BHLM take 2 - Bi-LED retrofits, amber DRLs and cleanup

BACKSTORY

I did the BHLM a while ago on my OEM headlights and put in some DDM HIDs; it turned out ok, but I wasn't totally thrilled. Fast forward 18 months after BHLM I considered getting new headlights or ordering BHLMs here, but the only HLs I really like are the 2020 LEDs and there is no way I'm spending $1400 on headlights and adapters. Honestly, I think the single big ass projector with the simple LED DRL is the best looking headlight for the Tacoma but I digress.

Anyways, original thread-

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/bhlm-ddm-ultra-hid.596428/



My first pass was fine but I made mistakes and I never did a proper Bi-Xenon retrofit mostly due to time. Also, you can see above that the inside of the lens got dirty from maybe dust and outgassing while heating them to remove the permaseal (not sure).

So, take 2. I'm so happy I only had to break the butyl sealant this time. It was like a dream.

CLEANING the inside of the lenses

I learned from previous retros on other cars that you cannot pretty much under any circumstances touch the inside of the clear outer lens. As much as you want to gently scrub it with the softest towel you can, the minute you gently touch it, it will scratch on the inside. It has no coatings or hardeners and it will 100% scratch. To clean the dust and film on the inside, I did a lot of research. Guys that restore old headlights with chrome buckets (which I guess are worse for scratches) use distilled water, jetdry fluid from a dishwasher, ice and soap.

What you do first is, turn the lens upside down like a cup, put a tiny amount of dish soap in the lens, and fill it up with tap water. Put a cup of crushed ice into the lens to agitate the water and soap mixture. I then wrapped the lens with plastic wrap and shook it for a while to clean the surface. After that, flush the inside out in the sink with tap water and get rid of all of the soap.

Next, drip a little jet dry into the lens, and then flush (and I mean really flush) the entire lens out with distilled water over and over. Be thorough and repetitive. I used 2 gallons, because, let's face it, 2 gallons of distilled water is <$3. After I was confident that I flushed all of the tap water and jet dry from the lens, I covered it with plastic wrap on the back so it could dry and not get any more dust inside. The lens is crystal clear looking directly into a bright light now. MUCH better. You can't see in the picture, but there isn't a single spec of anything on the inside of the lens. It is crystal clear. So, mission accomplished there.



Upgrades

Ok, I ordered my upgrades off of Lightwerkz. I shopped around and it looks like Morimoto and others are doing a good job of controlling MAP everywhere.

This was my shopping cart that I pulled the trigger on.

• Diode Dynamics Amber DRL boards (though in hindsight, I could easily research and changeout the white LEDs for ambers on the stock boards if I spent the time).
• Desiccant packs because that's just something you do.
• New roll of butyl glue retrorubber because nobody likes condensation.
• H11 male > 9006 female adapter cables (4); 2 per side for Bi-LED operation
• Bi-LED Morimoto M LED2.0 projectors. These seem to be very good and people seem to really like them. As much output as 50W Bi-Xenon HIDs, wide beam, sharp cutoff, instant on, there's nothing to dislike her.
• Bi-LED body brackets to adapt to RX350 body aka Tacoma.

Was it cheap? No. Is it cheaper than other decent options while having superior light output, a cool look and unique Amber DRLs? Yes.




I'll keep this posted as parts come in and I rebuild the units.

 

I tried again to capture how crystal clear the lenses are after cleaning the inside but I cant quite capture it.

 

bump to see the finished product. i was thinking of blacking everything out plus the highlight bowl similar to you. looka good so far.

 

Looking good man, this is some seriously tedious work.

 

Looks good OP

 

Looks great OP can't wait to see the finished product

 

Awesome idea with the ice and jet dry! I stay away from touching any inside lens if I can. But this may be a good solution to clean them..

 

Thanks! It worked really well. I can say that there isn't a water spot, smudge or any marks on the inside at all after it fully dried.

Also, if you have any of those LED sidemarkers sitting around, please let me know, the timing is great!

 

The high beam and turn signal buckets needed some touch up after I painted them gloss black before. I decided to try something different and painted them dark gunmetal. They're going to look very dark still, but I think they will match the 2020 grille and give the headlights a little subtle pop.

 

Great work! Cant wait to see it finished. Im thinking BHLM is next on my list of mods!

 

Nice! I’m looking forward to the finished product.

What are your plans for the high beam + turn signal buckets since they’re painted?

 

I'm not even going to hook the high beams up. The Bi-LED takes the connector from the truck's high beam and moves a shield to allow more light from the projector. It will probably end up being as bright. I will say, that as soon as you paint the high beam buckets that the light output is unusable any longer from the stock bulb.

The turn signals are still bright enough with the painted bucket so no worries there.

 

Just finished retrofit 2.0 mostly successfully. There were some modifications necessary to parts, I'll cover that.

The Bi-LED mled 2.0 are attractive units. I ordered the RX350 apart adapter mounts for the new head lights. The brackets should be simple but they aren't perfect. You have to remove the stock mounting brackets from the MLEDs and swap in the Rx350 brackets. The stock bracket is the fully enclosed bracket. The adapter brackets aren't that great. Notice on the stock bracket how one side has 4 holes in the middle. This hole is supposed to be keyed to the lens mount bracket nub. Well, since there RX350 brackets don't have it, you have to file/cut the nub off of the lens bracket to sit flush.



Mount that up and put it back together. Next up, the headlight bracket that holds the projector must be cut to clear the Bi-LED motor. There's no way around this.



The motor is actually in front of the projector mounting hole, so you pretty much have to cut the mount off and will only have 3 screws holding the projector to the headlight. You can see it here. I cut it pretty aggressively.

.

 

Taking my time I got them reassembled and ready for the oven to warm up and reassemble.



Here's the diode dynamics amber DRLs. I'm still debating using them as turn signals too. These aren't the switch backs, they're always amber. I thought about the RGBs since it's the same work, but I have no reason to have illegal color DRLs.

 

Back together. The gunmetal buckets barely shows up over the black buckets.



Functionally tested everything. LED Headlights are super bright. Wow. Clean cutout and instant on.



The amber DRLs are really cool.

 

looking fantastical my guy. blacked out buckets is the way.

 

Thanks! I'll get them in today.

 

Electronics all installed to the truck. This is the Bi-LED driver and DRL driver. Getting close.

 

Ok it's back together. Reveal pics soon. You can just make out the gunmetal buckets.

 

Full sun. Lenses are super clear.