I didn't see that many people using Bi-Xenon projectors for their Fiero... so I decided to take this route as it produce the most lights and I like the look.

I see a lot of people using the Hella 90mm modules... but they're mucho expensive... requiring new buckets, harness, lights, and they're not Bi-Xenon...

The six of the Fiero 7x6 headlights is great, but the depth is not so great... Front to back clearance is about 6.5 inches... give or take half an inch.
This limited my choice down to only a few Bi-Xenon projectors... I originally wanted the FX35 projectors... but they're expensive because they're popular... but I scored a nice set of Caddy XLR bi-xenon projectors on Ebay... so that's what I'll be working with.
I've done Bi-xenon projector retro-fit on my Kawasaki Z1000 using BMW E46 projectors, which are HUGE compared to these... so it shouldn't be too much work?? Boy was I wrong.

**Note to self** Measure First, Measure again, then cut once!!!***

They fit... but need a little more R&D and fabrication for them to work well. But I figure I'll let the pictures do the talking:


This is the picture of the projectors... without the lense so you can see the Bi-xenon flap... it has really and sharp cut off. It's fairly small, and I have to cut off the bracket in half for it to fit right.


This is the headlight and the bucket... I had to cut the bucket's opening by 1/4 inch each side, and a nice big 2x2 hole on the side to fit the Bi-xenon solenoid.
I know the bucket is a little rusty... but this is just test fit... I'll sand it down and paint it black once it's finished and ready for installation.


This is the projectors inside the bucket inside the black tray. Everything fits well. I still have the use of the adjuster nuts to adjust my beam later on. I'm gonna mount the projectors in there permanently at a neutral position so it will be easy to adjust.


This is how far they protrude out of the front. From my measurement, they will protrude out a little less than half an inch compared to the stock headlight. Which should allow it to pop up and down normally. But we'll see tomorrow when I get to that stage. If not I'll have to cut down some more in the back and move it back further.
On the top of the left projector, you can see a little strip of LED that I have sitting there. I will be installing two red LED strip around the projectors, for the "Devil Eyes" effect like that of the BMW Angel eyes. Also a strip of white LED will be running at the bottom of the headlight light those seen on the Audi.
The front will be covered with Lexan or Plexiglas, spray painted black... This project is no idea of mine... I'm inspired by a couple guys on here and firebird forums.

I will be going with a set of 55W DS2 bulbs at 4300K so it's going to be running stock temp... or 6000K... whichever I get my hand on first. More pictures tomorrow when I test fit it in the Fiero itself.

Here's a sneak peek of the other going project:

This is my dismantled Asus Eeepc 702... it will be mount in the dash as a Car-puter... It'll be running Centrafuse front end, with iGuidance navigation... along with the usual features like backup-camera, bluetooth, and wifi internet... maybe even some fancy GPS tracking software and car diagnostic tools as well... who knows. My budget will determine the amount of features. So far so good.

If you notice something wrong or something that wont work, please comment! I've been researching the forum quite a bit, but could always use more input.

maybe ( most likely ) a stupid question...but do you have to use those big buckets? As in could you just say mount them in a rectangular housing ( just for arguement's sake ) and be done? i'm not familiar with these headlamps...then again I think fuel injection is black magic...and forget about ecus...-holds cross up-

....no wonder i'm always the guy who's car is lucky to have seat belts...

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Nice project, I'd like to see the finished product with the LEDs and everything. Any chance you could cut the bucket to be shorter and less of a "pop up" effect?

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Check out my build!
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum3/HTML/000100.html

Nice! That's the only way to put HID high/lows in a Fiero!

[This message has been edited by cjgable (edited 02-11-2010).]

I dont understand what you mean by getting a "less pop up effect"...

You mean to get it to go only half way up??
If that's what you mean, then I guess I could... but I like the stock look of the lights all the way up... that's also why i'm using the bucket.
I could just fab up a bracket to hold the projectors inside the headlight pop up housing... but I wanted to use the bucket for looks... when that bucket is cleaned and painted black, it'll look pretty good. Plus it'll allow me to retain all the adjustment nut so I can adjust it easily instead of having to fabricate in an adjustment nut onto my bracket... more work.

Thanks for all the compliments :-) I hope I get it done soon...

Yep, I was referring to making them pop up less by essentially chopping off a portion of the top of the bucket. It gives the lights more of a slim look rather than a big bug eye look. You could keep the side adjuster, but would have to find a way to relocate the top aiming screw.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...090219-2-084985.html

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1988 Fiero GT

I saw your post Daniel, I researched the forum long and hard before I ordered the parts and such.

Your thread inspired me that it was possible. I chose to keep the bucket though, so I can do the Demon Eyes and the Audi lights at the bottom so it look a little more distinct.

I am considering doing the fog lamp the way you did yours... I drive around mainly at night, so I need all the light I can get... trying to avoid these Georgia Deers...

quote Originally posted by VinnieVu: ..... On the top of the left projector, you can see a little strip of LED that I have sitting there. I will be installing two red LED strip around the projectors, for the "Devil Eyes" effect like that of the BMW Angel eyes. Also a strip of white LED will be running at the bottom of the headlight light those seen on the Audi.

I do hope you'll be putting those on a switch so that they won't be on when you're driving... Otherwise, you could get in a bit of trouble with the local constabulary.

To paraphrase some law:

quote Any lights on the front of a moving vehicle have to be clear or amber, to prevent them being mistaken for an emergency vehicle...

It'd be a great look at shows.

[This message has been edited by skuzzbomer (edited 02-12-2010).]

I'm working on the exact same project. I'll post it when its finally done. My first thought was to do a quad HID projector set up. I thought it would look a bit better and as far as I know would be the first. But the more I got into it the less sense it made. Twice the cost and its a pain to try to get 4 projectors all lined up. Now it have 4 non bi-xenon projects sitting here. :P

I would suggest getting Phillips bulbs, anything else is just crap. They also respond well to the 55w ballast. They can be had for a decent price, got mine off ebay. If you haven't already found it, hidplanet is a good resource. For the Phillips bulbs there is the 85122+ and the 85122. The + version is slightly yellow but has a few more lumen then the standard 85122.

I'm gonna scrap the quad projector setup and go for the bi-xenon. Hopefully will be getting the FX35s. Look foreword to seeing how yours come out. I would just make sure what ever material you choose for the front cover can take the heat, resists shattering and nicks from rocks.

BTW Daniel, do you have any more pic's? What did you make your buckets out of? I've been curios ever since I saw your post on how you completed the project.

[This message has been edited by bnevets27 (edited 02-12-2010).]

The main advantage of the bi-xenon setup is warm up time. When you switch from low beams to high beams using individual high/lows, you will be in near dark for a few seconds during warm up. Also it is not good for the ballasts or bulbs to switch off and on quickly. With the bi-xenon, it is simply the cut-off flap that flips out of the way so you can see above the cutoff line. Neither the bulb or ballast shuts off. Even if you wire it to keep the lows on along with the highs, and you flash your highs or have to turn them off for a few seconds because of oncoming traffic, it is hard on the bulbs/ballasts.

[This message has been edited by cjgable (edited 02-12-2010).]

I have since replaced the fogs with two sets of blazer projector fogliughts, great lights, you can set up a set with a hid kit as they have a good cutoff shield.

Well I was actually going to use halogen projectors for the high beam's for the exact reason you meantioned cjgable. I figured that I wouldn't be using high beams much and the halogen's could just be used to fill and incase I needed to flash them. But it didn't really make sense to go threw all that and then not have HID high beams.

I like that you used the stock buckets for simplicity. It should be a lot easyer to aim them. The only thing now you want to watch when you mount them is rotation. You won't be able to change that after you have them mounted

Sorry, no more pics yet, sides are uhmw plastic, aluminum base, back and top with a plexiglass front, not the pretiest, but only visable at night.

quote Originally posted by bnevets27: I like that you used the stock buckets for simplicity. It should be a lot easyer to aim them. The only thing now you want to watch when you mount them is rotation. You won't be able to change that after you have them mounted

<*sigh*> I wish I've seen this... I didn't realize the buckets were one way only... so I cut the hole the opposite side of how it's suppose to sit... so now the projectors are in there upside-down...

I'm gonna have to buy an extra set of bucket (already on the way) and re-cut the hole... it took me nearly four hours to cut and fit those holes... dreading doing it again... should've just made my own bracket.

So I finally got the lights mounted.

I just realized that I'm using the same projectors as Daniel!!! Crazy! I could've just ask you to make me a set of custom mount like yours!!!

Well, instead... I cut up the back end of the metal housing that holds our stock headlights. Then cut up a couple piece of metal strips and use those to mount the projectors straight to that housing. This way, I'm still retaining the adjustment screws functionality. It's not the nicest approach, but it work for now. I'm planning on making a cover out of plexiglas to protect the projectors from the elements.
Hopefully I'll finish building a plastic former by then and will form the cover using vacuum forming. We'll see how that work out.

As for now, the lights work, I mounted the ballast underneath everything, and it fits. Had to make a custom bracket out of sheet metal for this as well... I believe I went through like 20 dremel cutting wheels for this whole installation. But it's worth it. The light is crisp and clean, the cut off is great, and no glare!

I'm having problem wiring the bi-xenon solenoid though, I intended to use the stock wiring harness and just plugging the HID and solenoid into that, but now I realized that when you switch to high beam, the low beam shuts off :-(... I was going to use a relay to pull power from the high beam when it's engaged, but then the lights will temporarily cuts off, and if you know HID, then you'll know that it has a longer warm up time than Halogen, so I'm trying to avoid shutting it off and on too much.

Daniel, how did you address this problem?? I know there's a way to keep the low beam on when high beam is on... but couldn't find it anywhere. I am trying to come up with the best schematic to do this... maybe using three relay and a 12 volt straight from the battery would do the trick. Any suggestion?

Pics will come tomorrow...

pics!

Here's a pix to hold you through til I can get it aimed correctly and get better pictures of the cut off......






As you can see, this is a very rough install, it will be much better finished. I am trying to get the framework right and the brackets right. Right now the right beam is like 3 degrees, so it look a little weird. So I have to cut new brackets to try and rotate the projectors. But I tried both the side adjuster and the up-down adjuster nut and they both work. I am trying to aim them in medium, so they can be adjusted to needs.

As for the wiring situation, I figure that if I add a capacitor to the low beam line (to the + from the harness), and then add a diode to the highbeam connecting to the low beam. this will allow power to "flow back from the high beam to the low beam. And with the capacitor in line, it wont interrupt the low beam right?

Any thoughts on this?? I can always run another wire, or even two to the front straight from the battery and use relays to control the light if anyone think the HID and the solenoid might pull too much power for the original harness. I dont know about this since the HID ballast and bulbs are both 55watt.

So I still have no idea how to wire the headlight to work with the highbeam solenoid........ anyone have any idea??? can I use a capacitor of some sort to delay the switching power???
I need some electrical guru's help.

Right now, I have the HID wired to the lowbeam... the highbeam solenoid require a small 12+ power to pull the solenoid for the high beam. But if I wire this to the stock high beam harness, the HID will turn off when the high beam is tripped.

Is there anyway I can keep both on??? and also, prefer not to turn on/off the HID too often like everytime I switch high/low because it damage the bulbs more.

Thanks

bump bump
any update?
good job so far