[theshadow27]

Cool!

Just an observation, but there seems to be a slight difference between your projector identification chart and Nick's rundown post on AL projectors , which is not all "Gen1" projectors are 3-wire. I've seen a few newer ones (ex. 2007) that are 2-wire and have plastic reflector housings. I think Nick's definition of a "Gen2" revolves more around the aluminum housing with integrated bulb holders (octagon) found on even later model years. I know, potayto, potahto lol.

90% of that chart came from Nicks input, pretty sure we are on the same page. There are no OEM 3" AL Bi-Xenon projectors with plastic reflectors - just aftermarket / repo.

 

[beachnut]

You're right, they're not plastic. Whatever metal they are (some kind of lightweight cast?) sort of threw me off because they're plated all over, inside and out, except for the inside of the bulb holder, so I thought they might be plastic. This is on the OEM BMW E46 projectors I picked up. All the aluminum housing projectors I've seen are not plated that way, and some seem slightly corroded (not in the bowl however).

 

[Nick0matic]

Yeah, he's right! I genuinely thought the gen 1's had some different underlying material because most of the replicas felt like plastic, but there is in fact aluminum under there. I don't even think the alloy is different between gen 1 and 2, but something in the casting process is different enough that Bosch felt they didn't need to vapor deposit the whole thing to a nice reflective finish.

Beachnut is right about the 3-wire thing though. For instance, there are some later-year gen 1s that are 2-wire. They're basically an edge case, but wire count does not define the projector "version," just the bowl/bulb holder type. Or at least that's what I was going by.

 

[theshadow27]

Or at least that's what I was going by.

AFAIK there was no prior (public) classification system for AL projectors so your post *is* the definition and you are the authority so it's your call.

Gen1.5?

 

[beachnut]

Yep Nick, I bought that guy's other Caddie 2-wire projectors today. Will get them next week. He had a set w/o the ignitors, but it had the holders, and based on this other auction I felt like I could get a D2S ring and bulb on them without any mods, plus I got a 2-wire, so no controller. Too bad I already bought Wolstentech controllers ... learning by fire lol. I'll probably just put the beemer projectors and controllers up for sale here.

 

[Nick0matic]

Yep Nick, I bought that guy's other Caddie 2-wire projectors today. Will get them next week. He had a set w/o the ignitors, but it had the holders, and based on this other auction I felt like I could get a D2S ring and bulb on them without any mods, plus I got a 2-wire, so no controller. Too bad I already bought Wolstentech controllers ... learning by fire lol. I'll probably just put the beemer projectors and controllers up for sale here.

Those are just bulb holders that fit onto the bowls, so I'm at least 50% certain that your typical D2S rings should work. Haven't held a D1S gen 1 in my hand to confirm, unfortunately.

AFAIK there was no prior (public) classification system for AL projectors so your post *is* the definition and you are the authority so it's your call.

Gen1.5?

Don't think it matters that much, lol. We got 2-wire, 3-wire, Gen 1, and Gen 2.

 

[beachnut]

Well, I don't think there's any 3-wire Gen2's. I like the classifications you developed though, it helped me a lot, and others too I'm sure. IMO it's probably enough to accept that there were some Gen1's with 2-wire, but the rest is the same with some slight differences in bulb mounting. Seems like the year-break for 2-wire solenoid *might* be around 2007?

 

[mgm7890]

TRS seem to be reputable enough so its no harm to give it a shot. If you send them a pic from good one and compare to bad one, and explain you tried the bulb swap and you are confident its the actual projector issue, I would expect them to exchange them without a word.

TRS was great! They sent me a complete new projector. This fixed the corona and now the output is nice and even!

 

[LizardOfBodom]

TRS was great! They sent me a complete new projector. This fixed the corona and now the output is nice and even!

Good stuff! :thumbup: :}

 

[theshadow27]

Got the shipping notification on the backordered capacitors! Looks like they are coming early

 

[beachnut]

Great news! Now you need some more orders ... c'mon people!

If you tell me they'll work on my P3 S80 I'll get another pair. I'm sure they will, it's actually the whole lens popping, retrofitting, customizing, projectorizing (not actually a word) a halogen reflector assembly that I'm not so sure about.

 

[theshadow27]

There have been a couple of Batch 2 orders already, but yeah need about 20 more

What I am most surprised at is how few installs I've seen. Is everyone just sitting on your SKBOWEs waiting for me to get hit by a bus so you can resell them for a huge profit? lol

 

[beachnut]

Well, not really an install yet ... but I am gearing up

 

[thefisch33]

There have been a couple of Batch 2 orders already, but yeah need about 20 more

What I am most surprised at is how few installs I've seen. Is everyone just sitting on your SKBOWEs waiting for me to get hit by a bus so you can resell them for a huge profit? lol

I wasn't but now I am

'10 s40 m66 awd

 

[Nick0matic]

Shameless plug...have 3 matched sets of gen 2 projectors. Dusty, but otherwise perfect. Thought I'd have found more of them (and more easily) by now, but I still keep an eye out. PM if you're interested. Gotta gauge interest before I start having shelves full of projectors.

 

[theshadow27]

Caps got here early so I got a head start...

Going to try to get orders placed before midnight shipped out tomorrow. I'm traveling for the rest of the month, so if you have procrastinated you'll have to wait till I get back in October...

 

[SirScarFace]

Been running your SKBOWE since the first batch. E46 with 5500k morimotos and wired the flaps. Great job dude. Had zero issues yet!

 

[theshadow27]

Been running your SKBOWE since the first batch. E46 with 5500k morimotos and wired the flaps. Great job dude. Had zero issues yet!

:thumbup:

Glad to hear it.

FWIW I haven't heard of any issues so far - though only a few folks have confirmed installation (I think you're the third?). Slackers...

I have set #002 in my car (wouldn't have anyone to do something I wasn't willing to do myself) and I dare say according to the butt dyno it works better than the original KBOWE (c. 2009).

Four orders shipping out tomorrow - you know who you are

 

[rhags138]

I've been having weird issues with mine lately. Worked great with a cheap kensun setup (just wanted cheap, quick and dirty.) The kensuns flickered, but still better than stock halogen. Then I got morimoto ballasts and ds2 bulbs. Passenger side worked great. When I swapped out the Kensun kit on the driver side for the morimoto, I got no ignition on the bulb. Swapped everything on the other side to see if it was a bad ballast or igniter, and still no dice. Pop the cheap kensun kit back in and it works fine. Now the passenger side randomly goes out and I get the BOW. Going to resand the ground points and see if it is just a bad ground. Maybe I didn't sand as well as I thought. Hard to tell with a light silver car. It might not even later now though (a little off topic) as I am hearing a loud ratcheting sound under light throttle and am getting jerky acceleration. Off to the shop it goes tomorrow. Worst case scenario I will have a e46, skbowe, morimoto kit for sale and will no longer be a member of the volvo community. The wife has been eyeing the CX-5

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

[theshadow27]

So if I understand right on one side only, neither Morimoto works, but the crap ballast + rebased works fine?

Did you move the igniter with the ballast when swapping sides? With as much trouble as Nick had with his morimoto setup, it's very unlikely that it's a bad SKBOWE (but worst case lifetime warranty).

Ratcheting noise doesn't sound good... Hope it's not too serious. I hadn't expected anyone to be looking to sell this quickly, was thinking eventually I'd set up a buyback + CPO program since they are so expensive (and time consuming) to make.