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JDM HID Headlight Conversion Walkthrough


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wow, wish I saw this thread before. Thanks for details! Quick question about the resistors for turn bulbs - did you need to add them because of fast blinking?

2005 LGT Wagon Limited 6 MT RBP Stage 2 - 248K

2007 B9 Tribeca Limited DGM - 258K

SOLD - 2005 OB Limited 5 MT Silver - 245K

SOLD - 2010 OB 6 MT Silver - 205K

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I didn't see it in my posting, ABSOLUTELY DO NOT TRY TO POLISH THE INSIDE OF THE LENS!!! there are protective coatings on the inside of the headlight lens. It is probably UV or antireflective stuff. I tried cleaning and buffing only to find a haze/film. I buffed some more, and more, and more. I never was able to get them crystal clear again, but pretty close. My wife couldn't even tell, but I am extremely picky. I purchased some headlight protectors from x-pel or something. They have worked great and I was paranoid about UV protection. The xpel covers provide that.
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Great, thanks. You are the only JDM HID convert alive on this forum I guess ;) Another question is about powering them - do you run through dedicated relay harness or direct plug into OEM harness? I compared USDM and JDM wiring and they are both relayed but silly SOA saved a penny per car and put tiny 18 AWG wires with common ground for low and high beams on USDM headlight harness while JDM tails are 14AWG with dedicated ground wires. Stock JDM HID ballasts can draw as much as 15AMP at startup so I am somewhat hesitant to use USDM stock wiring; however, if others run them without any issues the adaptor harness can be made quite compact to use stock relay.

2005 LGT Wagon Limited 6 MT RBP Stage 2 - 248K

2007 B9 Tribeca Limited DGM - 258K

SOLD - 2005 OB Limited 5 MT Silver - 245K

SOLD - 2010 OB 6 MT Silver - 205K

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  • 3 months later...
So here is another modification that needs to be done for the new bulb setup of the JDM lights. The wattage of the new running bulb is much less than that of the USDM multifilament bulb. So you will need to purchase two high wattage 6 ohm resistors(very cheap). These can usually be found at any shop that sells LED replacement bulbs. High wattage resistors are usually needed when switching to LEDs because you need to trick the system into thinking there is more load.

 

I have all my calculations somewhere, but I am sure they are long gone by now. If someone else wants to verify that this is the correct resistance, please feel free or just go get these resistors.

 

Is the purpose of the resistors to simply dissipate the load as heat or keep the indicators from hyperblinking? I just did mine without the resistor and everything seems to work fine so far since I already have a turning signal relay for LED indicators (because of my LED taillights). The reason I'm asking is I'm trying to figure out if the use of the resistors is mainly a safety concern for the circuit or simply to avoid hyperblinking.

 

Other than that, I'm really liking the JDM lights. :D

1103284995_2014-07-0713_43_40.thumb.jpg.e1149bfc073e946d7e0bc502e10125f9.jpg

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  • 3 months later...
I got a complete front end. Ballast and bulbs are still there and I even have all connectors (male and female)

So I guess wiring will be pretty easy !

 

did you source connectors from somewhere or used connectors that came with headlights?

2005 LGT Wagon Limited 6 MT RBP Stage 2 - 248K

2007 B9 Tribeca Limited DGM - 258K

SOLD - 2005 OB Limited 5 MT Silver - 245K

SOLD - 2010 OB 6 MT Silver - 205K

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  • 9 months later...
Leveling Switch is in progress. I think the level switch part number is a JDM part #83002AG000 and should be about $40(USD) plus shipping. My first attempt was to create my own with some connectors and epoxy, but then I just purchased the Toyota parts instead. Yes, I said Toyota, they share many connectors. The part numbers for the connectors are Toyota part # 90980-11016 (should be about $6 online a piece and you need two) and the wires are Toyota part #82998-12440 (you will need 6 of these and they are overpriced at about $4.50 online a piece)

 

just found this thread LOL. long time lurker and i rarely post. thanks for the info.

 

any update on using OEM connectors and adapting it into a harness?

 

Just gotta read a little ;)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Is all of this cutting and cutting up of the wire harness necessary or could we have repinned the connector? My JDM set just landed and I have the OEM connectors but some of the wiring was cut. So I'll need to figure it out. I'll use this as a reference and hopefully be able to savage some of the wiring and stuff thanks for the info and write up!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 4 months later...
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  • 3 years later...
Not sure how many people still read this awesome thread but I have made a harness for multiple members here as well as lurkers on face book Edited by AW4BYT
Unfinished prior to posting
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  • 1 month later...
It's raining here in New York so I'm undertaking some indoor work. This is my first time doing a headlight conversion so please excuse my ignorance. Are there shields in both of the headlights or just the right side? How are people opening up these headlights?

muFreight.co
A JDM Container Sharing Service from Japan 🇯🇵 to NYC 🗽
 🌐 Website📷 Instagram✉️ Email

Bessie II's Thread

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Thanks for taking the time to post that all up, that's what I was looking for. Out of curiosity, do you know what the function of those tabs are for? Would it make sense to tack weld the tabs onto the flip side?

 

Did some of my own further investigation. Based on the image attached, it seems like the slit covered by the tab should throw some light towards the sky/air. The light should be over the roof of most passenger cars, but could still hit a large truck. Maybe this is a way of illuminating above the road without blinding oncoming traffic. I'd be interested in hearing other thoughts, I'm no optical expert.

types-of-hid-projectors.png.164cbc8e2e16128f8876d52167e307bc.png

Edited by Enlight

muFreight.co
A JDM Container Sharing Service from Japan 🇯🇵 to NYC 🗽
 🌐 Website📷 Instagram✉️ Email

Bessie II's Thread

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