FINALLY got these on the car at this month's MODfest out at Outmotoring. I gotta admit - the mechanics that Aaron uses for that event are wonderfully ****, and I ended up with what *I* think is a really top-notch installatin and wiring job. Definitely worth the wait! If you're anywhere near central Ohio, be sure to check with Outmotoring for the next MODfest.


The Hellas are a bit smaller than most aftermarket lights like the PIAAs, a fact that I personally like. The big, chrome "salad bowl" look is a bit much for me...


The angel-eye effect looks pretty spiffy, if I do say so myself.


No wires anyplace in the engine space, save the single, hot lead wire to the battery terminal...

I took a lot of photos of both the light install as well as the install of the "Madness" -type brackets that mount the lights to the bonnet. Aaron at Outmotoring will probably put a How-To up for it soon - when he does I'll be sure to link to it. Materially, my install was similar to the stickied one at the top of the forum, but we found a REALLY nice way to mount the relay box and fuse alongside the existing headlight wire over on the driver's side, resulting in absolutely no boxes or wires (except a single red wire conncting to the positive battery terminal next to the air box) in the engine space whatsoever - VERY clean looking.

 

im just curious where you picked the light up from.... i like them.. nice job bro...

 

Those look GREAT!

 

Thanks, guys - it was a really fun project, and I'm glad that I got to help with the install.

I got them from Amazon.com but they're all over - just Google "Optilux". I'm planning a full review and will link to it when it finds a home.

BE ADVISED: the lights are specifically designed to hang upside-down in the lower grill, and attach with a squared, “C”-shaped bracket with two mounting holes. As I wanted to mount the lights up higher, against the upper hood grill, this was a problem, as the mounts I was planning on using only had a single mounting hole. In the end, a felow NAM-er here helped me out and made me a set of custom brackets, something that really upped my enthusiasm - THANKS so much (you know who you are!). If you have a drill that can cut steel, you can put a third hole in the stock bracket, though, but I do wish that they'd supplied two sets of brackets, one with a single hole and one with 2 holes.

Also, they are too deep to mount under the overhang of the lower grille - if you want to use them there, you'll need the Alta light bar or the lower brackets that Outmotoring has on sale right now - you cannot, as far as I can tell, mount them directly to the car (not that you'd want to most likely, but...)

For $50, though, I think they were well worth the price - they are surprisingly solid and look really great, I think.

 

Very nice!

Are your driving lamps wired to turn on with the parking lights?

 

No, I wired them in so that they could be run independently... because they're relay-driven I wasn't 100% sure how to make just the angel eyes connect to the parking lights while retaining the ability to use the main lamps independently of the high beams. I know that you're SUPPOSED to wire the main lights in so that they only light with the high beams, but since these Hellas are halogen, I can also use them as passing lights (the OEM lights aren't good for "flash to pass" because of the lamp delay). A drawback of my install, though, is that they run whether or not I have the ignition turned on - if I flip the switch or leave them on when I turn the car off then they stay lit regardless of ignition status. Gotta keep an eye on that. I'm considering wiring in a LED to the 3-position switch so that I get a brightly-lit indicator when the lights OR just the LEDS are lit... I'm just pondering where to install the switch and LED.

 

My MCS has no delay when I flash to pass. If you just pull the lever back the high beams flash & the Xenon's low beams stay off. High beams are halogen & low beams are xenon. That is if the car came with xenons.

 

that is actuated by turning the key to "on". Belive me, you won't always remember, and the little LED your planning on using will tell you that you forgot to turn the lights off before your battery died! The little laughing glow will be there as soon as the tow truck jumps your car!

Ask me how I know!

Matt

 

Obnxs, I hear ya, brother...

Any suggestions which wire to patch into in order to do your "key on" install? Right now I just have the positive wire clipped direct to the positive battery terminal in the engine bay, but I've thought several times since installing them how easy it would be to forget and leave the LEDs on. the driving lights are so bright that I don't think I'd forget, but the LEDs are dim enough that I can see forgetting them. Of course, they'd probably have to be on for quite a long time to drain the battery (LEDs are very low draw), buyt still, I bet I WILL forget eventually.

Thanks!

 

ImagoX - I like the relay placement (1st time I've seen it mounted to the underside of the bonnet), but wonder if you have any crimping of that wire connector when you shut the bonnet?

 

Initially I thought that the fuse and relay would simply be pushed back into that black foam right behind the installation point (you can see it on the wiring photo - it looks like a black grid pattern... that's really just a block of foam), but I'm finding that, most of the time, when I close the bonnet the fuse and relay actually fold UNDER instead of BACK like I expected. The bonnet still closes, but I can tell that the fit is very tight and I suspect that it's pinching the relay case and/or the fuse case. I plan to try and pull an extra inch or two of slack (if possible) and actually push the relay and the fuse back into that black foam (which I think is simply noise dampening - there's nothing back there anyway). That way, the relay and fuse will actually have a tiny little home to rest inside of. Worst case, I may have to shift the wires in the zip ties to give me the slack I need, but I remember that there was PLENTY of wire left over that we had to tuck into the bonnet liner, so I know I can get the reach I need.

PS- had the main lamps on the other night on a not-so-well-paved country road, and I'm happy to report that the brackets were rock solid and did NOT bounce or jiggle like I suspected they would (and like some people warned me about). There was a slight bit of motion detectable if I hit a fairly bad hole or bump, but I'd say 95% of the time they looked rock solid, even at speed. I'm quite impressed with the job that Outmotoring's "madness style" bonnet brackets are doing so far.