2020...time for more ZKW rebuild talk

[Oversteer]

New ZHP owner...and new to the site. Not new to the E46

Well...here we are once again. Bought the RFS Retro Quik which now comes with Morimoto D2S 5.0 projectors. I rebuilt the drivers side light and it looks like the projector sits way too far forward in the headlight housing. It might be 15mm from hitting the clear plastic lens cover. Looks off compared to the original lights. I recall there were some spacers that get installed between the projector and the headlight housing. Not sure what their purpose is, but I suspect the are the cause of the projector being so far forward. Anyone else run into this?? Are the spacers in the RFS kit really needed??

Side note...I pulled my passenger for a rebuild, and it's an AL light...ugh...so I can't rebuild it with the kit I bought. At this point, they look like two different lights on the car which is no bueno.
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[jorbon]

Yeah, if I had mine to do over, I'd look into cutting the spacers in half or so. Now that they're back in on both sides, it is not as noticeable that they're further forward than stock.

[Vas]

In regards to the side note, maybe you are better off purchasing an AL headlight for the driver's side.

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[Oversteer]

In regards to the side note, maybe you are better off purchasing an AL headlight for the driver's side.

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I ended up buying an AL for the drivers side on eBay. If anyone needs a rebuilt drivers side ZKW, let me know! I also still have the kit to rebuild another ZKW should you choose to go that route. The rebuilt lights are superior to the AL light output...and that's using the original bulbs.

[Vas]

Install the zkw clear lens into the AL lights for a good improvement for light output. The AL headlights have a frosted projector lens.

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[cakM3]

Install the zkw clear lens into the AL lights for a good improvement for light output. The AL headlights have a frosted projector lens.

This is what I did for my ZHP. The light improvement is amazing and I never have to worry about burnt bowls again. As Vas pointed out in his comment, the Bosh lens used in the AL headlight housings have a frosted finish on the inside part of the lens which diffuse light output whereas the clear polished ZKW lens provides a much more intense focused light output. I had a set of OEM ZKW lens on hand from my last ZHP so I used them when I recently rebuilt my headlight assemblies. Best way to go in my opinion. :thumbsup

[Mless5]

AL housings + ZKW clear lens + minor shield modification is the way to go. TRS 5.0 based kit does not yield "1:1" result to original spacing, as user Oversteer has indicated - it pushed the front of your new lens PAST high beam bowl's outer edge. No, you cannot get smaller spacers. In fact, in order for the projector to sit semi decent (not protruding too far forward), it needs to be attached from the back to the original frame, not from the front through 1" long spacers like TRS wants you to do. Their bracket will not work that way either because projector's frame gets in the way of original mounting points. Even with TRS's way of mounting and 1" spacers, the back of the projector already hits the frame, so you cannot use shorter spacers to sit the projector closer to the frame... unless you severely hack up the frame leaving hardly enough meat to support the weight of the projector. In order to slide 5.0 D2S projector from the back into the frame, I am working on making adapter bracket that will space the projector back even more and allow for the whole assembly to be sandwiched together from the back of the original frame, unlike TRSs solution that mounts it from the front.