2005 Volvo S40 Retrofit, Audi A4/e46 swap

[chance91]

Hey everyone, Its been a while since I posted. Been making a lot of fun retrofit projects on paper and in my head over the years, but this is one of necessity more than just desire. We recently picked up a 2005 Volvo S40, and I've been tasked with getting it ready for a cross-country trip next month. We got the car for a song, which certainly helped with the repairs. Just a hose here, plugs and a coil there, etc, but its getting near 100%, and it is really a nice ride for a now 12 year old car.

And of course, there must be a reason I'm here. For those that aren't familiar, there are some lighting issues that afflict many S40s with stock halogens, which really make the lighting abysmal at night. I'm thinking late 90s Grand prix or Olds Alero kind of bad. It turns out, there are a bosch halogen projector, very similar to the E46 HID projector. This also allows E46 projectors to be a drop in replacement for the S40, don't even have to bake the headlight. And it also turns out there have a similar problem with the aluminum coating flaking off. Perhaps more-so, since halogen bulbs are supposed to be hotter. They are an H11 burner, and should be pretty good with all the proper coating, but even an H9 burner does little to improve output.

The other reason people have difficulty with this model is due to the electronics. Like many modern cars, they use a PWM setup on the low beam to improve bulb life for the halogen bulbs. However, this can cause flicker/failure for a hid kit that uses that input to drive the balast, and can even cause flicker through a relay setup.
To add insult to injury, the CECU and Wiper drive motor share a common ground with the low beam, and EMI can cause wiper motor or central electronics ecu failure. So a full relay harness is a good idea, and running a capacitor/anti-flicker setup is also required, wfhile running your ground to an unshared chassis ground.

I'll be following some of the suggestions in this huge E46 thread:
https://www.hidplanet.com/forums/for...rojector/page2

With all the background out of the way, on to the retrofit! Parts I'm using:
-2010 Auid A4 bosch/kendrion E46 projectors projectors
-TRS ZKW-R clear lenses
-TRS anti-flicker relay harness
-Morimoto XB55 ballasts
-Osram D2s bulbs
-OE shields modded, RV shield cut, projector lens spaced, and shield painted flat black

Everything should arrive this week and I can get started. In the mean time, here are a few photos of the failure I mentioned:



Peeling away, this is one of the worst.

Here these come in the mail, just a waiting game!

[Hinyo]

Would love to see more about this build! Subbed!

[satrya]

It's interesting to see how off-axis the shield in the OE projectors are. I guess since it is a low beam only, moving the shield plane further down like that (and as a result requiring the shield's edge to frown) will allow more of the hotspot to be in the low beams.

[chance91]

Hey Guys! TLR, projectors came in, they are awesome, and can't wait to get them going. This weekend hopefully!

Projectors came today! They are really in great shape. A few notes about the "Kendrion" vs "Binder" E46 style projectors. First, the kendrion marking on the solenoid is usually on newer projectors. These are from a 2010 B7 Audi A4. Second, the kendrion solenoid is a 'normal' 2-wire version, which doesn't require an auxillary board like the 3 wire E46 projectors. Third, these newer projectors are D3s and include a twist and click style bulb holder, which is really nice, and simple. So, overall, these are a great purchase for any V40/S40 owner, since they are simple to use, and drop right in. They also come with shrouds, but installing them with/without doesn't seem to make a difference. They sure look good compared to my old stuff, though! And, best of all, solid aluminum, not plastic!

No blems in reflector:


The shield adjustment screw and shield

"RV" shield which needs to go, on the Kendrion versions, its just a number

Looks like the same lens as an OE BMW E46 projector, not the dimpled I thought it may have been.



Those who haven't seen a D2S bulb in a D3S housing, read on! But its pretty boring!
There is a little tab that doesn't line up between the two bulbs, you can see it at about 6 o'clock in this picture


So, make a small mark, and using a dremel or round file, notch out your D2S Bulb like so. One modded and unmodded for comparison.

Insert, push, and turn!





So today's question then was, will they fit? I am using my OEM Osram D2s bulbs from my Mazdaspeed 3, as I have upgraded those some time ago. Want to see if they will fit for now (no igniters yet) so pulled a headlight and brought it in.

First, the headlights on these are really easy to get out once you've done it once. Just need to know the right angles to move it, and its 1 minute. Once inside, the whole back opens up and gives you projector access, held in with 3 t25 torx screws is all! Very easy to remove.
This is how all retrofits should go!


Removed old projector, and slipped in new one. FIts like a glove, and bolts into place without any tweaking, so glad!


Final fitment, not too shabby!


That's all I had time for today, note I am using a relay harness, the OEM wiring is in poor shape as it is and I wouldn't trust it over the long term even with canbus adapters. I also need to figure out routing for the igniter and cable but it shouldn't be too terrible, as other's have examples. There appears to be barely enough room to close the cover without modding it, as I have around 1" with the bulb inserted right now. Excited to get this moving this weekend.

[Nuvolari]

So jealous you can projector swap without baking headlights

[Hinyo]

Clean swap! Looks like it went well!

Clear lense in your future? Any tuning?

[marcos]

Hello,

i am now solving the problem with the PWM in Volvo V50. I found Hyluxtek balast, with extra ground wire and capacitor and resistor before the balast. Because TRS shop is out from me (i am from Europe), i am try to find solution for my retrofit, if is possible, without relay harness.

Any idea, if Hyluxtek 2A88 CANBUS 35w can help me for this in Volvo V50?

Thanks

[Hinyo]

Hello, i am now solving the problem with the PWM in Volvo V50. I found Hyluxtek balast, with extra ground wire and capacitor and resistor before the balast. Because TRS shop is out from me (i am from Europe), i am try to find solution for my retrofit, if is possible, without relay harness. Any idea, if Hyluxtek 2A88 CANBUS 35w can help me for this in Volvo V50? Thanks

Hylux Ballasts should work but feel free to contact Trups hes in europe as well and is an authorized TRS reseller

[chance91]

Hello, i am now solving the problem with the PWM in Volvo V50. I found Hyluxtek balast, with extra ground wire and capacitor and resistor before the balast. Because TRS shop is out from me (i am from Europe), i am try to find solution for my retrofit, if is possible, without relay harness. Any idea, if Hyluxtek 2A88 CANBUS 35w can help me for this in Volvo V50? Thanks

I guess its just me and kind of an older mentality, but I would just go and run a relay harness. Although a canbus setup should work, I'd rather run clean power from the battery.

Still working on the whole swap this weekend, hopefully done soon! Doing my clear lens and tuning the sheids today.

[chance91]

So, did some tuning today. TLDR, Want both to look like this:


One looks like this:


Any ideas? I want to try to fix the one projector that has a little bump on the left of the "Z" dip.



So, Today, I got my clear lenses in. The difficulty was my ZKW-R lenses did not fit my OEM E46 Kendrion/Bosch AL lens holders. So, I checked to see if they fit my E46 Replica projector lens holders, which they did. A little work and I got them all fitted up. I also removed the RL shield from the main shield as many do to improve cut-off, and I painted the cut-off shields with flat-black grill paint, which worked out pretty well.
Mods:







So, after all that work, I went ahead and tested them against an OEM E46 kendrion projector with OEM shitty crap crap lens.

My first shot with modded projector:


Didn't realize the shields were that out of adjustment!

Best shot of the first one, this one has that weird piece above the cut-off on the left. I tried to move the lens forward/back, but couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. Thought it was just how it is with the mod, but the second one doesn't have that issue.


Second one. I marked this. It just looks really awesome! Pretty pumped. Came out very very sharp, clear, good hotspot.





So, lastly, comparing to the OEM setup. Same 55w ballast, same Osram 66240, same power supply and harness, but just switched to an OEM E46 kendrion projector. I did tune the shield to get the best cutoff possible as well. Here's the output:





Thoughts on output? Any adjustments to slightly get rid of that little slant on the left of my step?

Hoping to get them in the car this weekend and be done with it. Already test fitted the projectors w/ballasts and they work, however remote ignitiors would have worked much better, like on my Greddy slim ballasts.

[satrya]

That shield; it appears that it is not a flat sheet. Rather, it has a slight vertical fold on both sides of the elbow. No?

[chance91]

I think it is flat, but I will double check. I think you are talking about the way it is cut, its still a flat plane without curve, but it has 4 cuts making those angles, instead of bending the shield to follow the curve of the reflector.

Either way, looking at it, I think you are right in that the issue must lie with the shield, just not sure how to fix it.

[satrya]

Where I was going with, is that the "bump" is accompanied with some chromatic aberration (or perhaps from the diffraction of the edge surface of the shield), where there seems to be a similar (but perhaps smaller) effect on the opposite side (left-right wise). If so, one possibility is that at those two positions, the distance of the shield's edge to the lens' focal length is at its apex (either closest or farthest) relative to the rest of the shield's edge. As a result, there is extra colorband bleed, resulting in extra bump on one side.

One potential experiment is if you try to nudge the shield at that position when the projector is assembled and the bulb is powered. Moving the shield inwards or outwards by a fraction of a milimeter should result in a change in the "bump".

[Nuvolari]

1. check both bowls and confirm they are exactly the same. There are differences in E-46 bowls

2. Shield tune! If you look closely you will see one cutoff has more purple in the middle and is more dull, out of focus. The other cutoff is more blue, sharp and more focused. This means adjust the distance of the purple cutoff to match the other projector. Use the adjustment screw on the projector bowl. If you need more play, bend the little shield tab that rests on the adjustment screw.

[MRauties]

Kinda making me in the mood to re-do my E46 build... Looks good so far.