the dipped headlight fault. Very easy to do, but not sure if you can do it without VagCom. It will just go through the upper and lower limits of the headlight motors, then move them in a position to adjust them. Once you run that test, the fault will go away.

[studioRS]

You'll need to run the test plan to clear the dipped headlight fault. Very easy to do, but not sure if you can do it without VagCom. It will just go through the upper and lower limits of the headlight motors, then move them in a position to adjust them. Once you run that test, the fault will go away.

Thank you! Yes we have VAG-COM and cable here at work, will get after this tonight in the shop.

[studioRS]

Made the dipped beam error go away, VAG-COM and borrowed KII-USB cable worked great! Nice to have an old laptop hanging around the house for this use.

Must buy a HEX-USB+CAN cable for myself, just bought my daughter a 2006 A4 Avant.

Just an FYI, my soft coding was set to 00020

[studioRS]

Just aligned and adjusted tonight. Wow.

The difference - imagine when your were previously on the highway and a newer car drove up next to you and you were amazed at how crisp and bright THIER xenons were compared to your old S6 bi-xenon headlights. Well, now the difference is, your S6 is that new ultra crisp and bright Audi. This modification really is that good.

You can even see the minute leveling adjustments when you come to a stop or the body of the car changes from level attitude.

It was raining outside and the roads were wet black asphalt which soaks up most light. Just for kicks, I toggled on the fog lights, could barely tell they even came on!

[mithril]

Made the dipped beam error go away, VAG-COM and borrowed KII-USB cable worked great! Nice to have an old laptop hanging around the house for this use.

Must buy a HEX-USB+CAN cable for myself, just bought my daughter a 2006 A4 Avant.

I bought a refurb'ed Dell Venue8 Pro tablet off eBay to use as a VAG-Com device. I think it was $100 and it's small enough I just leave it in the car. As long as the tablet is full Win8 or Win10 VCDS will run on it, the only one it can't run on is Win8 RT.

Just for kicks, I toggled on the fog lights, could barely tell they even came on!

LOL! The bulbs in my fogs burned out years ago (the fogs acts as fulltime DRLs on Canadian spec C5's), I haven't bothered to replace them.

[studioRS]

For adjustments, I measured my lens height at 26" at the front of the S6, then 25 feet out, measured up 25" and used some blue tape at 49" apart. The drivers side was only a tick lower and very slight lateral adjustment was needed. Seems to be pretty good now and didn't offend any drivers on the way home. What a drastic cut off!

Above = black night, below = daylight!