Update...

Heres what I've got so far now. Im about 10 hours into this mess, and I dont think it looks quite OEM, but close enough. What it lacks in esthetics, it makes up for in performance.

After wanting xenons for years, when I got the reflector 02-04 xenons, I was a little let down. Now that I've got the TSX projectors... WOW. I cant even imagine needing high beams.

Here's what it looks like so far. What do you think?







about 3 feet away. It looks shaper from about 10 feet +

 

Those look really cool. Makes me want to do something like that with my car. How did you wire the TSX lights tough?

 

theres no wireing. Its an 03 xenon housing, so I just removed the reflector and put in a projector. It purely mechanical, not electrical. The same bulb that would go in the back of the reflector seats itself in the back of the projector.

Does it look passable for OEM? Im sick of working on it. There are a few spots where you can see bolts, but I dont know if anyone else will notice but me. Maybe they'll think its suppose to be there

 

Looks great burley.....what shroud did you end up using? It looks like it works pretty well. It seems like that's such an awkward place to try fitting a shroud, but you did it pretty well.

 

can you take a pic of how it's mounted in the back, whre it's all bolted in?

 

I used a stove flange cover, and a chrome ring off a travel mug.. Cant tell when you look at it though, and yes, very awkward to fit it there. I tried MANY materials....


Not pretty, but very secure.



I mounted it with 2 L-brackets on the bottom. I cut out most of the reflector in the back to make room, which I'll get pics of later.

 

Good job on the hardware usage.....looks pretty sturdy.

Did you get away without cutting the back of the black housing? That's impressive

 

i thought you were mounting them in the high beam location? why the change?

 

didn't have anything to mount them to...

Too bad, because they looked way better.

 

Update..

Things have gotten bad.. I sealed up the lenses back on and they dont sit flush anymore. Everyone who did the joey mod made it seem like an afternoon's work, and this has been about 2 weeks in the works for me.

The housing melts before the glue does, and everything around where the lens is suppose to meet the housing is warped from baking and prying, which is what I was told to do...

A little stuck here, and I need some joey modders to help me out. Any veterans out there w/ some advice?

 

Back on track w/ this little dilly of a project. I got everything figured out, and even found some 05+ bezels and shrouds to make them look OEM and pretty again!

Here are some pics of them in, but w/out lenses or shrouding. Just wanted to show the color at the cutoff of the TSX projectors. They are full of color!!

 

That is one clean cutoff.....well done

Let's see the front of the car during the day so we can see the headlights themselves

 

awesome job retrofitting projectors. Cleanest results I've seen yet.

 

They look the same, I just needed to aim the lights again. Im waiting of the 05+ xenon shrouding and bezel I got from a NAM member.

Should be another week.

 

Anyone know the size of the mini cooper's projector lens? I just bought some 05+ xenon headlights (cheap because they were in an accident, lenses are shot, but the insides look ok), and want to make sure that the bezel will fit the TSX projectors. The TSX are about 2.5", and it looks like they are a perfect fit, just wanted to see if anyone had exact measurements..

Hopefully they will look OEM when Im done. I was thinking about moving the parking light from the front bumper and putting it in the coopers' bezel to light it up like angel eyes w/out the headlights having to be on. We'll see, I'll be happy w/ just getting everything put back together

Thanks.

 

Anyone?

 

I wish I knew. What are you doing with the 05' lamps?

 

Depending on the condition, Im selling them. They guy said they're cracked, but they look fine in the pics. If they are cracked, you just need a new lens, which aren't very much.

Those bosch projectors are pretty sought after because they are among the smallest out there.

 

double post ...

 

Im happy to report that 3 weeks, 2 cases of beer, and 1 pint of blood later, Im done.

Heres the results. I had to scratch the TSX's because they would not fit w/ the mini bezel, or any of the shrouding. I had to chose between esthetics or function, and guess which I picked...

The TSXs were brighter, and had a very colorful and sharper cutoff, but there looked like hell. I couldn't find anything to cover them up, and look OEM.

I ended up putting cooper projectors and bezels into my housing, and looks very OEM, like any other 05+ xenons. The only difference is that I assembled these, and they only cost $100 since I already had 03 xenons, and the 05's were in an accident. I used 03 harness, lens and trim in 05 housings. I had to transplant many parts, and gutted the 05 housings.

Lots of work, but hey, cant beat $100 upgrades like this....

(on the right is a halogen, which I used while I gutted the 03 and 05 xenons)



Original Headlight OEM reflector Xenon (as you can see, very foggy on the inside)


1st draft


Final product





Not as sharp as TSX, slightly less bright, but they look way more OEM

 

NICE WORK !!

Wish I could locate a set for $100

 

There are lots of people who have crashed and still have their headlights after the insurance took care of the repairs. In most cases, you just have to replace the damaged lenses and chrome rings.

I got mine in the FS thread. There was another guy who wanted to sell me his, but he never got back to me. Im sure there are plenty, just got to look.

 

Wow, this looks absolutely great! The cutoff is still a whole lot nicer than the reflector housing Xenons... Again, Great job!

-Chase

 

Update.

After a week of driving w/ the cooper oem projectors, I concluded that they kinda suck compared to the TSX. I took some pics with the same exposure, and compared the 03 xenons (reflectors) to the 05 xenons, and they are just a little better. I wasn't really blown away while driving at night, but then again, I would have been plenty happy had I never seen the TSX.

So, though they looked pretty, it was back into the oven


I just finished after working on them for 2.5 days (Im sure my wife is wondering WTF) Im just about done. I ended up finding a way to fit the TSXs in again, and this time they look more OEM. I'll have pics up soon. The work was WELL worth it. They seem about twice as bright as the cooper's oem projectors.

Pics, pics, pics, yes I know. I'll put them up Tuesday night.

BTW, I will have the OEM bosch projectors (just the projectors) for sale soon. They are really not bad, just not nearly as good as TSX. I'll be open to offers, but I'd like $100. It would be a good upgrade for a person w/ 02-04 xenons. I also have a spare shrouding (not the bezel) to mount to, so you dont have to cut up your shrouding. This means if you screw up, you can always put your stock reflectors back in.

PM me if interested.

 

I can't wait to see what you have done! I really like the way that the TSX projectors looked on your car!

-Chase