JDM Projector Headlights

[Superu264]

Its time to make one of my biggest purchases for the Legacy, well despite getting my major oil leak fixed, JDM Projectors. I hate driving around at night with the OEM flashlights on the front of my car so I have turned to JDM. The reason for the post is that I want to know if Im going to run into any fitting issues. These aren't exactly cheap so I dont want to buy something I cant use (although Im sure I could put them on eBay and make a nice profit).

I was looking at some foglights a month or two ago but wonderful Penn State screwed up my tuition again and I owed some money, but now that my tax check is coming in Im looking for something nice.. so if anyone has installed these bad boys on their Legacy I would love to hear how it went.


btw I asked subaruparts.com just for the hell of it about new JDM projectors.. $700 :shock:

[Wiscon_Mark]

you can find them fairly cheap, but I would advise against JDM projectors.

The projector housings are aimed to the left (because they have RHD cars) which would blind oncoming traffic, and aiming them really doesn't help very much. The best bet for more light output would be to buy EDM LHD headlights. I don't know if they ever got the projector lights, but the light output is a lot better than our USDM lights.

However, to answer your original question, yes, the JDM headlights do fit fine, and since you have a 95, the wiring harness is compatible too.

[Superu264]

hmm.. good point, thanks

its off to the 'want to buy' thread! Because I sure as hell don't know where to find EDM

[legacy4ever]

I've never seen a BD Legacy with such projector headlights here.

[Superu264]

damn.. well Mark still said the output is better than my USDM, I'll take anything over my headlights

[Superu264]

EDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/f1_1_bJPG-2.jpg
USDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/1e_1_bJPG-2.jpg

I dont see too much of a difference

[Wiscon_Mark]

you won't, but I assure you, the European requirements were much higher at that period in time, and Subaru put a lot more effort into designing their lenses.

[Legacy4Life]

Well, everything that's been said makes sense. But just the same, from the experience of one who hated the headlights he had (USDM), the JDM Projectors work really well for me. I noticed a big improvement.

I didn't have any problems adjusting them, in fact, the beam pattern that comes out of each light is identical when shone up against the garage door from about 15 feet away. No one flashes at me at all.

So I don't know, for me, it was a really good investment.

[SHOfast]

I have the EDM headlights on a non-subaru car, they are correct LHD lights and I would never consider them if I was in a RHD market. I too am looking for a better lamp for the Legacy but from seeing the light pattern first hand I know I will not go JDM.

What is the point of more light if you cannot use it all?

[Superu264]

I know you guys are trying to help (and its appreciated) but the conflicting posts are confusing the hell out of me.. 2 people telling me the light will go in the wrong direction and 1 person that has them and says they are fine, the bids end in 3 days!

On another note EDM headlights are IMPOSSIBLE to find.. me and Legacy4Ever have been looking on different european eBays and have found absolutely zero. :banghead:

[Wiscon_Mark]

I know you guys are trying to help (and its appreciated) but the conflicting posts are confusing the hell out of me.. 2 people telling me the light will go in the wrong direction and 1 person that has them and says they are fine, the bids end in 3 days!

Well, what Legacy4life seems to be saying is that they can be reaimed far enough right to compensate. I dunno, that goes completely against what I've heard from JDM headlight owners. Legacy4life, can you give us a picture of the beam layout (on a road) from the aspect of the inside of your car?

[Superu264]

Legacy4life, can you give us a picture of the beam layout (on a road) from the aspect of the inside of your car?

Yeah, I know its a lot to ask but it would help me out A LOT.

[Legacy4Life]

I'll give it a try. I have no idea how well night shots from inside the car will turn out.

Don't worry Superu264 if you miss these ones on eBay. They come up often enough. No sense in rushing into it, they are a lot of money.

It's not like the JDM lights will revolutionize the exterior lighting! But I love the look and I find them to be much better than what I had stock with the car.

[Legacy4Life]

Well, I tried to take some pictures, but they didn't turn out very well. I'm quite certain that they wouldn't have given you what you're looking for. But I may have found a way just the same.

Rather than aiming them down a road, which doesn't really do very much for the camera, nor do a good job of demonstrating the beam pattern, I decided to aim them at the garage door. I think that the results were rather interesting and perhaps more informative as well.

Let me start off by saying though that I do a lot of driving for work and many times after dark. I have tried many lighting options including aftermarket lights, but this combination of JDM lights is the best I've found to date. I don't have "blue glow" bulbs either, just regular halogens. I find that although the light might be a little less on dry conditions, the light is much more usable when it's wet.

The car is aimed at the center of the garage door, about 15 - 20 feet back, and the driveway slopes slightly upward. The headlights and fog lights are JDM projector style. I can assure you that the low and high beam "hot spots" have quite a bit of adjustment. In fact, they can almost overlap one another in the center. They each have an adjustment screw for up/down and left/right.

The low beams have a very sweet hot spot that shines on the road, mostly centered in front of the car and then they dissipate to the sides. As you can see the cutoff of the beams is quite sharp and the amount of light that strays from the hot spots is kept quite low. However at the same time, it does give a nice full beam pattern on the road.

The fog lights fill out the beams slightly lower, but extend further to the sides then the low beams do. Keep in mind that in these pictures the car is aimed slightly upwards on the driveway, but as a result you can see the beams patterns better.

The highs project a huge amount of light down the road. I have them adjusted a little more closer together then perhaps some would like, but the result is a narrower beam that shines a lot of light far down the road. Since the fogs can be turned on and off independently they fill in the beams nicely, giving light in front of the car and on the sides at the same time whenever it proves to be useful.

The JDM fogs also have another set of lights that shine virtually straight out from the sides of the car and fill in towards the cut off of the fogs, but do not help much on the road unless you're trying to see around sharp corners. I didn't take any pictures with them on.

Here are the results, and by the way, before someone asks... yes, those are still the Christmas decorations!!!

1. Low Beams only
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/michael_thomson/LowBeam.jpg

2. Low Beams with Fogs
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/michael_thomson/LowBeamwithFog.jpg

3. High Beams only
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/michael_thomson/HighBeam.jpg

4. High Beams with Fogs
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c397/michael_thomson/HighBeamwithFog.jpg

Hope those are helpful.

[Superu264]

Here are the results, and by the way, before someone asks... yes, those are still the Christmas decorations!!!

:lol:

Thanks though, good shots. From what I can tell everything looks good, although I'm not going for fog lights just yet.

[Superu264]

I just went out and took a look at my headlights and I realized I have no idea how to install the JDMs. Do I have to splice the wires to install them? I have wires with female ends just laying right next to the headlights.. or are they for fogs? You realize how much you dont know in 5 minutes.. :roll:

edit: There's a post further down the Electrical Systems thread for installing them but its worthless since they're going in a 99, but this gives me hope:


However, to answer your original question, yes, the JDM headlights do fit fine, and since you have a 95, the wiring harness is compatible too.

[Wiscon_Mark]

there's another thread about this that deals with a 98 Legacy (same wiring). It's an easy enough job, simple splicing is all that is necessary.

scroll down and look for Galek98_GT's posts

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=522

[slip]

EDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/f1_1_bJPG-2.jpg
USDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/1e_1_bJPG-2.jpg

I dont see too much of a difference

..except for one major difference, there is an additional light in the area I circled. The non-projector JDM headlights have this as well. Since USDM cars don't have anything to plug into the harness for the bulb you can wire it into your turnsignals, parking lights, or both.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid202/p3c773b1d9b79f7dbe7b943790aacd0fe/efe3e60c.jpg

and here's the lights turned on (pic from RS Liberty club)
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/DSC05582copysmall-2.jpg

[Legacy4Life]

There aren't really any hard and fast rules about how you wire them, although you do need to keep in mind what the laws on in your state regarding the color of the lights, DRL, turn signals, etc... And of course, it's easiest if you can take advantage of as much of the existing wiring harness and switches as possible.

As indicated in the link posted by Wiscon_Mark you can pretty much match the wires color for color. When Wiscon_Mark said earlier in this thread that the wiring harness was compatible, he didn't mean it was "plug and play". But the colors are the same.

On the Passenger side, it's the Red/Bluewire that carries your 15A fused 12V. On the Drivers side, the Black/Yellow wire does that job.

On both sides the Red is for High Beam and the Yellow/Blue is your Low Beam. These wires match up perfectly. Just cut them off your original lamp and splice them in the new one.

On the JDM lights there is an additional Red wire (smaller gauge then the rest) with a diode in series. This controls that smaller 194 light bulb. But it’s not a simple on/off, there is a logic to it. I don't remember it now, but in the end I didn't bother trying to wire it in. It's set up so that it comes on without low beam or high beam or vice-versa and when the other goes on it goes off. Like I said, I don't remember exactly, but I also didn't bother. I just taped that wire closed and left it.

But I did want to wire that light in. So I cut the two wires for it out of the harness that came with the lights and spliced it in separately. So it's not part of the original logic at all. I mounted an additional switch in the car and I actually put orange LED's in the headlamp. I leave them on most of the time. They give an interesting effect day or night.

Another important difference you will find about the JDM lamps is that the side bulb (for the turn signal) is an 1156 compared to an 1157 on the original USDM lights. The 1156 only has one filament in it (for turn signal) the 1157 has 2 filaments (one for turn signal and one for parking lights). This was probably one of the functions of that additional smaller 194 bulb.

This is also why your harness will have 3 wires and the new headlight will only have 2. To get around that, I made my JDM headlamp assembly compatible with an 1157.

There are 3 "parts"; 1) the bulb, 2) the socket the bulb fits in, and 3) the hole in the headlamp that the socket twists into.

If you look at the sockets for 1156 and 1157, they are very similar. But you can't put an 1157 bulb into an 1156 socket since it needs two pins on the bottom (one for each filament). The Socket has a series of 3 tabs on it that line up in the hole in the headlamp so that you can twist it in place. To keep people from mixing them up, the tabs are different on each socket. But... with a little modification you can put you original 1157 socket into the hole on the JDM headlamp. A Dremel was all I used. You'll see that the tabs are slightly different and if you make one of the gaps wider then it was originally it fits in good and snug.

The result is that you can use the same bulb, socket, and wires for your parking lights and turn signal.

Hope all of this isn't too confusing. Some of it becomes clearer as you work on the headlights yourself.

[blackgtbeauty]

my $.02, these are freakin sweet! they were a breeze to install, took about a half hour for the first, and 15 min for the second.

what saved a lot of time was the tip of adapting the socket to accept the factory 1157 bulb plug. i just looked for the narrowest notch on the light and used a rat-tail file to make it bigger and it fit like a glove. so thanks legacy4life for that.

as for the wires they matched right up to my 99 stock wires and it was cut and crimp.

i'll try to take pics this week of the guts, but i have mighty fine pics of them on the car on my cardomain. sexy sexy...

[Manarius]

Since you have a 95 with diffusion headlights, why not swap to 99 with USDM projector type. Maybe the wiring doesn't match, but I'm sure projection type headlamps are better than the God-awful diffusion type.

[Wiscon_Mark]

99 Projector type? USDM?

whaaa?

And the diffused ones are better than the 2 piece in the BD/BK series.

[galek_98gt]

there's another thread about this that deals with a 98 Legacy (same wiring). It's an easy enough job, simple splicing is all that is necessary.

scroll down and look for Galek98_GT's posts

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=522

true.dat

my headlights are still blazin up the streets providing plenty of light. the only change i've made was the H1 bulbs with some german made bulbs referred in a pwise thread i believe.

[Superu264]

99 Projector type? USDM?

whaaa?

+1

[blackgtbeauty]

Since you have a 95 with diffusion headlights, why not swap to 99 with USDM projector type. Maybe the wiring doesn't match, but I'm sure projection type headlamps are better than the God-awful diffusion type.

please don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to sound like a jerk,

1) who's car are you talking about?

2) what do you mean by usdm projectors?

[Huffer]

Has anyone done a "translation' harness between the JDM lights, and a USDM wiring harness, so that swapping back to stock is easy?

Looking for ideas to facilitate this - replacement USDM lights are approximately $200 + shipping, which is about the same as a decent set of projectors.

At this stage, after 190,000 miles, stock or JDM replacements will make a huge difference to my night times.

[blackgtbeauty]

Has anyone done a "translation' harness between the JDM lights, and a USDM wiring harness, so that swapping back to stock is easy?

Looking for ideas to facilitate this - replacement USDM lights are approximately $200 + shipping, which is about the same as a decent set of projectors.

At this stage, after 190,000 miles, stock or JDM replacements will make a huge difference to my night times.

i guess you could use spade or bullet crimp connectors and tape them and it'd be fairly simple.

[jakmobile]

If anyone's interested, I've got a set of these for sale. 250 Shipped:)

[SammyDaFish]

anyone know where I can get this plug https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

my set of JDM projectors didn't come with the plugs :cry:

[Perdue]

You CAN reuse your stock blinker socket and all. Pat Olsen over on NASIOC pointed out that if you compare the USDM and JDM sockets, there is little difference. If you look at the thingys on the sides of the socket that hold it into the housing, one is larger on the USDM socket. Just take a pair of fingernail clippers, an exacto knife, or anything of the sort and just get rid of that little piece of plastic. Now, it will slide right in.

[Superu264]

Just got mine in and trying to figure them out..

If I wire it up like it is now (as Mark said the wires match up) and I use the old turn signal socket so I can still use them as turn signal/parking lights, it should all work?

or am I missing something

[Wiscon_Mark]

I'm not sure what you're asking...

The turn signal wires are separate from the headlight harness. If you can just plug in the old turn signal socket, yes, do it.

does that answer your question?

[Superu264]

Finally got around to putting mine in today and..... they're sexy. :grin:

[Huffer]

NP!

[Superu264]

Ill get a pic once I get a frame for my German plate, then itll be all riced, or krauted out.

[Superu264]

I dont have mine aimed like this:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/


You can tell (when against a wall) that its two seperate beams, not like the picture where the beams seem to meet.

What to do, what to do.

[Plays_with_Toys]

so your beams are improperly aimed or what? The picture could have alot of wash out. I know my lights have two distinct points of brightness.

[Superu264]

I think they're not aimed right, when I'm driving I can see the two distinct beams of light.

And when aimed against a wall I get something kinda like this:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/09/lightpattern-2.jpg

[Superu264]

The Final Product:

Pre JDM, painted grille and pre-some-asshole-stealing-my-German-license-plate:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/09/IMG_1351-1.jpg


And now the tightness:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/09/IMG_1364-1.jpg


Now if I could just convince myself to install the foglights.. :roll:

[bubaru21]

very nice and i am in the same boat as you i have the foglights just sitting in front of me and never the time to put them in.

[Superu264]

yeah, I'm thinking of just selling them. I have to sell the car when I go to school next fall so I resolved to not put any more effort into it. I hate to see it go but its the lowest of the low model (even though it has power everything, sunroof etc.. its 2WD and 4EAT :mad: ).. if I dont get rid of it then I'll never get rid of it

[blackgtbeauty]

very nice and i am in the same boat as you i have the foglights just sitting in front of me and never the time to put them in.

me too.

[Wiscon_Mark]

yeah, I'm thinking of just selling them. I have to sell the car when I go to school next fall so I resolved to not put any more effort into it. I hate to see it go but its the lowest of the low model (even though it has power everything, sunroof etc.. its 2WD and 4EAT :mad: ).. if I dont get rid of it then I'll never get rid of it

I'm interested.

[shazapple]

This thread will come in handy in a few weeks :smile:

[Superu264]

I'm interested.

In the fogs or the car? :lol:


Lee: This is all the info you need

There aren't really any hard and fast rules about how you wire them, although you do need to keep in mind what the laws on in your state regarding the color of the lights, DRL, turn signals, etc... And of course, it's easiest if you can take advantage of as much of the existing wiring harness and switches as possible.

As indicated in the link posted by Wiscon_Mark you can pretty much match the wires color for color. When Wiscon_Mark said earlier in this thread that the wiring harness was compatible, he didn't mean it was "plug and play". But the colors are the same.

On the Passenger side, it's the Red/Bluewire that carries your 15A fused 12V. On the Drivers side, the Black/Yellow wire does that job.

On both sides the Red is for High Beam and the Yellow/Blue is your Low Beam. These wires match up perfectly. Just cut them off your original lamp and splice them in the new one.

On the JDM lights there is an additional Red wire (smaller gauge then the rest) with a diode in series. This controls that smaller 194 light bulb. But it’s not a simple on/off, there is a logic to it. I don't remember it now, but in the end I didn't bother trying to wire it in. It's set up so that it comes on without low beam or high beam or vice-versa and when the other goes on it goes off. Like I said, I don't remember exactly, but I also didn't bother. I just taped that wire closed and left it.

But I did want to wire that light in. So I cut the two wires for it out of the harness that came with the lights and spliced it in separately. So it's not part of the original logic at all. I mounted an additional switch in the car and I actually put orange LED's in the headlamp. I leave them on most of the time. They give an interesting effect day or night.

Another important difference you will find about the JDM lamps is that the side bulb (for the turn signal) is an 1156 compared to an 1157 on the original USDM lights. The 1156 only has one filament in it (for turn signal) the 1157 has 2 filaments (one for turn signal and one for parking lights). This was probably one of the functions of that additional smaller 194 bulb.

This is also why your harness will have 3 wires and the new headlight will only have 2. To get around that, I made my JDM headlamp assembly compatible with an 1157.

There are 3 "parts"; 1) the bulb, 2) the socket the bulb fits in, and 3) the hole in the headlamp that the socket twists into.

If you look at the sockets for 1156 and 1157, they are very similar. But you can't put an 1157 bulb into an 1156 socket since it needs two pins on the bottom (one for each filament). The Socket has a series of 3 tabs on it that line up in the hole in the headlamp so that you can twist it in place. To keep people from mixing them up, the tabs are different on each socket. But... with a little modification you can put you original 1157 socket into the hole on the JDM headlamp. A Dremel was all I used. You'll see that the tabs are slightly different and if you make one of the gaps wider then it was originally it fits in good and snug.

The result is that you can use the same bulb, socket, and wires for your parking lights and turn signal.

Hope all of this isn't too confusing. Some of it becomes clearer as you work on the headlights yourself.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I meant the headlights :lol:

[warrior]

I'm interested in both!

Bidding starts NOW!

$1.01 :oops:

Your turn Mark

[Wiscon_Mark]

1 billion dollah!

[warrior]

Monopoly money doesn't count man! :evil:

[Superu264]

I'm interested in both!

both?

[badbasser98]

both?
Guessing headlights and fogs?

[Tim]

I dont want anything fancy, just some new headlights at a decent price. Is this a good price?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0031298445 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280031298445)
Thanks,
Tim

[warrior]

both?

yea.. headlights and fog :oops:

[Superu264]

I dont want anything fancy, just some new headlights at a decent price. Is this a good price?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0031298445 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280031298445)
Thanks,
Tim

For ONE? Screw that.. you can get a pair of Projectors for the same price as a pair of those.

Warrior: Mark already has dibs on the headlights (a year in advance :lol: )

[Tim]

So, you are talking to an idiot here. I wrote that for a little help. First off, I dont know what projectors are and secondly, where do I get them at half that price.
Thanks,
Tim

[Superu264]

No I meant you can get a set of JDM Projectors for the price of two of those eBay headlights.. those headlights on eBay arent worth buying since they're what you have right now.

Projectors are JDM(Japanese Domestic Market) Projection headlights. They're A LOT better than our stock US headlights. There's always a few sets on eBay but most are pretty expensive with crazy shipping prices (since most are in Japan).. just keep an eye out for a set in the US so the shipping isnt as much.

If you look at my before and after pictures (^ up a little bit) you can see the difference.

[Tim]

No I meant you can get a set of JDM Projectors for the price of two of those eBay headlights.

Projectors are JDM(Japanese Domestic Market) Projection headlights. They're A LOT better than our stock US headlights. There's always a few sets on eBay but most are pretty expensive with crazy shipping prices (since most are in Japan).. just keep an eye out for a set in the US so the shipping isnt as much.

If you look at my before and after pictures (^ up a little bit) you can see the difference.

Yeah, they look great. But there seems to be issues with the RHD and adjusting them and all that stuff. I don't want the hassle. So, if the price on ebay is too much for the ones I am looking at, then what is a decent price for a couple of regular new ones and any suggestions on where to get them?

[Superu264]

You replied before I edited my post :lol:

Buying the regular new ones isnt worth it.. they're what you have right now so you wont see any improvement.

As for the RHD issue, adjusting is no problem, just two screws you have to mess with until you get it right.

[Tim]

You replied before I edited my post :lol:

Buying the regular new ones isnt worth it.. they're what you have right now so you wont see any improvement.

As for the RHD issue, adjusting is no problem, just two screws you have to mess with until you get it right.

Oh, trust me I will see an improvement. I didnt want to sand them and all that stuff, so I used the Plastx and saw a dramatic improvement then. But, when someone is driving behind you at night with yours and their headlights on and their headlights are causing you to see the shadow of your car right in front of you, it is time for new headlights!! LOL

[Tim]

You replied before I edited my post :lol:

Buying the regular new ones isnt worth it.. they're what you have right now so you wont see any improvement.

As for the RHD issue, adjusting is no problem, just two screws you have to mess with until you get it right.

Ok, what about these?? If I was to get these , do the existing light sockets screw into the back or do I have to start splicing?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-Suba ... 9780QQrdZ1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-Subaru-Legacy-Wagon-BG5-Projector-OEM-Headlights_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33710QQihZ001QQitemZ110039899780QQrdZ1)

[Superu264]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

Only the turn signal socket will fit into these lights, the others you have to splice.. but since all the wires match up its 1,2,3

The turn signal socket, the one that will fit, you have to modify though. It has little tabs on it.. you have to shave one down to fit into the JDM lights.. but thats nothing a dremel wont fix :twisted:

[Tim]

Thanks, but thats too much work for me. I want plug and play. LOL

[Superu264]

dooooo it

seriously it takes less than a half hour

[Tim]

dooooo it

seriously it takes less than a half hour
Maybe for you, but took me over 2 days to put in a radio and that was with pics from this site!!!! LOL

[Superu264]

you have to learn sometime

come on, everybody now..

do it!
do it!
do it!
do it!
do it!
do it!

[Tim]

I dont have to learn sometime. I am doing better than most, at least i try. Most would just pay a mechanic.

[warrior]

some people are hands on, some people are.... not.. but I wouldn't attempt it if you're the slight bit hesitant, you'll just muck it up!

If you can justify spending the money on "one" headlight, than go for it, just like some people can justify paying $95/CAD an hour at the dealer to repair minor things.. works both ways :cool:

[Tim]

some people are hands on, some people are.... not.. but I wouldn't attempt it if you're the slight bit hesitant, you'll just muck it up!

If you can justify spending the money on "one" headlight, than go for it, just like some people can justify paying $95/CAD an hour at the dealer to repair minor things.. works both ways :cool:
Actually, I will buy two headlights. The justification is that I know I cant see as well at night as I used to when the lights were newer. It is a safety and comfort issue. So, once again, what is a decent price for a new headlight(not JDM) and any suggestions on where to look?
Thanks,
Tim

[warrior]

Try a local junk yard, they might have something and probably cheaper than ebay as well. You could join a local club as well and maybe someone has some spares lying around that they swapped out.

Prices can vary, you may get a set for $50 or $200 or more.... I personally wouldn't pay more than $100/light though

[badbasser98]

I NEED another BD, these lights are hot! :twisted:

[Tim]

Try a local junk yard, they might have something and probably cheaper than ebay as well. You could join a local club as well and maybe someone has some spares lying around that they swapped out.

Prices can vary, you may get a set for $50 or $200 or more.... I personally wouldn't pay more than $100/light though
Thanks, that was the advice I was looking for here. I personally dont see the point of exchanging used for used tho. I will keep looking for some new that are cheaper. Thanks again!!

[Tim]

I NEED another BD, these lights are hot! :twisted:
BD?

[Superu264]

We have BDs, its our chassis code. 1995-99 were BDs. Badbasser has a BE.

[JordanIsHere]

I need help! I got some projectors and I'm trying to install them today. This may sound odd, but I'm colorblind to shades of red and green. So basically I get certain shades of colors mixed up, and I can't tell which wires to solder to. Here's a pic of my JDM harness in front of my USDM harness, can someone tell me which wires to splice to? I was able to get the knob grinded off the corner light so thats all set, but I just dont want to wire this wrong and have it blow up or something. I'm pretty experienced with soldering and stuff but I just can't match the damn colors.

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/2162/dsc0058fc1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'm off to install my JDM tails while I wait for a response, hopefully there's no pesky splicing on those.
:lol:

[Superu264]

Definitely not odd, my buddy is colorblind, then he gets people asking how he knows when the light is green :lol: Idiots.. anyway

All colors match up pefectly
On the passenger side its the Red/Blue wire that carries the power, you can figure it out since the only other wires are solid red or black/yellow. On the drivers side, the Black/Yellow wire carries the power.

On both sides the only solid colored wire is your highbeams (red wire) and the blue/yellow wire is lowbeams.

The extra skinny solid colored wire is for the city lights, you cant really use them on our USDM cars but you could wire them up if you wanted, but for now if you dont plan on wiring them up you could just tape it up. If you do want to wire it up I think Reason set his up to work with his headlights you can try PM'ing him.

Hope it helped.

[Wiscon_Mark]

Taillights aren't a wiring nightmare (every connector clicks right in) but they're a bit harder mechanically.

Hope you have a deep 8mm socket handy.

[JordanIsHere]

Ok thanks for the help, I was able to get the driver's side wired and working. My passenger side headlight didn't include male side of the connector though, so I cut the plug and I'm trying to solder it directly to the wires on the car. This is going to be hard since the wires are all different colors. I'll report back soon hopefully, if I ever finish this. Guess the tails will have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm so sick of looking at the front of my car I could cry :lol:.

[Superu264]

How could you get sick of looking at the front of a BK? :cool:

but you're better off cutting off those connectors.

[JordanIsHere]

Well I got 'em in, and they're looking sexy with my also new JDM grill :razz:
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/1576/dsc0059iy0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/6047/dsc0060cr1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
(I know, it's dirty. I'll wash it and do a proper shoot tomorrow)
I had to guess and check for which wires were which without that connector, so here's the colors for others to reference:
White- High Beam
Black- Low Beam
Pink- Power
Blue- That other light (I didn't use it)

Now that it's dark I'm off to try and get them angled and test 'em out! Tomorrow I will attempt JDM tails. Mark, stand by for my PM's :lol:

[Superu264]

Mmm... JDM front end

all you need now is some JDM fogs :twisted:

[JordanIsHere]

Yep, those are on the to-do list. They recently moved up higher on the list when I pummeled over a raccoon and broke one of the plastic vents, which is now held in with tape.

[Plays_with_Toys]

Hey xcntrk is looking for those fog light plugs ;)

Glad you got them in and wired. Did you recently pick up that grill? Looks like the one I bid on on ebay, but realized it was too tall.

[JordanIsHere]

hehe, yep, that's the grill you were looking at. I payed more than I had hoped, but oh well... it's hot.

[Huffer]

So, once again, what is a decent price for a new headlight(not JDM) and any suggestions on where to look?

www.subarupartsforyou.com (http://www.subarupartsforyou.com)

Or ebay. There's a set of used ones with 23k on them for $40 each. Occasionally you will see aftermarket ones (OEM replicas) for $100 each.

[Plays_with_Toys]

How hard would it to be to get to the projector lense itself? I was thinking it'd be really cool to stain that yellow like the Le Mans GT cars. :twisted:

[ooberdoob]

yellow...

you are a damaged individual.


my saga begins soon, i found some on teh nasioc!

[Superu264]

So I guess dibs are off?

Thanks for the heads up, jerk. :razz:

[Wiscon_Mark]

I wouldn't say that. Nasioc deal could fall through.

Besides, it's not like you wanted to get rid of yours that soon ;)

[ooberdoob]

i wasn't going to say anything until i had them in my hands. you know how internet things go.

[mr_choung]

jdm FTW. i just recieved my headlights and they came with NO extra connectors! WTH....i know that the jdm has a harness clip to it but it doesn't include the extra piece it clips in. So does this mean i have to splice up the stock harness and the jdm to merge them? lmk guys.thx

choung

[shazapple]

You could check out a local parts store, sometimes they have generic pigtails that can be modified

[ooberdoob]

yep

[mr_choung]

as in what kind of local stores? hardware? lmk

choung

[ooberdoob]

pep boys, advance, vato zone, etc. i know adv and PB does, so vato zone must.

[LunchBox04V]

Hi Everyone. I had a question regarding the JDM to USDM wiring. Has anyone come up with a translation harnes to go from the USDM Body harness, to the headlights short wiring harness? That would be great if someone did. I am looking to the the JDM headlight swap.

Second, for wiring, I know that the USDM goes from three wires to three wires. Does the JDM harness go from three wires to the four wires? Something like this:(I think that I got the colors wrong though)
USDM
_Yellow/Blue (Connector) _ To the 1156/1157 Bulb
_Red / Blue (Connector) _ To High Beam
_Red (Connector) \ Low Beam and the fourth wire.

I will look over the posts again to try and get it down.

Last, is the "logic" for the 1156/1157 bulb in the previously drawn harness? Thanks guys, this is my first post here!

[Wiscon_Mark]

okay, here's the deal:

There are 4 wires for the high/low beams, however, you can easily splice the existing harness to do what you need. The system is a switched ground instead of a switched hot, which means that the headlight is recieving the hot signal all of the time, but the ground is turned on & off to change from high to low. With the JDMs, you just need to splice into the hot wire (not exactly sure on the color, you'll have to use a multimeter to find out) to make it go to both the projector and the lense, then hook up the high & low beam ground to each respective headlight.

The 1157 has its own harness, and you don't need to worry about it. The corner/turn signal bulb you don't even need to worry about splicing, you can keep your USDM bulb base & bulb.

I didn't connect the 1157 bulb, myself.

[theboyo19]

EDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/f1_1_bJPG-1.jpg
USDM:
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/1e_1_bJPG-1.jpg

I dont see too much of a difference

..except for one major difference, there is an additional light in the area I circled. The non-projector JDM headlights have this as well. Since USDM cars don't have anything to plug into the harness for the bulb you can wire it into your turnsignals, parking lights, or both.

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/

and here's the lights turned on (pic from RS Liberty club)
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/03/DSC05582copysmall-1.jpg

omg!!!
which lights are those, how much. where can i get them??!?!?!? :shock:

[theboyo19]

wow that quote didnt work out well srry
i was talking about the lights on the first page.. its a red car . what ones are those and are they avalible in the united states

[Artemadorous]

I'm new here, but have been lurking for quite a while.

I read this whole forum and am sold on the idea to get JDM projectors for my 99 LGT limited.

I had a quick question though, do the BG5 wagon headlights fit the sedan? From everything I've seen the front ends are exactly the same, but I am not positive and want to be before I drop 300 bucks on headlights.

[blackgtbeauty]

yeah they're the same.

[Superu264]

I had a quick question though, do the BG5 wagon headlights fit the sedan? From everything I've seen the front ends are exactly the same, but I am not positive and want to be before I drop 300 bucks on headlights.

You have two piece headlights whereas these are one piece, but it doesnt matter they'll fit fine.

Don't spend $300 though, you can find a nice set much cheaper.

[Wiscon_Mark]

JHOT has them for cheaper AFAIK.

[LunchBox04V]

I just ordered my JDM headlights. I don't know if anyone has made a wiring harness to go from USDM to JDM, but I am going to try when the lights get here. I will take pictures as I go!

The plan is to take the old 9007 bulb, remove the light at the top, run the JDM wires through the base and that should plug into the USDM harness no problem! :cool:

[Artemadorous]

YES! Just got my gorgeous JDM projectors installed!

Install sadly took 1.5-2 hours but I didn't use a write up and it was freaking COLD in my driveway.

I don't have a digi cam so I'll give a brief easy write up.

Car is a '99 Legacy 2.5GT sedan.

1. Pop the grill off, there are 4 plastic connectors along the top and one on either side.

2. With a ratchet take off the two screws on the top.

3. With a phillips screwdriver unscrew the screw all the way towards the fender to get the turning signal off. This is on the top.

4. The turn signal should pop right out, just disconnect the bulb and let it hang.

5. This should open up access to get the headlight itself out. Take the entire housing out for this.

6. I did the wiring a bit simpler than everyone else seems to do, it works as a combination between the USDM and the JDM style.
- I didn't do anything with the connector out of the turn signal, I used the same wiring, bulbs, and housing. I used needle nose plier and took a little chip out of one of the larger tabs so it fit properly into the JDM housing for the turn signal.
- Next I used a but-splice to connect the two reds to the two reds respectively and I connected the yellow to the yellow.
- I put the connector back into the housing and tried it out. The parking light and the turn signal remains the same, as it was on the USDM set up. The driving lights and high beems worked as they should. Some may not like this approach but I think it looks just fine and saved a lot of time on wiring (I am not an electrician :))

7. The light slides right into place and the three screws you took off with the ratchet go back in their respective holes.

8. The grill slides back into place with some minor force and you are good to go.


Now that I know what to do this install could probably be done in 45 minutes or so. Feel free to ask questions.

[d1giPhux]

Installed my projectors today. Most consuming thing was adjusting them once they were in. Also, wanted to clear up a few things / make it easier for people in the future how the wires are connected together from the JDM headlight harness, to the wires on the car. This was done on a 99 LGT Ltd (BD), and here are how my wires connected:

USDM----------------------------------------------------JDM

Yellow w/Blue Stripe ------------------- Yellow w/Blue stripe
Red ------------------------------------------------------Red
Red w/blue Stripe ---------- Black w/ Yellow Stripe (red/blue passender side)
Extra Small red wire ------------------------ Did Not connect.

The extra small red wire is for the JDM 'city lights' I did not connect them up, because i did not want them.

Here is a picture of the harness :

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/wire_harness-1.jpg


Also, in order to make the stock corners 1157 bulb fit into the JDM lights, all you need to do is enlarge one of the holes on the JDM light. Easiest way to do this is to use a file, or dremel, which is what i used. It just needs to become wider.

A pic of the modified hole.. i used a dremel to do this, and this was before the extra plastic was scraped off so the hole doesnt look too square here. :lol:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/1157hole-1.jpg

[Superu264]

Also, in order to make the stock corners 1157 bulb fit into the JDM lights, all you need to do is enlarge one of the holes on the JDM light. Easiest way to do this is to use a file, or dremel, which is what i used. It just needs to become wider.

I disagree. The holes in the JDM lights were smaller for a reason. I am positive none of these lights will make it back to Japan, however, for whatever reason if someone got these and wanted to use the JDM 1157 socket it wouldn't fit quite right.

I think its better to sand down the "peg" on the USDM socket and leave the lights alone. Its much easier to replace a socket than a headlight. :wink:

[Wiscon_Mark]

haha, Rick did it the right way.

I didn't :lol:

[d1giPhux]

Also, in order to make the stock corners 1157 bulb fit into the JDM lights, all you need to do is enlarge one of the holes on the JDM light. Easiest way to do this is to use a file, or dremel, which is what i used. It just needs to become wider.

I disagree. The holes in the JDM lights were smaller for a reason. I am positive none of these lights will make it back to Japan, however, for whatever reason if someone got these and wanted to use the JDM 1157 socket it wouldn't fit quite right.

I think its better to sand down the "peg" on the USDM socket and leave the lights alone. Its much easier to replace a socket than a headlight. :wink:

Eh.. do it however way you want.. but i read something about the 1156 bulbs having 3 wires as opposed to 2.. and it was because of the blinkers? Im not sure.. maybe someone can enlighten this on us. Either way.. its easy to do. I dont car about the hole beiing a little bigger on the JDM's.. i wont be using the 1156 bulbs in it anyways.. i like the stock amber 1157. :cool:

[d1giPhux]

haha, Rick did it the right way.

I didn't :lol:

Why does it matter..? I dont really think there is a right way or a wrong way.. the actual 'right' way, would be to have the same bulbs as the user manual specifies.. so technically switching to the 1157 is the 'right' way. But i think either way is fine. :wink:

Oh yea, added pics of my 'modded hole' and of the wire harness so people might be able to figure it out a bit easier in the future.

And a pic of the final product:

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/projectors3-1.jpg

[backpack09]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/projectors3-1.jpg

Is that a repaint? Noticed your front "spats" or whatever they are called are painted.

Gots to get me some of those... Since I broke All of the tabs off my passenger headlight replacing the radiator support this weekend...

[d1giPhux]

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/projectors3-1.jpg

Is that a repaint? Noticed your front "spats" or whatever they are called are painted.

Gots to get me some of those... Since I broke All of the tabs off my passenger headlight replacing the radiator support this weekend...

Spats? What do you mean by that.. not the lip right? If you mean the lip on the bottom of the bumper.. its painted because its a limited edt. Otherwise.. im a little confused.. haha. They were super easy to install man, i suggest you get some! They look sick too!

[dplacencia]

^ Those projectors are HOT!!! :grin:

[Wiscon_Mark]

Yeah, he was talking about the lip.

[d1giPhux]

Okay.. opinion time. So laast night when i put the projectors in, i adjusted them to what i thought was 'good'. Now its your chance to make suggestions of how i should move both the low beams and high beams. Tell me in terms of left / right / up / down, further apart, or closer together. Let me know what you think of my adjustment job! Seems to be working okay for me.. but i might want to put the low beams up just a little.. i think.

Lows :

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/beamlow-1.jpg


Highs :

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2007/02/beamhigh-1.jpg

[Superu264]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

[d1giPhux]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

Werd, thanks. Thats a damn long / complex read.. but i will try to figure it out. I cant really mark up the wall much that im using.. because its not my property.. but i will try my best to visually aim these beasts!

[Superu264]

I cant really mark up the wall much that im using.. because its not my property

tape it up brutha

[d1giPhux]

I cant really mark up the wall much that im using.. because its not my property

tape it up brutha

this is true.. just seems like all that shit is so complex.. i mean, it might not be so hard, but when its -20 degrees out, my brain tends to freeze a little bit. HAHA.

[RadeOn]

Is there a list somewhere of what adjustment bolt does what when turned clock/counterclock wise? I did some rough adjustment, but need to do better, however every time I start adjusting I forget what bolt I need to adjust and how :) , so I spend a good deal of time figuring it out :)

[Wiscon_Mark]

Is there a list somewhere of what adjustment bolt does what when turned clock/counterclock wise? I did some rough adjustment, but need to do better, however every time I start adjusting I forget what bolt I need to adjust and how :) , so I spend a good deal of time figuring it out :)

Well, the inside bolt is for the high beams, and the outside for the lows, but I would also like to know which turn does what (my lows need adjusting).

[d1giPhux]

Is there a list somewhere of what adjustment bolt does what when turned clock/counterclock wise? I did some rough adjustment, but need to do better, however every time I start adjusting I forget what bolt I need to adjust and how :) , so I spend a good deal of time figuring it out :)

Well, the inside bolt is for the high beams, and the outside for the lows, but I would also like to know which turn does what (my lows need adjusting).


I figured out by just turning them. But, its really easy.. just get a 8mm socket and start turning..if you dont see any sudden up/ down movement, then you are adjusting the right/left movement. The up and down adjustment is easily noticeable ones you start turning them. Thats about all i can help on that.. because it was a bit confusing for me at first.. but after turning it a bit.. i figured it out and was able to go from light to light and adjust each one. Now i just need to line mine up a bittttttt better. They are pretty good though. I would use that lighting guide.. but that just seems like too much work, and i dont have that much time in the -degree weather.

Here is a pdf for adjustment on the BD's for USDM.. but it will be closely similar on the JDM ones as well.. there is just 2 diff ones for both the projector and the high beam.

www.designlabx.com/subaru/electrical/MSA5TCD99L456.pdf (http://www.designlabx.com/subaru/electrical/MSA5TCD99L456.pdf)

[RadeOn]

I figured out by just turning them. ...
but that just seems like too much work, and i dont have that much time in the -degree weather.

That's exactly why I thought of asking - its kinda cold to be figuring it out every time I try to re-adjust them. What seemed weird, as far as I recall now, top low beam adjustment bolt does vertical adjustment for right light and horizontal for left :)

[d1giPhux]

I figured out by just turning them. ...
but that just seems like too much work, and i dont have that much time in the -degree weather.

That's exactly why I thought of asking - its kinda cold to be figuring it out every time I try to re-adjust them. What seemed weird, as far as I recall now, top low beam adjustment bolt does vertical adjustment for right light and horizontal for left :)

Yea.. i was going to mention that.. but then i started thinking about it and it boggled my mind. I know there is SOMETHING weird about it.. i just cant remember what. I think another odd thing i remembered was on the left light, you turn it right to make it adjust left, and on the right, turn it left to adjust right.. some weird thing like that.. i suppose the only way to figure it out is by turning them! haha.

Definitely backwards intuitive because of the JDM lands way is technically reverse the USDM way.. so if you think about it like that.. maybe it makes sense? :lol:

[Khanhfucious]

IDK if this has been mentioned yet, but if you guys want to use the JDM Projectors, the best bet would be to retro a USDM HID Projector in there. Another option would be to make a custom shield.

[RadeOn]

IDK if this has been mentioned yet, but if you guys want to use the JDM Projectors, the best bet would be to retro a USDM HID Projector in there. Another option would be to make a custom shield.
If you know what projectors are the same size - it would definitely be a useful info.
There are some pictures of the jdm projectors opened here (http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=924777)

[importtund]

Will a 14,000K HID Converstion work with JDM Projector Headlights? I've never dealt with Headlight mods so I have no clue about this stuff.... and yes I'm aware that 14,000k HID is not street legal (thank you) :lol:

[Brockley]

Who has put an HID kit in their JDM lights?
How did you wire it up? How did you cover the headlight back up?
Pics would be nice...

[)2edline]

I'll snap some pics for you.

[Brockley]

So, what I did was drill out the back of the plastic cap from the JDM lows, and use the grommet the HID's came with. Im using the factory harness currently for power, but im planning on using a Relay at some point...