Team-BHP > Modifications & Accessories


Reply
  Search this Thread
35,558 views
Old 29th March 2014, 23:39   #1
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

There seems to have been many DRL and Projector mods on our forum and this is just another one in that series

Months ago, I bumped on to this thread And was so fascinated with it that I approached the member, got the right contact and did almost everything to find out how reliably I can do this on my SX4. Unfortunately, I didn't get any breakthrough. Either the pricing was horrible or the works wasn't reliable here in Bangalore and getting things from Mumbai meant a lot of logistics and communication issues. So, idea dropped.

Then came across this thread. Done neatly in cochin, and had already seen many more in mod's own country! And that set me thinking, can't this be done in Bangalore? So I started talking to fellow bhpians to seek their suggestions. Then came KarthikK's suggestion at one of our TBhp meet to consult with Satyajeet Dutt a.k.a Satya at EVO bangalore. Initially a bit reluctant (because he is best known for audio setup!), I approached him and things started unfolding nicely for me.

He sent me below Verna pic and I really liked it!

SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-vernasample.jpg

Its like for my SX4, which is otherwise completely ignored car compared to new arrivals on road in last 2-3 years, this was a good hope to make me feel some excitement for another year! And thus, decided to put my money on projector headlamps with DRLs. No further questions about justifications on if DRLs are needed! Questions like "are projectors really so important?" had actually become irrelevant to me. This is more of a heart decision than brain. And I knew, heart decisions even if not right, makes me so happy, that head cannot stand any arguments!

Oh and by the way, our silver steed just completed three years on March 1st, 2014. Shhhh... I haven't got any anniversary gift for my wifey yet even after almost 10 years into marriage. And hence this isn't going to be used as the justification/ reason at all.

And so enough of justification, lets see the results at first and then the whole process of how we did this.

The DRLs - cosmetics first!

SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drlon1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drlon2.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-eyesblinkers.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-eyesringonly.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-eyesdrlnring.jpg

And then the light throws - from lowest to highest -

SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-leveling1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-leveling2.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-leveling3.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-leveling4.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-leveling5.jpg

And the high beam -

SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-highbeam.jpg

Note that all these pics are taken in basement parking while the tube-lights on the floor are ON!

To be continued...

Last edited by abirnale : 31st March 2014 at 10:01.
abirnale is offline   (14) Thanks
Old 30th March 2014, 08:46   #2
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

The whole process took more than 10 hours and needed the car to be worked upon at night. Projector fitment is more of a precision work than anything else. It was needed to be done at night only so that while the work is going on, at every step the light throw and alignment can be checked. Not much labour intensive but extremely cautious handling is required.

The way it works is as given below -
  • You first uncouple all the headlight connections. I had earlier fitted a relay for 55-60 bulbs to bump up to 90/100 (IIRC). That also needed to be removed.
  • Completely disassemble the headlight assembly and take the eyes out on stretcher! Some of the screws that hold the light assembly can be reached only by removing front bumper.
  • Using a heat gun, separate the transparent/ plastic front part from the rear black casing of the headlight. This is where things can get tricky. You do one wrong move and Feviquick is only your next best friend, if at all
  • Using cutting knifes, you got to make holes into the silver holders in order to make the projector sit "inside" them. There will be of course a casing around projectors that hides all these ugly cuts.
  • Using actual ballasts and wiring harness, one projector is fitted in those cut portions by leveling with regular headlight on other side. This is to ensure that leveling is kept the same way you were using earlier on stock bulbs! Easier since you have old headlight on other side to refer the preferred working levels
  • While the leveling is done as described above, use m-seal to to ensure tight fitting of projector lens into the hole precisely. It takes a lot of time and patience to do this. But once done, the second one is even easier.
  • Then lay out the actual wiring, ballasts and prepare other headlight.
  • Now since the assembly is already open, go ahead and install DRL tubes, angel eyes and whatever you want!
  • Put the entire assembly back on the car, with all its component screws and stuff in proper place as it was earlier.

This entire procedure the way described above, seems so easy but trust me, this is no simple DIY kind of thing for faint hearted like me. That is why you need someone like Evo to do this professionally and with precision.

The DRL tube we chose had white light and an amber line in it. The DRL is linked directly to ignition with a switch. That helps ensure I can optionally use DRLs if I want to, else leave it as is. And while the switch is ON, it's wiring ensures the load isn't put on the battery unless the ignition is ON/ engine starts. The switch is pulled under the steering without any additional holes to dashboard or firewall. Its almost hidden and only I or the installer knows about it!

All other connections and wiring is pretty standard. We ensured that no cables/ wires left dangling but nicely tucked with plastic tags. Ballasts boxes kept such that it does not interfere with any other parts/ cables and cause any issues in future.

Here are the pictures taken step by step - not many since I was more glued to the entire craftsmanship and trying to make sense of what and why is being done!

Eyes removed!
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-1eyeless1.jpg

Eyes and nose are out on stretcher while the old wiring dangling...
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-2noseeyeless.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-wiringharness.jpg

Then the eyes put on stretcher and operation starts...
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-3eyesonstretcher1.jpg

The precision instruments and surgeon in action...
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-4heatgun1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-5popopen1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-6popopen2.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-7popopen3.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-8popopen4.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-9popopen5.jpg

The hole is made on the headlight to fit in the projectors -
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-10projectorhole.jpg

While the things are being prepared, you have opportunity to fit all these kind of DRLs -
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drltubesinmaking.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drltubesinmakingamber.jpg

When the assembly part is over, using the rubber based glue/ sealant, the headlights needs to be prepared the way they were earlier. Tight and sung-fit.

When the things are fitted properly in the headlight assembly, it looks something like below -
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-11drlfitting2.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-12drlfitting1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drloff1.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drlfittedamber.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-drlfittedring.jpg

Once all the things are in place, all it is needed to do is, take it and put back on the car the way it was earlier.

You may have now noticed that the ring around indicator bulb isn't of exact size and perfect 90 degree to floor. We did that on purpose - the headlight front portion has slope where the indicator amber light is. So perfect vertical fitting isn't going to be easy. Other thing we noticed that by putting smaller ring and keeping it slightly inclined, it was able to spread the indicator light all around headlight in a nice amber/ yellow refraction! We loved it and decided to keep it that way!

So all in all, below things are done on the car as part of this surgery - surgeon effort and instruments/ catheters included -
  • Projector Lights FXR Stage 4 with HID
  • Audi style DRL tubes (white on regular and amber with indicator on)
  • Extra Angel Eye ring with control Unit
  • Surgeon's effort to fit all of these

The ballasts are P8 Xenon conversion kits. The light intensity used is 4300 (yes, this suffices the regular highway needs as well as city commute without any issues).

A big thank you to Satya and his surgeon boy Rupesh for answering all my questions tirelessly and not loosing their focus on my silliest questions. You can imagine the kind of trouble someone like me who knows nothing about lighting can give them! And no, this consultation did not raise the overall pricing and costing! The overall experience is great and I definitely recommend this place. Its worth every penny you spend. There can't be any better peace of mind. While we were at this project, Satya also helped with fixing the dangling reverse camera in a perfect finish without charging a paisa, thank you sir

And here are few more random work in progress pics...
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-img20140330wa0015.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-img20140330wa0016.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-img20140330wa0017.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-img20140330wa0018.jpg
SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs-img20140330wa0019.jpg

And lastly, thanks for stopping by this thread to read!

Last edited by abirnale : 30th March 2014 at 23:06.
abirnale is offline   (18) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 16:16   #3
GTO
Team-BHP Support
 
GTO's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bombay
Posts: 70,335
Thanked: 298,725 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Modifications. Thanks for sharing!
GTO is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 16:37   #4
Distinguished - BHPian
 
audioholic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: BengaLuru
Posts: 5,649
Thanked: 19,332 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

I thought these projectors were bolt on and they didn't require all the cutting work. The beam pattern is good, but the way the reflectors are cut worried me. All the projectors I had seen had the exact mounting pattern of a halogen H4 base. Hence, it would just slide into the hole and on the other side a nut would be used to secure the assembly.

Mind sharing the costs?
audioholic is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 18:44   #5
Senior - BHPian
 
Soumyajit9's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: BLR
Posts: 1,543
Thanked: 1,801 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Congrats Abirnale on getting your dream setup on the SX4 !! Definitely the set up looks awesome when lit up !! The throw and levelling is superb !!

Like Audioholic mentioned, I am a little worried about cutting of the reflector. Its a very delicate part of the assembly. Hopefully once the HID was put in (with M-Seal), there are no gaps left, else there is a major risk of dust getting into the assembly !!

Overall looks a neat job.
Congrats once again !!
Soumyajit9 is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 19:25   #6
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic View Post
I thought these projectors were bolt on and they didn't require all the cutting work. The beam pattern is good, but the way the reflectors are cut worried me. All the projectors I had seen had the exact mounting pattern of a halogen H4 base. Hence, it would just slide into the hole and on the other side a nut would be used to secure the assembly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soumyajit9 View Post
Like Audioholic mentioned, I am a little worried about cutting of the reflector. Its a very delicate part of the assembly. Hopefully once the HID was put in (with M-Seal), there are no gaps left, else there is a major risk of dust getting into the assembly !!
Thank you @Audioholic and @Soumyajit9.

No, actually there is no way you can fit the projectors into the existing headlights without popping open the covers! For two reasons - the FXR projector lens is pretty big that cannot be inserted into the headlight assembly without cutting. The stock headlights have only three small holes that can be used to put bulbs only - main headlight, parking light and indicator. So cutting is the only option until you import new headlights from the countries where the match is available or a new model with same dimension and projector lens gets launched - which we know is not going to happen! The second reason being, you can't insert that large white ring and DRL tube inside and make it sit tightly on the curves. So cutting is the only option. And hence the thread title - "surgery".

Of course, that is exactly why Satya asked me to take as many pictures as I want and use it as I wish without worrying about his trade secret! It's a precision job and needs more focus and effort. I almost spent a month learning from him how he does this job and seeing examples done on other cars. And so I was confident that he will do it for me well.

I also took car for a pressure wash on sunday morning to check any mist and kind of things on the headlight - not even an air molecule can go inside

I also took it on Hosur road yesterday as it was empty due to long weekend. The experience was awesome. I wasn't so sure about DRLs but to my surprise, couple of truckers actually gave me way to overtake. Probably thinking a premium car trailing them while I know its just SX4...lol!

With full adjustment possibilities using stock headlamp leveling switch, I could light up the road at my will - up/ down, spread on high beam and low as needed. So overall happy with it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic View Post
Mind sharing the costs?
Of course, not! I paid around 31K all inclusive and 1 year warranty on everything. Based on the ingredients you choose like tube, rings the cost will vary. The entire kit of lens plus ballasts and wiring etc if you buy from reputed online dealer, will cost you around 30K including customs/ shipping etc etc. And this is optimistic figure
abirnale is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 19:50   #7
Distinguished - BHPian
 
audioholic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: BengaLuru
Posts: 5,649
Thanked: 19,332 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by abirnale View Post
Thank you @Audioholic and @Soumyajit9.

No, actually there is no way you can fit the projectors into the existing headlights without popping open the covers! For two reasons - the FXR projector lens is pretty big that cannot be inserted into the headlight assembly without cutting. The stock headlights have only three small holes that can be used to put bulbs only - main headlight, parking light and indicator. So cutting is the only option until you import new headlights from the countries where the match is available or a new model with same dimension and projector lens gets launched - which we know is not going to happen! The second reason being, you can't insert that large white ring and DRL tube inside and make it sit tightly on the curves. So cutting is the only option. And hence the thread title - "surgery".

The lens or cover indeed has to be removed. But the reflector can be as it is. The projector has to be inserted from the front and a locking nut to hold it in place should be screwed from behind to lock it in place. This is how it was done on a friends SX4. From what I saw in the other threads in TBHP itself, this is the first time the reflectors were cut as far as I have seen. Hence I was wondering why it was required.
audioholic is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 31st March 2014, 20:00   #8
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic View Post
The lens or cover indeed has to be removed. But the reflector can be as it is. ... Hence I was wondering why it was required.
Yes, you are right but when I looked at fitting process, I didn't feel it could have been fitted without cutting :( I completely left it to the surgeon to decide what best can be done as long as I have trouble-free setup.

Thinking about it, may be its something to do with length of lens to be adjusted such that it stays away from the cover? I actually don't know but thinking loud. On the original headlight reflector with that umbrella like thing would interfere with lens fitment I think and hence it needs to be removed anyway? Or thereby creating more space for enough m-seal to go in and hold lens tightly for its life?

I will wait for better justification from Satya or any of members on forum to comment

Last edited by abirnale : 31st March 2014 at 20:01.
abirnale is offline  
Old 31st March 2014, 21:05   #9
Distinguished - BHPian
 
audioholic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: BengaLuru
Posts: 5,649
Thanked: 19,332 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

The umbrella like thing has to be removed no doubt. If you have gone through this thread, http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ht-up-way.html then you can notice that there was no cutting of any sort made to the reflector though it was painted. And the Figo has a smaller headlamp assembly where space will be a bigger concern. Personally I would have preferred such an install.

From further reading, I got to know that this is not a bolt on projector, and a retrofit one. Apart from the Size of the projector lens, I dont understand how a bolt on is inferior compared to the retrofit one. I did come across 3" projectors of both bolt on and retrofit type.

If the experts can elaborate, taking into consideration the same size of lens, how would a bolt on projector be inferior to a retrofit one?
audioholic is offline   (1) Thanks
Old 1st April 2014, 14:43   #10
Senior - BHPian
 
Sommos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: CG07/ MH34
Posts: 1,304
Thanked: 1,442 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic View Post
I thought these projectors were bolt on and they didn't require all the cutting work. The beam pattern is good, but the way the reflectors are cut worried me. All the projectors I had seen had the exact mounting pattern of a halogen H4 base. Hence, it would just slide into the hole and on the other side a nut would be used to secure the assembly.

Mind sharing the costs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by abirnale View Post
[*]Using cutting knifes, you got to make holes into the silver holders in order to make the projector sit "inside" them. There will be of course a casing around projectors that hides all these ugly cuts.
Well Avinash congratulations for the projector setup plus DRL. I'm impressed with the throw of the beam. Can you please provide some more pictures on a open road to show the throw.

You both are right on the issue of cutting the reflectors.
Audioholic, you must be speaking about the Morimoto Mini projectors that can fit into the gap and requires no cutting of the reflectors.

Whereas the FXR are bigger projectors and cannot be fitted into the reflectors without cutting as has been done here.
Sommos is offline   (3) Thanks
Old 1st April 2014, 15:08   #11
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Thank you @Sommos! I will add more pics soon.

As @Sommos said, Satya confirmed the fact that the FXR projectors are much bigger than the bolt on projectors. So the reflector MUST be cut even to make the rear portion of the projector sit in tightly.

Also, the H4 projectors are not as bright as retrofit FXRs. Hence, we did not opt in for bolt-on kind of projectors with H4s. And Satya says this - "For the quality of light and durability of product, this is worth it!" and I believe him with both my eyes closed

Last edited by abirnale : 1st April 2014 at 15:13.
abirnale is offline  
Old 1st April 2014, 18:36   #12
Distinguished - BHPian
 
audioholic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: BengaLuru
Posts: 5,649
Thanked: 19,332 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sommos View Post
You both are right on the issue of cutting the reflectors.
Audioholic, you must be speaking about the Morimoto Mini projectors that can fit into the gap and requires no cutting of the reflectors.

.
Thanks for the clarification. Yes I think the Mini projectors were in my mind all the while. No doubt about the quality. All I was thinking was the choice of product and the related advantages.
audioholic is offline  
Old 2nd April 2014, 09:49   #13
Senior - BHPian
 
Sommos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: CG07/ MH34
Posts: 1,304
Thanked: 1,442 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by abirnale View Post
Also, the H4 projectors are not as bright as retrofit FXRs. Hence, we did not opt in for bolt-on kind of projectors with H4s. And Satya says this - "For the quality of light and durability of product, this is worth it!" and I believe him with both my eyes closed
Quote:
Originally Posted by audioholic View Post
Thanks for the clarification. Yes I think the Mini projectors were in my mind all the while. No doubt about the quality. All I was thinking was the choice of product and the related advantages.
Avinash, I beg to disagree with this opinion (in bold). The Mini does its job perfectly and I hope you are not talking about the cheap Chinese ones. However, the FXR being larger gives a wider spread, no doubt.
Sommos is offline   (2) Thanks
Old 2nd April 2014, 10:35   #14
Senior - BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Bengaluru
Posts: 1,767
Thanked: 7,226 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sommos View Post
Avinash, I beg to disagree with this opinion (in bold). The Mini does its job perfectly and I hope you are not talking about the cheap Chinese ones. However, the FXR being larger gives a wider spread, no doubt.
Yes sir That's what Satya told me. But I know, I agree with you. Mini does its job for which it is designed. But since they have limited spread compared to FXRs, I had chosen the larger FXRs. Nothing greatly impacts the equation still, but when I am spending so much, why not go little extra for FXRs! I didn't realize earlier that due to size, the reflectors will need to be cut. But then, the effort is worth it. Especially since I am not going to go back to original headlights anyday. As long as the new setup is clean and professional, all is well
abirnale is offline  
Old 2nd April 2014, 11:33   #15
Senior - BHPian
 
Sommos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: CG07/ MH34
Posts: 1,304
Thanked: 1,442 Times
Re: SX4 undergoes Eye Surgery - FXR Stage 4 Projectors and DRLs

Quote:
Originally Posted by abirnale View Post
Yes sir That's what Satya told me. But I know, I agree with you. Mini does its job for which it is designed. But since they have limited spread compared to FXRs, I had chosen the larger FXRs. Nothing greatly impacts the equation still, but when I am spending so much, why not go little extra for FXRs! I didn't realize earlier that due to size, the reflectors will need to be cut. But then, the effort is worth it. Especially since I am not going to go back to original headlights anyday. As long as the new setup is clean and professional, all is well
Firstly please don't embarass me by calling "Sir", we all are on the same platform.

Secondly, You are lucky that you got a good installer who could do the job perfectly to your satisfaction. But this job of cutting the reflector and fixing the FXR is very risky and only a handful of installers can really manage the levelling and all. It would be really frustrating if you spend all the money and don't get the satisfaction. Keeping this in mind most installers and the public also goes for the relatively simpler installation of the Mini style projectors.
Sommos is offline   (2) Thanks
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks