Firstly if this is in the wrong section sorry.....
Ok, so what I wanted to do was have Daytime Running Lights on my car but I didn’t want a solution that looked NON OEM. Ive seen the foglight grilles with DRLs in them, some examples below:
I assume you are ok with using your car as an example robin
I know RedRobin has some Hella units in place of his foglights similar to that found on new Volvos which do look good.
Now i wanted something a bit different. I was always thinking why VW didn’t make the Xenon side light the width of the bottom of the light, it would look so much better.
So after extensive research on both the DRL side and how to get the light fitting apart for the conversion I came across a unit that would do what I wanted and proceeded with the install/conversion.
So I started out with this:
I then masked up the entire face of the light
After some dremmeling, and a lot of patience it ended up like this.
I then had to get any excess silicone/sealant off so masked up the inner light with a plastic bag and some masking tape. Seeing as the dremel was making the sealant into a fine dust, I didn’t want it getting anywhere it would be hard to get rid of.
I then (with the help of my VW Technician friend) wired up to test the unit.
This is the blinker on and though you cant see it, the side light (DRL) dims down to 50% brightness
I don’t have pics of the next part but I basically fixed the unit into place using epoxy resin and let that dry overnight.
Then I reassembled the light, used WURTH sealant as recommended by the research I did (im sure it’s the same as the VW stuff) and fixed the lights back together with the 3 clamps.
Let them cure overnight, and proceeded to do the wiring for the DRLs.
I needed an ignition live for the DRLs to work on turning the key so managed to find that by trial and error.
I then after test fitting removed the lights again so I could fit the waterproof connectors like you see in HID kits to the lights to power the DRLs.
I have rubber seals on the back of the light units which proved to be a great watertight seal as I just poked a small hole in the centre and poked the wire through.
Then fitted the connector and wired them up.
From drivers side light
Wires coming under recess behind front grille to the passenger light
2 more conectors going into 1 power source
Wire linked to back of fuse box
Fused live location
Result
Just DRLs on 100%
Another angle, really hard to show what its actually like
from a little distance 100% brightness
these 2 pics its dimmed to 50% (sidelights turned on)
Now id been reading up on the American forums on people complaining of poor light quality from the OEM projector lenses in the Golfs, and also wanting to get rid of the yellow tinge from the cutoffs.
Seems people are using ZKW-R lenses as replacements. After doing a lot of research on different sites, it seems people have had great results.
I ordered a set of the lenses from theretrofitsource.com and went for the ZKW-R Premium option lenses. They ended up being $70 shipped. Half of that was for shipping!
Anyway they came and it was time to remove the lights once again for the projector part of the project.
The projector can be removed by undoing 4 x Torx screws from the back of the lens cover. Remove the cap, remove the egniter by twisting (power cable will fall out) light bulb holder, bulb (very carefully), the power connector to the board too. Then pull out the assembly very carefully.
You will have this:
You can see the dimpled effect below
And here
Now this will affect light output as its blurry.
New lens ZKW-R in the box
Comparison taken from the same distance between OEM (on top) and New ZKW-R (bottom)
Now a shot taken from the same distance with both lenses, again between OEM (on top) and New ZKW-R (bottom)
Lens comparison shots
You can see there is about a 3mm difference between the 2 lenses, with the ZKW-R poking out more.
Projector lens housing held in with this retention ring and it has clips bent in the side of the housing to keep the ring and therefore the lens in place
Now they were fitted back together, and the lights reinstalled in the car.
This is the result.
On the left is the ZKW-R lens with a crisp cutoff and the right is OEM.
Now I know I said at the beginning I wanted a blue cutoff not yellow, but its going to have to wait till the summer time once its warm as this project was being done when we have had snow. I have been reading that the light colour is produced somewhat by the shield in front of the cutoff “flap”. Some people have cut this down so the light cannot be affected by it and therefore gives only a blue cutoff. Someone else painted it white but im worried about heat as there is a lot of it generated by the headlight bulb and don’t want to have any issues. This however is going to be a summer project……. So in the next few months I will be adding to this topic.
I am also looking into a solution to do this for other people if anyone is interested.
And, im looking into the skyline mod for rear lights on both the halogen bulbs and LED rears for the MK5 from Valeo. I know there was someone called Tom with an R32 that was going to do this but the project has been suspended so im going to find out how to do it and try and offer the same service/possibly a kit as he was going to do. Not sure on price though. Will need to see how things go with sourcing bits and info for now.
Thanks for reading
trs888
