Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I place an order?
- How do your services work?
- How do I ship my headlamps?
- How do I aim my retrofitted headlamps?
- Why Retrofit?
- Will my current HID kit work with the retrofits you do?
- What bulbs do you use in your retrofits?
- What is the "Color Mod"?
- So where does all that color come from when I pass a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes?
Services
Any services viewed on our website will require you to either send your current lights in or purchase a separate set of lights to be modified. For amber removal or painting we ask each customer to ship their headlamps as soon as they are ready as long as we have their information in our system. The customer is asked to ship his/her headlamps without removing the bulbs, ballast, or any wiring harnesses. The turn around time for amber removal/painting is usually a same day turn around service. Depending on how backed up we are, it could take up to 3 days. Projector retrofits are another unique service LightWerkz provides. This service requires a deposit and a short waiting period since we have to allocate all parts needed for the retrofit. We will contact the customer when their turn comes up and will ask them to send the headlamps over in order to begin the project. The customer is sent an invoice and tracking at which point the lamps are ready to be shipped back once it's been paid.
Why Retrofit?
Retrofitting basically allows us to convert your current head lights with better lighting technology. This allows the customer to obtain the absolute best performance on the market since all the projectors we offer come out of cars with the best lighting. Many options are available since we can use practically any projector and shroud setup. Custom colors are available as well for the housings, which can give you a fully custom look to separate you from the rest of the crowd. These conversions are hand built by our team so you can rest assured the final product will be better then anything else offered by aftermarket head light manufacturers. With our conversions there are no compromises, you get the best performance and looks all in one!
Will I be able to retain the use of my current HID kit?
If you purchased an "HID Conversion" kit for your halogen housing headlamps, the answer is yes, you can use the kit if you buy the adapters ($40). They allow an aftermarket kit to be used for a D2S bulb.
The HID kit you bought for your halogen headlamps are called rebased HID kits. Its merely a conversion, and not the proper way of obtaining all the benefits from a true HID projector setup since the bulbs are rebased, and the projector was made for halogen. Converting the aftermarket kit lets you use a D2S bulb, and a projector that will be superior to the halogen setup.
What bulbs do you recommend for your retrofits?
In an effort to retain optimum light output, we use 4300k OEM Philips bulbs. We recommend only OEM bulbs such as Philips for example since Philips is the number one manufacturer of HID bulbs. The Philips OEM D2S bulb is rated at 4300K at 12.8 volts and produces 3200 lumens of light. The Philips Ultinon D2S is 6000K at 12.8 volts and produces 2400 lumens of light. As you can see, with all other factors remaining constant, the brightness of an HID bulb declines the higher up the color index you go.
Many aftermarket "HID Bulb" companies sell the popular 8000K bulbs, which they advertise as 2000 lumens bright. This is barely a marked improvement over halogens, and will produce more glare and eye fatigue than it is beneficial. 4300K has been proven through tireless independent research by the Germans and Japanese to be the most functional, truest white and thus the brightest possible color temperature.
Every car manufacturer in the world (including BMW and Audi) uses none other than a standard 4300K gas-discharge bulb. The reason being is that 4300K is daylight white in color and produces the same color visible light as direct sunlight. This is least fatiguing functional color on the eyes and produces the most comfortable contrast on the road.
I keep hearing about the "color mod", what the heck is it?
Color modding is also called the washer mod. This modification can be done in two places; one being in between the two halves of the projector, and the other being between the lens and lens holder. It's done for one main purpose, to increase color and to sharpen the output of the projector. Every project is done with the color mod unless otherwise requested. We believe every projector needs a little tweaking to bring out it's beauty, but we do it to a degree where it never decreases performance.
Why do the headlights of BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes always look so colorful?
The lens curvature at the edge bends the white light producing a "prism effect". White light is broken down to its fundamental colors. Blue light is high energy, and thus is absorbed last, traveling the furthest. With this prism effect, you'll notice that the projectors you see on BMW for example are only purple and blue from the sides, the top, and the bottom, but are always daylight white on the road and in the beam pattern. This phenomenon can be demonstrated when you watch an oncoming BMW hit a pothole or speed bump in the road and the car's nose pitches up and down. The headlights will flicker and "throw colors off", but returns to a solid-white beam pattern directly on the road. Trying to obtain all the color from just a bulb is not only incorrect, but also dangerous because the more color there is to the HID bulb itself, the less light output there will be.
How do I place an order?
Please contact us via email at sales@lightwerkz.net and be sure to include information on what type of service or products you are looking into as well as the year and model of your car. Once the order is placed, email us your shipping information as well as a paypal/google checkout email address so we can get all your information into our system. Forms of payment include google checkout, paypal, money orders, and cash. If you have questions, comments or concerns please do not hesitate to ask! *All orders paid through paypal & google are subject to a 3% surcharge fee.
How do I ship my headlamps?
If you are inexperienced with shipping, please stop by your local UPS or FedEx Kinkos stores, they will properly package your headlamps so they will be safe in transit. If you are packing yourself, please use bubble wrap and packing peanuts inside the box. Remove any tabs that are removable, but do not remove any bulbs, wiring harnesses, or ballasts. Make sure the headlamps so do move around in the box by adding additional packing peanuts. We are not responsible for any damages that occur in shipping. We use the same packing supplies that the customer uses, if you want your lamps to arrive in one piece, be sure to use all the appropriate materials to protect them! Before closing the box, please print out a paper with the following information: service request, contact info, and any other special instructions.
General aiming and alignment guide
To adjust height, refer to your manual on where the stock adjustments knobs are located on the rear end of the headlight. All retrofits done by LightWerkz utilize stock aiming adjustment knobs making its very easy to make adjustments when needed. Once you find the knob, the first thing you want to do is find a wall at which you can park 25' feet away and still remain on level ground.
You will always want to use the left side of the beam that your projector produces as the measuring guide. The left side of the beam should be 2" lower (at 25') then the height of the center of the projector from the ground. Meaning if the center of the projector is 30" from the ground, your left side of the beam should be 28" off the ground if you are parked 25 away. Once you setup the drivers side projector, the passenger is easy since all you need to do is line it up at the same height as the driver.
This is an example of a properly adjusted s2000 retrofit
Also notice that once you begin moving further away from the wall, there will only appear to be one step. The drivers side will always overlap the passenger side if adjust properly.
At approximately 5' away
At approximately 25' away
Here we can see that the right side of the beam is clearly doing its job of illuminating the right hand side of the garages, however it doesnt come up off the ground on the left hand side. This means you will not be blinding people!
Now we can move on to the fun part; road test! To get the most out of your newly acquired projector setup, proper aiming is absolutely mandatory. You have the general settings now that you did the technical adjustment, however there are many variables that could have made your lights too high or too low. To make sure you are not blinding anyone, you eventually want your lights to hit the ground at a distance (the left side of the beam). The right side will be raised due to the DOT step in the shield, and this is good because the road signs and right hand side of the road will be well illuminated while the left side is not blinding oncoming traffic. When you are driving behind someone on the highway its generally OK to have the lights bouncing around the car's license plate area however if the lights reach to the side mirrors or even the rear view mirror they are adjusted too high. You do not want to blind people from the rear or make it look like you are flashing them, this could be dangerous!
If you are driving behind a car and notice one light seems to be brighter then the other, your lights will need to be readjusted. This could take a few times, its just trial and error, but the end result is worth it. Once the lights are properly aimed, the color flicker from a distance will also be on point, meaning both projectors should emit the same colors at a distance.
As far as left/right adjustments, its important to have your steps at the right position. The driver's side is more important since oncoming traffic needs to deal with it. Ideally you want it at about 95 degrees; this way the right side of the beam will not interfere with oncoming traffic, or make it look like one headlight is brighter then the other. Space the passenger side beam out 2-3 feet away at 25'. Again, the drivers side is more important, adjusting the passenger side is more about preference. Personally I like to have them nice and close together so color flicker is basically 100% perfect, however having them too close will make your output a bit narrower. More spacing will give you a bit of width if that's what you're looking for.