Possible headlight upgrade?

[Solstice]

I was trawling to find upgraded bulbs for my bike, and came across these (I seem to remember my old 350 used hb3 bulbs, anybody tried them? (The poor lights were one of the reasons I traded it for a 400)

https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/9005HB3-LED-headlight-Bulb-4000-Lumen_p_113.html

[GFWilliams]

I have LED bulbs and they’re still rubbish. The problem is very poor projectors, which can’t really be overcome... 

[dbo]

Yes, you need to replace the projectors which are 3 inch mirror and 2.5 inch front lens which creates the long and thin poor light. I have replaced with a set of proper 2.5 inch projectors with bi xenon cut off's fit high beam and they are fantastic. The light pattern is wide and bright and has great cut off at the top when aligned. 

[GFWilliams]

Where did you get these from? Did you have to cut up the headlight unit to make it fit or was it fairly simple?

[dbo]

The only real modification needed was to allow entry for the hid globes to enter the headlamp enclosure. This can be done through the existing rubber boot and use the globes grommet to seal, or as a slit on the side of the plastic lip which the boot fits over. Naturally, the existing wiring needs to be adapted for the relay harness, but can be done to make it easily reversible. Honestly, I had to do a reasonable amount of work to find the correct projector and building an adapter plate which doesn't modify the internal headlamp mounting/aiming components and works with existing shroud. In fact I only converted a single headlamp initially to test the solution and light pattern output to ensure there wasn't other problems with the offset of the high beam and low beam projectors, and hence needed to make sure I could revert back to standard if it didn't work. 

I have a 430 on order, so will need to install again on it when it arrives. I have been tossing up if there is interest or not in putting together a kit to make it possible for others to convert with the least amount of fuss. I guess I would need to first work out the costs involved as I just did it originally for myself, since I already needed to open the enclosure due to a failed aiming screw which had snapped and I didn't want to pay for a new headlamp which was the only solution from lotus.

I'm on holidays at the moment, but if you are interested let me know and I can send you some pictures of the light output pattern which is frankly the way it should have been from factory and go from there. 

Darren.

[Matt vandeWall]

Hi Darren,

Since a couple of weeks I own an Exige S and the headlight is shockingly poor indeed. I really thought something was wrong with the car. So I was looking for upgrades and noticed your older thread. I did not take the headlights out yet, so I struggle a little to fully understand what you did.

My main questions: 

Can this adapter ring be installed without cutting open the headlights?

Would this adapter ring also work with a HB3A LED light?

Cheers, Matthijs

[dbo]

Matthijs,

The problem I found with replacement of globe only (HID, better halogen or potentially LED bulb), is that the shape of the factory projector is narrow and hence you tend to get beams of seperate light with very little width of coverage regardless of the bulbs output strength

You do need to open the headlights in order to change the projectors. The adapter plate is used to allow the new 2" projector you source to connect to the current aiming and mounting components in the headlamp.

The opening of the headlamp is messy, but not difficult if you take your time and are careful. It does require softening the butyl sealant used to waterproof and attach the front perspex to the main headlamp. This is best done in a low temp oven for a short period of time. Use gloves to handle and methodically work around the joins with a small screwdriver to open and remove the softened glue. There is tutorials on this on the web for general headlamp opening. Naturally you need to clean and reseal this once completed with new butyl (which can be purchased from a hardware).

As for LED bulbs, you will need to consider the depth of the bulb from its mount ring as the rubber caps on the back of our headlamps (which keep the water out) are not very deep and hence could foul dependent on the length

I wish that Lotus has just designed the lamps with some proper projectors in the first place. Dont know were they got the once they used from, but they are pretty sub standard.

[GoldenGun]

@dbo out of curiosity, did you ever get any interest to make up kits ?