[Bigbird]

Damn, I was about to pull the trigger on these headlight. Hopefully you will keep updating us on how these are holding up over time.

Well I can report they are well sealed. Spent the day driving around in a constant rain shower and no condensation.

Is the lens melting?

That's a mounting screw. I've never been able to see one through the lense of the projector.

 

[dare]

They are very low quality projectors. Aftermarket headlights like this warrant insane mold fees; sometimes upwards of $60k per vehicle. That's a heft investment for some headlights. Gotta cut the costs elsewhere and that is where the cheap, run of the mill projectors come into play. Same projector used in most of Spec-D's other headlights with the same problems. They could do so much better!

Personally, I would never drive with them. See below. Here is an output shot someone posted up from these headlights with some quick, quick illustrations inlayed.

As seen in the OP's wall shots, right in the center of the cutoff there is a nice big dark spot. This doesn't look to be too much a problem on the wall.....but when you get out there on the road this is a HUGE safety concern. This spot should be the brightest, not the dimmest as this is the part of the beam pattern shooting down the road. Think about it like this.....road kill, live deer, tree, person, whatever in the middle of the road at 80 feet is simply not visible because of the terrible performance of the lights. You get 20 feet away from the subject and can finally clearly see it. Well.......you were already going 70mph on the interstate and that 60 feet was the difference between you being able to avoid collision with the subject vs plowing right through it. Getting some headlights because they look cool is one thing but sacrificing the safety of you, your passengers, and other drivers is another. My professional opinion is to stay away from these lights for now.

I say for now because I have purchased a set for some R&D. I will be ripping them apart and developing a drop-in upgrade for these terrible projectors. Still a little ways out on making this happen but it is on the schedule. Output of the planned projectors can be seen below.......light right where you need it!

^^customer submitted photo of him running one of my upgrade kits in his OEM VT headlights.

 

[Bigbird]

I'd love a better projector! Enough to tear these open and replace em. They are fine to drive with, I see no worse with these than my stock ones but the hot spots are anoying as hell and honestly, kind of distracting. They remind me of the H11 vs. H11b issue.

They look cool but more importantly, saved me money on a stock pair of lights to repair my bumper clips.

 

[Bigbird]

Made an interesting observation last night. I used the high beams for the first time and it had an odd pattern. I got home and used the garage door to see what was happening. Turns out the H1s are bixenon or something like it. When you activate high beams, it looks like the cut off plate move to let more light through. I disconnected the relay mod and the high beam bulbs and it worked. The projectors are high and low beam. Nifty. Still, crappy projectors.

 

[dare]

Made an interesting observation last night. I used the high beams for the first time and it had an odd pattern. I got home and used the garage door to see what was happening. Turns out the H1s are bixenon or something like it. When you activate high beams, it looks like the cut off plate move to let more light through. I disconnected the relay mod and the high beam bulbs and it worked. The projectors are high and low beam. Nifty. Still, crappy projectors.

Yep that screw you mentioned behind the lens is holding the solenoid that activates the shield in place. Bi-halogen

 

[fastswimmerguy]

Does the lighted eyebrow piece look like it could be taken out and modded onto a stock headlight? It would make an ultimate headlight, upgrade all leds, halo, h1 projector and then the eyebrow piece.

 

[dare]

Does the lighted eyebrow piece look like it could be taken out and modded onto a stock headlight? It would make an ultimate headlight, upgrade all leds, halo, h1 projector and then the eyebrow piece.

That would take entirely too much work. More than anyone in their right mind would be willing to pay for!

 

[fastswimmerguy]

That would take entirely too much work. More than anyone in their right mind would be willing to pay for!

Haha I figured as much, but still curious. I like the lighted brow look but also like the lower led strip to be a bright white drl instead of turn signal.

 

[dare]

Haha I figured as much, but still curious. I like the lighted brow look but also like the lower led strip to be a bright white drl instead of turn signal.

That would be as simple as replacing the LEDs and adjusting resistance. Easy!

 

[dare]

Update in one of the FB groups-

As mentioned above, these aftermarket assembly companies use sub-par materials to save on costs. The lenses usually pit and fade much faster than OEM lenses but this.......two weeks in.........oh man. I started talking to Spec-D over a 14 months prior to these officially releasing as the final design on these was complete. Now I see why it took so long to hit the market. They couldn't get the quality under control and I guess just gave up?

Buyers beware.

 

[swordfish]

Ouch. That is some f-d up crazing.

 

[Bigbird]

Does the lighted eyebrow piece look like it could be taken out and modded onto a stock headlight? It would make an ultimate headlight, upgrade all leds, halo, h1 projector and then the eyebrow piece.

The projector is actually in a different spot than the OEM lights so it wouldn't work well even if it was cost effective.

Update in one of the FB groups-

As mentioned above, these aftermarket assembly companies use sub-par materials to save on costs. The lenses usually pit and fade much faster than OEM lenses but this.......two weeks in.........oh man. I started talking to Spec-D over a 14 months prior to these officially releasing as the final design on these was complete. Now I see why it took so long to hit the market. They couldn't get the quality under control and I guess just gave up?

Buyers beware.

View attachment 80521

My experience is different. One month after install.

No issues so far, and I'm all highway. However I do park my car in a garage and often do the same at work. Good looking out. Hopefully this doesn't happen.

 

[dare]

The projector is actually in a different spot than the OEM lights so it wouldn't work well even if it was cost effective.



My experience is different. One month after install.
View attachment 80529
View attachment 80537

No issues so far, and I'm all highway. However I do park my car in a garage and often do the same at work. Good looking out. Hopefully this doesn't happen.

Hopefully they stay good for you! I'm sure parking inside does have an impact on it.

 

[JLuke]

hmm, I'm heavily considering these for a set of temporary lights. Really want to fully stuff my stock headlights with all the currently available RGB doohickeys and need a temp set for a month or so downtime while I paint and do all the stuff/test things in my free time. I'm sure someone on this site would be willing to buy them off me after only a month of use

also good lord eBay, seems like all I can find on there are pretty trashed stock headlights with busted clips for 200+ each

 

[Bigbird]

That's why I went this route to fix my bumper clips. Lol

 

[perrikwp]

Passenger Side Headlight

Driver Side Headlight (just started developing the issue)

I contacted the eBay seller to see if I could get a replacement, but was informed the best they could do was a full refund or give a partial $60 refund to keep them:

Thank you for your email inquiry. Spec- D Tuning has actually stopped production of this headlight due to this issue. The only remedy we can offer is a full refund but we will need the item back. We no longer carry this item, so we can't process and replacement nor exchange. We can offer a partial refund of $60 to keep the item as is or a return label for a refund. Please let us know how you would like to proceed.

I'm sending mine back. I'll just go back to eBay to see if I can find some cheap/used Veloster Base Projection Headlights to mod instead.

 

[MA1tR!X]

That's a pity. I guess you could possibly swap the cover from the OEM lights onto these. A pain in the ass but doable. This type of cracking is usually caused by extreme heat cycles/UV exposure/old age or certain solvents (spirits or even petrol). Only use water to clean them (and don't wet them with cold water if they are quite hot), and try to keep them out of direct sunlight as much as possible. Also using LED lights may prevent it as they throw most of their heat out the back. Unfortunately this can happen, even OEM lights are not immune; BMW and Mercedes have had similar issues with certain models.