[HERMINIO]

Purpose: How to retrofit a 300C OEM halogen housing with a 300C OEM HID components or complete housing

Models: 300C with OEM halogen housing

Difficulty: easy to moderate. Recommended to be assisted by another person so help when removing/installing the bumper fascia

Time: 1-2 hours

Here are the part #'s you need for the project:

a) Valeo projector 89202526
b) Valeo Ballast 89035113
c) Cable from ballast to bulb 0-0953726-4
d) Connector from ballast to car harness
e) Rivets Mopar part# CBC0A060. Came in bags of 5
f) plastic rivet setter part #HUCPR75 made by Huck. This tool is needed to install the rivets. www.handsontools.com
g) 9006/9005 high wattage headlamp harness
h) 50V capacitor to be placed between pins 85 & 86 of the harness relay to avoid flickering

Tools required:

a) Phillips & Flat head screwdrivers
b) Wire cutter
c) Sockets or wrenches
d) Needle nose pliers
e) trim panel removal tool

Hi guys/gals members. I think that I went the first one on this forum to own two 300C's at the same time, one with the HID option and the other without, so I know the difference in illumination between both of them.

As many of you did, I changed the halogen bulbs for better ones and although found one that is satisfactory I want more. So I looked at the two headlamp assemblies to see any differences in the back because the front looks the same. The only ones seen, they are still mounted, are the projectors and the low bulbs connectors.

I began to search the internet for used 300C's headlamp assemblies and found one in Ebay. The housing was broken but had all components except the turn signal bulb. I bid and win. When received I verified it and the projector is attached with 4 screws and is easy to remove from the housing as well as the ballast that is attached with 6 screws on the bottom of the assembly. This is the reason you don't see it when the assembly is on the car.

I removed all components and tested them in the car harness to verify if the output voltage is the one needed to turn it on. The voltage with the car off is a constant 12.2V and yes, turned the ballast and the HID bulb without problems or fluctuating voltage. This proved me that the retrofit is an easy going project and is almost a plug and play one.

I searched Ebay again and found an auction for two Cadillac SRX complete headlamp assemblies. When looked at one of the projector photos the part # showed on their sticker is the same one as for the 300C so I said, this the one. Win again.

When received I tried to remove the projector but in this particular case I have to force and broke the housing plastics to remove it. I removed everything and assembled all together and tested both sides in the car harness and everything works as suppose to. So the testing is over and now comes the final installation.

It seems that any D1S HID Valeo headlamp assembly use the same projector so verify that the part # is the same as above and you are done.

On my next thread I will show the installation process and photos.

Herminio

 

[HERMINIO]

Finally I Did The Oem Hid Retrofit - Part 2

1) First you need to remove the front fascia because one of the assembly attachment screws is below it and blocked by the fascia.

I'll try to post the removal instructions from the service manual but are too big to downlad so if anyone is interested pm me and I send it in a word file.

a) Removal of the plastic rivets on the inner wheel well. Three for each side. Needs to drill or cut them and replace with part# CBC0A060 or use any other replacement rivet

Rivets removed from the inner wheelwell and fascia

b) Bolt that need to be removed from the top of the fascia

 

[HERMINIO]

Finally I Did The Oem Hid Retrofit - Part 3

Not showed but need to:

c) remove 4 black plastic pins on top of the fascia toward the engine bay

d) also 9 belly pan small screws underside the fascia

e) disconnect the electrical connectors

f) remove the fascia and place it over something soft so do not scratch it


Back of the fascia removed

Front of car without the fascia

2) Remove the headlamp bolts, 2 upper 1 under (showed below) for each side

 

[HERMINIO]

Finally I Did The Oem Hid Retrofit - Part 4

3) Installation of the HID components on the OEM halogen housing

The left assembly is the halogen one and the right one the HID. Are the same.

Back of the housings. See on the HID at the right the additional hole that is the one for the car harness connector for the ballast

Look that the HID housing have the opening on the bottom to place the ballast. The halogen one have the space but closed. I have no tried to open it because the space is too tight and the inner projector housing could be damage. If you found the complete OEM assembly is a plug and play deal.

Look the projector housing opening and the 4 screws to be removed for easy take out.

 

[HERMINIO]

Finally I Did The Oem Hid Retrofit - Part 5

The left one is the OEM ballast and the right one from the SRX. See that the OEM is slimmer so I have no space to place it under the assembly and placed it in another site. Remember that the cable connector is only 12" long.

The left one is the halogen projector and the right one the HID.

I installed the ballasts on the side of each top portion of the front fenders

 

[HERMINIO]

Finally I Did The Oem Hid Retrofit - Part 6 - Final

4) Installation of the high wattage harness to OEM harness

Because I always installed a high wattage harness to my cars, this one was already installed when I changed the OEM halogen bulbs for a higher wattage ones. So I have no photos of the installation but I will describe it.

There are two types of harness, a 9006/9005 combination (pic 1) and a 9006 one (pic 2). The difference is that the combination has two relays, one for low beam and the other for high one.

I installed my combination one on the right fender near the battery where a bracket is already there from the factory. Then you install the red wires directly to the battery, the OEM 9006/9005 connectors to the harness, the connector from the harness to the ballast looking for the pos & neg. sides and the black wires to chassis ground.

To avoid flickering you have two alternatives, connect the trigger wire from the relay to the parking light or side markers wiring (making the parking light inoperable, both low beam & parking turns on together at the same time) or use a capacitor between the 85 & 86 pins.

Pic 1 (not a 9006/9007 but you see the idea)

Pic 2

That's the front with the HID on the left and the halogen still on the right. Looks the difference of the illumination and is not dark yet.

The front with both HID's installed.

That's the white pin that you need to slightly move down to slide out the fascia. remember to push up when finished the fascia installation.

Excuse all the posts but I would like to describe this project as well as possible and that the info would be beneficial to everyone on this forum. All non HID deserve it.

So start your search engines and look forward to see yours.

Herminio

 

[HERMINIO]

hey all the rivets behind the fron facia that i have to cut out .. can anyone tell me if i need a tool and what tool i need to replace these rivets.. and i am sorry if i sound retarded but ive never had a car that had rivets on the bumpers.. i thik the rivet part # is cbcoao60 (i think) ...
thanks ahead of time..

GUSRED, the rivet part # is correct. Yes, you need a plastic rivet setter part #HUCPR75 made by Huck.

You can search for it on the internet but I bought mine in www.handsontools.com.

Herminio

 

[HERMINIO]

This man deserves a "300C-Owner-of-The-Month" Award!
Hip, hip - HUZZAH!

THX Redman for your kind words. These forums are for exchange info and tips that could be helpful to others.

Share is the clue here.

Regards, Herminio

 

[HERMINIO]

Hid Retrofit Update

HI, I removed my test retrofit today and installed a complete OEM HID assembly. The only thing to do is remove the halogen assembly and install the HID one and connect the OEM wiring harness low beam connector to the HID connector on each assembly.

Or you could found the same connector that came on the HID equipped car and spliced it and connect.

Here a few photos for the connection. The connector needs to be put as shown (snap in top) because thats the right polarity.

The HID assembly connector is the gray one at the right top:

Here the OEM wiring harness low beam connector attached to the HID assembly connector:

 

[HERMINIO]

Herminio,

I'm PM-ing you this, but maybe you'll also answer here...

I'm thinking that given the Valeo Projectors, there is a good chance that an HID upgrad kit will work. My info says that the bulb in the non-HID Valeo projector is a 9006 type (I'm going to validate). If so, the there are plenty of aftermarket HID kits starting ~ $275 (and up) to tansition the non-HID 300C lighting to a HID setup. I also am concerned that the Valeo housings are different in their ability to project correctly, so I was wondering if you were able to tell if the internal part of the projector was different in any way? If there are the same (and only different in the bulb sockets) then a HID conversion kit would make sense! I don't want to end up with "blinding" lights due to a bad upgrade that doesn't work just like the OEM setup.

Jim, the base are different and visually the lenses seems the same, but as well as Rogue said, the patterns at the wall are different too so its better to found the complete OEM HID housing and plug and play them.

Herminio

 

[jhelmuth]

You will end up blinding everyone with that setup. The projectors are not the same. I suggest reading the HID upgrade FAQ in this section for further info.

In the meantime, pull your car up to a wall and take a look at the halogen beam spread, see all that spare light above where the beam is pointed? That will translate into bigtime glare for oncoming traffic.

You should be able to find an entire set of OEM HID assemblies for less than $600 from bodyshops. Call around.

Thanks Rogue. That's exactly what I want to avoid. I was suspicious of the projectors being different. They look quite similar, but I understood that HID systems in general produce their beam in a downward plane.

Oh well, not a big enough deal to get caught up in. Maybe I'll reconsider for a used pair of OEM units later on down the line.

 

[jhelmuth]

You will end up blinding everyone with that setup. The projectors are not the same. I suggest reading the HID upgrade FAQ in this section for further info.

In the meantime, pull your car up to a wall and take a look at the halogen beam spread, see all that spare light above where the beam is pointed? That will translate into bigtime glare for oncoming traffic.

You should be able to find an entire set of OEM HID assemblies for less than $600 from bodyshops. Call around.

OK, I did this (just curious) - but I didn't get the results I expected based on what I understood you to say here. The halogen beam spread had a very sharp cut off with very litle to no light above it. The pattern was (from left to right) something like this...
..............____________________ ................................____________
________/............................... ____________________/
(please ignore the "dots" - but I can't use spaces)

Isn't this the same pattern as the Xenon HID? From all I've read (various "expert" HID sights - no dealer/seller sights) this would seem to have the same HID pattern. If you could possibly lead me to some more information, I'd love to get the knowledge.

I was thinking of trying to find a pair of the OEM Valeo projectors (would have to be quite cheap) and then add the non-OEM D2 Xenon HID lighting components. If this were close enough to a dealer "upgrade" price, then I think it would be better to go completely original. I also think that I may not go HID at all given the detractable statements I've read on DOT spec HIDs vs E-code (Euro spec) types. Sounds like if I could have anything, the Euro spec would be it.

Thanks in advance for your comments and help.

PS - If anyone other than Rogue or Hermino want to add their two-cents, please feel free.

 

[HERMINIO]

I did again: OEM HID retrofit upgrade

Hi

As many of you remember, I was the first one that retrofitted a non-HID 300C with the OEM equipment.

Now I went a further step changing the D1S Valeo projectors and bulbs for a D2S Valeo projectors and bulbs.

The first bulbs used were original Philips 85122+ 5000k and now have installed the Philips Ultinon 6000K. The light output will be pure white with some tint of bluish and purple.

Need only to remove the 4 attaching screws from the projector to the light housing and install the new one and reattach them again. Also needed the D2S bulb connector.

You still used the OEM ballast and ballast to bulb connector cable.

Herminio