[s-cars] troubleshooting aftermarket HID's

[Lee Levitt]

On 5/3/2012 11:00 AM, Tom Green wrote:

> You are getting a lot of advice to retrofit projectors into the 
> housing.  Read all the fine print carefully, since it is not a plug 
> and play operation.  Some were able to pick up a well
> made adapter to mount the replacement projector properly, because some 
> innovator had made extras.  If you are left to acquire the 
> projectors,buy the OEM ballasts and wiring, and adapters, you may have 
> to  make or have a shop make them for you, and then insure that the 
> alignment of the projector matches the axis of the original 
> installation exactly.  You have not received any comparison reports 
> from owners that used an aftermarket kit and then "upgraded" to Audi 
> projectors from another vehicle and provided an objective report on 
> the performance of the two.

Tom makes good points.

I can provide a comparison between aftermarket and OEM. I did an 
aftermarket upgrade on my '95.5 S6a, now Mark Swanson's car. The upgrade 
went fine, but the mounting of the bulbs seemed a bit sketchy. This was 
a long time ago and the bulb retrofit process (mounting an HID bulb on a 
halogen base) may be better. Symptomatically, I saw a lot of bulb shake 
on roads that were not smooth. Tracing problems with the system was a 
challenge and a full R&R is typically easier.

With the OEM upgrade, the bulbs, at least in my wife's '96 and my son's 
'97, seem a lot more stable. No shake at all. I think the usable light 
output is better as well.

Note, there is a dramatic variation in usable light output based solely 
on the projector. The TT and A4 projectors put out useful light. The 
larger A6 projector (which unfortunately won't fit in the C4 housing), 
puts out substantially more usable light. For that reason alone I would 
go with an HID projector (TT OEM) rather than retrofitting the existing 
halogen projector.

Again, it's a lot more work to do so. I had a very capable mechanic do 
two sets for me...and the first one was a learning experience for him. 
He started with the S4 brackets and ended up fabbing new brackets to 
properly locate the TT projectors in my ecode S6 housings. The 
electronics were simple. I do know that I can stop at any FLAPs and pick 
up a replacement bulb or Force 5 for replacement electronics.

Best,

Lee