Prius Gen 2 - Hella G5 retrofit

[SoupKitchen]

So a bit of background first. I never planned to own a Prius but my parents bought a new car and wanted to get rid of theirs, so opportunity presented itself. I decided to put (most of) my aesthetic objections aside and let the excellent reliability, MPG and relaxed driving position guide my choice. But one objection I could not overcome... the stock halogen reflector headlights which had faded horribly over time (as on most Priuses of this generation). I'm a sucker for projector headlights with a colorful cutoff, reflector headlights just don't work for me. So my only solution was to do a retrofit.
Since this an older Prius I did not want to go all out and spend more than €1000, it had to be an economical solution but without compromising on the quality (I'm also a sucker for quality ).
Also note that I'm in Europe so not all options are available that you'd normally consider in the US.

This was what I bought:
- A pair of new headlights (~ €200)
- Generic Hella G5 D2s projectors (~ €50)
- Hylux A2088 35W ballasts (~ €60)
- Pair of AMP to D2S connectors ( ~ €10)
- Morimoto MotoControl Bi-Xenon: H4/9003 wire harness (~ €50)
- Osram Xenarc Classic D2S 66240CLC (~ €60)

Grand total: ~ €430 and with some other small stuff like sealant and shipping it ended being close to €500.

These are the projectors which I think are Mjni D2S 4.0 clones:



So first things first, opening the stock headlights was easy. I used a heatgun and patience since they were too large to go in the oven:




After removing the H4 headlight cap and the trim pieces I could fit the projector in there.





To tighten the lock nut ring I had to use the dremel to remove some of the H4 mounting pieces






And with the shroud attached using JB Kwik weld. I was quite happy that the shroud fitted perfectly without having to use a dremel.




For a while I considered getting OEM ballasts since these would fit perfectly to the bottom of the headlight, but they were too expensive and only compatible with D4S lights.
Therefore I went with Hylux ballasts which coincidentally had dimensions such that I could use the pre-existing screw-holes The igniter was attached using 3M VHB.




I test fired the headlights and was happy to see this very colorful dipped cut-off:





I sealed the headlights back up and turned to the least pleasurable part of installing the H4 bi-xenon wiring harness.
I found a spot for the relay next to the inverter, ground for the passenger side headlight was taken from the horn, and a new ground point for the driver side had to be created below the headlight.






Then comes the moment you put your headlights back in the car, hold your breath and turn them on
The step has a kind of dip which takes some getting used to but prevents blinding of opposing traffic.
There is some bowing on the sides but overall for the price I'm more than happy! High beams are amazing too.







On the car:













Finished! I'd never call the Prius a beautiful car but I think these headlights make at least somewhat more acceptable




They have been running for 6 months up until now with no issues whatsoever. Next up will be some LED DRL.

[gold94corolla]

Definitely looks great , both on the car and on the wall! Glad it worked out for you, thanks for sharing. Love when it all comes together perfectly like that, makes it so easy.

[niZmO_Man]

Very nice

[SoupKitchen]

Thanks, it wasn’t all smooth sailing though but this forum has been a great help. The AMP to D2s connectors I had initially were too large which meant the headlight leveling system would not work on the lowest setting. I found some smaller ones which fixed the problem. Perhaps D2H bulbs would be even better but no OEM options AFAIK.

[Crossgolf]

Looks really good. We got one like this in the family. But the owner is not interested in a retrofit.... But I would like to know what harnss you used or what changes you did to the wiring.

edit: Ok thanks Now I saw the list with the parts. Good info for the forum!

[SoupKitchen]

And finally Philips Daylight Guide DRL installed

[satrya]

I've never seen a picture of the back of the headlight housing of the Gen 2 prius before. Interesting to see how big the bulb service opening is. It seems quite large given the original H4 halogen bulb size isn't that big. I wonder if there is an OE trim that use projector headlights in place of the H4 freeform reflector, and is designed to also be replaceable without opening the housing?

[Masticator]

I wonder if there is an OE trim that use projector headlights in place of the H4 freeform reflector, and is designed to also be replaceable without opening the housing?

The OEM xenon version of this gen Prius light was a single reflector unit with no separate high beam.

A solenoid would shift the whole bulb and bulb holder assembly, while the reflector remained stationary, in order to create the "high beam" pattern. Another example of this technology being employed would be early SG Foresters with the xenon option.

Here's a photo JDM HID SG Forester headlamp. It's actually quite similar to the Prius HID.

[satrya]

The OEM xenon version of this gen Prius light was a single reflector unit with no separate high beam.

A solenoid would shift the whole bulb and bulb holder assembly, while the reflector remained stationary, in order to create the "high beam" pattern. Another example of this technology being employed would be early SG Foresters with the xenon option.

Here's a photo JDM HID SG Forester headlamp. It's actually quite similar to the Prius HID.

Thanks for that info. I actually owned an SG Forester with the OE halogen dual filament freeform reflector. I never modified the SG so I never noticed how large the bulb service opening is.

[gold94corolla]

I've never seen a picture of the back of the headlight housing of the Gen 2 prius before. Interesting to see how big the bulb service opening is. It seems quite large given the original H4 halogen bulb size isn't that big. I wonder if there is an OE trim that use projector headlights in place of the H4 freeform reflector, and is designed to also be replaceable without opening the housing?

My IS300 has the same large opening, looks identical even, same huge 4" diameter cover. The bulb and Denso ignitor socket have to fit in there and twist in place, so that's why it's big.

[satrya]

My IS300 has the same large opening, looks identical even, same huge 4" diameter cover. The bulb and Denso ignitor socket have to fit in there and twist in place, so that's why it's big.

I see. So the base of the ballast closes the opening. Seems like the Panasonic / Matsu type ballasts could've been mounted that way too, but I think they mount on the bottom of the headlight housing (with the pass-through for the cable + igniter) instead of doubling as bulb access opening. I guess that depends on the other less flexible things that have to be in the engine bay compartment (air ducting, etc.).