Hey,

It's really cool that there is so much discussion over projectors and actually worthwhile HID conversions on this forum... sadly, it's all out of my price range.

However, I drive a 1993 Toyota Tercel that 'features' the fluted halogen aero headlights that were so common for that era. I do a lot of driving in the mountains and foothills at night and these things are really terrible.

So, I want to do a coversion to real headlights. Being on a tight budget, I am more interested in some of the round 5" or 7" e-code halogen kits available that will at least give me a nice output improvement and sharper cutoff.

Does anyone have experience with these? I understand that Hella, Cibie and a few others make similar products (usually for VWs), but I would really like to know which ones offer the best bang for the buck. I have found a million opinions, but precious few that are based on real experience.

The things I am most concerned about are:

-cost
-cut-off sharpness
-width of beam (lots of animals in the hills)

I do not expect world-class lighting on a budget like mine, but it can't be any worse than the lighter-in-front-of-a-mirror headlights I currently have. I am also aware that this is will involve custom mounting and wiring, but my time isn't worth THAT much.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry to respond to my own post, but I have a followup question:

Is this



a realistic image of the cutoff one can expect from the Cibies, or is it another bull**** internet claim like so many others? If it's real, it looks like a reasonable beam patternn, but not particularly wide. Is this as good as it gets in my project price range?

Thanks again.

Ecode Sealed beam upgrade with H4 bulbs (made by Cibie, hella and Bosch) are well worth the $$$. The picture u refer to is realistic, but remember a pictuire is just just a picture. You are buying a lighting experience, and nooen else can tell u how u like light to be. try them out first. Hellas are normally easier to get a hold of over the counter than Cibies.

The '93 Toyota Tercel only has an "aero" front-end sheet metal design, while the headlamps themselves appear to be the stock sealed beam replacement headlight that you can buy at Wal-Mart. If so, an e-code upgrade is very easy. Get a pair of Hella (or Cibie) euro headlights and bolt them in there, along with a pair of Philips VisionPlus headlight bulbs, AND an auxiliary headlight relayed wiring harness to compensate for the Tercel's thin wiring. The whole setup will cost maybe $150, and your night lighting will be vastly improved. Make sure you get a headlight wiring harness made for a Toyota, since those lights are ground-switched, while most US-designed cars are not. Also, avoid the clear lens so-called euro lights that are advertised on eBay, since they are mostly cheap knockoff junk, and don't bother buying the DOT-compliant Hella lights either, since the beam pattern is modified ("damaged") to US Federal standards and are hardly better than the $10 Wal-Mart lights; they also have federally mandated vent holes that cause the bulbs to blow up in the rain

I had both in my other BMW's a few years back. I liked the Cibie Z beams. (H4) over the Hellas although both were excellent. I recommend the Osram Silverstars over the Blue vision. Yellower but brighter. Also try Daniel Stern's lighting page. He sells the conversions you are looking for...

Photopro,
The recommendations I made to JerkNorth were exactly what I did to my '90 Toyota pickup, for an amazing night vision increase. I thought about going the HID route, but after I saw the improvement with the Hella/Philips/harness combo, I decided that was enough, and I got to keep the high beams that will light up reflective signs at close to a mile. Cibie Z-beams would be nice, but they are no longer made (according to D. Stern). Since I put this stuff on a (small) truck, I also bolted on a set of Hella XL auxiliary low beams, but they are seldom used, except for scaring Ford F-Series pickup drivers in dark parking lots. And all blue-tinted bubs suck (light and other things), some more than others!

I appareciate the advice, everyone.

Actually, my Tercel is the DX model, which came with the flush 'composite' 9004 headlights, not the H6054 sealed beams that ecooke seems to refer to. So, I intend to go all the way and do a round light conversion instead of buying the grill and mounts that come on the square sealed beam models. It's a summer project, so I may as well add some cheap style while I can. I actually LIKE wiring and using relays, so I am prepared to make my own harness.

If Cibie has stopped producing ECE H4 kits, as ecooke says, is Hella really the only choice left? I've never seen a Bosch kit. I have found that the FK brand (http://www.concept1.ca/Light%20MK1.htm) is pretty popular in the VW community... has anyone heard of these before? Also, how much output would I lose by going with a 5" H3 case over the 7" H4?

Thanks again.

If you're going the custom headlight route, the Hella H9 is about the best thing going right now, Read about them on this forum and at http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/hella-90mm/

An H3 setup is usually for fog lights, and the transverse filament is less effective than the axial filament H4, plus you'd require 4 lights for high and low beams.

No, Cibie hasn't stopped producing H4 headlights; they just don't make the "Z" beam pattern lights anymore.

oh man thats too bad!! they were a great set of lights!!

I am shure sales volume has gone down considerably for all seal beam manufacturing compaines. When was the last car with sealed beams produced? 8 years ago?

Quote posted by Herman:When was the last car with sealed beams produced? 8 years ago?

There are still a few new factory sealed beam vehicles. This one comes to mind first.

.

Thanks for that tidbit, Richard; I couldn't find a venting requirement in FMVSS 108, but was just going by "street reports" (mea culpa). Still, it makes me wonder why the vent hole is there in the DOT-compliant Hella Vision Plus models, and not in the ECE versions. I have read reports from various people stating that the H4 bulbs blow up in the DOT-compliant versions, specifically when driving in the rain, while I've never read that about the ECE non-vented versions (and I have a set of those, no problems). Why would Hella put that vent hole in the DOT version unless they were told to do so? Any idea?