Halogen into Xenon Bulbs

JWC · Post by **JWC** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:26 am

13twelve wrote:surely just hitting your local Euro Car Parts and getting headlight units for Â£140 a pop (and maybe these ballast things) is the easiest way of getting xenons on to your mk5 polo

www.eurocarparts.com innit

or is it not that simple?

(those kit things are more expensive than doing this, which makes me think it isnt that simple)

You know, that is probably the most sensible solution all round. You would probably get away with that. I might investigate this and buy one lamp and have a look. If they have one in stock here in Brum. The projector lamp looks a bit funny on the GTi, but that solution would probably work. keeping the lense clean isn't an issue for a perfectionist, and self leveling isn't either since I usually use mine with range set to low anyway. the Mk5 is too high.

Trouble is that the xenon kits probably will not fit without a DS2 bulb. I'll probably look at this on project 6N2-HID...... Keep you posted.

13twelve · Post by **13twelve** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 12:16 pm

its the kinda thing i would of just gone bought and hope'd for the best lol

(the guys at my local euro car parts have been helpful so far, i'd probably ask them as well)

JWC · Post by **JWC** » Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:32 pm

13twelve wrote:its the kinda thing i would of just gone bought and hope'd for the best lol

(the guys at my local euro car parts have been helpful so far, i'd probably ask them as well)

Well its obviously not that straight forward. They are not exactly the same as the non-GTi lights. For a start both the front wings and the front panel that they bolt to are different. The retro fit xenons obviously won't fit, so I'll have to machine a thing for the bulbs to sit in to make it exactly fit. Headlamp leveling is easy to do, with sensors that you can steal off any GTi or other VW. Washers one could provide for quite easily, then they would be compliant and legal.

I'm pretty sure that one could make the GTi units fit though. VW don't like making things too different as it costs money, the similar they are the cheaper it is, so they will probably use the same glass cover etc.

I think I might try. Will keep you posted.

PS all the other xenon stuff is very expensive, but I have lots of kit to hand.

13twelve · Post by **13twelve** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:04 pm

i where doing it i'd just assume that you pull the old units out and screw the new units in

on that modular basis where vw cut corners to make the production of the cars easier

they where made in spain after all

Si_GTi · Post by **Si_GTi** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:36 pm

Could you fit something like this to a Polo?

I know its for Porsches, but Just a thought. Otherwise, CalvinGTi is selling some xenon 6n2 front lamps - drop him a PM? The link to the original For Sale post is here.

Cheers

JWC · Post by **JWC** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 11:40 pm

Yes you can. And I did originally. But IMO they were far to bright and scattered light all over the shop. Very distracting and very illegal.

However, I have now fitted two GTI headlights on a whim based on 13twelve's not so dum suggestion. And I can say it works 100% perfectly. I will post a full DIY report and all the parts. But be aware its not a cheap mod!

Also I have been looking into self-leveling which is mandatory for Xenon. I looked at fitting the GTI unit that measures rear axle load. But it isn't a good solution for retrofitting. I looked at Analog Designs Appication note about using 5g accelerometers for self-levelling but this was a dead avenue, total rubbish, you can't use an accelerometer to measure your angle with the road!

In the end I setteled for a solution that sends a beam and bounces it off the road. It then uses some filtering and a bit of giggery pokery and sends a signal to the headlamps to level them for you. Its almost 100% perfect but gets confused if it can't see the road, like grass etc. It thinks your upside down in a field! Still working on it, but eventually it might be a kit from VAG parts. If people are going to retrofit illegal xenons, then the very least they should do is make sure that it is self levelling and correctly aligned. The problem comes with halogen reflectors. You simply can't get them to work well with xenon. (HID)

13twelve · Post by **13twelve** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:07 am

lol mint

i didnt know there was so much to xenons

JWC · Post by **JWC** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:25 am

13twelve wrote:lol mint

i didnt know there was so much to xenons

Yeah, the reason they are so different is because a halogen has a tiny filament very thin. But the Xenon has a capsule which is much larger. Which is why you need to focus it in a different way.

Its even more complicated than that. You need a ballast for each one, and then technically, you must also fit headlight washing mechanisms too.

Si_GTi · Post by **Si_GTi** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 12:45 pm

Yep, the headlight washing system is part of the MOT requirement for xenon headlamps. I am soooo glad they are standard on the GTi - it sounds like a complicated business retrofitting them to another model!

Worth the hassle tho if you get a fully blinged up xenon conversion at the end of the day. Only problem with my xenons is that I'm so impressed by them I'm going to want them on my next car too!

Oh yes, fianlly, if you're in the process off getting xenon lights put on your Polo don't forget to fit some nice looking blue/white sidelight and main beam bulbs! The standard units have lovely yellow bulbs which waters down the xenon effect a little - but its a minor gripe

Can we see pics of the final conversion(s)?

Cheers