Before I buy new headlights...

[SLWRTHNU]

My headlights are quite dull and don't have that crisp cutoff line. I installed Osram CBI's which made things a little brighter, but I still feel it's not reaching its full potential.

I don't know much about what makes the biggest difference, so hopefully someone can shed some light on this. The lenses don't look bad by any means, but they aren't as clean as brand new anymore. Would a new ballast make a difference, or is it time to spend way too much money and get brand new oem assemblies?

[bakedziti]

IMO, your the best bang for your buck is changing the projectors to a clear lens for a sharper cutoff and better light output without stray glare. It can be an involved process but well worth it IMO.

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.

[SLWRTHNU]

IMO, your the best bang for your buck is changing the projectors to a clear lens for a sharper cutoff and better light output without stray glare. It can be an involved process but well worth it IMO.

Amazing write-up and thread! That definitely looks so much more crisp! No idea why the lenses don't come like that from factory... This would take a lot of motivation from me. We'll see how dedicated I get.