[DrunkieTheBear]

Here you go...

I'll be doing a retrofit, haven't figured out what projectors, but I think the EvoX-R will be what I drop in.

 

[andybisnut]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. Do you feel like posting details of your retrofit? I'm so green when it comes to HIDs....

How hard was it to take apart?

I still have a "dark spot" issue (2006 w/ HIDs), and have replaced bulbs, to no avail. Guessing the bowl in mine is burned/darkened. Can one replace just the bowl? Even used assemblies at junkyards around here are asking $500 for Genuine Saab ones. I believe eEuroparts sells a new Valeo assembly for $600, but I just can't bring myself to plunk down the cash.

If there was a cheaper fix, that would be awesome. Or if I am going to bite the bullet, I may want to spend the cash on a retrofit.

Do the bowls get replaced in your retrofit scenario?

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. Do you feel like posting details of your retrofit? I'm so green when it comes to HIDs....

How hard was it to take apart?

I still have a "dark spot" issue (2006 w/ HIDs), and have replaced bulbs, to no avail. Guessing the bowl in mine is burned/darkened. Can one replace just the bowl? Even used assemblies at junkyards around here are asking $500 for Genuine Saab ones. I believe eEuroparts sells a new Valeo assembly for $600, but I just can't bring myself to plunk down the cash.

If there was a cheaper fix, that would be awesome. Or if I am going to bite the bullet, I may want to spend the cash on a retrofit.

Do the bowls get replaced in your retrofit scenario?

I ended up cutting them open and will do a reseal (this is common practice) since these are permaseal. Matt D has actually pryed these open using a heat gun and a lot of work. I was doing that until the screwdriver slipped and went about 1/2" into my thumb, my nerves are still a little messed up on it. I've opened permaseal lights before, I've done a number of retrofits before, first time I ever seriously hurt myself. I'd imagine the 06s are just as bad.

I can't tell you if new headlights will make a difference or not, I am willing to bet you have different projectors than us with 02-05, probably still made by Valeo but slightly different design.

I also don't think your bowl is burnt since these are Chrome and not a polished silver bowl. Hella's were the ones with issues and Valeo's tend to be good about it.

There are people who can retrofit your lights for money, tons of guys out there, you might want to look into that.

I will be documenting what I do incase other people want to follow suit. With a retrofit you are replacing the entire projector. I am wondering if just clearing the lens and modding the cutoff shield for a wider angle would be enough to actually make these setups worth while. It seems that the bowl also could used a shift up so that the intensity is a little more below the cutoff, because a ton of light is in the high beam.

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

Did some projector testing tonight. The projectors I picked up are some Morimoto B-Stock projectors, these usually work just as good as the Morimotos you buy on the shelf and they definitely seem to perform well. These are not the projectors I will be using, I just picked these up to benchmark stuff and have some fun with them, I may use them down the line.

OEM Projector, notice the camera doesn't have to "dim" (adjust shutter speed if you will) compared to the Morimoto D2S projectors




Here are the Morimoto Projectors, notice how much strong the light is under the cutoff, how much the camera had to adjust the shutter speed, also the width and strength of the light even at the edges of the cutoff, the width is definitely better. The sharper cutoff is because of the clear lens.





Wish I had a wall that white in this house and longer...and clear of distractions LOL.

Here is a comparison of size with bulbs, looks like things will fit perfectly



This is how the Morimoto lines up with the mount point


Thoughts:
Well it is clear our projectors are weak in the power under the cutoff and width. Would a clear lens, tuning, and cutting out the upper cutoff shield help? Maybe, I may play with that aspect some more down the line.

I was planning on the EvoX-R's but with looking at the back of the mounting point, I'm wondering if I could make a Lexus RX350 projector work, since I could cut and drill holes where I need it.

There is also no guarantee that these EvoX-R's will fit perfectly, I only hear that the Hella E55s are a nice drop in fit.

 

[qwikredline]

Good work drunkie! TRS sell some new stuff that mounts easier, iirc mini something or other. good work. I dont want to open mine to make them better, I will probably have someone I know who is skilled and experienced do it. Opening these suckers is an adventure to begin with, and its all downhill after that lol

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

Yeah these are the Morimoto Mini D2S projectors.

BoostCustoms let it slip that Hella E55s bolt right in, the EvoX-R projectors are replicas of the Hella E55s but better.

The Lexus RX350 projectors, the Acura TL and S2k's are all really the best of the best, but I'll take something that just bolts right in too.

It maybe sometime before I get back to this project, I'm going to busy with house work, car work and truck work. Trying to get the last of inside house projects done before summer, car projects before Saabs at Carlisle and the Truck stuff before too long.

So I might not get back to this until mid to late summer.

 

[9-5r]

Morimoto makes great lighting.

One thing I want to say is THANK YOU for keeping the projectors on. I get so ticked off when a car comes up behind me, or in the other lane, and they have these bright *** HID lamps with no projector.. so the light just runs off all over the place blindingly. Ugh.. My biggest pet peeve.
But at least they "look cool" right? :angry:

/end rant

Anyway, good comparison. Oh, how old is that stock lamp you have for the comparison?

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

I have the Xenon Projector setup on the car now, just hate how awful the output is, but I do agree PnP users are worse. I've done projector or HID retrofits in my cars since 2006.

I could have bought halogen headlights and retrofitted those, options would have been easier...and I probably would have done a quad retrofit that way. I like the shroud on the factory projector headlights, so that is why I am looking into this option.

The headlights were manufactured in 2009, yet they are for 2002-2005 9-5's, the projectors are exactly the same design since they were probably designed in 2000-2001 (the first 2002 with projectors rolled out in 2001), the could be even older in design...obviously alot has changed since then. The 2006-2009 projectors are definitely different as the color flicker is a different color, still manufactured by Valeo. I have not seen the output of a 2006-2006 xenon 9-5 headlight.

I have played with the idea of doing some LED designs or Angel eyes...or even a Quad retrofit using the Matchbox Morimoto's in the flash to pass location, but I like to keep it simple, because once I sell my current headlights on the car, if I have something I have to fix, I'll be taking the car down until it is fixed...so I'm keeping it simple. Yellow reflector mod, painting the projector ring shroud, and ghost angel eyes.

 

[wjogert]

...Even used assemblies at junkyards around here are asking $500 for Genuine Saab ones.

OUCH!! I pulled 2 factory HID's, complete functional lamp assemblies, from a 2006 in a local NH scrap yard for $60 each.

 

[andybisnut]

I am watching this thread with great interest. My mother-in-law has an '02 Lexus RX300, and even that thing has pretty amazing HIDs. I wonder how hard it would be to retrofit the internals of those into the Saab 06-09 assemblies.

Does anybody viewing this thread have a driver's side assembly from an 06-09 that they'd like to sell?

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

OUCH!! I pulled 2 factory HID's, complete functional lamp assemblies, from a 2006 in a local NH scrap yard for $60 each.

Hot damn that is a good deal!

 

[qwikredline]

Damn straight it is a good deal. Any more? U selling?

 

[qwikredline]

OUCH!! I pulled 2 factory HID's, complete functional lamp assemblies, from a 2006 in a local NH scrap yard for $60 each.

Gosh you got me so thinking about this! Pics and receipts or it didn't happen lol

 

[ScottGags]

I completely retrofitted my 04' 9-5 headlights, its one hell of a project to get these ripped open, heat gun/oven method works best than using a dremel to get rid of the perma-seal. I'm using Mini H1 projectors from TRS on mine, Only thing I dislike is the amount of light that goes above the cutoff is minimal....

 

[Marcosi]

Finally a thread about retrofit and customising SAAB lights. I have a 9-5 2006 with the face lift (Dame Edna) lights, bi xenon. I just bought an extra pair of used lights as I really want to upgrade the projectors. The original is not really good.

So I'm looking for the latest state of the art that I can install without to much hustle. Unfortunately I did not find one singe company here in Europe that does this, so I have to try to make it myself.

So any info is welcome helping me get some great headlights

Maybe there is even projectors that can handle LED bulbs?

This guys suggested to make only one projector to work as bi xenon and make the high beam a "fake" light https://www.facebook.com/RIHIDscom-164486470254200/?fref=ts&ref=br_tf They seems really professional, but just postal and taxes charges sending to US would cost more than labour and parts

 

[qwikredline]

stay close to Drunkie Bear he seems to have a clue among others.

As far as projector LED, I would forget it for now. I have LED on a Chevy Avalanche for Daytime Running Lights. DRL HID's set error codes with out a cancelling device ( which you can buy from TRS) But LED are plug and play. That said, while the light beam is a nice color. there is very poor illumination strength, and an inconsistent beam pattern.Totally not worth a dime. Stay away from current LED replacement bulbs.

Bottom line is the aftermarket is 18 months to 36 months away from a probable solution for LED projector headlights. OEM LED projector versions are very expensive.

Kinda like house LED bulbs. 18 months ago Lowes and Canadian Tire had no LED house stuff, Home Depot had Philips Hue first gen and that was that.

Now its totally different and the prices (50 dollars for a smart LED A19 bulb) are tumbling. We are talking ten bucks for an A10 LED bulb or less

And think about it; ten years on, and the much heralded Xenon you have is road side trash.


Unless you want LED for delineation (audi-esque) then with resistors you can make them function. But you will want to carefully measure and experiment to get the right values, there is no real road map. The BCM and the PCM work together especially for switching lights on /off left/right turn signals etc.

Its not that simple. So get lots of good input, a good multimeter, school yourself on OHM's law and have at it.

Enjoy the trip.

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

Redline is right. There won't be any drop in bulbs for HID projectors (unless someone makes a bulb that fits in the projector and puts the light source right in the sweet spot, sweet spot being where the light source focuses correctly). As for LED projectors ready to go, there are some 2nd hand from OEMs like a Nissan Murano, Toyota Corolla, but they will not be an easy direct drop in, a lot o work would be required to get them in.

There is someone in the other 9-5 Section actually going through with his (since I shelved mine for now) he is using the replica Hella E55 projectors which are now the Evo-XR projectors, they are a very close fit. Check it out.

As for an 06 retrofit, its not going to be a walk in the park. Our headlights are permasealed and incredibly hard to open...but NOT impossible. There are techniques and tools out there now that will open them up. As for internals, I'm not exactly sure how they will look but it will be similar since a number of the parts transfered over to the 06+.

My other suggestion is to look up my 55watt ballast conversion thread. This will give you about a 30% boost in light output, but it also disables the xenon leveling system (a good thing IMO).

Right now, I'm caught up with building a new motor, transmission, custom coilovers and a few other projects...I plan to come back to the headlights and will someday just not sure when LOL. I usually get the itch to mess with them every year around December when the days get short LOL

 

[Marcosi]

Thank's for the bad new guys LOL. So if it's ever gona b done I guess what the guys at rhids.com suggested to just change the low beam projector to a bi xenon and leave the high beam (make some kind of fake light).

They have done this dlr's, but I don't know if they upgraded projector on it too. But they can do it.

Or isn't there better lenses, just the glass to change?

 

[Marcosi]

Redline is right. There won't be any drop in bulbs for HID projectors (unless someone makes a bulb that fits in the projector and puts the light source right in the sweet spot, sweet spot being where the light source focuses correctly). As for LED projectors ready to go, there are some 2nd hand from OEMs like a Nissan Murano, Toyota Corolla, but they will not be an easy direct drop in, a lot o work would be required to get them in.

There is someone in the other 9-5 Section actually going through with his (since I shelved mine for now) he is using the replica Hella E55 projectors which are now the Evo-XR projectors, they are a very close fit. Check it out.

As for an 06 retrofit, its not going to be a walk in the park. Our headlights are permasealed and incredibly hard to open...but NOT impossible. There are techniques and tools out there now that will open them up. As for internals, I'm not exactly sure how they will look but it will be similar since a number of the parts transfered over to the 06+.

My other suggestion is to look up my 55watt ballast conversion thread. This will give you about a 30% boost in light output, but it also disables the xenon leveling system (a good thing IMO).

Right now, I'm caught up with building a new motor, transmission, custom coilovers and a few other projects...I plan to come back to the headlights and will someday just not sure when LOL. I usually get the itch to mess with them every year around December when the days get short LOL

Thanks for all the input, but I don't want to loose the levelling

 

[DrunkieTheBear]

I cut mine a month or 2 ago...never looked back.

Many retrofits are static.

That leveling system is for when you have extra people or luggage in back, really its pointless in my mind. In Europe I know some of them got manual leveling switch.