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By Loxy
#2659182
First of all thanks to LeeH who supplied the kit and helped me beforehand exercise my demons and helped me convince myself that I would be capable of doing the conversion.

To be honest it really isn't that hard. I was just being soft and if you can change a bulb, you can fit HIDs.

Anyway in case anyone is feeling like me and not sure about it I have taken some pics and will explain the process.

All in took me about 2 hours but I was being careful, and as you will see from the pictures, I don't have a garage so have to work at roadside so I was locking the car up and running back inside for tools when I needed them, eventually having everything I needed outside and working out of the boot. It has taken me nearly the same length of time to write this how to! :lol:

The offside was easy, the nearside was just plain awkward, so giving you the benefit of my experience, do the nearside first! I also have an earthing kit fitted, which is blue in the pics, so don't expect to find these cables under your bonnet unless you have had one fitted or fitted one yourself.

You will also need to make sure that you buy a H7R kit. You can buy H7 HID kits and these are for projector style headlights. The FN2 has a reflector style headlight and if you used a H7 kit it would fit but the light scatter would be all wrong and you would end up dazzling oncoming traffic.

Oh and at no time should you touch the bulb glass as the oil from your finger will shorten the bulb's life!

Right onto the How-to...

Tools/Parts required:
Flat head screwdriver
25mm spade drill bit
10mm socket

(optional)
1x M6 x 10mm bolt for fixing backet
zip ties

Standard lights look like this, and in my opinion are very weak for a modern car:
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In case you've never opened the bonnet :| this is roughly what it looks like:
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It is not strictly necessary to do this bit but gives you more room to work. Remove the cover over the slam panel, just 8 plugs to remove. Push your flat head screwdriver into the plug's slot as far as it will go and gently twist the screwdriver. If you push the screwdriver all the way into the slot it has less chance of braking the plug:
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Again you don't have to do this but I changed the sidelights as well to match the colour of the HIDs, uncrew the covers at the back of the lights closest to the grill. Less than 1/4 of a turn and they just pop off. You are presented with this:
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There are two bulbs in here, the full beam headlight and the sidelight. Sidelight is at the bottom, just pull it out and you can then replace the bulb:
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Right, it says this in the manual so it is not just me, to replace the bulb for dipped headlight on the nearside you have to remove the cold air feed pipe. To make this easier, remove the plastic cover that goes over the top of the wing. Again two plugs at the top, use the screwdriver to pop them off:
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Next, and you will spend a while trying to maneuver the top part of the air feed out, but to be honest there is no finesse involved, just tug it out:
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Next you need to remove this bit, bottom end of the cold air feed. That bit is pretty much pinned in by the battery, so the only way of getting it out is to loosen the battery. I didn't take it out completely, but had to remove the earth strap, using the 10mm socket. This effectively disconnects your battery, so you may have to input your radio code etc, but your manual has information of what you have to do after disconnecting the battery. So I just removed the battery strap and fixing bars and the earth strap from the slam panel. Getting this bit of the pipe out is the real pain in the *** part:
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Now you can unscrew the cap on the back of the light where we are going to install the HIDs, looks like this, you can see the bulb holder (spring clip) and connector plug:
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Next we need to prepare the caps off the back of the lights that you have removed. They need a 25mm hole (in this case, check what size if you get a different kit than Lee's), for the cables to fit though. The cables have a grommet on that keeps the back of the cap water tight. Pictures speak a thousand words. Just put the caps on some wood before you start drilling, it stops the drill bit from snapping the cover:
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Both done, including hole in the wood, yes it will cut the wood it's inevitable. I have bought some spare covers for if I ever put the lights back to standard, they were £5.75 each, part number 33126-SMG-E02:
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Push the leads through the holes and secure the gommets over the covers. Make sure the bulbs are on the inside of the covers!! :lol: :
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As the HIDs have the leads connected to the back of the bulbs they will not plug straight into the back of the bulb holders. You need to disconnect the spring clip from its hinge at the bottom of the bulb holder and feed it over the HID cables with the bulb in place, reconnect it to the holder and then spring it back into the locked position. This sounds complicated but is really obvious when you are doing it, the spring clips look like this:
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Once the bulb is in, connect up the spade connectors to the original bulb connector. Check with your kit's instructions, but on Lee's kit it was black to brown and red to yellow. Now you can screw the cap back on the back of the light and connect up the ballast. I didn't take any pics of that bit as the cables will only connect up one way. The plugs should be waterproof connectors so make sure they fit securely together and the fixing clips 'snap' home.

Now it is up to you where you fit the ballasts, but I took the easy option and mounted the nearside one using the same bolt and hole that the earth strap is connected with. I used a pair of pliers to bend the mounting bracket so it went over the lip on the slam panel. If you want to be neater there is a hole in the wing where you can probably fit the cables through and mount them there, but I didn't fancy taking the wheel arch lining off, and personally I think the ballasts will be less exposed to the elements in the bay.

You should then fit the cold air feed pipes back on, being careful not to damage the cables coming out of the back of the light cover and the plastic covering up the side of the wing, finally you can then put the battery back in place and put the battery strap back on:
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The other side is exactly the same, but much easier since you have much more room to work in as there is no battery or cold air feed to move out of the way. There are exactly the same threaded mounting holes on that side so I used the M6 bolt and secured it in place:
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Now it is also worth noting that at this side of the engine there is a belt and an engine mount. So that the cables didn't interfere with any of these moving parts, I zip tied them in place:
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End result, lights that are actually some use:

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Just in case you are in any doubt, before and after! :
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:thumbup:
User avatar
By Loxy
#2668997
Just a quick update. The car passed it's first MOT this morning at the Honda Main Dealer that I normally take it to, so no issues with allignment or scatter.

:WOOT
User avatar
By chadvandonkey
#2751124
Excellent "How To" matey. Made fitting my kit really quick and easy.

As recommended do the passenger side first but remove the battery for more access. The air feed hoses are an absolute ******* nightmare to get clipped back together properly but will go back with some spilt blood and swearing. The drivers side is a 20 minute job after doing the passenger side first.

I mounted my ballasts to the inside face of the plastic trims that sit over the tops of the wings with the supplied sticky back velcro for the time being but I'm going to put some small drill holes through the plastic and loop tie-wraps through and around the ballasts and wiring to keep it all neat, tidy and held in place. Will post some pics when it's done

As for performance they are awesome and highly recommended - and, the before / after photos are spot on too there really is that much of a difference.

Cheers.
User avatar
By chadvandonkey
#2766576
Taken a couple of weeks due to weather but here's a few pics. Simply remove the inner wing top covers and drill some 4mm holes and feed the tie-wraps round the ballasts. For the passenger side just pop the fuse box out of the way first. All nice and neat and held in place now.

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Super bright too - exactly what you need for winter!!!
User avatar
By HarpsCTR
#2775937
Hello,

I'd like to say a big thank you to Loxy for the recommending LeeH for the kit. Also the write up above was fantastic and saved me time as I could see exactly what to do.

I've fitted a 55W 6000k H7R kit for reflector headlamps. This gives a clean beam pattern and no glare etc associated with the standard HID kits

The HID's are brilliant, they should have been as standard from launch. These have also been declared to my insurance company :p The earthing kit adds a bit of bling and stops the lights going dim when you turn on the demister for example.

If anyone is interested in HID's LeeH has the best kit. It with a 2yr guarantee and are fantastic quality.

Few quick pictures below
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User avatar
By Type R Fan
#3365339
I realise this How To...is a couple of years old. Very well written and gives me the confidence to consider such a task. Loxy, you said it passed the MOT no problems...I thought that HIDs had to have washer jets with them for the MOT or it would fail?
User avatar
By Stevo M81
#3365366
Type R Fan wrote:I realise this How To...is a couple of years old. Very well written and gives me the confidence to consider such a task. Loxy, you said it passed the MOT no problems...I thought that HIDs had to have washer jets with them for the MOT or it would fail?
Yea they do from this year onwards, if they don't have washers and self levelling device then it's a MOT fail.
User avatar
By Stevo M81
#3365390
Type R Fan wrote:thanks...won't be doing this then! [smilie=karls_thumb.gif]
I bought some philips crystal vision and they give of a nice crisp white light, compared to the yellow OEM look. Now there not going to be as bright as HiD bulbs, but they will pass the MOT. I will take a pic of them later and post up a pic.
User avatar
By Loxy
#3365510
Stevo M81 wrote:
Type R Fan wrote:I realise this How To...is a couple of years old. Very well written and gives me the confidence to consider such a task. Loxy, you said it passed the MOT no problems...I thought that HIDs had to have washer jets with them for the MOT or it would fail?
Yea they do from this year onwards, if they don't have washers and self levelling device then it's a MOT fail.
Quite wrong. I thought this had been done to death on a lot of forums. :vconf:

What the MOT tests states is that if washers and self levelling devices are present they should be operational.

Nowhere does it say that you need levellers and washers with HIDs on the MOT test. It is an EU requirement yes, but it's not the wording of the MOT. They only have to be working if they are present, and they can't test and therefore fail the car if they aren't present to test them in the first place.

The car might fail on beam pattern, but that is another matter entirely. :lol:
User avatar
By civictyper45
#3365528
Loxy wrote:
Stevo M81 wrote:
Type R Fan wrote:I realise this How To...is a couple of years old. Very well written and gives me the confidence to consider such a task. Loxy, you said it passed the MOT no problems...I thought that HIDs had to have washer jets with them for the MOT or it would fail?
Yea they do from this year onwards, if they don't have washers and self levelling device then it's a MOT fail.
Quite wrong. I thought this had been done to death on a lot of forums. :vconf:

What the MOT tests states is that if washers and self levelling devices are present they should be operational.

Nowhere does it say that you need levellers and washers with HIDs on the MOT test. It is an EU requirement yes, but it's not the wording of the MOT. They only have to be working if they are present, and they can't test and therefore fail the car if they aren't present to test them in the first place.

The car might fail on beam pattern, but that is another matter entirely. :lol:
This may help
http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/d ... dlamps.pdf
User avatar
By Stevo M81
#3365613
Loxy wrote:
Stevo M81 wrote:
Type R Fan wrote:I realise this How To...is a couple of years old. Very well written and gives me the confidence to consider such a task. Loxy, you said it passed the MOT no problems...I thought that HIDs had to have washer jets with them for the MOT or it would fail?
Yea they do from this year onwards, if they don't have washers and self levelling device then it's a MOT fail.
Quite wrong. I thought this had been done to death on a lot of forums. :vconf:

What the MOT tests states is that if washers and self levelling devices are present they should be operational.

Nowhere does it say that you need levellers and washers with HIDs on the MOT test. It is an EU requirement yes, but it's not the wording of the MOT. They only have to be working if they are present, and they can't test and therefore fail the car if they aren't present to test them in the first place.

The car might fail on beam pattern, but that is another matter entirely. :lol:
Loxy my wife's car is up for MOT and with the forms send out there was a slip stating the new test requirements for 2012 and it clearly states and I quote "Headlamp cleaning and self-levelling device if high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are fitted".
User avatar
By Loxy
#3365803
Stevo M81 wrote:Here are the new rules, scroll down for the HID lights

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/ca ... -2012.html
HID headlights can cause dazzle if they are dirty or aimed too high so car manufacturers must fit headlamp cleaning and levelling systems. Where HID or LED dipped beam headlamps are fitted the tester will switch on the headlamps and check the operation of any headlamp levelling and cleaning devices fitted.

The car will fail if a headlamp levelling or cleaning device is inoperative or otherwise obviously defective.

If a headlamp bulb is not seated correctly the resulting beam pattern will be indistinct and this will result in a test fail.
It can't be defective or inoperative if it's not there!

Do what you want bud, cars are passing with them fitted.
User avatar
By Type R Fan
#3365824
Stevo M81 wrote:
Type R Fan wrote:thanks...won't be doing this then! [smilie=karls_thumb.gif]
I bought some philips crystal vision and they give of a nice crisp white light, compared to the yellow OEM look. Now there not going to be as bright as HiD bulbs, but they will pass the MOT. I will take a pic of them later and post up a pic.
Yes Please Stevo.

The way I read the AA Link is that it says manufacturers "must" fit cleaning and self levelling systems...implying that these things are necessary for HIDs. I am sure some people are getting through the test without these devices fitted but I also bet that there are plenty that are being failed.

Think I will stick with changing the bulbs for now.

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