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Hey ZMS, looks like a great job on molding. Any interest in selling a few lens now that you have the process perfected.

I may be interested- if I do I need to get better at cutting them out of the sheet- that's pretty exacting.

So my lights got stuck in Atlanta during the "storm", but they should be in tomorrow. Hopefully I can get this project finished then and post some pics.

Here goes- don't mind the sealant- trimming it after 24 hours.







And on. Went with 5k.

ZMS - very impressive work. Not sure how you could do this, but it would be interesting and informative (and "illuminating...") to see a picture the performance of your new lights next to that of the stock ones, because (and I'm probably not alone), I just don't get the whole "HID, xenon" thing. I've just never been that picky about my headlights, and can't remember ever having a car where I thought the stock headlights were inadequate. So maybe seeing the improvement from your creation would sway me (then again, maybe I don't want to know!). Thanks, and again, congratulations on successfully finishing your project.

I wish I could do that, but I do t have an extra stock light anymore. The difference is shocking though. Beam pattern is much better and light output is incredible. I know many people think theses cars have good lighting, but compared to modern options, it is quite poor.

The stock 968 lights are ok but my last car was 986S with bi-xenon Litronics and the difference is huge. If this retrofit works I'd love to install them on my 968.

How is the beam cutoff line? I wouldn't want to blind oncoming drivers.

I'm going to have to read up on this topic, as I have zero understanding of how headlights work, the difference between halogen and xenon (other than that these are on adjacent columns of the periodic table), and all the components that make a headlight work. To me, it's always just been: Flip switch, see light, drive away.

[quote name='JTP' timestamp='1358955930' post='137848']The stock 968 lights are ok but my last car was 986S with bi-xenon Litronics and the difference is huge. If this retrofit works I'd love to install them on my 968.

How is the beam cutoff line? I wouldn't want to blind oncoming drivers.[/quote]



The retro fit worked perfectly, perfect cut off since its a projector. The hard part was the lenses.

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1358961250' post='137854']I'm going to have to read up on this topic, as I have zero understanding of how headlights work, the difference between halogen and xenon (other than that these are on adjacent columns of the periodic table), and all the components that make a headlight work. To me, it's always just been: Flip switch, see light, drive away.[/quote]

Same idea, just much better beam pattern and light output.

I think my headlights, especially the low beams, are yellow and under-powered, but that's by today's standards. The bulbs are probably pretty old, too, as I haven't changed them yet.

Can anybody say " new sponsor"?



Best of luck with this mod.



Jay

An adjustable voltage regulator so as to be able to actually set a true 14V helps the yellow. 100W bulbs help a little to.

Cloud I've got HID conversion low beams on my E36 M3. They completely overpower the standard high beams and have a much more controlled cut-off. HID is the way to go if you can do it!

[quote name='bombfactory' timestamp='1358973529' post='137869']

Cloud I've got HID conversion low beams on my E36 M3. They completely overpower the standard high beams and have a much more controlled cut-off. HID is the way to go if you can do it!

[/quote]

Thanks; yes, I'm sure that if I did a side-by-side comparison of the same car with halogens vs. HID's, I'd see that HiD's are a vast improvement. It's just that headlights are something I've never given a second thought to before - kind of like watches - unless a bulb is burned out. But this thread has piqued my interest, not so much for the 968, since I've already converted the pop-ups to fixed lights (Hella bi-halogens) on my soon-to-be (if I can ever get it to start) mostly-track car, but maybe for other cars in our family...



By the way, how difficult was it to do the conversion on your E36? How long did it take you?

An aftermarket (or Euro OEM) set of headlights is necessary for the E36, as they did not come with projector-style low beams in the U.S. From there all you need is the right ballasts and bulbs and it's pretty plug and play. Most car stereo shops have branched out into HID upgrades and charge around $200.

[quote name='bombfactory' timestamp='1358980751' post='137877']

An aftermarket (or Euro OEM) set of headlights is necessary for the E36, as they did not come with projector-style low beams in the U.S. From there all you need is the right ballasts and bulbs and it's pretty plug and play. Most car stereo shops have branched out into HID upgrades and charge around $200.

[/quote]

Wow, prices have really come down. I thought an HID conversion costs into the $thousands, which is a major reason I've never paid much attention to the idea.

Yeah it used to be crazy expensive. Now, not so much.



The fog lights on the 968 are projector style - has anyone done an HID upgrade to these?

i thought these were going to be fixed headlights???

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1359042196' post='137898']i thought these were going to be fixed headlights???[/quote]



Nah- ive never seen flip up hids, so I figured this would be cool. Plus, my daughter loves the "froggy eyes"

Yea, that was my letdown in post 26, they are still pop-ups.