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-   -   DIY - Tata Nexon XZ+ - Osram 35W HID conversion kit (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/213556-diy-tata-nexon-xz-osram-35w-hid-conversion-kit.html)

Credits first!
Got a truck-load of information from fellow BHPians. On their detailed threads, posts with pictures & instructions. Big shout out to @paragsachania for his DIY information on Ciaz upgrade & for whole hearted personal query resolution for the questions I asked him. Knowing that someone has done this, gives extra confidence for a DIY :D.

Background - The Car & the universal problem of low illumination with stock halogens!
I replaced my 9 year old Tata Vista (Aura ABS 1.3 MJD) with a Tata Nexon (XZ+ Diesel) in August. While on a positive note the Nexon came with projector low beam headlamp setup, it still comes with 4x 55W H7 halogens (2 each for low and high beams) which are really nothing more than power consuming candles; especially in rains. An upgrade was on top priority even before the booking was made. I hate accessory store folks prying apart things on my car. So DIY was the call of the hour for sure.




Solution
As you can see in ParagSachania's threads, a really good OSRAM H7 HID conversion kit is readily available on Amazon.in in a couple of colour temperature options. I prefer yellow light for our weather & road conditions. So picked the 4200K variant.
Kit is available here -
Link - Amazon.in - Osram H7 HID conversion kit 4200K



I got the kit for 6250INR. As on 24 Sept 2019 it seems to be retailing at 6100INR. So a very reasonable pricing for what the product offers. Can't get better value for money. Note that the compatibility list isn't properly updated. So it says "Not compatible" for many cars - including the Nexon, Ciaz. But as long as your car has an H7 halogen with projector & sufficient space to run the wiring around, it will fit. Ignore the non-compatibility message on Amazon in such cases like I did.

This is a 35W kit. Includes a canbus adapter. Since stock harness is for a 55W setup, I decided not to use a separate relay harness. (Osram documentation also provides for only direct installation, not a relay harness.) The canbus adapter plays with the BCM test signals & will ensure the BCM doesn't pop a blown bulb error code due to a different specification bulb in place OR due to the start up surge of power.

The Celebrity - OSRAM H7 HID Conversion Kit
Package Contents -

• 2x 4200k HID xenon bulbs
• 2x 35W Ballasts pre-connected with igniter & canbus (fooling) adapter
• Wiring with pre-crimped couplers
• 2 dust-cap grommets pre-fixed within the wiring.
• Basic leaflet with wiring diagram. The wiring diagram is pretty redundant since all wiring is "exclusively" coloured as well as socket coupled & you can't connect them incorrectly anyway.

Deciding your Ballast Installation Method
Since this is a PnP kit, the wiring takes about 5 minutes to connect. The actual vital part is safely mounting the 2 ballasts, canbus adapters & igniter modules such that they don't touch any moving parts, don't move around & don't cause rattles by resonating with moving items, engine etc. The igniter & canbus adapter are pre-molded inline with the wiring & can be easily secured with zip tags at suitable places. Ballasts are tricky. You need to decide on one of the 2 approaches for securing them -

• 3M Double Sided tape - This is now a days the universally accepted norm. World over any HID retrofit will more often than not be done by simply using a double sided tape. Find a flat surface in the engine bay, apply a 3M tape on the ballast in size that fully covers the back. Clean & wipe the mounting surface with alcohol, dry it. And press the ballast back onto it. Done. I have never heard of a case where this falls off. Kudos to 3M for this magical tape.
  The only thing to be careful - find a mounting position that is close enough to the headlamp. The wiring needs to still reach the bulb housing and back.
  
  
• Custom mounting bracket - This is the old-school mechanical way. Me being an old school adamant fellow, went with this option. So all the items, instructions and pictures in this thread from this point onwards are with custom mounting bracket as the installation approach.
  This gives a strong mounting & suspends the ballasts in air. Gives maximum possible heat dissipation due to most surface being exposed to air.

Tools & Items you need

1. Standard household drill machine
2. 3M double sided tape
3. Standard screw-drivers (Missing in the picture.)
4. Pliers (Missing in the picture.)
5. Wire cutter / nipper. (Missing in the picture.)
6. 2 x Size 10 spanners. Better if you can get a round-head one. Best if you can get a rachet set. Always handy in any DIY.
7. L shaped mounting bracket - Ask for "L Patti" in the hardware store & they'll have the right thing.
8. M6 (10mm spanner head) standard metric 1mm nut-bolts. 2 pairs. - For mounting the bracket on the car.
9. M2 Metric thread nut-screws. 2 pairs. - For mounting the ballasts on the bracket. (Missing in the picture.)
10. Resin based Thread Lock. Highly recommended for vibration prone metallic fixtures with threaded fitments. (You'll get it for 20 odd bucks at hardware store.)(Missing in the picture.)
11. Good quality medium & long zip-ties.
12. Standard "working gloves" from hardware store.(Missing in the picture.)
13. Silicone sealant (Optional & not really required).

The Installation - Summary
The installation overall can be broadly categorized into the following steps.

1. Prepare dust cap, bulb install & test run.
2. Finding the right ballast mounting location.
3. Prepare the mounting bracket for final installation.
4. Complete the install & secure wiring.

Installation Step 1 - Prepare the dust cap, Install the bulbs & Test run

Preparing the dust cap -

Open the hood & look at the back of both headlamps. You'll see 2 circular caps with a pull-flap on each side. Thats a dust cap on the back of the bulb housing. 4 in total on the Nexon. 2 each for low beam & high beams. The outer ones are for the low beams. Thats what we are interested in. Pull the flap on those & remove it. In my case - I did all the assembly and fiddling at home upstairs & brought down everything for actual fitment in car. You'll have to do the same unless you have a good covered private parking in your apartment block/bungalow where there is no disturbance from curious people.

There are standard 1 inch drill bits with saw-teeth available for purposes like this. If you can source one, excellent. Just drill a hole in the center with it If you can't source one - use the largest wood/metal drill bit at your disposal & make a hole at the center of the dust cap. Then use normal wire cutter/nipper to cut a circular hole around it measuring about 1 inch. I used the nipper. Takes 10 minutes to complete both caps.

Now - take the bulb from the kit. It has 2 a rubber grommet dangling with 4 holes in the wiring. This grommet is going to plug the hole we just drilled & will ensure no water/dust enters the headlamp. Ensure you have the correct orientation of cap direction (i.e. bulb should be on the "inner" side of the dust cap). Now carefully insert all the plugs, couplers, wires through the hole in the dust cap. 2 bare wires with PINs should remain on the side of the bulb. Carefully insert the dust cap's cut lining into the grommet's fissure to make a snug tight fit. (In case you drilled the hole too wide & the grommet isn't fitting tight - fill the gap a bit with some silicone sealant & leave it to set dry for a couple of hours.)

This is how the outcome of this step should look like -

• RED boxes denote the cut piece & the grommet installed in its place in the dust cap.
• BLUE box denotes the powering pins that should remain on the side of the bulb. These pins are to be inserted in the H7 power socket inside headlamp housing to power the kit via stock harness. You'll realize that they basically resemble the rear pins of the regular H7 halogen bulb.
• GREEN box denotes the coupler to which the pins are connected. This coupler gets connected to the cabnus adapter on the ballast & gives hacked feedback to the BCM.

The other two individual connectors on the left of the dust cap are colour coded & latch-coordinated with the incoming power from the igniter via the ballast. You'll see their matching counterparts hanging from the ballast. Red connects to Red, Black connects to Blue. Even for a person challenged in colour identification, it can't go wrong since the connectors are reversed on each electrode. Male-Female on 1 wire, Female-Male on the other. Excellent attention to low level design.

Installing the Bulbs -

Now take this whole assembled set to the car. Carry out the following steps on 1 side at a time. Do not run any of the steps in parallel to avoid damage / dust intrusion into headlamps. Patience is the key for any DIY.

TIP for RHS - On RHS, the wiper washer tank inlet sits right behind the headlamp. I highly recommend that it is unfastened (single nut-bolt right around its neck). Its a flexible pipe. Just push it aside & accessibility to the headlamp's internals is much easier. Fix the pipe back once the below steps are complete. Don't forget fixing it back though!

1. Remove the stock H7 power connector from the back of bulb by pulling it out gently.
2. Remove the stock H7 halogen. This is to be done by gently pressing the retainer clip & sliding it to 1 side. Now carefully remove the bulb by pulling it out. Attention. Please ensure that the bulbs are cool. Even if they were ON for 5 minutes - they'll be boiling hot and you won't be able to hold them. Make sure you use gloves & still don't touch the glass area. It can cause it to break due to temperature variance & leaves oily blemishes that are a headache to clean afterwards. Ensure that the HIDs are still held inside the protective casing right till this moment.
   
3. Now is the trickiest part of this whole project. As you noticed - the retainer clip holds the bulb & the connector is installed OVER it. HID has molded wiring & it cannot be disconnected. This means that when you insert the bulb, the wires are sticking out & the retainer gets blocked by them. Can't be locked!
   
4. Now Remove one of the secured ends of the retainer & gently widen it a bit such that the HID can go through it while still being connected to its wiring. The image below shows the end of the clip that is easy to remove. Highlighted in a red box.
   
5. Remove the protective casing & foam from over the HID. If you have someone working with you - ask him/her to use the casing to store the stock halogen bulb safely. The bottom half of the casing with threads - needs to be cut with a nipper.
   
6. The bulb has positioning slots & so does the holder in the projector. Match them and insert the bulb inside.
   
7. Now first secure the latch side of the retainer by just pressing it in place. This is the one we had unlocked to remove the stock halogen. Doing this first ensures that the bulb stays safely in place & doesn't fall off accidentally.
   
8. Next - use pliers or a long screw driver and fingers to gently push the end of the retainer that we had specifically removed. Do not use excessive force as a slipping tool can cause permanent damage to the bulb or projector or everything!
   
9. With the bulb now securely fastened - connect the 2 open pins coming from the grommet side into the stock H7 connector. Ensure correct colour coordination. Red is +ve. Anything else (Black) is -ve. The wires leading into the harness socket are with colour coding. (If Green & White - Green is +ve & White is -ve.)
   
10. This is how the final installation should look like -

(The bulb was installed out of place here. Notch not aligned properly. It was causing a slight shadow. I have corrected it since. Picture is for reference of the clip only.)

Connections -

1. Pull the "power" wires (the ones with the pins a bit towards the INSIDE of the dust cap so that there is enough buffer/play clearance inside the housing. If they are pulled too much outside of the dust-cap, even a gentle tap on the outside would pull them out of the socket & we'll have to open the dust cap again to fix them.
2. Now carefully install the dust cap back in position. Press it well all around the edge. Generally the standard Nexon cap sits 1mm inside the housing's circular outer border.
3. Now just place the ballast somewhere in the bay. Above the battery / above the ABS controller etc.
4. Connect the molded combo-coupler to its partner leading towards the canbus adapter. This will take the power from car's headlamp harness towards the ballast. (Canbus adapter is generally a simple resister with correct Ohm rating that fools the BCM canbus probe for lamp health.)
5. Connect the 2 individual connectors coming from ballast with their partner hanging from the dust cap that leads to the bulb.

Now repeat all the above steps for the other side headlamp. :)

Test -

1. Turn on car into Accessory/Ignition ready mode.
2. Turn the headlamps on as usual.
3. You will see a "spark" type power on followed by a few flickers.
4. On start-up the light will be bluish white & over next 10-15 seconds it should increase its intensity & at the same time settle more towards the yellow 4200K temperature.
5. Check from outside that both lights are functioning normally & projector cut-off is also as expected.
6. Yeyy!

This is where I closed the hood & locked the car for the day. Things were working, bulbs were secured in place & I was not tired. Good to take a brake at this step. We do the remaining part with a fresh mind on the next day!

Installation Step 2 - Finding the right ballast mounting location -

Now that the things are working fine, its time to go ahead and secure them for a long run.

1. Keep all the wiring done earlier as it is & don't disconnect for now.
2. Now find a place to mount the ballast such that it is clear from any engine or other moving components.
3. It should also be close enough to the headlamp as we are limited by the length of the kit's wires.
4. Make sure that the connected wires are not getting too stretched or twisted around too much. Thats why we didn't disconnect them.
5. Try and find a position such that all the couplers/connectors in the kit will remain easily accessible even after final installation. This helps in future maintenance/replacements of components after failures.

There are 3 very handy readily available mounting spots in the engine bay. Thanks Tata!!

1. LHS - On the top front cross member above the radiator between the coolant tank & headlamp. Look under the black top. This already has a welded nut underneath & we need just a bolt with matching threads to screw in. I used this one.
   
   
   
   
   
   Just placed the bracket (blue box) for testing & checked if the ballast reaches upto that position easily.
   
   
   
2. RHS 1 - Back of the headlamp, near where the bonnet's retainer rod sits when opened. This is the one I used on RHS as wiring is extremely easy in this position. Just placed the bracket in it & tested that the ballast reaches it without troubling anything else. You'll see that the ballast isn't screwed to the bracket yet.
   
   This is a blank hole. We need to use a nut-washer-bracket-washer-bolt setup here. No existing nut sadly.
   
   
   
   
3. RHS 2 - Front top cross member above the radiator, besides RHS headlamp. Look under the black top. This comes with pre-welded nut underneath. Didn't use this as RHS 1 was much easier to implement.
   
   
   
   

At the end of this step - disconnect all 3 couplers between the bulb & ballast. Now we assemble the bracket back home.

Installation Step 3 - Prepare the mounting bracket for final installation

1. I got these easily at the nearest hardware store.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Depending on the position chosen, shorten the arms of the bracket as neccessary. I also had to enlarge the existing holes in it to match my bolts.
   
   
   
   
3. Apply 3M tape on the bracket (remove the cover when fixing ballast of course). This will stick to the ballast & provide extra strength as well as absorb shocks & vibrations effectively.
   
   
   
   
4. Mount the ballast on the bracket with M2 metric screw-nuts. Dip the screw first in thread-lock & then fit them. The red you see on the screw is the resin thread-lock still drying. Sets sufficiently dry in 5 minutes. Press along the 3M tape thoroughly to ensure it sticks well & lasts long.
   
   

Obviously - this needs to be done for each ballast individually.

Installation Step 4 - Complete the install & secure wiring

We are now ready to complete the installation! All that remains is to permanently fix the ballast brackets, channel the wires safely & to tidy them up safely. Here we go -

1. LHS Ballast final mount detail -
   
   
   
   
2. LHS CanBus adapter secured with zip ties besides the ECU harness. As you can see, its connector is positioned right up top for easy access in future.
   
   
   
   
3. LHS Igniter secured. This is secured to stock battery harness lower between the battery & headlamp assembly.
   
   
   
   
4. LHS Overall top view. Top to bottom the red boxes denote ballast, canbus connector & wiring towards HID bulb respectively.
   
   
   
   
5. Final wire tidy-up behind the LHS headlamp besides the battery. The 2 individual couplers are also easily accessible but just out of sight here.
   
   
   
   
6. RHS Ballast final mount detail. You'll need 2 spanners for fixing at this place. One for the bolt, one for the nut under.
   
   
   
   
7. RHS overall finished look. All easily settled behind the ABS module & wires tidied up with stock harnesses with zip ties. Very accessible on RHS.
   
   
   
   
8. RHS view of the dust cap after completion. As you can see - all 3 couplers are above everything (lower left part of image) and easily accessible for maintenance.
   
   

Conclusions -

• In real world driving, I can easily say that the illumination is about 3 times more than what the stock 55W halogens were giving.
• Has a typical spark startup with white temperature light to begin with. Seems to take about 10 seconds to achieve full intensity & nice yellow 4200K temperature. Has a few very slight flickers after startup. Many users won't even notice these.
• Does it give MUCH better visibility on a rainy night? I tested yesterday & a RESOUNDING YES! The result is better than I expected. Never felt so good driving in the rain with any halogen equipped car previously.
• I spent a total of about INR 6500.00 including zip ties! One can't get better VFM while getting a product from a recognized brand like Osram.
• It took about 6 hours split in 2 days to complete the work in a leisurely manner. No rush.
• Its a true plug and play. Even a newbee can do this. To intermediates like me, its really easy. Almost boring!
• Will it suffice the needs of most car owners? YES ABSOLUTELY!!!
• I'm a bit surprised that this is not the #1 selling aftermarket fitment for cars. Especially since majority cars now come with stock projector lower beams with halogen bulbs.
• I feel for cars that have factory fit projectors - this should be the FIRST step of lighting upgrade. Many prefer going to BiXenon projector fog lamps (Blaze India/Morimoto/XenonPlanet etc.). They are of course good & should be the go-to upgrade for reflector equipped cars. For cars that already have a projector, the OSRAM HID conversion kit should be the primary means of improving road illumination. Absolutely no touch to factory setup, no wire cuts, not even a relay harness.
• I have a video taken in darkness to demonstrate the results. Issues with phone mean I'm not able to transfer it. Will upload it shortly.
• Its 35W. So overall we are putting lesser load on the battery / alternator compared to the stock 55W halogens.
• Thermal efficiency is far better. Even after 1 hour use, the ballast, bulbs and headlamp housing were cool! With halogen, even the front transparent casing of headlamp gets hot after 10 minutes!
• While I have created this thread for a Tata Nexon DIY, the steps are pretty much applicable for ANY car with H7 projector setup. The only thing that will change are the positions where you mount the ballast. And perhaps the design of the bulb retainer clip.
• Even at first glance, the difference is tremendous. In the picture below, car LHS (right of the picture) has stock halogen & RHS has HID.
  
  
  
  
• The throw is crisp. Very good cut-off too. (I need to adjust my beams a bit. Getting a small overflow on RHS and slight shadow on LHS right now, but they aren't troubling anyone.) Even before adjustment, already a very good and well defined hot-spot. Sadly could take the picture only in a fully lit parking lot! Yet - its very bright still!! As always, the digital camera is playing spoil-sport. Real colours are quite different and intensity is much higher to naked eye.
  
  
  

Now that this DIY is complete, moving on to STAGE 2 lighting upgrade. I plan to replace the rudimentary stock fog lamps. They are just 19W! Duh. Plan is to replace with 55W bi-Xenon projector fog lamps soon. Will post the detailed DIY for that when done.

Do PM/post for any queries with the install. Happy to share my learning! Happy motoring.

Cheers!

I guess one of the first DIYs on the forum for a Nexon for headlights. Please share some output shots against a wall from some distance and also in an alley. What I've read is that halogen based projectors are not good for HIDs as they cause more of glare. So I would like a first hand experience from you especially with long shots.




Well, I'll show you the first case where it failed. But it maybe a one off case of mine as the handling of retrofit was not good.



Still I'll suggest that you use a couple of zip ties to tie the ballasts to the mount itself.

Yes I noticed the bleeding light. I checked it from front in multiple positions. The bleed is diffused and isnt causing any noticeable glare when looked at. Visible extra strong on the near wall. Anyway, I'll adjust and remove it. Not right to carry on like this. I have a video taken in dark on an empty road. Will try to upload it today.
Ah! Thanks for the tip, I'll add the ties by tomorrow. Extra rigidity always better.

And I'll PM you with queries when I start work on Stage 2 :D.

Finally managed to upload the video of a quick test I did after the install. Here it is -

(Note that there is a slight shadow on LHS. It has since been corrected. Had misaligned the bulb while fixing the clip back.)

Fog lamps and high beams in the video are stock halogen bulbs. Haven't touched them.

YouTube video of test

Sorry to nitpick but the headlight low beam is not aligned as seen by hot spots. Please check the alignment again. It should have got better after repositioning of LHS bulb but do check again.

I am planning to do the same kind of set up in my brezza..Thanks for demonstrating the installation process. It was very informative.

But my main concern comes after installation. How would I align the throw of light. I have never done anything like this before. If possible someone please demonstrate the light alignment process in a nexon or brezza or any other car with low beam as projectors and high beams as halogen reflectors. And if possible please suggest in steps as I will be doing this for the first time. Thanks in advance.

Samay

Thank you very much for this interesting post. I was looking something similar for my Nexon XZ and you have fulfilled the wish :). I am not much of a DIY guy when it comes to car so I will try to purchase and get it installed with a local/ or a Tata service guy. Coupled with the high Beam I think this should produce a good result at nights on highways. The stock projectors are totally useless.

Does Nexon comes with Auto light setup ?

I am looking for an answer where the H7 setup comes with auto light setup.

Basically XUV500 auto light function turns on the low beam ( with projector setup) the moment its dark enough to use lights. And if you flash the lights, the high beam comes up momentarily without touching the low beam. This case can be ideal for HID since once they are powered on they are not disturbed.

However, when lights used in manual mode, while flashing the low beam cuts off showing only high beam unless you put on high beam which will lit up both low and high beam until moved to low beam.

I was wondering how HID works in manual mode since it may take some time to get fully lit after you flash the lights. Is this so ? please:

Experts your view please. This is the reason I am yet to try HID on my XUV.

Glad you found it useful. Its easy to do too. Good luck.
In most cases - stock projector focus is good & HID fits pretty well without any change required. The mis-directed beam in my photo is not due to headlamp adjustment, its because my bulb wasn't properly installed in place. It got cured.

If there is a need to adjust the focus, its also not too tough. There are 2 screws located around the headlamp housing. One adjusts horizontally and the other vertically. Spend 10 minutes around the headlamp housing with a keen eye. You'll be able to locate those. Aren't exactly right in the face. You'll need to search carefully. And beam adjustment can be done afterwards at any accessory store. They can do it in 5 minutes.

No Nexon has manual headlamps. No auto feature.
This is a bit of a shocker for me. Flipping the lights is standard with H4. I absolutely don't understand why the low beam is being switched off when high beam is turned on in manual mode in your car. Is that standard in all XUV5oo s? Or thats a result of some aftermarket bulb fitment wiring etc? Its a bit risky too, since in this case when on high beam - your car is actually not lighting up the nearer road area and can lead you into a pot-hole! It shouldn't be this way. Get it changed if you can please.

In all cars with twin bulb headlamps - in manual mode, the low beam stays on when high beam is flashed for pass or turned on by pushing the stalk farther towards console. Low beam does not turn off.

HID should not be used in a scenario where lights turn on/off often. Not only do they have a "start-up" time, frequent power cycles are also harmful for the ballast, igniter & bulb's lifetime.