My FX-R Projector Retrofit Thread

[DER E30]

WOW... Those printed prototypes look sweet!
Group buy?????????????????????????????

[Neil1138]

Willing to post the step/iges or any parasolid file of the adapters?

[AwakenNoMore]

Subscribing.

[bmwman91]

Not 100% sure about posting models right now. I invented the M42 COP conversion back in 2006 and open-sourced everything, and it turns out that I could have made a good sum of money if I had been at a different phase in life and started having them produced. Now a dozen companies make and sell them.

Since there's a lot of interest in this, I am thinking about how to make it into a product. The real difficulty here is in modifying the headlight housings. It is NOT something that someone can just do with a Dremel since the clearances between the new projector and the glass lens are ~1mm. I might end up building a jig and having people send me their housings for modification. Some have suggested 3D printing a whole new housing with the adapter built-in, but there is simply no way that current 3D printed materials can handle the temperatures and chemicals in an engine environment. While there are printable metals available, the cost is very prohibitive at the moment and I am unsure of their durability.

[jrobie79]

Definitely interested in sending my housings for modification.

[DER E30]

definitely interested in sending my housings for modification.

x2!

[Neil1138]

As a Mech E. myself, I get where you are coming from. However, I merely asked in an effort to save myself from the modeling time.

[george graves]

Some have suggested 3D printing a whole new housing with the adapter built-in, but there is simply no way that current 3D printed materials can handle the temperatures and chemicals in an engine environment.

You might want to double check that. That was true a year ago, now, it is possible/doable to print anything that can be injection molded. Even Nylon. And Peek. But that's not the point.

Love your work - sign me up for a adapter, or modifying housing for FX-R's.

[bmwman91]

As a Mech E. myself, I get where you are coming from. However, I merely asked in an effort to save myself from the modeling time.

Yeah, sorry man. I never wanted to be "that guy" that withheld anything from the car community, but now that I've been working in industry for a while, I am seriously starting to look at ways to get out of the rat race and take more direct control of my life / income. If I decide to make this a product, I'll make sure that it's the best deal possible for other enthusiasts. If not, then maybe I'll put all of my work out for public use.

You might want to double check that. That was true a year ago, now, it is possible/doable to print anything that can be injection molded. Even Nylon. And Peek. But that's not the point.

Love your work - sign me up for a adapter, or modifying housing for FX-R's.

Absolutely. The SLS process in particular allows an insane variety of materials to be printed, including metals. The issue with those is cost right now (and of course that will change as the technology proliferates). The adapters shown above in this thread are SLS printed nylon, but I wouldn't trust it to survive the heat of 35-55W Xenon bulbs (then add in the heat under the hood, and operating in much of the southwest US). Per the fab house, they can only guarantee material integrity up to 80°C with the nylon. They do have other stuff that can take higher heat, but the cost for a pair of housings would be on the order of $600 for a pair, not including the FX-R projectors or replacement lenses. For now, it's a better deal to buy used housings and have me mod them.

Much of the injection molded stuff found in our cars (under the hood) is glass-reinforced PBT blends. I'll keep an eye out for places that can print PBT...not much out there now, but it looks like it's on the way.

Anyway, in a year or two I will be buying a 3D printer of my own. I seem to recall that you bought one, right? It's very exciting right now as new companies pop up and they are all vying for market share. My assumption is that a big player like HP, Canon or someone like that will take note and then hit the market with something incredible. If I had to guess, I'd bet that they are working on it right now. When that happens, I expect 3D printing to really take off, prices to drop and capabilities to increase. Just my guess anyway.

[dinanm3atl]

Very nice work!

[AndrewBird]

Any idea when you will have a set of aluminum adapters made?

[bmwman91]

Uugh, I need to get my butt in gear and send out the CAD files. As you know I was busy OCD'ing my garage lighting system, which is now done, and it is AWESOME.

I'll see about implementing the final design improvements and getting an order out to a machine shop by the end of next week.

[bmwman91]

I have incorporated the last of my design updates that I got from trying out the 3D printed prototypes. Since I have a fairly sizable stack of 7075-T6 aluminum discs (10.5" x 0.88"), I am going to mill these myself. It's going to be a lot of work, but it is more fun than working on baseboards for my house (it is only a matter of time before my wife gets tired of me doing the headlight project before the house lol).

Next weekend is my wife's birthday so I will probably not do much then, but the weekend after that I do plan to try to crank at least one of these out. Pics to come...

[Frog]

Damn.. I am working on a retrofit and would have bought adapters..

[straight6pwr]

been waiting a while to see that part done. very cool!

also, the aluminum tape has work 100% perfect for my retrofit, although as you say does not look OEM. the key was recreating vents at the OEM locations. when I inadvertently closed all the vents on my first retrofit, it caused moisture to get trapped inside and had no way to get out. its impossible to seal them 100% so use vents to your advantage.

not sure if OEM hella/bosch euro projectors have the vents, but my DEPO brand ones did.