2014 Acura ILX 5000K HID Install - The Retrofit Source
04-13-2014, 02:02 PM
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2014 Acura ILX 5000K HID Install - The Retrofit Source
Hey guys! This is my first post, so I apologize in advance if I screw anything up.
I just bought a 2014 Acura ILX Base model, and I quickly got to lightly customizing it. I plasti-dipped the wheels black (the vehicle is Bellanova White Pearl,) and now I've added some HIDs. And that's what this post is all about!
My other car is a near factory-condition 1991 Honda CRX Si, and I've had HIDs installed in her for years. They were purchased off of eBay or something similar about four years ago, and I never really thought much of them except that they were definitely brighter than my factory halogens.
When it came down to picking HIDs for my ILX, I knew I couldn't go with the same tacky eBay ones, so I went all out, and after Googling the heck out of HIDs, I settled on www.TheRetrofitSource.com. They're probably not big news to much of you, as they seem pretty dang popular, but they were new to me, and I was stunned by the reviews.
So anyways, I had no idea if a retrofit kit was something I could do, or something I could afford to have somebody else do, so I sent an email into TRS for some help. I just told them that I was wondering what would be best, and what kits would fit my car.
Almost immediately, TRS got back to me with the most detailed email I have ever read from a customer service representative. They broke down exactly what to purchase if I wanted a full retrofit of the projectors, and exactly what I should grab if I wanted the more basic HID system, all the way down to the right shrouds, harnesses, etc.
I went with the HID kit, the H11 Morimoto Elite HID System. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid...l#.U0sCMfldXOU
So, there were a few different options on the page as far as what would be compatible for my car. I didn't know what to pick, but they let me know that it would be best to grab the XB35 bulbs (a $20.00 upcharge,) and the HD Relay for the harness.
The XB35 bulbs are essentially the same as the 3Five bulbs that come with the kit, except that they are the H11B set-up, so the ground wire on the bulb sits at six-o-clock when they're locked into the headlight and therefore eliminate the potential of casting a shadow throughout the projector assembly. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...h11-bulbs.html
The HD Relay was the part that surprised the crap out of me. You see, with my old eBay HID kit, I simply plugged the factory harness into the ballast input, and then plugged the ballast output into the new bulbs. That's it.
Sure, it was simple, but what it meant was that my bulbs now relied entirely on the power from the car, which is of course susceptible to the changes in load when the cooling fan comes on, the a/c compressor, other lights, the radio, etc.
With the HD Relay, I now had independent power, direct from the battery to my lights, meaning a faster and smoother warm-up time for the bulbs, and no flickering or dimming when other accessories turned on. It also meant a bit more install time, but nothing crazy.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.U0sEDPldXOU
So as far as the install goes, it took one of my technicians (I manage a Honda Dealership Service Department,) about thirty minutes to complete the whole process.
Since my lowbeams are internally wired, he needed to simply cut out a hole on the back of the headlight caps to feed the bulb harnesses through. The bulbs themselves came with the wiring already fed through and the cap that they run through sat perfectly flush with the hole we drilled. The headlights are still completely sealed!
That was the "toughest" part. I use quotations because it really only took him about ten minutes to do.
After that, the tricky part was finding where to mount the HD Relay and the ballasts. Even in my super cramped engine compartment, he was able to very easily mount the relay between the front of the battery on the beam. It's black plastic, and looks rugged as hell, so it fits right in with the factory engine cover and the fuse box. A trained Honda technician would still have to look a few times (after pulling the engine cover) to realize that this wasn't part of the car originally.
Next, he attached the provided mounting hardware for the ballasts, and simply mounted them using factory 10mm bolts in the engine compartment. So just like the HD relay, no holes needed to be drilled, no cutting, no modification. Just zip out a couple of bolts, and zip them right back in.
On the passenger side, there's really nowhere to hide the ballast, so it sits right between the high and low-side A/C lines. Fortunately, the factory look of the Morimoto 3Five ballast makes it blend right in, even in a slightly odd place. At first glance, it looks maybe like a resistor, but not like an aftermarket accessory.
To button everything up, he tied the wires (which were just about the perfect length) to the factory harnesses using the factory plastic clamps. The wires that come with the Elite HID system are thick enough to look beefy, strong, and durable, but thin enough that they can be hidden away simply by tying them to an existing harness.
We put the front engine cover on, and it's as if nobody has ever been under the hood (which is good, because the car only has about 245 miles as of today!)
Of course, what's more important than the OEM look, is how the light looks in the projector.
I could not be happier! It looks like the HIDs were meant to be there. Next to the HID, the halogen looks like it doesn't belong. It is a night and day difference, and the cutoff (considering oncoming traffic) is exactly the same.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/
I just bought a 2014 Acura ILX Base model, and I quickly got to lightly customizing it. I plasti-dipped the wheels black (the vehicle is Bellanova White Pearl,) and now I've added some HIDs. And that's what this post is all about!
My other car is a near factory-condition 1991 Honda CRX Si, and I've had HIDs installed in her for years. They were purchased off of eBay or something similar about four years ago, and I never really thought much of them except that they were definitely brighter than my factory halogens.
When it came down to picking HIDs for my ILX, I knew I couldn't go with the same tacky eBay ones, so I went all out, and after Googling the heck out of HIDs, I settled on www.TheRetrofitSource.com. They're probably not big news to much of you, as they seem pretty dang popular, but they were new to me, and I was stunned by the reviews.
So anyways, I had no idea if a retrofit kit was something I could do, or something I could afford to have somebody else do, so I sent an email into TRS for some help. I just told them that I was wondering what would be best, and what kits would fit my car.
Almost immediately, TRS got back to me with the most detailed email I have ever read from a customer service representative. They broke down exactly what to purchase if I wanted a full retrofit of the projectors, and exactly what I should grab if I wanted the more basic HID system, all the way down to the right shrouds, harnesses, etc.
I went with the HID kit, the H11 Morimoto Elite HID System. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/hid...l#.U0sCMfldXOU
So, there were a few different options on the page as far as what would be compatible for my car. I didn't know what to pick, but they let me know that it would be best to grab the XB35 bulbs (a $20.00 upcharge,) and the HD Relay for the harness.
The XB35 bulbs are essentially the same as the 3Five bulbs that come with the kit, except that they are the H11B set-up, so the ground wire on the bulb sits at six-o-clock when they're locked into the headlight and therefore eliminate the potential of casting a shadow throughout the projector assembly. http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...h11-bulbs.html
The HD Relay was the part that surprised the crap out of me. You see, with my old eBay HID kit, I simply plugged the factory harness into the ballast input, and then plugged the ballast output into the new bulbs. That's it.
Sure, it was simple, but what it meant was that my bulbs now relied entirely on the power from the car, which is of course susceptible to the changes in load when the cooling fan comes on, the a/c compressor, other lights, the radio, etc.
With the HD Relay, I now had independent power, direct from the battery to my lights, meaning a faster and smoother warm-up time for the bulbs, and no flickering or dimming when other accessories turned on. It also meant a bit more install time, but nothing crazy.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.U0sEDPldXOU
So as far as the install goes, it took one of my technicians (I manage a Honda Dealership Service Department,) about thirty minutes to complete the whole process.
Since my lowbeams are internally wired, he needed to simply cut out a hole on the back of the headlight caps to feed the bulb harnesses through. The bulbs themselves came with the wiring already fed through and the cap that they run through sat perfectly flush with the hole we drilled. The headlights are still completely sealed!
That was the "toughest" part. I use quotations because it really only took him about ten minutes to do.
After that, the tricky part was finding where to mount the HD Relay and the ballasts. Even in my super cramped engine compartment, he was able to very easily mount the relay between the front of the battery on the beam. It's black plastic, and looks rugged as hell, so it fits right in with the factory engine cover and the fuse box. A trained Honda technician would still have to look a few times (after pulling the engine cover) to realize that this wasn't part of the car originally.
Next, he attached the provided mounting hardware for the ballasts, and simply mounted them using factory 10mm bolts in the engine compartment. So just like the HD relay, no holes needed to be drilled, no cutting, no modification. Just zip out a couple of bolts, and zip them right back in.
On the passenger side, there's really nowhere to hide the ballast, so it sits right between the high and low-side A/C lines. Fortunately, the factory look of the Morimoto 3Five ballast makes it blend right in, even in a slightly odd place. At first glance, it looks maybe like a resistor, but not like an aftermarket accessory.
To button everything up, he tied the wires (which were just about the perfect length) to the factory harnesses using the factory plastic clamps. The wires that come with the Elite HID system are thick enough to look beefy, strong, and durable, but thin enough that they can be hidden away simply by tying them to an existing harness.
We put the front engine cover on, and it's as if nobody has ever been under the hood (which is good, because the car only has about 245 miles as of today!)
Of course, what's more important than the OEM look, is how the light looks in the projector.
I could not be happier! It looks like the HIDs were meant to be there. Next to the HID, the halogen looks like it doesn't belong. It is a night and day difference, and the cutoff (considering oncoming traffic) is exactly the same.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/
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