Hey I'm trying to decide whether to use my OEM housings for a quad projector retrofit, or to just get the Ebay Housings and use them.

I'll be saving money using the Ebay housings because I'm sending them to the states to get retro'd. Otherwise I'd just use the OEM housings.

It'd also be nice to have a spare set rather than being Headlight-less for over a month.


I've hunted for a day and haven't found ANY reviews on the actual FITMENT or SEALING of the Ebay headlights for the 2003-2004 sedan. or even for any other ebay headlights, all anyone talks about are how the lighting looks and how crappy the output is. this doesn't matter to me as I'm retrofitting them, I just want a solid housing with good materials and a decent lens, and good fitment.

Any assistance on reviews? Links to any threads that I may have missed that review FITMENT?

Thanks in advance!

 

so are you talking about aftermarket headlights on ebay or oem headlights on ebay?? i do not have any aftermarket brand but they should be complete and sealed. if you are worried about it get a decent set of oem headlights as your spare. there are some vuys that have reviewed the zdash headlights on here.

 

ok i think im clear now. so you are thinking about modding the aftermarket headlights correct? regardless whomever does your retrofit will be responsible for resealing them. request they use new sealing glue

 

Yes sealing is not the concern so much as Quality of the housing and fitment. Some of these aftermarket headlights are brutal so I wanted some reviews on the fitment, how they follow the car's lines, if there's any gaps, etc.

Thanks for the reply!

 

Just stick with oem.. Pick up a set of 03-05 lights while your other ones get modded..

 

In for info as well, interested in getting halo's as well. And don't wanna go without headlights for a long time as I need to send them to the us as well.

 

Cost of OEM would defeat the purpose of this whole thing.

 

They are cheaper than the eBay ones..

 

Please show me where I can buy OEM housings for less than $150 shipped for a pair.

Zero sarcasm if you know how this is possible I really need to know.

 

okay some of these people are total idiots lmfao

Okay so I know a few people using ebay black lights, the fitment is pretty good only thing is they aren't sealed all that great but if you get retro'd they should be fine! I say get them & do ur retro.

 

i don't recommend retrofitting anything but BRAND-NEW OEM units. it will save you money in the long run. Ebay one's aren't meant to handle high heat from projectors. used OEM lens will most likely already have stress cracks. also you can buff a used OEM lens to death until it looks perfect... then you turn your lights on and realize your gonna need new OEM lenses.

 

Didn't know the sedan ones were that cheap.. but for 150 shipped that should answer your question to use them or not..

 

this.

Or, buy the garbage ebay ones, and use them until your OEM ones have been retrofitted.

But depending on the condition of your OEM ones, buying brand new OEMs for a retrofit is the way to go. If your OEM ones you have now are in excellent condition, then use those. You could always try to find a junkyard that has some extra lights you can use while your OEMs get retrofitted.

 

Both great points and helpful advice thanks guys this is what I'm looking for
Because I'm getting good advice on this and some actual answers, I'll elaborate on my circumstances a bit more so you guys have the full picture.

I live in Canada, to ship my OEM lights down to the states, and then back would cost about $300, plus the cost of retrofit plus bulbs then I still have to wire things up on my end. I'll be over $1000 easily if I go this route.

The idea of getting the ebay lights was to save the shipping cost, but essentially, I"ll end up breaking even. The benefit is I'll have a working spare set of good condition OEM headlights on hand. And I could recoup some losses by selling them if I decide to.
Also by the time this project takes place, I'll only have 1 car and would have to borrow a car during the retrofit if I send my OEM ones out.

Buying the Ebay ones for spares and still shipping my OEM ones out and back is not an option due to cost. Also finding a under $200 pair of OEMs is pretty much impossible regardless of where you look so getting spare OEM's isn't really an option either.

Basically, I"m stuck with the following options to sum up:

1) Send my OEM lights down and end up with a solid housing retrofitted, no spare headlights. I'll be out of a car during the process.
2) Buy Ebay Housings and have them shipped directly to buddy doing Retrofit, then I can keep my OEM's on hand don't have to worry about a second car during retrofit, and I'll have a spare set. I'll be using lower quality Ebay housings though.
3) Do the retrofit myself. This will cut costs in half but I'll still be out of a car during the process. And I don't really have the time to reasearch what I need to as well as perform the retro.

Cost of 1 & 2 is the same roughly, but Option 2 will allow me to sell my OEM set if I choose to afterwards, which will at minimum cover shipping costs. Option 3 is half the cost but I don't want to get into this project I have too much other stuff on the go.



Quality of the Ebay housings was the only question I had holding me back from getting them done, seems like the most intellegent way to do it. But poor fitment is not an option for me. Hence this thread

 

who's doing your retrofit in the states? if it's BausAuto, he should be able to get you new OEM's local SoCal for $300 IIRC.