Bi-Xenon Project...

[r0nd3L]

Recently I became extremelly interested in OEM HIDs.

As some of you know, I got a set of brand new looking OEM HID Bi-Xenon headlight assemblies.

Here is what's inside the headlight iself:
- Leveling Motor
- D2S Xenon Bulb
- Igniter for Xenon Bulb
- City Lights

Outside the headlight:
- Ballast



In this picture of gt2437 (ORG Member, hope you don't mind ) you can see those harnesses in the corners which seal the ballast from water as well as include the relays for high-beam solenoid activation. What the solenoid does is move the shield in the projector to allow more light to pass higher up creating high-beam from the same D2S bulb. When it's not activated it blocks the light so it doesn't blind others.

Anyway, those harnesses weren't included in the sale so I have two options now.

First option would be to buy those harnesses for $115 each and send them of to PG Performance to have them modified to enable the use of manual headlight leveling switch as well as adapation from halogen equiped vehicle. The total of this would be arround $500 parts included.

Another option would be to create my own wiring harness. This would include:
- Creating relay harness with diodes, resistors, capacitors for high-beam solenoid as found in this diagram: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...g_final_v3.gif I would also have to get 3-pin wire for solenoid instead of OEM 2 pin since I'll be making my own relay harness.
- Wire three wires from ballast to the headlight assembly
- Connect three leveling motor wires to power, ground, and control (goes inside cabin to rheostat switch).
- One pin for city light. I'm using white 194 LED for this.
- Getting e46 ballast covers (e46 uses same ballasts) to protect from elements such as water
- Figuring out where to mount ballasts + covers

So far, I'm ordering the parts in for creating my own harness, but if I fail in doing so, I'll have to buy the harness and send them to Paul @ PG.

Let me know what you think and maybe give some suggestions.

Matas

[Whitacre]

i LOVE HIDs...and i wish so BADLY that 06's would have had them just like in 05. I would have bought that option in a heartbeat.

Goodluck with this. Personally i would send it over to PG but thats because i wouldnt know how to do the whole making the own harness...not that i could learn, but you're messing with a lot of expensive equipment.

Goodluck though!

[r0nd3L]

Originally Posted by Whitacre

i LOVE HIDs...and i wish so BADLY that 06's would have had them just like in 05. I would have bought that option in a heartbeat.

Goodluck with this. Personally i would send it over to PG but thats because i wouldnt know how to do the whole making the own harness...not that i could learn, but you're messing with a lot of expensive equipment.

Goodluck though!

True about expensive, but wouldn't it be cool to have cheapest OEM HID setup

And most of the electronics that I might accidentally fry/short are popular and used in many more cars. For example, ballasts and igniters are used in e46 and I can find replacements very cheap. Leveling motor, I'm not sure about that but it's easy to wire so I'm not worried about that.

My biggest worry is high-beam activation, though, as it requires a little more complicated wiring as you probably seen in the diagram.

If I can really pull this off then my setup will be even cheaper than factory option of $600...

[bugley]

Hellow r0nd3L, where'd you get the HID headlight housings and for how much? Let us know on your progress too.

[r0nd3L]

Originally Posted by bugley

Hellow r0nd3L, where'd you get the HID headlight housings and for how much? Let us know on your progress too.

Believe it or not, I found them listed on eBay for $175 each. Since the seller was about 40 minutes away from my house I went and bought them. Also, he gave me a good deal on D2S bulbs and ballasts. The total I paid for headlights, which look brand new, is $480.

As far the status of the project, I'm still gathering parts like connectors and other little things...

[bugley]

r0nd3L...so you're the one who scored them off ebay...I was keeping an eye on those things myself, then they suddenly disappeared Anyway, keep us posted on the progress and do come up with a "how to". By the way, anybody know how much these things cost at the dealer with ballast and bulbs for both headlights?

[r0nd3L]

Hehe, sorry for snapping those in front of you

Check www.1stvwparts.com in body catalog and 2004 year.

The headlight assemblies cost $550 (!!!!!) each and they don't include neither the ballast nor the harness. Heck, I'm not even sure they include the bulb itself.

I'm still waiting on the guy from PG to send me the plug that goes into headlight so I can start on wiring.

Meanwhile, I think that I don't really need that wiring diagram that I posted. I think all that's needed is to connect high-beam wire to the solenoid as well as ground it. If that's really true then everything should be even easier. However, I'm still waiting for somebody to chime in at hidplanet.com forum about these...

[wdprice1]

Is this set up plug and play. I bought a set of HID's today for a 2005 Beetle, and I have a 2004. I can't seem to find anywhere if this is just plug and play. I used to have a Mercedes prior to this Beetle and Bi-Xenon's were plug and play, with exception of programing the computer in the car to not show a fault light with HID's low wattage.
I just want the headlights, no autoleveling feature yet. So if this is the case can I just plug them in and turn them on?

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by r0nd3L

The headlight assemblies cost $550

Which is a pretty good clue the eBay items for $175 are "remanufactured" Halogen units.

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by wdprice1

I just want the headlights, no autoleveling feature yet.

Probably can't get it that way because self-leveling is legally required in conjunction with HID in Germany. So is headlight washer BTW.

[r0nd3L]

Originally Posted by lkchris

Which is a pretty good clue the eBay items for $175 are "remanufactured" Halogen units.

You are confused. They were slightly used OEM HID headlights that came from 2004 Beetle and I suppose low demand for them and the complicated install cause price to be rather low.

[r0nd3L]

Originally Posted by wdprice1

Is this set up plug and play. I bought a set of HID's today for a 2005 Beetle, and I have a 2004. I can't seem to find anywhere if this is just plug and play. I used to have a Mercedes prior to this Beetle and Bi-Xenon's were plug and play, with exception of programing the computer in the car to not show a fault light with HID's low wattage.
I just want the headlights, no autoleveling feature yet. So if this is the case can I just plug them in and turn them on?

Hey, I know this is two months passed your post but I just noticed it...

The headlights are nowhere near plug and play, but it's not really hard to make them work. Self-leveling is probably easiest and I wouldn't mess with auto-level.

What you need to do is either get PG Performance to create you a wiring harness or create one yourself. I created mine and it worked perfectly.

Also, you'll need Bosch/AL Ballasts. and 10-pin connectors for HIDs. I found the parts numbers and ordered plugs, seals, and wire leads from http://www.1stvwparts.com.

I also bought leveling switch (rheostat) from ECStuning.com along with their MKIV wiring kit.

Here is a list of plugs/seals/wire leads that are needed:


(2) 1J0 973 735 - plugs


(18) 000 979 225 (2,5 mm²) - wire leads


(18) 357 972 741 B (2,5 mm²) - seals


Then, I made this wiring diagram and followed it.



I mounted the ballasts inside of the fender linear since there is a perfect spot for them there.

I had some problems with high-beams, though. They wouldn't turn off without switching the lights completely. I figured it is because the high-beam solenoid in HID headlight doesn't draw enough power and therefore car thinks there isn't a bulb connected. What I did to fix this problem, connected a small 12V bulb in the passenger headlight to the same wire going to high-beam solenoid. That fixed my problem and everything works fine now. Although, the bulb is a little ghetto since it just hangs inside my bumper

[Shenandoah]

r0nd3L,

Thanks for the information on how you ran OEM HIDs on your Beetle. I'm retrofitting a set of regular Beetle headlights with HID low beam projectors. I might just watch for OEM HIDs and uses those as it simplifies on where to place all the components.

I do have one question: Do the OEM HIDs have a separate bulb for daytime running lights? Or do they run the HID lowbeam for daytime running lights?

Thanks!

Eric

[r0nd3L]

Originally Posted by Shenandoah

r0nd3L,

Thanks for the information on how you ran OEM HIDs on your Beetle. I'm retrofitting a set of regular Beetle headlights with HID low beam projectors. I might just watch for OEM HIDs and uses those as it simplifies on where to place all the components.

I do have one question: Do the OEM HIDs have a separate bulb for daytime running lights? Or do they run the HID lowbeam for daytime running lights?

Thanks!

Eric

I suppose you could leave day time running function, but it may mess with the ballasts after a while since they do not like undervoltage. I would just use the small city light (parking light) for daytime running lights.

[Shenandoah]

r0nd3L,

Thanks, that's what I was thinking: running the city/parking light as the DRL. I may have to keep my eyes open for a set of OEM HID lights. Thanks!



Eric