I was searching around for a how-to on replacing the lens on the TL, couldn't find any lol I just bought a set of ZKW-R from theretrofitsource.com for my TL. Has anyone done this mod or upgraded ur lens? How can I remove the lens, I know I have to get the housing opened but what bout the lens, does it just come off or what? Gonna clear out the headlights also while I'm at it. Any suggestions are appreciated

 

Ive been wanting to do this mod as well. from what Ive been reading on the forum i believe the lens cover pops off and you just switch the lenses. I don't remember the forum but it's on here somewhere but it looks like it makes a hell off a difference.good luck

 

I love my ZKW-R lens and 85122+ combo.

The lens pops out by releasing the retainer clip on the projector. Just push down on the clip, and pry upward with a small flat head.

 

^yup.

i love my zkw-r as well. cut off is amazing, really makes a significant difference.

 

Once the headlight housing is open, can the lenses be removed without having to remove the entire projector from the housing, or do you have to take the projector out to access the lens?

 

Yes, all you need to do is open the headlight. The lens retainer clip is visible from the top of the projector, be careful though they are fragile any may snap. I haven't had any problems with thus, but I've heard of people breaking the clip. Make sure you mess with the lens spacing and get everything aligned right for the sharpest cut off.

 

Alright, sounds do-able lol I should be getting them sometime today or tomorrow in the mail. I'm like a kid in a candy store right now lol @ nate, how do I mess with the spacing n alignment of the lens, please explain ;o) I want it to be sharp n colorfull

 

A lot of people say these lenses are just drop in and you're fine, but that's not the case all the time.
This thread will probably help.
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?36049-How-to-Install-ZKW-R-Clear-Lens-on-TL-Bi-xenon-Projector&highlight=install+zkw-r+lenses

 

Not to scare you, but my driver's side was drop it. It looked fine, but my passenger side was a different story. I broke my clip because I kept removing the lens to make adjustments. Nothing I did helped. I could never get it right. I decided there was nothing I could do and hoped for the best. Once I put the car back together, I had a horrible cut off on the passenger side. Adjusting the bulb in the socket helped a little, but I'm still disappointing with it.

 

Uh oh , can u post a pic of ur cut off line? I'm sure all of us wanna see , I'm gonna be very , very careful

 

Uh oh , can u post a pic of ur cut off line? I'm sure all of us wanna see , I'm gonna be very , very careful

 

When you do the lens spacing you don't necessarily need to clip the holder back in,you just put your spacers in, hold the lens over the projector and go from there. Make sure your bulb is fully seated and some shield adjustments may be required.

 

Here is my driver's side:


Driver's at 20'




And the passenger side at 50':


Passenger side at 20'


Passenger side with a spacer at the bottom of the bulb seat to help correct the "sagging" passenger side:


Here is both:

 

Why don't you just adjust the angle of the headlight?

 

I think it's an optics issue that is magnified with clear lenses. The stock cut off gets so blurred at 50', you'd never know it was that bad. I tried rotating the lens and using a spacer. Nothing I did made any difference until I angled the bulb downward in the housing. This pushed the brightest portion of the output behind the shield, but the cutoff was much flatter and sharper.

 

i really want to do this mod...

btw, i was trying to remove my headlight a few days ago and there seemed to be a metal piece that goes from the ballast onto the frame of the car? and since the ballast is bolted on the headlight, i couldnt really remove the headlight. i've taken apart plenty of headlights before but my tl confuses me.

 

That thing just connects to the frame and there's two bolts on each side. Not really sure what it's for, either an anti theft or some sort of heatsink for the ballast. I just got the headlights out and cut off the piece that connects to the frame of the car, some other people just completely throw it out.

 

okay so i want to do this mod but i want to know everything about it before i begin.

from what i know i have to be prepared to space out the zkwr lens to get the best output. what kind of spacers are we talking about here? i have heard of cereal box spacers or something but im really not sure about it.

and i may have to bend the cutoff shield as indicated in the DIY on hidplanet.

does anyone have any pics or descriptions of the spacer mod or cutoff shield mod? i'd hate to mess something up.

anything else i need to be aware of?

 

btw, i've seen plenty of zkwr and oem output pics but i havent seen any side by side. how much better is it? does the width stay the same? does it get brighter? how's the color after the mod? etc...

 

Here is the OEM shot from The Retrofit Source


And with the ZKWr:


My output is way brighter. I can't say that I notice that it's wider. Also, I did not do the color mod and my color is crazy. I just wanted a razor sharp cutoff but I have so much color it's embarrassing. When I'm at a light behind a white car, it lights up blue like a neon sign. I'm afraid people think I'm like one of those dumb fucks in the trucks with blue lights blinding everyone, except mine is cut off from the trunk up. There's just a lot of color on everything.

 

What bulbs do you have?

 

Just running stock bulbs.

 

i just ordered the zkw-r lens from retrofitsource. i would have bought the real zkw if the price was lower...anyways, hoping to do the swap soon. i DONT need to do any spacing mods because its the zkw-r right? only the real zkw needs spacing? and from what i read, i should just push back the shield cutoff TOWARDS the bulb just slightly?

 

Not every projector is the same. Some need spacing some need shield bending.

I got my real ZKW's off eBay for $90 a lot better than I paid when I was doing a retro for my stratus using TL projectors and ZkW lenses. I paid $300 for those bad boys

 

So maybe I just needed to move my shield? Won't it only bend one way since it's bi-xenon? Meaning I could probably bend it back, but not forward.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/creating-perfect-tl-headlight-another-headlight-clearing-adventure-625556/

 

Its a metal clip on the headlight projector. Use a flat head and gently pop it out. Some use cardboard to use about a 2mm spacer for the perfect cut off, but sometimes its not needed. In order to do the change you need to open the headlight. While you are in there, black it out, remove the amber, add CF or some halos/LEDs. I offer this service so please feel free to ask if you want this done.

 

Honestly I'm not sure. I'm assuming it can be done both ways some how. I've heard of people pushing it towards the bulb or away from it. I've never messed with shield bending, to afraid of messing something up.

 

Well, I got the lenses today but seems like they must've been in a hurry or something because it didn't come with prep pads n no decal ;o( and my lenses are chipped... I emailed them about the issues. Hopefully I hear bout them in the morning... by the way, how bout I change the shroud also to the gatlin gun? Looks nice, yes or no?

 

Around the edge? Thats normal.

 

I don't think you can change the stock shroud. I'm sure you could if your wanting to go with cutting the original shroud bezel up and finding a way to get it to stick to the projector. It will definitely not be a plug and play modification that's for sure.

 

@acktl : it is normal? Hmmm , this shouldn't affect the lighting in anyway then right , would it still sit perfectly on the projector? I still want my decal from TRS though since it says its included ;oP

@nate: TRS says it can be done with some "trimming" how much trimming , Idk lol ill find out when I hear from them

 

Can you post a pic of the imperfection. Matt doess sell some projectors with defects at a reduced price and are tested to make sure they don't effect the output.

I'm assuming you're going to have to trim up the bezel that holds the stock shroud and also the bracket that holds the projector in place. Have you seen the insides of our headlights before?

 

No I haven't seen the inside yet,well only in pics here , and yes, ill take some pics when I get off work n post them up of the chips. Reason I brought up the chips was because I thought I was purchasing brand new ZKW-r lenses since it gave me the option of "PREMIUM" and "VALUE -$15" so I went with premium

 

Ya be careful of the tab that holds the lens in I have cracked one before.

 

talked with TRS, I'm getting my lenses replaced with some perfect ones YAY

 

This is where things you get difficult I think, also making it look clean with the hacked up shroud bezel





This is what the shroud holder looks like

 

Thanks for the pics, now I have an idea of what ill be facing. Not too bad, just need to take my time. I'll probably be doing this mod next week since I have to Exchange my lenses

 

anyone got any pics of the cutoff shield? is it easy to bend it? i just want to see what it looks like so i know what im up against when i put in my zkw-r lens.

 

Just took these for you







The shield sits on the brackets of the reflector bowl


Here's the reflector bowl with the ground limited shield


Here's a pic of the lens retainer clip