MDX projector retrofit - pics!!!
MDX projector retrofit - pics!!!
Final got my camera today, here are some pics i took real quick. I have a ton af crap i have to do tonight but I will try to take and post some night night shots tonight.
W/ HIDS on
W/ HIDS on
Originally Posted by Wasim521
Wait, the projectors come stock with H3 bulbs? That's crazy, it's like using only your fog lights to light the road. The MDX projector thing must've made a world of difference.
Originally Posted by MaximaPolak
H3 is just a size and fitting of the bulb....it doesn't mean it's for foglights because 5th gens came with H3 fogs.
MDX projectors are not for HID, they scatter the light improperly. I tried this on a friends MDX, we ended up using new TL headlights which are BiXenon. They have low and high beam Xenons. Took the projector out of them, and installed them in his MDX- which btw is a 01 but pretty much nothing on the car changed since it came out for 2001, you can upgrade it to 04 lights, exhausts etc.
the pics i took last night on my way home, came out like crap b/c i had no idea how to use the camera,took some this mornig only got a few b/c the sun was coming up, will put some more up tonight, of the beam pattern and cutoff at a distance, remember this is only 1 headlight.
Originally Posted by BlackBIRDVQ
MDX projectors are not for HID, they scatter the light improperly. I tried this on a friends MDX, we ended up using new TL headlights which are BiXenon. They have low and high beam Xenons. Took the projector out of them, and installed them in his MDX- which btw is a 01 but pretty much nothing on the car changed since it came out for 2001, you can upgrade it to 04 lights, exhausts etc
Originally Posted by 2kprlmax
where did you buy the H3 bulb covers
yea the culprit is the part of the shield circled below. some one on the hidplanet forums refered to it as a "squirrel spotter" i like it though, the rectange above the cuttoff is very dim compared to below the cutoff, it doesnt blind other drivers or cause glare, plus its good for illuminating overhead signs.
And just an update - finished the other headlight, cameout just as good as the first, I took tons of photos for a writeup, but have one problem that has to be fixed before i do the writeup. the cutoffs arecrooked (ie; not parallel) though this might be a problem, b/c of the way the MDX projectors sit in the bracket, there no way to make sure they are perfectly straight before yo close everythinkg back up. I figure there are two ways to fix this, add a rotational adjustment which cis going to be tough, or take both lights out open them up remount on the car w/o lense and chrome, them adjust and secure the projectors. A huge pain in the *** now that both are done, but not so bad for someone retrofitting both headlioghts at the same time. eitherway not going to do a writeup untill i get this problem fixed.
just some of the photos i took while doing retrofit
the part of cutoff shield cicled is what causes the "sqirrel spotter" above the cutoff
reflector w/ finished D2s bulb holder and D2s bulb in place
MDX projector mounted in backet
Back of finished headlight w/ ballast attached
And just an update - finished the other headlight, cameout just as good as the first, I took tons of photos for a writeup, but have one problem that has to be fixed before i do the writeup. the cutoffs arecrooked (ie; not parallel) though this might be a problem, b/c of the way the MDX projectors sit in the bracket, there no way to make sure they are perfectly straight before yo close everythinkg back up. I figure there are two ways to fix this, add a rotational adjustment which cis going to be tough, or take both lights out open them up remount on the car w/o lense and chrome, them adjust and secure the projectors. A huge pain in the *** now that both are done, but not so bad for someone retrofitting both headlioghts at the same time. eitherway not going to do a writeup untill i get this problem fixed.
just some of the photos i took while doing retrofit
the part of cutoff shield cicled is what causes the "sqirrel spotter" above the cutoff
reflector w/ finished D2s bulb holder and D2s bulb in place
MDX projector mounted in backet
Back of finished headlight w/ ballast attached
Donating Maxima.org Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 116
Dr. Roy...sorry to hear you beams are crooked...my turned out with a PERFECTLY straight horizontal line in front and the beam looks so sweet on the sides when there are concrete barriers on the sides...play with you bulbs a little, that will affect the curvature of the horizontal beam....wish this helps...good luck
Originally Posted by nmaxima_24
Dr. Roy...sorry to hear you beams are crooked...my turned out with a PERFECTLY straight horizontal line in front and the beam looks so sweet on the sides when there are concrete barriers on the sides...play with you bulbs a little, that will affect the curvature of the horizontal beam....wish this helps...good luck
Nice work, did you use a h11 hid kit or use d2s bulbs?
when I put the projector in the bracket i thought things were lined up good guess not, how did you line things up?
Donating Maxima.org Member
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 116
Actually, i used my h3 d2s bulbs...had to do slight modification to that too..I kept going to my car to do the beam test until I was happy with the results, then back to the oven.....Hey, thanks again for the project, freaking AWESOME...now, if anyone I see starts ragging on my projectors ( hasn't happen ), I'll just turn these bad boys on..
I'm sure this will shut them the hell up.....
I'm sure this will shut them the hell up.....
hey, i have a question. i have maxima's 02-03 D2R bulbs/hid conversion, will this work with the MDX projectors? i know i'm suppose to use D2S but will the cut off line be affect if i use D2R? thanks i'm looking forward to this project too!
I figure i should post this as an update & FYI for anyone who is gonna do this and is going to use my writeup to mount the projector, hold off a bit, don’t use the writup, its obsolete and needs to be updated -though the finished headlight looks and works great, I mention two problems in that write-up:.
1. If you use the bezel to fill the gap around the MDX projector, adjustment of the headlight then becomes difficult.
2 b/c of the way the projectors mount to the bracket in the housing, you might not get perfectly horizontal cutoffs unless you mount both headlights onto the car while they are apart and line them up. Which can be a pain in the *** and is something I found out the hard way.
So yesterday I took off 1 of my headlights to rotate and align the crooked cutoff, and while I had it apart I wanted to see if I could get more color at the cutoff line, by adjusting the distances between the cutoff shield, and lens. Also I suspected putting a little more distance between the reflector bell and the lens would better focus the projector, since the luminous center of the D2s bulb sits 2mm back compared to the H11 bulb the projector was designed for.
I slipped in some washers and tested it out
It made the cutoff sharper and for a much further distance, its brighter, much brighter (it made the one that was still on my car look like halogen) and down the road illumination is at least 5 itimes brighter. Plus since some of the projectors components are going to be separated, it allows them to mount onto the bracket different and fixes the two problems I mentioned.
I tested just the projector unit by hooking it to my battery, I did it this morning just before sunrise, and while adjusting the # of washers between parts I dropped a screw then the washers and by the time I found them the sun was up. didnt even get to take pics, I wanted to play around with it more tonight, but the blizzard & 24" of snow on the way isnt ideal conditins for this, so I have to hold off on that. But once I get done i I will post a new write up, detailing how to adjust and mount the projector.
1. If you use the bezel to fill the gap around the MDX projector, adjustment of the headlight then becomes difficult.
2 b/c of the way the projectors mount to the bracket in the housing, you might not get perfectly horizontal cutoffs unless you mount both headlights onto the car while they are apart and line them up. Which can be a pain in the *** and is something I found out the hard way.
So yesterday I took off 1 of my headlights to rotate and align the crooked cutoff, and while I had it apart I wanted to see if I could get more color at the cutoff line, by adjusting the distances between the cutoff shield, and lens. Also I suspected putting a little more distance between the reflector bell and the lens would better focus the projector, since the luminous center of the D2s bulb sits 2mm back compared to the H11 bulb the projector was designed for.
I slipped in some washers and tested it out
It made the cutoff sharper and for a much further distance, its brighter, much brighter (it made the one that was still on my car look like halogen) and down the road illumination is at least 5 itimes brighter. Plus since some of the projectors components are going to be separated, it allows them to mount onto the bracket different and fixes the two problems I mentioned. I tested just the projector unit by hooking it to my battery, I did it this morning just before sunrise, and while adjusting the # of washers between parts I dropped a screw then the washers and by the time I found them the sun was up. didnt even get to take pics, I wanted to play around with it more tonight, but the blizzard & 24" of snow on the way isnt ideal conditins for this, so I have to hold off on that. But once I get done i I will post a new write up, detailing how to adjust and mount the projector.