802Projects
This was my first ever HID Retrofit. A special thanks to Eddie (aka RunYun on the forums) for answering my many questions and selling me the hard to find Sonar lights! There are already some decent instructions out there on the DS2 retrofit, however I had to improvise some as the DS2 projector housings that people use to use had been revised. They are now about 3/4" longer so they don't bolt into the housing without modifications. If you tried; the clear plastic cover would hit the projector lens.
I ordered just about everything from TheRetrofitSource.com.. You can buy everything as a "kit" off their website to save a few bucks. Plus if you look hard enough online you can find a 25% off coupon. The epoxy, paint, PVC pipe I picked up at my local hardware store. The Crystal Diamond Headlights can be bought from Jegs, or eBay. They are sometimes hard to find as Sakebombgarage.com buys a ton of them for the retrofits they sell. Total I have less than $400 invested.
Originally I had ordered the Canbus Bi-Xenon H4/9003 wiring adapters. These plugged right into the oem headlight wiring and straight to the ballast. However I think the power draw was giving me some issues. Sometimes only 1 light would come on, or one would flicker. I switched to the MOTOControl harness and the problem went away. This uses a single gold relay and gets wired straight to the battery. It also provides 2 ground points right near each ballast.
You need to separate the clear plastic headlight lens using an oven. Now everyone online kept saying 220 degrees. That wouldn't get them hot enough for me. I had to do 290 degrees for 10 minutes before the glue would soften enough. Use a thin screwdriver and gently pry evenly until you get one side up. Now that I think about it, a butter knife may work even better.
Whatever you do, DO NOT DO this ha. I actually broke a piece off my inner housing:( This is a big reason why I ended up making mine black. I had to sand/epoxy it back on and there was no way for me to save the chrome finish.
In order for the projector to fit, the back of the headlight housing needs to be modified. It needs to be moved back. I did this by basically cutting the back portion off, flipping it around, then adding a thin pvc pipe spacer to get the depth I needed.
I used a Dremel tool with a guide that screwed on the bottom that allowed me to set the depth. If you look inside the housing from the back side you'll see a ring inside the opening left over from the mold. I set the depth of the Dremel to cut just below that line. Then you need to open up the inside of the housing a little bit, and bevel it so the projector fits far enough inside for the clear lens to fit over it. I used a digital caliper to make sure I had both projectors sticking through the same distance. If one was slightly off, I bored out the other side a little more. It's kind of hard to describe the process but hopefully these pictures help.
I did not have to modify the top part of the shroud. it cleared just fine. However the bottom portion I did need to trim some off to fit. After you are done make sure the clear lens will fit without rubbing anything.
Technically you wouldn't need to do this if you managed to pull the lens apart without damaging anything. But if you did, or if you want the black look I'd recommend removing the chrome paint. Some Easy Off oven cleaner and a little cleaning with a scotch-brite pad works well.
Only mix up enough epoxy to do one side at a time. I used about half a tubes worth per side. I used some dumbbells to put pressure on them overnight. Since I flipped the back piece around it provided a nice flat surface on the back. So technically it could go any direction. Check the projector to see which side the high beam wiring connector is on. I'd line up the square hole with that side so it provides an easy path to feed the wring through. I also put a tiny notch inside the light so that the rubber bushing wouldn't completely pinch the 2 wires that pass through.
Probably about 5 thin coats. The first few I focused on the hard to reach spots like the groove around the edge and the very center cone section. the last few coats you can do evenly over everything.
I noticed once testing my headlights that the E55 shrouds are not that deep. So if I stood at the front side of the car and looked at the headlights, I would be blinded as nothing was shielding the bulb. So using some aluminum tin I cutup my own plates and riveted them to the projector housings. I would definitely recommend this.
Now you can put the headlights back in the car to align them. I had to cut out a little bit of material in my popup housings to accommodate the slightly longer headlights. All I cared about at this point was making sure they were rotated correctly and that the lines were more or less horizontal. I plugged in one side at a time to make the adjustments. When you get it where you want, tighten the nut on the back side. I made it super tight as I'm not using any kind of locking ring to keep the projector from spinning.
Now that the projectors are where they need to be, wipe everything down with a microfiber towel. I applied a light coat of rtv around the inside of each shroud and pushed them on for good. Then use the black sealant strip and run it into the lens groove. Make sure the clear lens are fingerprint free and set them on top of the sealant. Bake in the oven at 265 degrees for 7 minutes (with bulbs removed!), then press the lens together. Let cool and you are set to install them in the car. I added some RTV to the back side of the housings to further seal stuff up and hopefully prevent the nut from ever wanting to come lose. I'll add some installed pics later.
