My FX-R Projector Retrofit Thread

[george graves]

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[bmwman91]

Alrighty, I have given this some more thought and I now know how I plan to tackle this.

There will not be a cut-out for the city light bulb. I have been using the same ones for close to 7 years now; the replacement interval is super long. I would much rather have a hermetic seal that I am confident in than easy access to a part that almost never needs replacing.

The plate will be secured to the housing via two screw blocks and Permatex Ultra Black RTV. The screw blocks are in there because I just don't trust adhesives that see water/salt water, heat cycling & have something as important as headlights depending on them. Also, using a softer sealant like RTV means that, should you need to replace the city light bulb, these plates will just need some unscrewing and a little pulling, and then $2 worth of RTV to reassemble.







The big blue boot thing will be a project all of its own. I cannot find any off the shelf parts that can fit over a 5" perimeter, so I will make the necessary molding plugs/cavities on a wood lathe, seal them with some Shellac & then cast the parts from some sort of urethane-rubber or silicone compound that can take heat & exposure to car fluids.

Do it right, or don't bother, I say!

[Neil1138]

I did an FX-R retrofit in my e46 a short while back. A lot of dremmeling and such but the final result was worth it: FX-R low beams + custom shield/clear lens P46 projector fogs.



I've considered doing another retrofit in the e30 but haven't yet. To be honest though, FX-Rs by themselves are lacking. They have a pretty wide throw so the intensity of light is pretty low. But combined with some (proper) projector fog lights, the total light output is stunning. I imagine it would be the same in the e30. If I were you, I would keep the stock projectors and try and retrofit those into your fog lights!

I might make some custom curved shields for the e30 projectors and replace the lenses with some clear ones. Could be worth it.

Your approach is hella legit. Can't wait to see the final result!

[ethrtyiS]

looks good so far.

[bmwman91]

Alrighty, I made some progress on this today. The housings have been trimmed down and I'll be figuring out exactly how I want to build an adapter plate.

First, I trimmed out a bunch of the crap inside with my trusty 1" end mill. The cut-off wheel I used next had a rather large arbor and I needed to get this crap out of the way first.


I did most of the trimming with a cut-off wheel in the mill. The housing was mounted face-down on the rotary table and manually spun.


I made a few passes to get things close to the final dimensions. The cut-off wheel is pretty nifty and didn't cause any chipping.


The last 0.015" was knocked off with a 6-flute 1" end mill at 1200RPM.


So, here they are. With this done, I can now nail down the adapter design.

[bmwman91]

Yikes, the 2.0 looks terrible. Maybe the 1.1's are the 1.0 housings that they put the (upgraded) clear lenses into?

[e30trooper]

Sweet. Once I get a bit further along with this, I'll hit you up for a quotation. It sounds like a lot of people may be interested, so perhaps we can get a good number made. To seal these, it may still need to be a machined part, but I am trying like hell to constrain myself to a 2D cutting operation to keep the cost down.


I got 1.1's. What are the differences between the different ones?

well 1st gen are the first design, 2.0 are newer but had some flaws. the 1.1's are 1st gens thats are a lil different

fxr 1.0
.

fxr 2.0

[bmwman91]

I work at one ;)

http://www.iscomach.com/

Sweet. Once I get a bit further along with this, I'll hit you up for a quotation. It sounds like a lot of people may be interested, so perhaps we can get a good number made. To seal these, it may still need to be a machined part, but I am trying like hell to constrain myself to a 2D cutting operation to keep the cost down.

good job man , cant wait to see the set up! What FX-R's did you get? 1stgen,2nd gen or the 1.1's ? I got lucky on a pair of 1st gens, the 2nds had a few issues with the end of the cut off slooping off a lil. Anyways get'er done! Make vids. Im my retro thread i never updated pix when i re did my brackets and such.

I got 1.1's. What are the differences between the different ones?

[ethrtyiS]

so far excellent work. love to see the final output on these.

[e30trooper]

good job man , cant wait to see the set up! What FX-R's did you get? 1stgen,2nd gen or the 1.1's ? I got lucky on a pair of 1st gens, the 2nds had a few issues with the end of the cut off slooping off a lil. Anyways get'er done! Make vids. Im my retro thread i never updated pix when i re did my brackets and such.

[AndrewBird]

Does anyone know of a shop with a water jet, laser cutter, CNC mill that has reasonable rates for cutting out 2D shapes from steel or aluminum? Thanks.

I work at one ;)

http://www.iscomach.com/

[lbreevesii]

^ seriously. I've seen the TSX projector housing conversion and that implementation just can't meet my anal retentive expectations..this looks like its going to be hella clean(no pun intended).

[Killacortes]

Yes! Adaptor plates would be sweet. I would be in for a set

[go3go]

You going to be selling the adapter plates? I would love to buy a pair.

+2, I did this retrofit on my e36 and I was sold. Light output is insane!

[rares]

you going to be selling the adapter plates? I would love to buy a pair.

+1