FattyCBR

Couple of pics, still need to tweak some things. I'm using BMW E55 bi-xenon projectors. The E55s are one of the oldest bi-xenon projectors, so they're not as slick and bright as some of the newer ones, but for how much everyone knocks the E55s they're pretty awesome for down the road just on low beams. **Pics of the front are at the bottom of the post.**

These are taken handheld without a flash so the color's a bit off but it should give an idea. I'll get some day light pics of the lights themselves tomorrow. Let me know what you think.

Gratuitous wall shot


Close up of cutoff


Foreground lighting


Front


Projector close-up


Projector close-up from the side

Localmotion

Those look really bright. how much did it cost to do all of that?

jimbo74

now idd you jsut through in some bulbs or did you somehow redisgn your housing to accept the bmw housing?

FattyCBR

Here's a rough cost breakdown, it really depends on what type of projectors and ballasts you buy, plus this doesn't include the headlights if you need new ones:

Projectors: $120-350
Ballasts: $140-200
Bulbs: $50-75
Harness: DIY- $25, bought- $50-75

This is a real retro, not a kit (which just uses a bulb) and causes horrible glare, plus no highbeams. I removed the projectors from the BMW headlight and transplanted them into the 4Runner reflector.

iceman601

Hey FattyCBR, I also did the retro and used the Bi-Xenon E55 projector......I was wondering if you have any close up pictures of your headlight??...I'm interested to see how yours look like and what bezel did you use to cover it up?

Silver_Truck

I'm guessing E55 is the number for the light itself right? Because an E55 is a Mercedes...anyways looks good 3rd gens with HIDs are sweet

FattyCBR

I added some at the end of my first post. I used bezels from the new E60.

The E55 refers to the first cars these projectors were used on (that people noticed), the E55 AMG. So people just call them E55 projectors even though Hella makes them.

terryjmatthew

BMW E55?

Just giving you a hard time. Maybe edit your first post.

UNR.Grad

Could you just change the bulb to get more output, a dif temp? Also, was that as far in as you could mount the projector? It seems like it sticks out pretty far, just wondering if you did that on purpose. Also, how hard was it to get the aim right, the cutoff not to high or low?

FattyCBR

The bulbs I have in are Phillips 4100k bulbs, which produce the greatest lumens. You could mount them as far back as you want since there's plenty of room behind the lights, but the further back they are the more exposed to water they are. Getting the cutoff height wasn't too bacd, I still need to tune them a little, the hard part is getting them rotated so they're both perfectly horizontal.

Mrbikerman

Did this to my 2000 4runner with fx-r projectors and the beam pattern is too wide for my truck. It's lifted and usually has no sway bars so when I'm cornering they sometimes blind people on the inside of the turn.

I did a retrofit on my dads Tacoma (he's 71 so his eyes need all the help they can get lol) with those 'mini d2s' projectors and I didn't have to cut any housings. It was a breeze and so far they're holding up great.

I'm currently working on an e-55 retrofit because they have a narrower beam, but I'm polishing the bowls to a mirror finish to increase output and possibly sharpen the cutoff. The standard chrome was terrible. I did my fx-r retro in about a week and a half and they turned out almost perfect (I somehow didnt notice a finger smudge in the housing before I sealed them up ). These have already been taking me a while mainly because of all the decisions ive had to make in terms of which projector to use, finding the perfect shroud, rechroming or polishing the bowls, etc. As has been noted in this thread already, the hardest part of mounting in the headlight housing is making sure the cutoff is completely level, a difference of 1 or 2 degrees will be noticeable. I'm going to take my time with these so they end up flawless.

I personally think that projector retrofits look like crap on our trucks, but the improvement in light output is well worth it IMHO. They don't look bad with blacked out housings on my all black truck, but I still think they're a tad 'ricey'.