CALLING ALL 2003 - 2005 OWNERS who want better lighting...

[Mobius1]

For those people who have daytime runnings lamps activated have a different lamp that only activates when just the drl is on and when the regular lights are turned on, have a totally seperate lamp. Or just have an additional lamp come on.

 

[pipeguy]

I am looking forward to seeing and or hearing about what they end up being.....

 

[radar doctor]

Can't wait. . I have a 03 my 95 and 99 lights were much better than these. . Doc

 

[MoparBob]

Any chance these will be in E-code compliance as well?

I may be showing my ignorance here, but what do you mean by E-code compliant?

 

[MBergman]

E-code is the european lighting standard. Rather than getting into details, that I may screw up explaining, take a look at www.danielsternlighting.com Lot's of good reading there.

The Hellas in my 91 have a very even lighting of the road, without having to use fog lights to illuminate the foreground.

Marc

 

[AGrubbs]

E-codes.. MMMM MMM good!

I am interested in what happens with these lights. . I could really use a set on my '03. Just about anything would be better than the stockers. .



I have a set of E-codes on my VW Jetta TDI, and love 'em.

Also had a set on an '87 MB 300 SDL for a while, till someone t-boned it.



I do lots of travel at night, and am really looking forward to 'seeing' what happens with these lights. :-laf



Arnie G

 

[p-Bar]

I think the E-code standards are better than the DOT standards seems we can never agree on anything like Hi-def t. v. Europe has had it for years and we had to adopt a diff. standard that I understand is not better. Oh well

 

[MoparBob]

This manufacturers products are all TUV compliant. If I am not mistaking, TUV is accepted in all European countries so yes, they will be E-code compliant if all goes to plan.

 

[MoparBob]

Need Input!!!

Well, it appears that the whole process has taken off a little quicker than we had anticipated and I need some input from everyone.



I need to know what everyone thinks is a reasonable price (aka "what you are willing to pay"), whether or not there is enough people that want high end HID's or Xenon Projectors to do the first run with those type lamps (more $$$), and how many here would be willing to do a group buy if I put one together. The more we can order initially, the cheaper it will be for us all.



The ball is rolling so please feed me your suggestions and opinions now so that the end product is something we can all use and be happy with.



Thanks!

 

[WinRice]

I would pay $800-$1000 for a 'high' quality set of HID's or Xenon projectors with the proper reflectors and beam pattern.

 

[fkovalski]

I would pay $800-$1000 for a 'high' quality set of HID's or Xenon projectors with the proper reflectors and beam pattern.

I am not familiar with the type of light that is mentioned... . but I would like better light yes, but not for that price. I would put aftermarket accesory ad- on lights for much less than that, but as stated I do not know exactly what HID's or Xenons are (are they really worth that kind of jack?)



There was a "sport" headlight upgrade for the second generations that were a lot less but with good results. I was thinking that this thread topic was similar to that. Am I out of my league here? I just want better lights, don't want to melt an iceberg.

 

[MoparBob]

HID's are the best "Legal" lights money can buy because of their very White light and very focused beam. That allows for awesome light output focused so that you aren't blinding everyone else out on the road. Downside, they are very expensive. Xenon projectors are not far behind the HIDs in price or performance (but still not quite as good). Both are superior to Halogen lights (of DOT design) and much more expensive.



Keep the comments coming in guys... I am using your feedback to help the manufacturer go the direction that we all want.

 

[AGrubbs]

Better lights...

Well, I paid between $300-400 for E-codes for the jetta, they were just "standard" bulb units, not HID's. I don't think you need HID to get better

light if you have the correct pattern. I see that they now want $455 for a set where I purchased mine 5-6 years ago. . The lighting is very good

with the standard h4 60/55 watt bulb.



HID's remind me of K-Mart... with the blue light specials... "me no wanna drive a k-mart kar!". . most of the lighting gurus will say that the blue light

from HID's is not as good as the 'yellow-white' from standard bulbs for bad weather driving. . IE fog/snow/mist. and give more glare too.

I thought I heard too that you would need to have light levelers on HID's to be in compliance with some law or other. . I know that the option of HIDs

on my car would have required the addition of motors to tilt the headlight

assembly, and the wireing up of knob to control them. In fact the lights

I have now have the mounts on them for the motor assemblys even though I don't have HID bulbs... Maybe its only a law in Europe. . dunno





The E-codes I have on the Jetta have High/low beam, projector fog's, and the 5-watt 'city light' bulbs and the turn signals in them. . Wouldn't need all that for the truck as I have added the 'factory' fogs, but if they had had

the projector fog lamps, that would be nice. .



I would think 4-500 for e-code halogen bulb high/low and turn lights would be great, and if you could get a set of projector fogs in there, that would be awesome!



AG

 

[MBergman]

Another vote for E-code halogens with the turn signal.

 

[DKnotts]

Ok, here's my ten cents... Expensive route first: I would love to have HID's and would pay $800 for them, however I want a single HID bulb application with the tilt built in for leveling as well as switching to high beam mode. This is the way most new cars w/ HID's are setup (I own an 06 350Z that is set up this way too).

The cheaper route: I would still love a cheaper option that used Xenon projectors but the lens design would HAVE to be a good one as too many manufacturers screwed this up in the beginning and have since dumped that design in favor of HID's. I realize with projectors you would still need a seperate high beam bulb. Please design this bulb for the max allowed by law 65W currently so we can see as mauch as possible when they are needed.

For either application I want to chime along in saying I would like incorporated turn signals, locator lamps or daytime running light option, stronger shell design and fog lights would be a nice touch if there is room left over. Also, clear lenses with colored turn bulbs as is current design.

What I do not want is simply a different shell design that looks "cool" such as for those aftermarket types who simply want to be different. The type you can pick up at any local auto parts store for cheap.

 

[nickleinonen]

At this (early) stage, 4 separate halogen lamps is the game plan and they will be DOT approved.

do you have any doodles or drawings on how the product will look? i have very poor night vision so any help in the lighting department is welcomed. .

 

[mymtnhauler]

MoparBob what will the halogens bulbs be? Are they going to be the 9004 and 9007, or the H series??

So when the need to be replaced everyone that has these new lights can get them replaced at the local auto store and not have to order and wait.

 

[MoparBob]

OK... Here's the latest. Halogens will be the first option available. They should be using H series lamps and there will be 4 separate lamps (also making them compatable with the BriteBox hopefully). After seeing the expense of Xenon Projectors and HIDs (we're talking $1100+ done right and legal), Halogens will definitely be the first design. The H series bulbs will be replaceable at all common locations so no worries there.



As far as the look goes, that will be up in the air till some of the Fab work gets started. If I had to guess at this point in the game, I imagine that there will be 4 H series lamps and a turn signal lamp mounted in a new housing that is shaped to fit "Plug and Play" in the existing headlamp brackets. I can post a pic of an aftermarket Ford F150 setup that will kind of give you an idea of what it may look like. The housing is paintable, the lamps are easily removable for easy replacement, and all connectors will be OEM or better quality. Estimated pricing (still working on this and won't know till the manufacturer is in the final stages) is around $600 to $650. I am hoping that if there is enough intersest here, that I will be able to negotiate a special group buy.



Please keep the comments coming as I am sending all feedback to the manufacturer as I receive it.

 

[AGrubbs]

Looks good so far!

Those lights on the ford look good. .

Something like that for our trucks would be great if the beam patterns are 1/2 as good as the ones from the other E-codes that I have seen.

I do like the black on the housing, and would prefer the ones for the Dodges to be that way if they could do it. I don't know if that would be a problem for the people that want to paint them, but I would prefer not to paint, and black should look good on most installs I think.



I am up for a group buy if it would help get the prices down any. .

What are you going to need for number of sets to get a price break, if any?

10-20 units to start?



Keep us informed!



AG

 

[Kry226]

I think the stock headlight housings look good, obviously their performance is just poor. I know there maybe copyright/patent issues on exact copies, but I would like a housing with a similar to stock look.