HID Retrofit - Lincoln LS / Lexus LS430 (56K death)

Hey skizott I thought I'd give a followup on my projectors. I am still using the same pair of 35w bulbs boosted. I've bumped it up from 50-55watt to 62-65 watt without any problems to the projector bowls. I'd say I've been boosted for nearly a year now without any damage to my projectors or bulbs. However when it gets summer time again I may drop it back down to 50-55w to avoid possible heat damage.

Hey Justin. I know you say you haven't noticed any problems, but have you actually taken the projectors out and inspected the bowls? I'm not saying that you're fibbing by any means :lol:, but the chrome could be starting to bubble without any noticeable effect on the output. Once it's started to bubble though, peeling is next, and then it's too late. I'm just super paranoid when it comes to a pair of $300 projectors. :) But, I really want to throw those ballasts and bulbs in there!

Edit: By the way, which ballasts were you using again? Do you have a pot hooked up to them to increase/decrease the wattage?
 
That is absolutely amazing the work that was put into that. nice patience...
 
That is awesome!!!

I've seen a few different projector light retrofits and this one is by far the cleanest I've seen.....

I just can't beleive though that the Marks came with HID's starting in 95 and they went with halogens in the LS... silly Lincoln.
 
I like the effort and the detailed explanation of the project, well done. The whole projector thing is not my cup of tea because of the look alone. Granted the light output exceeds the HID output I have. I will just stick with the HID low beam and foglight plug and play and be happy, but nice job.
 
Hey Justin. I know you say you haven't noticed any problems, but have you actually taken the projectors out and inspected the bowls? I'm not saying that you're fibbing by any means :lol:, but the chrome could be starting to bubble without any noticeable effect on the output. Once it's started to bubble though, peeling is next, and then it's too late. I'm just super paranoid when it comes to a pair of $300 projectors. :) But, I really want to throw those ballasts and bulbs in there!

Edit: By the way, which ballasts were you using again? Do you have a pot hooked up to them to increase/decrease the wattage?


Yes, I have a trimmer connected to NAIS ballasts to change the wattage on the fly. Never buy NAIS if you want to mod them...Nobody else to date has modded them and its practically impossible to do so. I spent probably two days putting them into the oven and baking the epoxy off of the circuit board. I used them because they are spare ballasts.

As far as the projectors, I actually inspected them the other day just to make sure! I have a 'cover' I can remove which allows me to see inside to look at the bowl and lens. I'm probably pretty lucky but they are as clean as the day I bought them.
 
Thanks for the compliments, guys. :)

Yes, I have a trimmer connected to NAIS ballasts to change the wattage on the fly. Never buy NAIS if you want to mod them...Nobody else to date has modded them and its practically impossible to do so. I spent probably two days putting them into the oven and baking the epoxy off of the circuit board. I used them because they are spare ballasts.

As far as the projectors, I actually inspected them the other day just to make sure! I have a 'cover' I can remove which allows me to see inside to look at the bowl and lens. I'm probably pretty lucky but they are as clean as the day I bought them.


Niiice. That's definitely good to know. I think I may need to look into a switchable ballast so that I don't have to swap ballasts every time I want to go from 35-watt to 50-watt. I can't boost the Denso's because I've already potted them, and the 50-watt ballasts came potted. I don't think I want to go through the trouble of un-potting either of them. :lol: Thanks for the update!
 
nice work there man. wish i had the technical know-how to do a project like that. the number one thing lacking in my LS right now is lighting. do you have any recommendations for a little simpler HID retrofit? not a cheap Chinese eBay pair but a decent system that has proper power and a flat, even output? i would love to mimic my friend's Audi A3 output. it's so flat you could use it as a ruler. anyways great work and hopefully i can join the HID crowd before too long.
 
nice work there man. wish i had the technical know-how to do a project like that. the number one thing lacking in my LS right now is lighting. do you have any recommendations for a little simpler HID retrofit? not a cheap Chinese eBay pair but a decent system that has proper power and a flat, even output? i would love to mimic my friend's Audi A3 output. it's so flat you could use it as a ruler. anyways great work and hopefully i can join the HID crowd before too long.

Thanks! Sorry for taking a while to respond, I've been so busy with other things. If you want the really "flat" output you're looking at retrofitting a pair of projectors. D2R bulbs (used in reflector setups like the 03+ LS's that came with HID) can't get you that defined cut-off line you're looking for. Also, to get a razor sharp cut-off, you'll want to find clear lenses for the projector. I personally prefer fresnel lenses like the LS430 has because it bleeds the dark and light areas at the cut-off line. The razor sharp cut-off definitely looks sweet, but I think it'd make driving a little harder.

I'm not sure about the simpler part of retrofitting, but there are more affordable options. A pretty good combo is a pair of Lexus RX330 projectors with BMW E30 clear lenses swapped in. And, if you're daring, you can build a custom curved cut-off shield and get the same, if not better, performance than that of Honda S2000 projectors (awesome projector, but as expensive as the LS430s). I actually picked up a pair of each for a side project here a few months back (yeah, yeah, I said it would probably be harder to drive with the razor sharp cut-off, but I figured I would at least play around with these :D). I paid $65 for the pair of RX330 projectors, and $30 for the pair of E30 clear lenses.

If you ever wanted to tackle a retrofit, I could definitely help you out. Just let me know.
 
wow what a job, I got to say it looks awesome. I would love to do the same thing.

Here's an idea, take orders to make them, you could make some good money doing it and only one when its paid for. You could even clear the corners, angel eyes, etc

Sounds like a big money apportunity for you
 
True, but he hasn't been on in a few months
 

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