DIY: Retrofitting stock HID Ballasts/Bulbs/Wires into Base Model 03-05 Headlights

abui01 · 06-19-2009, 03:57 PM

Base Headlight: (H7 bulb, 6 prong plug) VS HID Headlight: (D2R bulb, 8 prong plug)

Clearly, this is NOT a direct swap as the wiring plugs are totally different! However, you can swap over the wiring harness and merge it with your existing base harness to make this work with slight modifications

Equipment:

- a very tiny flathead screwdriver, it has to be the size of a toothpick
- a solder gun
- electrical tape
- solder
- wire cutters
- pliers
- OEM HID Ballasts, wires, and bulbs

side note: OEM HID bulbs are 4300k and has a slight yellow tint to it. This is a great time to upgrade to 5000k (the highest I'd recommend) for pure white light.

1. After you get your headlights out, take a look at the underside. It's going to have a black circular area. Take your solder gun and melt out this area. Now I have to warn you... do NOT use a drill! You will get plastic bits and shavings everywhere inside your headlight!

This hole will be used to run the OEM Ballast wires through into the headlight to plug into your H7 socket.

2. Test fit the D2R bulbs into your H7 socket... and yes they will fit (with modification) You will need to bend the metal clamp wire in order for it to wrap around the D2R bulb.

3. Remove the plug wires from the Ballast of the original HID 8 prong socket. You will need to use the mini-screwdriver to first take out the rubber surrounding inside the socket. Then you will see a orange plastic piece that aligns all the pins together... pop that out and there is a small clip holding each pin in. Lift the clips up and you can simply pull the wires right out of the plug! After you have pulled them, it will look like this:

(be sure to remove the ground wire as well so you can transfer this over to your base headlights... it's that little silver wire on the bottom right that the screwdriver is pointing toward)

Here is a closer picture of what the wires look like once they're pulled out of the socket:

4. Now we need to do the exact same thing to the Base 6 prong plug in order to retrofit the HID plugs in. Start by removing the red plug and then the black plug right below it.

5. Plug the 2 HID ballast plugs into the Base sockets that you just pulled out.

You are now going to have 2 dangling wires. The Base (RED) Power wire is no longer needed but you will have to ground that black wire otherwise your high-beams won't work. Remove all the OEM electrical tape and solder the black ground with the other existing wires... you can ground this wire anywhere, it doesn't really matter but I chose to ground it with the parking light wires so it'd look cleaner.

6. Once you soldered it in, plug the HID wire into the back of the headlight and it should fit like a glove.

7. Reinstall your headlights.

8. Test and enjoy OEM HIDs!

sektor 11 · 06-20-2009, 06:01 AM

great write up with good pictures!

mestisoZ · 08-25-2009, 10:07 AM

so wait.. by doing this. you could actually direct swap out for some 06 bi xeons?

zownz · 09-18-2009, 07:01 PM

Or get those blacked out headlights from ebay and do it that way?

JamMasta B-Rand · 10-01-2009, 05:30 PM

This thread is perfect. I was just wondering yesterday if there was a thread on how to do this. Well done on the DIY, and thank you!

06-19-2009, 03:57 PM	#1
abui01 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: McDonalds - NOVA - DC/MD/VA Posts: 3,112 iTrader: (56)	DIY: Retrofitting stock HID Ballasts/Bulbs/Wires into Base Model 03-05 Headlights Base Headlight: (H7 bulb, 6 prong plug) VS HID Headlight: (D2R bulb, 8 prong plug) Clearly, this is NOT a direct swap as the wiring plugs are totally different! However, you can swap over the wiring harness and merge it with your existing base harness to make this work with slight modifications Equipment: - a very tiny flathead screwdriver, it has to be the size of a toothpick - a solder gun - electrical tape - solder - wire cutters - pliers - OEM HID Ballasts, wires, and bulbs side note: OEM HID bulbs are 4300k and has a slight yellow tint to it. This is a great time to upgrade to 5000k (the highest I'd recommend) for pure white light. 1. After you get your headlights out, take a look at the underside. It's going to have a black circular area. Take your solder gun and melt out this area. Now I have to warn you... do NOT use a drill! You will get plastic bits and shavings everywhere inside your headlight! This hole will be used to run the OEM Ballast wires through into the headlight to plug into your H7 socket. 2. Test fit the D2R bulbs into your H7 socket... and yes they will fit (with modification) You will need to bend the metal clamp wire in order for it to wrap around the D2R bulb. 3. Remove the plug wires from the Ballast of the original HID 8 prong socket. You will need to use the mini-screwdriver to first take out the rubber surrounding inside the socket. Then you will see a orange plastic piece that aligns all the pins together... pop that out and there is a small clip holding each pin in. Lift the clips up and you can simply pull the wires right out of the plug! After you have pulled them, it will look like this: (be sure to remove the ground wire as well so you can transfer this over to your base headlights... it's that little silver wire on the bottom right that the screwdriver is pointing toward) Here is a closer picture of what the wires look like once they're pulled out of the socket: 4. Now we need to do the exact same thing to the Base 6 prong plug in order to retrofit the HID plugs in. Start by removing the red plug and then the black plug right below it. 5. Plug the 2 HID ballast plugs into the Base sockets that you just pulled out. You are now going to have 2 dangling wires. The Base (RED) Power wire is no longer needed but you will have to ground that black wire otherwise your high-beams won't work. Remove all the OEM electrical tape and solder the black ground with the other existing wires... you can ground this wire anywhere, it doesn't really matter but I chose to ground it with the parking light wires so it'd look cleaner. 6. Once you soldered it in, plug the HID wire into the back of the headlight and it should fit like a glove. 7. Reinstall your headlights. 8. Test and enjoy OEM HIDs! __________________ The unFunctional:TUNER - {n.} abui01 aka Tastefully Riced RK - Rice King, (Uncle Ben's specifically)

06-20-2009, 06:01 AM	#2
sektor 11 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: cincinnati Posts: 244 iTrader: (1)	great write up with good pictures! __________________ cause you're not cool unless you have a signature. http://race-ready.blogspot.com

08-25-2009, 10:07 AM	#3
mestisoZ Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: VA/SoVA Posts: 173 iTrader: (3)	so wait.. by doing this. you could actually direct swap out for some 06 bi xeons? __________________ nismo/Fast Intentions RTP's/work VS MD's/Yokohama/apexi exv coilovers/Ings/Jwt

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09-18-2009, 07:01 PM	#4
zownz Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: atlanta Posts: 1,170 iTrader: (21)	Or get those blacked out headlights from ebay and do it that way?

10-01-2009, 05:30 PM	#5
JamMasta B-Rand Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 25 iTrader: (0)	This thread is perfect. I was just wondering yesterday if there was a thread on how to do this. Well done on the DIY, and thank you!