US Ellipsoid retrofit kit from The Retrofit Source in development

[bmwman91]

I wonder if it is any coincidence that I was recently emailing them about my project where I have a...bracket that mounts the FX-R projector to the back of a Euro ellipsoid housing.

[marines2060]

any update on this?

[e30trooper]

Wrong. It is a halogen bulb in a projector housing that has cutoffs. Throwing in xenons gives the same result as doing a retrofit with a projector from a newer car (FX-R, E55, etc). I have their kit in my Euro smileys and I could not be happier with the result, especially since I didn't have to retrofit.

The benefit to doing a retrofit would be using a Bi-Xenon projector so you get the high beam option in the projector (Xenon output) amongst other things.

So your saying putting a HID kit in a e30 ( 20 plus year old ) projector is the same as an e55 fx tl ap1 etc etc projector. Your very wrong...

my FX-R vs a US ellipsoid , both HID's


Heres a mini h1 retro I did in my GF's corolla. Can your smileys do this? Dout it.



My smiley fx-r retro


idk you tell their the same.

[nmlss2006]

Uh, smileys are european lights. Those pictures have distinctly US cutoffs (and poor sharpness of the cutoff, but let's not go there yet). Did you remove/change the shields?

[e30trooper]

Uh, smileys are european lights. Those pictures have distinctly US cutoffs (and poor sharpness of the cutoff, but let's not go there yet). Did you remove/change the shields?

Well yes they are US cut offs because I think I live in the US. How is the cut off poor? and not sharp. Those are FXR and Mini h1 projectors.
And who removes or changes shields? Got it twisted bro.

this is the euro cut off

[nmlss2006]

Yes, that's what I do not follow.. oh, perhaps I do. You put the fx-r in the smiley, therefore the fx-r projector has a US cutoff.

[ZoomZoomBoom]

TRS is still working on them.

[Varinn]

Would this setup bolt into an ellipsoid housing? I'm seriously considering this

[Gregolas]

So your saying putting a HID kit in a e30 ( 20 plus year old ) projector is the same as an e55 fx tl ap1 etc etc projector. Your very wrong...

my FX-R vs a US ellipsoid , both HID's

Heres a mini h1 retro I did in my GF's corolla. Can your smileys do this? Dout it.

My smiley fx-r retro

idk you tell their the same.

I bench tested mine, put in spacers for the shield and got a slightly sharper cutoff (played with bending the shield as well). I could honestly care less how sharp my xenons look against a wall compared to new ones as I know my 20yr old projectors are not on par with the newer fx, e55 etc., but they still work great for someone who doesn't want to spend the money/time/work on retrofitting.

My point is that you have the same type of design with the oem projectors. Throwing in a quality kit and calling it a day still gives you a greater benefit over a halogen setup, without the hassle of doing a retrofit.

I believe the person I previously quoted was assuming a normal halogen housing (ie h4) and throwing a kit in; in which case he would be right as it would be full time, blinding, high-beam xenon output all the time (annoying as all get up).

Not trying to argue, just enjoy getting information out there and correcting the vast majority of misinformation that can go around

BTW if they do develop a kit for this I would definitely be on board to get bi xenons, I just hate the overall work doing it without having said bracket.

[StereoInstaller1]

I wonder if that bracket will fit the E34 housings?

[ZoomZoomBoom]

Would this setup bolt into an ellipsoid housing? I'm seriously considering this

The laser cut brackets they are developing will bolt onto the OEM projector mounting holes, but the bracket will also have the proper hole alignment for the modern projectors to bolt right up.

I only had USDM ellipsoids to send them, so if anyone has both USDM and Euro ellipsoids, please post pictures of the backside of the projectors so I can compare. I also wouldn't mind seeing pictures of the Depo backsides to see how those mount up. Ideally it would be great to cover all of the ellipsoid options for the E30.

As for E34 ellipsoids, I have no idea if they are the same or different, but pictures would help.

What I can do is have them send me an extra bracket or two to test on Euro, Depo, and E34 housings. I know Austin has Euro, and German Audio has E34's apparently, and I'm sure someone in the Portland area has Depo. If fitment is different, I can see about arranging for people to ship a set to TRS for bracket development. We'll get this all figured out and it will be pretty sweet.

[td325ic]

I wonder if that bracket will fit the E34 housings?

If they're designing this for e30 US ellipsoids then it'll work with e34 US ellipsoids, as the projector (the black or white plastic dish that mounts to the back of the lowbeam with three screws) is the same part between e34 and e30.

[nrubenstein]

I would strongly prefer a retrofit compatible with Bosch euro projectors as they do not have a fresnelled center.

[ZoomZoomBoom]

I would strongly prefer a retrofit compatible with Bosch euro projectors as they do not have a fresnelled center.

I will do my best to have them make a solution for all the E30 ellipsoid setups. Retrofitting includes replacing the projector which is what is fresnelled and putting in a modern clear lens projector. The front glass of the housing is clear glass with lines but is not fresnelled.

[Gregolas]

The laser cut brackets they are developing will bolt onto the OEM projector mounting holes, but the bracket will also have the proper hole alignment for the modern projectors to bolt right up.

I only had USDM ellipsoids to send them, so if anyone has both USDM and Euro ellipsoids, please post pictures of the backside of the projectors so I can compare. I also wouldn't mind seeing pictures of the Depo backsides to see how those mount up. Ideally it would be great to cover all of the ellipsoid options for the E30.

As for E34 ellipsoids, I have no idea if they are the same or different, but pictures would help.

What I can do is have them send me an extra bracket or two to test on Euro, Depo, and E34 housings. I know Austin has Euro, and German Audio has E34's apparently, and I'm sure someone in the Portland area has Depo. If fitment is different, I can see about arranging for people to ship a set to TRS for bracket development. We'll get this all figured out and it will be pretty sweet.

I will try to snap a pic of my euro smileys next time I have them out. Any estimate on overall price for a set of these? If you need a tester for the Euro smiley fit, PM me.

I would strongly prefer a retrofit compatible with Bosch euro projectors as they do not have a fresnelled center.

I believe TRS sells clear lenses to swap over, given they have the correct diameter for the fresnel you are replacing...