Has anyone done an HID retrofit w/ Anzo headlights?

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Has anyone done an HID retrofit w/ Anzo headlights on a 3rd gen? I'm talking about a real retrofit with projectors. I was considering buying a set along with some Morimoto projectors, but since I don't have them in hand I don't know what size projectors will fit without cutting (e.g. Mini H1 7.0, Mini D2S, etc).

 

[someguynamedmatt]

I have. Will upload pics. The projector lens will only handle a 35w bulb, so nothing fancy there. I ended up replacing the projectors with some amazon morimoto knock off's and they work great. Had to crack open the headlight, do some modifications, but it's significantly brighter. Replaced them due to the lens reflector dish's paint bubbling. While doing the swap I ended up breaking the halo and led control boards. So no halo's for me anymore. Went with HID's for the low beams and an LED light bar for high beams, LOL.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

I had read about some issues with the Anzos and paint bubbling. I had hoped they were isolated incidents. :/ Looking forward to pics anyway. I'm wondering how involved this is going to get.

 

[someguynamedmatt]

Okay, as far as paint peeling goes, it's the clear coat. It can actually be sanded, buffed then reapplied. To me, it's not worth it. If I were to do it over again, I would probably get the OE black chrome headlights (NOT the chrome/chrome), and retrofit those with the same HID kit and lens I used in the ANZO's. Also, LED light bar and my grill.

As far as involved, how involved do you want it to get? The ANZO's will work fine in their stock form so long as you don't exceed the 35W threshold. I went with 35W the first time, but went cheap. I loved those HID's but the ballasts were garbage, so eventually they failed. When I went back to halogen, I missed the intensity, opted for 55W instead of 35W and cooked the dishes. THAT is why I went with the retrofit kit, in order to replace my bad dishes.

If you do get the headlights, my suggestion would be to stick to 35W HID's with good ballasts in whatever temperature you want. I went with 6000k so it's as close to my LED light bar as possible. If you are doing the high beams, since they are separate on the ANZO's, make sure to get a fast ignite HID, if they are available to you. Since you have to wire up relay's for the LED light strip and halo's, I would also suggest putting any HID's on relays as well to draw straight from the battery, instead of the headlight harness. It made a pretty big difference for me, since I had a strange voltage droop to my passenger headlight. I stayed with halogen for my high beams, but never use them, since I'll just throw my light bar on instead. I get more usable light with it rather than my high beams in the ANZO's.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Thanks for the detailed reply. I have ordered the HID kit (this one), but remain undecided on the Anzo/Spyder lights. I'm not sure if the Mini H1 7.0 will fit in the housings without modification. I know it's over 1" longer than the projector used in the Spyders, but not sure about Anzo. I like the idea of the dual bulbs though w/ the aftermarket housings.

 

[bizkitjmd1]

Okay, as far as paint peeling goes, it's the clear coat. It can actually be sanded, buffed then reapplied. To me, it's not worth it. If I were to do it over again, I would probably get the OE black chrome headlights (NOT the chrome/chrome), and retrofit those with the same HID kit and lens I used in the ANZO's. Also, LED light bar and my grill.

As far as involved, how involved do you want it to get? The ANZO's will work fine in their stock form so long as you don't exceed the 35W threshold. I went with 35W the first time, but went cheap. I loved those HID's but the ballasts were garbage, so eventually they failed. When I went back to halogen, I missed the intensity, opted for 55W instead of 35W and cooked the dishes. THAT is why I went with the retrofit kit, in order to replace my bad dishes.

If you do get the headlights, my suggestion would be to stick to 35W HID's with good ballasts in whatever temperature you want. I went with 6000k so it's as close to my LED light bar as possible. If you are doing the high beams, since they are separate on the ANZO's, make sure to get a fast ignite HID, if they are available to you. Since you have to wire up relay's for the LED light strip and halo's, I would also suggest putting any HID's on relays as well to draw straight from the battery, instead of the headlight harness. It made a pretty big difference for me, since I had a strange voltage droop to my passenger headlight. I stayed with halogen for my high beams, but never use them, since I'll just throw my light bar on instead. I get more usable light with it rather than my high beams in the ANZO's.

View attachment 18357

View attachment 18358

With the Anzo headlights do the low beams stay on when the high beams are turned on?

 

[someguynamedmatt]

With the Anzo headlights do the low beams stay on when the high beams are turned on?

No. But with a little bit of wiring, and some relays, its doable. You could retrofit hid's into the highs as well, wire the lows to stay on when the highs are turned on, then bam. However, I do not recommend it. Hid's as we know take time to come to full brightness. I'd opt for some led highs instead. But then you are stuck with the 6k. Good for me since that's what I want, but some don't, so.....