I installed these projectors in my Pantera and.. both of the beam tend to be in a bow shape as you can see in a picture.. is this suppose to be a bow?

And is the right side of the cut off suppose to be blury? Because the cut off on the left side before the Z is sharp and crisp. I covered one up and both of these issues are on both projectors. And i don't think they have a tilt issue neither.

Any help or advice is greatly appreicated!
Larry

I've done the S2K projectors on my 99 Accord, and my cutoff is perfectly straight. Yours does look curved. I think it's either because your bulbs are not perfectly tighten or it's because your mounting is just slightly off. I experimented by rotating the S2K projectors 2-3 degrees and the cutoff would be still perfectly straight. The only thing that I can come up with is it's probably because your D2S bulbs are not secured tightly. I had mines loose by 1mm-2mm to a point where is was very hard to notice the buls was shaking, and I wondered why my cutoff was sor of blurry and bowled. The reason was because the metal D2S bulb holder didn't hold tight enough.

well the blub i think is pretty tight on it, or it's sitting as in into the housing as it should, like i don't think it's loose or anything. And it's the same thing with the other projector on the other side.

The blurryness in the picture is from my camera, i didn't hold it still with the longer exposure setting, but the right side of each beam above the Z cutoff line is more blury then the sharp left side of the Z.

As for you saying the headlight might be off of alignment, even if it is, i still don't get why they are both bowed like that...

i can barely make it out (tree in the way) but it does look like your right side doens't match your left. i'd say your bulb is out of place. try taking them out an re-seating them. or swap left and right bulbs and see if problem still occurs.
looks pretty damn clean either way. =)

I guess i didn't really finish aligning them that's why you see the right is slightly out of place compared to the left, but i stopped because i noticed th ebeam was in a bow shape.

Just to make sure, the D2S blub's base is just a plastic base with no O-Ring or rubber gastet right? because when I stick it into the projector, it's just the plastic d2s base touching with the metal s2000 projector, is there suppose to be some type of material inbetween? If so that might be why it's not in the right spot.. but I think it's normal, both side are also bowed so id ont' think it's the bulb left/right placement or the projectors... any other suggestents? Or maybe something is missing?

Larry

if i had to guess, i'd say that the plastic/glass portion of your head lamps are what's creating the curve. optics is sensative to different materials and curvatures.

could you post some pics of the headlamp itself? (from the front facing the rear)

also, if it's not too much of a hassle, try lighting up the projectors outside of your housing. if it's too much of a pain to do, don't worry about that part.

I agree. If the bulb is absolutely secure, then it's time to check the optics. The lens of the headlight might be too thick or have some edge that distorts.

But but but.. funny thing is I don't have a cover on it yet as you can see in this next picture...





Any other suggestents?...
-Larry

could you take up close pics, with lights off?

so those are basically bare S2000 projectors right now?

is the sheild straight?

I will post up close up pics in a little bit, but other then that the s2000 projectors were never modified in anyway, only the high beam section was grinded to fit the Hella high beam, but other hten that the projector low beam was never modified and i believe the sheild on both units were never altered.

My beam (A6 DOT pattern), kinda has a bow to it too.
See pic:


Maybe after a certain year they made it like that on S2000 projectors so they wouldn't bother people sitting at crossroad intersections as much? Because from what I can tell, if mine was perfectly straight across at cutoff then it might be very bothersome to those people on the sides in front of you, and maybe they (Honda) figured that out and purposely MADE them to look like that (with the bow). Just because all you others also have S2000 projectors doesn't mean that they are all identical units and that all S2000 units are exactly the same units throughout every year. Maybe e-code units are more flat, and maybe DOT (NHTSA) MADE Honda mod the beam to conform to DOT specs? (Total speculation I know, but MAYBE). So maybe try to image like there might be a purpose for them to be designed like that as you are in your diagnostic phase and don't overlook that.

Also, another factor, is that if you are aiming uphill while shining your lights against that wall in your pic, your lights will have likely have that bow too. Just another thought I had (maybe insignificant but something to consider)

personally, they look great to me. you have light where you need it most.

but if you still don't like it. you could try a diff projector. hella 90mm are nice

What Josh is suggesting here is totally possible. Hella reinvents itself evry 9 months or so. Why couldnt Honda do it? We have seen this on the numerous versions of Audi A6 units. Not just The difference Xenon to Bi-Xenon, but different shields, different reflector config.

Anyways I'd suggest to wait to be concerned regarding the bow for now. I assume you are going to add a front lens of some kind, right? It may change the cutoff line just enough to keep you happy.

If u are still arent happy, I would grab some sandpaper and start sand down each side. But then again I have no respect for light fixtures that actually work. (I had to make my own shield cutoff and I didn't think twice about being a pioneer to wash my Audi A6 projector in the dishwasher... LOL!!!).

i would not be concerned with the "bow" since i myself have not seen a perfectly straight cutoff. some are just not as noticeable as others. the particular projector you have just happens to project a fair amount of light to the sides so that you do notice it.

to answer your question, yes, every s2k projector has that bow look and the "fuzzy" taper to the right.

in the pix, it looks like you need to aim the driver side projector up a little (or the passenger side down).

Considering that here in North America has a tradition with oval formed beam (see below), I guess even new desgins couldnt be too radical.