Styling DAYLINE DRL's LHD to universal conversion...

[mzhussein]

You don't want HIDs in standard Stilo headlamp units, they chuck the light everywhere, have seen it first hand myself. You want to install proper projector units ideally or just use uprated xenon bulbs.

id assumed he wasnt talking about those cheapo ebay kits....if you are then STAY AWAY they are crap....uprated xenon bulbs? are those the halogen ones with mythical xenon gases inside? (i'm dubious as to there effectiveness, when i tried them they were nowhere near as good as nightbreakers, on par with £1 H7's from the garage)....as MEP said, and in my opinion, for real xenon light output, projectors are the only way...reflectors are just too imprecise

Id love to do what youve done Hussein....but i'd balls it up lol

i want to say "its not that hard" but it took a **** load of effort, including me giving up half way through because progress was SO slow....but it is worth it in the end, i reckon i could do it again in a day, the first light took about a month to do an figure out, the second one took about 2 days...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

uprated xenon bulbs? are those the halogen ones with mythical xenon gases inside?

Nope, those light the Osram Nightbrakers (although from experience they have a poor life span) or the Philips Extreme

 

[mzhussein]

yeah my nightbreakers lasted less than 2 months!!!!! - thats not very long seeing as though you have to lacerate your hands to change them! (side note the HID's in my 1st car, mk1 punto, now in there 2nd mk1 punto, brother wrote off no.1, are still going strong, running all day, for 4 years now!, theyve colour shifted a lil bit, but thats cos they were cheapo ebay bulbs...)

 

[chris106]

So what's wrong with these kits?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PROJECTOR-LEN-KIT-Angel-Eye-HID-BI-XENON-H4-H7-BH3-9004-/300541094244?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item45f9a52964
This is just for the pics, I no a place down the road that sells them and they look well put together...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

They're awful IMO. Can see alot of scatter on them in the 'after' pic which make them no dissimilar to just fitted HIDd in reflector lenses

 

[mzhussein]

mmmm, not too bad, but not worth the effort to only put something "mediocre" in... have a look here:
http://www.theretrofitsource.com

 

[Finn]

So does anyone know of anything like this available for the Multiwagon? They look excellent, I live in a country where DRLs or headlights have to be on all the time, and I almost chopped my hand off last time I had to change a bulb and one has gone again - so I'd love to upgrade

 

[mzhussein]

sorry to disappoint, i didnt think it were possible, but the DRL headlights are MORE of a PITA than the stock ones to change a bulb (one reason why i went HID, pretty much never die)....and as far as i know, they only come for the 3-door

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Fit some DRLs Finn. Thats what I've done

 

[Finn]

Fit some DRLs Finn. Thats what I've done

MEP - that's what I've been thinking. What did you fit, have you got any pictures? I'm tempted by things on eBay, but part of me thinks I should find something by Hella, in the hope that it might work longer than four minutes...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

MEP - that's what I've been thinking. What did you fit, have you got any pictures? I'm tempted by things on eBay, but part of me thinks I should find something by Hella, in the hope that it might work longer than four minutes...

I've some Ring BRL0397's in my front bumper, they fit fairly well between the fins (on the 5-door, not sure if you could do similar with a 3-door bumper?)

Switched off

The photo's don't do them justice, but they're among the brightest you'll get and comply with full DRL 'E' regs and are 'E' marked as such.

About £70 from halfords, but around £40ish new on eBay from memory, maybe a bit less if you strike lucky.

 

[chicken_chau_mein]

I like DRL's... Here's mine...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Ow I like those! What units have you got fitted and how did you go about them with the blanking covers?

Any close ups?

 

[Finn]

I've some Ring BRL0397's in my front bumper, they fit fairly well between the fins (on the 5-door, not sure if you could do similar with a 3-door bumper?)

The photo's don't do them justice, but they're among the brightest you'll get and comply with full DRL 'E' regs and are 'E' marked as such.

About £70 from halfords, but around £40ish new on eBay from memory, maybe a bit less if you strike lucky.

They look good! I think the front is similar to mine, which is a 2003 Multiwagon. Even the same colour! I think here the MOT man has a rule for every occasion, so he may want them closer to the outside edges of the car, like fogs - but I'm sure I can find a good place to fit them. I'll have a look in a minute

How was the wiring? Does the kit allow for them to be wired so they go off when headlights go on or are they simply switched separately?

Thanks!

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

The MW bumper is the same as mine so you'll be fine.

The kit I mentioned comes with a switching kit, so come on when engine starts running (it detects the alernator running and charging I believe) and they do go off when I turn the headlights on

As to location, I didn't have anything mentioned at my MOT. I'm not 100% sure on the placement regs but don't forget being DRLs they're probably different to fogs etc.

 

[Finn]

MEP, I found a Ring kit with one number difference, BRL 0398 instead of 0397. These ones seem to dim with sidelights on, do yours do that or do they just turn off completely, and is it with sidelights or headlights that they turn off? I think, if I remember right, they should be on at normal DLR brightness even with sidelights over here - in other words I wouldn't want them to dim for they 'night styling' function Ring advertise, which of course is fine for the UK market. Equally I think the MOT man here might require that they can't be on at the same time as the headlights, though I'm not sure about that.

The problem is that the laws over here on daylight running lights ('attention lights' as they're referred to here) hark back a long way, to when people used to fit yellow ones with 21W bulbs. With new cars coming out with LED DRLs built into the clusters, things are changing for new cars but that doesn't mean they will ignore the old regs on retrofit installations. For example new cars seem to be ok with having DLRs and headlights at the same time, but I'm not sure on old cars. And I don't want to have to take them off before every MOT