HID Lens replacement - DIY

[SteveYem]

Oh man I love them. The cutoff is laser sharp with a nice deep blue hue, color wise they are a nice bright white, and the brightness is very impressive, they have exceeded my expectations in terms of the distance/width/and brightness. When I look at comparison pictures of the OEM projectors I'm just wowed at how dark the old ones were. The brightness and intensity of the new projectors is so, so much better, and I'm in love with the blue cutoff flashing off of buildings and road signs. The highbeams are also very impressive, they shoot a very tall wall of light a mile down the road lighting up everything! I've started paying more and more attention to other cars headlights on the road comparing them to mine and these are certainly on par with the newer luxury vehicles in terms of color and brightness. I am very pleased with them!

Thanks for your feedback! Which bulbs are you using currently?

[3.0ss]

Thanks for your feedback! Which bulbs are you using currently?

I'm running Osram CBB's

[bakedziti]

Do these G5 projectors work with AFS?

[3.0ss]

Do these G5 projectors work with AFS?

I think he does sell a kit for AFS headlights but I'm not 100% sure, you'd have to ask him.

[bakedziti]

I think he does sell a kit for AFS headlights but I'm not 100% sure, you'd have to ask him.

Sounds good, I’ll have to reach out and ask.

[SteveYem]

I'm running Osram CBB's

Gotcha. I always figured they would be too blue given the rated 7000k color temp., but now reading some reviews I see that the projected light is closer to pure white. I may have to give these a try. I haven't been supremely impressed by the Philips WhiteVision bulbs that I bought a couple years back...they look awesome and pure white upon first ignition but quickly settle into a less impressive off-white color.


EDIT: Getting a bit off topic, but how do the Osram CBB's hold up when driving through rain at night?

[3.0ss]

Gotcha. I always figured they would be too blue given the rated 7000k color temp., but now reading some reviews I see that the projected light is closer to pure white. I may have to give these a try. I haven't been supremely impressed by the Philips WhiteVision bulbs that I bought a couple years back...they look awesome and pure white upon first ignition but quickly settle into a less impressive off-white color.


EDIT: Getting a bit off topic, but how do the Osram CBB's hold up when driving through rain at night?

Yeah it's just Osram's silly advertising method for people who think higher kelvins=brighter light, they're actually around 5500K. I haven't really driven in the rain at night yet but I'm sure they'd do just fine.

[intimdatr]

I have the Osram CBIs (very similar performance in my experience) and they do pretty well for being a pretty neutral color.

[bakedziti]

I think he does sell a kit for AFS headlights but I'm not 100% sure, you'd have to ask him.

AFS kit is on its way and Trups is great to work with, thank you for the suggestion!

Now I just need to order new headlight lens and some amber reflector deletes; hopefully I can get the headlight lens stateside in a few weeks being that I have the last 2 weeks of the year off.

[tsitalon1]

Oh man I love them. The cutoff is laser sharp with a nice deep blue hue, color wise they are a nice bright white, and the brightness is very impressive, they have exceeded my expectations in terms of the distance/width/and brightness. When I look at comparison pictures of the OEM projectors I'm just wowed at how dark the old ones were. The brightness and intensity of the new projectors is so, so much better, and I'm in love with the blue cutoff flashing off of buildings and road signs. The highbeams are also very impressive, they shoot a very tall wall of light a mile down the road lighting up everything! I've started paying more and more attention to other cars headlights on the road comparing them to mine and these are certainly on par with the newer luxury vehicles in terms of color and brightness. I am very pleased with them!

So almost 3 years after I replied to this thread I think I'm ready to move to the next level and try these bad boys. I've sent an email to EMtuning and I"m hoping the B8.5 and B8 projects are the same with the same mounts.

I've been very happy with my Phillips XV 2's in my OEM projectors, but like I said, I'm ready for the next level.

I really miss my 2008 Evo with custom FX-R projectors !!

[bakedziti]

So almost 3 years after I replied to this thread I think I'm ready to move to the next level and try these bad boys. I've sent an email to EMtuning and I"m hoping the B8.5 and B8 projects are the same with the same mounts.

I've been very happy with my Phillips XV 2's in my OEM projectors, but like I said, I'm ready for the next level.

I really miss my 2008 Evo with custom FX-R projectors !!

I’m fairly certain they’re the same projectors, though I’m not sure if the mounting brackets are the same. I just ordered a set for my AFS B8.5 last week.

[tsitalon1]

Well, to add another wrinkle to this conversation, I've asked EMtuning if the MLED2.0 from Morimoto is compatible.

Talk about an upgrade!

Waiting on an answer..

[tsitalon1]

MLED 2.0's will fit and are compatible, placing my order now, stay tuned!

[bakedziti]

MLED 2.0's will fit and are compatible, placing my order now, stay tuned!

That’s great! Can I ask what that ran you?

I ordered my projectors from EMtuning on 12/09 and they arrived this afternoon.

[3.0ss]

MLED 2.0's will fit and are compatible, placing my order now, stay tuned!

Interesting, I'd like to see how those perform. I'll bet they were not cheap lol!

[tsitalon1]

Sure roughly ~$600 to my door.

More than the G5, but you will not need to buy replacement bulbs or ballasts in the future and the beam pattern is better than G5's.

[tsitalon1]

Cheap is a relative term, I think the price was acceptable especially considering the expected light improvement.

You could pay much more for a pair of headlights!

[bakedziti]

Thank you for the reply @tsitalon1 that’s still less than a set of e-codes for better light output. I was looking at the MLEDs for my fiancé’s R60 Mini CM but she’s been talking about trading it in, so I decided to do my lights as a belated birthday present to myself and may throw my current projectors into the Mini later if she keeps it, because anything is better than the halogen lights she has now.

All parts have been ordered and are on the way; including new lens from CZ and new White Vision bulbs. My amber deletes should be here any day now which really only leaves me with figuring out a new cornering H7 bulb for my AFS.

[tsitalon1]

Thank you for the reply @tsitalon1 that’s still less than a set of e-codes for better light output. I was looking at the MLEDs for my fiancé’s R60 Mini CM but she’s been talking about trading it in, so I decided to do my lights as a belated birthday present to myself and may throw my current projectors into the Mini later if she keeps it, because anything is better than the halogen lights she has now.

All parts have been ordered and are on the way; including new lens from CZ and new White Vision bulbs. My amber deletes should be here any day now which really only leaves me with figuring out a new cornering H7 bulb for my AFS.

No problem, just put the G5's in her mini instead and order the MLED's for the Audi :)

[HOJeepster]

So i just spent the last 12 hours disassembling my headlights to do the corner mod and ZKW clear lense. I've done several retrofits before, so I have some experience. The headlights turned out looking great with the painted reflector, but the clear lense swap did not work out as I hoped. I read this forum, bought the knotched clear lense, took my time and lined everything up and made sure the lense was seated properly. After reassembling everything and reinstalling on the vehicle, the headlight cutoff is not crisp, and I'm getting that yellow bleeding over the cutoff. I tried adjusting the shield via the t15 nut inside, but that did not resolve the issue. This is my 2nd set of audi headlights that I've tried using the ZKW clear lense on stock projectors, and I have concluded it's not worth the time and effort unless you have a test bench and are willing to use spacers to adjust the optics. Not going to lie, I'm kind a pissed after all this effort for such crappy results. You're better off just keeping the stock frensel lense or just upgrading the projector to the G5-R, which will likely be my solution as I don't want to spend another 8+ hours disassembling the headlights again. Just a heads up - I would pass on the ZKW lense, not worth the time and poor results on a B8.5 Allroad.

[sivletho]

So i just spent the last 12 hours disassembling my headlights to do the corner mod and ZKW clear lense. I've done several retrofits before, so I have some experience. The headlights turned out looking great with the painted reflector, but the clear lense swap did not work out as I hoped. I read this forum, bought the knotched clear lense, took my time and lined everything up and made sure the lense was seated properly. After reassembling everything and reinstalling on the vehicle, the headlight cutoff is not crisp, and I'm getting that yellow bleeding over the cutoff. I tried adjusting the shield via the t15 nut inside, but that did not resolve the issue. This is my 2nd set of audi headlights that I've tried using the ZKW clear lense on stock projectors, and I have concluded it's not worth the time and effort unless you have a test bench and are willing to use spacers to adjust the optics. Not going to lie, I'm kind a pissed after all this effort for such crappy results. You're better off just keeping the stock frensel lense or just upgrading the projector to the G5-R, which will likely be my solution as I don't want to spend another 8+ hours disassembling the headlights again. Just a heads up - I would pass on the ZKW lense, not worth the time and poor results on a B8.5 Allroad.

I’m going to swap a clear lens on my e55 projector tomorrow. I was reading that a way to adjust cut off is by bending the shield towards the reflector bowl or adding washers to the reflector bowl and lens holder to space the lens further.
I’ve been delayed and contemplating if I should go with the clear lens or do a evox-r and try to get it to fit


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[bakedziti]

My new headlight lenses arrived today; it’s amazing these were shipped economy from Prague after my amber deletes were shipped from Oklahoma, but that the lenses arrived before the amber delete reflectors. Almost there to start my project, but of course my vacation is over.

[sivletho]

My new headlight lenses arrived today; it’s amazing these were shipped economy from Prague after my amber deletes were shipped from Oklahoma, but that the lenses arrived before the amber delete reflectors. Almost there to start my project, but of course my vacation is over.

Did you decide what projector you will retrofit?


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[bakedziti]

Did you decide what projector you will retrofit?

Yes, I ordered the G5-R projectors from EMTuning because I have AFS and already had some additional trimming to do because of the AFS movement. $272 for new projectors and brackets shipped with some great vendor support and communication was hard to turn down, minimizing risk because the retro has been completed by another forum member while maximizing light output on HID bulbs, and finally allowing me to pick up all of the extras I wanted to take care of while I was working on the lights.

• NHK G5-R Projectors & brackets: $272
• Philips white vision V2 bulbs: $190
• Headlight lens: $162
• Amber reflector deletes: $63
• Lamin-x precut film: $55
• Paint, adhesion promoter, air duster for blackout $25
• Morimoto retrorubber $23
  
• Total: $790

[sivletho]

Yes, I ordered the G5-R projectors from EMTuning because I have AFS and already had some additional trimming to do because of the AFS movement. $272 for new projectors and brackets shipped with some great vendor support and communication was hard to turn down, minimizing risk because the retro has been completed by another forum member while maximizing light output on HID bulbs, and finally allowing me to pick up all of the extras I wanted to take care of while I was working on the lights.

• NHK G5-R Projectors & brackets: $272
• Philips white vision V2 bulbs: $190
• Headlight lens: $162
• Amber reflector deletes: $63
• Lamin-x precut film: $55
• Paint, adhesion promoter, air duster for blackout $25
• Morimoto retrorubber $23
  
• Total: $790

Sounds like a days work i would like to know the ease of the G5-R swap.
it took me 12 hours to do a clear lens swap.

I’m in between a EVOX-R swap or a Mini D2S 5.0 projector it’s similar to the G5-R just newer and a TRS brand


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[3.0ss]

Sounds like a days work i would like to know the ease of the G5-R swap.
it took me 12 hours to do a clear lens swap.

I’m in between a EVOX-R swap or a Mini D2S 5.0 projector it’s similar to the G5-R just newer and a TRS brand


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There's a few good YouTube videos that basically walk you through every step of disassembly so it's not too terribly difficult. Once you have the headlight fully taken apart the projectors just bolt right in place of the old ones and are plug&play so that's the easy part. My first headlight took me 8 hours and that was me being super careful, waiting on EMTuning to wake up to answer my questions lol (UK time), and double checking everything. The second light once you know what you're doing will be a breeze, it only took me 2 hours from start to finish.

Edit: Just re-read that while I'm not half asleep lol I thought you said a clear side marker swap, my bad. The G5 swap is super easy, like I said just unbolt the stock projector and bolt the G5's in. Much much much easier than the clear lens swap.

[bakedziti]

The amber deletes finally arrived.

[bakedziti]

I’ve just about finished my project, though I feel the lights could use some additional time in the oven to help clean up the reseal with the morimoto retrorubber and because I resealed at 180°F due to the plastic paint having a temp rating of 200°F instead of the 215°F I used to open the lights and worked perfectly. Maybe I’m being a baby, but I couldn’t stand watching paint flake after resealing.

Before and after results below, note I have yet to change any of my bulbs, so I have a 1-to-1 comparison.


Before:




After:




A little further back after the retrofit:



And the lights after the paint and amber delete.







AFS adds very little to the retrofit process of the G5-R projectors from EMTuning, but does involve some trimming of the projector body in order to clear the AFS basket, but that was easily accomplished with a dremel cutting wheel. Image from Trups below on projector trimming.



Otherwise, I believe there was only one additional electrical connector for the AFS motor and the cornering bulb spot having a reflective dome instead of a dummy cover in non-AFS lights, but there were no additional mounting points, screws or tabs to deal with in comparison to non-AFS lights.

Overall, I’ll echo what others have said; the project is tedious, but not very difficult in the long run. If you’re disassembling the headlight for paint, you’ll deal with plenty of plastic tabs & clips that require patience and attention to which clips latch over another piece of plastic within the assembly, but it’s entirely possible and actually pretty fun.

[djn876]

Looks great and nice work. Your left light looks like it could come up so the steps match on both sides unless you like to double step look.

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[3.0ss]

Dang those look awesome, love the look of them blacked out! Nice job


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[bakedziti]

Looks great and nice work. Your left light looks like it could come up so the steps match on both sides unless you like to double step look.

I hadn’t really given the 2 steps too much thought because I think it’s closer to OEM this way, but I do see what you’re saying and may give it a shot to lower the right rather than raising the left as I think they’re sitting close to where they were before the swap.

Dang those look awesome, love the look of them blacked out! Nice job

Thank you! And thank you for the all of the information on the G5-Rs and the suggestion for EMTuning; they’ve been great!

[webbyboy]

Hello bakedziti do you know anything about the yellowing of the DRLs? i

[bakedziti]

Hello bakedziti do you know anything about the yellowing of the DRLs? i

I unfortunately do not have any experience with the LED DRL switchback modules, but it’s been accomplished by other members with information in the thread linked below.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...help-with-VCDS

[HOJeepster]

For those running the G5-R, does the G5 wiring plug directly into the stock components or did your kit provide a new wiring harness for the high beams?

[3.0ss]

For those running the G5-R, does the G5 wiring plug directly into the stock components or did your kit provide a new wiring harness for the high beams?

Yeah the kit from EM Tuning had an adapter included that plugged right into the OEM harness.

[wesleyCrowbar]

Does anybody happen to have the pics from the OP? all the links are broken and this is the most comprehensive guide I've been able to find anywhere

[simrag]

Does anybody happen to have the pics from the OP? all the links are broken and this is the most comprehensive guide I've been able to find anywhere

I would love to see them too but the writeup still looks helpful. I did find these videos from EM Tuning. Trim disassembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwRLymzaTkY and projector removal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uspko0RzCBo&t=85s which should be very useful once the projectors and brackets arrive.

[simrag]

I finally got around to installing the G5 projectors and EM tuning brackets I purchased from SteveYem a few months ago. It was the easiest retrofit I've ever done. The headlights come right out without doing anything to the bumper: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...dlight-install and the headlights seperated easily after 9 minutes in a 225F oven. I used the video I linked above to remove the DRL/shroud. The only thing that took a little bit of work to figure out was the inboard mount on the stock projector bracket that needed to be transferred to the new bracket that came with the G5 projectors. Unlike the pictures from earlier in the thread, the brackets were made of plastic and looked very similar to the stock brackets with mounting holes that correspond to the holes on the G5 projectors.

The mount rotates/pivots on a ball and removal isn't obvious. It is actually composed of two pieces, and the outer part has to removed first. It is pretty awkward to do - you have to bend 2 or 3 of the "arms" away from the center of the inner piece with something like jeweler's screwdrivers to allow the outer piece to release upward. Once the outer piece is removed, the inner piece will come apart enough to snap it off the ball. Once the mount is installed on the new bracket, it bolts right into the headlight like the stock bracket. There is also a small white fitting that has to be transferred from the old to new bracket, but that just has to be squeezed to be removed.

Light output was significantly improved with a new set of Osram CBI bulbs with a sharp cutoff. Very pleased with the result. My only small complaint is that the brackets don't center the projectors in the shroud opening very well, but when I compared it to the other still stock headlight, I noticed it was somewhat off center too, so not much of a change.

https://imgur.com/a/RV2B1vJ

[SteveYem]

I finally got around to installing the G5 projectors and EM tuning brackets I purchased from SteveYem a few months ago. It was the easiest retrofit I've ever done. The headlights come right out without doing anything to the bumper: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...dlight-install and the headlights seperated easily after 9 minutes in a 225F oven. I used the video I linked above to remove the DRL/shroud. The only thing that took a little bit of work to figure out was the inboard mount on the stock projector bracket that needed to be transferred to the new bracket that came with the G5 projectors. Unlike the pictures from earlier in the thread, the brackets were made of plastic and looked very similar to the stock brackets with mounting holes that correspond to the holes on the G5 projectors.

The mount rotates/pivots on a ball and removal isn't obvious. It is actually composed of two pieces, and the outer part has to removed first. It is pretty awkward to do - you have to bend 2 or 3 of the "arms" away from the center of the inner piece with something like jeweler's screwdrivers to allow the outer piece to release upward. Once the outer piece is removed, the inner piece will come apart enough to snap it off the ball. Once the mount is installed on the new bracket, it bolts right into the headlight like the stock bracket.

Light output was significantly improved with a new set of Osram CBI bulbs with a sharp cutoff. Very pleased with the result. My only small complaint is that the brackets don't center the projectors in the shroud opening very well, but when I compared it to the other still stock headlight, I noticed it was somewhat off center too, so not much of a change.

https://imgur.com/a/RV2B1vJ

Nice!! I would be curious to see some photos of the headlight output if you get the opportunity to post them.

[simrag]

Nice!! I would be curious to see some photos of the headlight output if you get the opportunity to post them.

Here's a few. Despite how it looks like in a couple of them where the car is pointed uphill, they're aimed properly although they required quite a bit up upward adjustment after installation since the mounting bracket connects to the up/down mechanism in a slightly different location than the stock bracket. There is a white adjuster for up/down adjustments at the back of the light that points upward and requires an allen to adjust. They are a big improvement over stock HIDs on both high and low beams. Thanks again for the smooth transaction!