Projector
headlights? Angel eyes? Halos? Blue light? What do all
these terms mean? Let¡¯s start with projector headlights. Projectors
headlights originated in Germany about twenty years ago. It
was technology taken from racing vehicles driven at night.
Projector headlight technology started seeing the common roads on many
upper-class vehicles such as the BMW. BMW wanted to produce a headlight
that would focus the light directly in front of the car instead of on the sides
of the road and into the sky which standard parabolic headlights do. It
was important to have the maximum amount of light in front of the vehicle when
traveling at speeds over 150 kilometers/hour. Shortly thereafter, Japan borrowed the projector headlight
technology from Germany and used it on a few Lexus
vehicles. Now, projector headlights are used on most new vehicles
(foreign & domestic) built today including many trucks and SUV¡¯s.
Projector headlights are becoming more mainstream opposed to the previous
parabolic headlights used in the 1980¡¯s & 1990¡¯s. Again, the purpose
of the projector headlight is to focus 100% of the beam of light in front of
the vehicle instead of all over the highway¡in areas where lighting isn¡¯t
really necessary.
Projector headlights
will take the place of your existing OEM headlights. KingSource sells its
projector headlights
in complete sets (left & right side). And, the headlights come
included with halogen bulbs and a wiring harness for a quick plug-n-play
installation. Many of the aftermarket projector headlights will not use
the same OEM bulb that the vehicle they¡¯re being installed on uses. For
example, the 2002 Ford F150 uses a 9007 halogen bulb from the factory; low
& high beam. The aftermarket custom projector headlight uses
an H3 low-beam bulb and a 9005 high-beam bulb. These bulbs are readily
available from local auto parts stores if replacement is necessary. No
need to replace the entire housing if a bulb burns out. KingSource also
carries aftermarket xenon
bulbs if you want to add a little color to your headlights.
Most custom projector
headlights come in four flavors or colors. Two colors depend on the housing
of the projector
headlights. One color is chrome and the other color is black.
Again, these colors are the housing itself and not the front lens. The
front lens is a clear, top-quality plexiglass. The other colors are
specific to the individual projector lens. You can choose a clear
projector or a blue (ion) projector. The clear projector is just that¡a
clear projector. The blue (ion) projector shows a purplish/blue tint during
the day, but still produces a clear light at night. Many people like this
effect, especially for show cars. As far as the quality of the light from
each colored projector, there is little difference. But, the blue (ion)
projector does give it a little spice. So, to add the four colors
together¡chrome housing/clear projector, chrome housing/blue projectors, black
housing/clear projector, black housing/blue projector. The colors you choose
are personal preference and completely up to the customer.
The new generation of aftermarket projector headlights
will now come with an amber side reflector. Back in May 2006, the DOT
forced importers and distributors of projector headlights to ensure the headlights
were DOT-compliant and street legal. Therefore, we cannot sell any
projector headlight without an amber side reflector. Unless, the OEM
headlight did not have a reflector like the 1999-2002
Silverado/Tahoe/Suburban headlights, the projector headlight will have an
amber side reflector. The custom aftermarket Silverado projector
headlights will not have side reflectors. Most others will.
Many of the aftermarket, custom projector headlights
are one piece. That means, the OEM headlight and side (blinker) lenses
will both be replaced by one projector headlight
unit. Many custom
aftermarket Honda projector headlights are a one-piece design and will take
the place of the two piece headlight and side lens. Very TIGHT!
And, there are quite a large number of replacement custom aftermarket projector headlights
available for vehicles with OEM parabolic headlights. Check out or
line of projector headlights to find the one that will fit on your vehicle!
Angel eyes? What¡¯s an angel eye? The term angel eye again came from
the BMW line of cars. Many of the modern BMW vehicles have an LED ring
that circles the low and high beam lights. These LED rings are separate
from the headlights themselves and really don¡¯t provide much as far as lighting
the road. However, they do look pretty sweet. Many of the custom
aftermarket projector headlights come with either one or two angel eyes¡depending
on the size of the lens. Likewise, the term halo is referring to the same
LED ring. Many aftermarket projector headlights come with dual halos (or
angel eyes) depending on the size of the lens. These halos or angel eyes
will require wiring to an alternate power source. Check out our
installation of a set of 2002-2005
Ram projector headlights for our description of a projector headlight
installation and halo wiring.
What¡¯s that blue light I see on many BMW and Mercedes Benz vehicles these
days? Is that a projector headlight? Well, the answer to that is
no. Many of the late-model Benz & BMW cars and SUV¡¯s do have
projector headlights. However, the blue light you see is from an H.I.D. lighting system.
H.I.D. is High Intensity
Discharge and requires a different type of bulb, ignited by a ballast.
These H.I.D. bulbs burn
much brighter than a stock halogen bulb, cooler than a halogen bulb and
requires much less energy to light. Instead of a filament producing the
light, an H.I.D. bulb
produces light by creating an arc that is generated between two
electrodes. The effects are truly remarkable¡three times higher luminance
that closely resembles natural daylight. So, the quantity of light is far
greater while consuming half the energy of stock halogen bulbs. KingSource
sells an aftermarket H.I.D.
kit for many applications.
Many customers ask if they can use an H.I.D. kit with their
projectors. The answer is yes, you can! However, purchase the projector headlights
first, then purchase the H.I.D.
kit afterwards. Or, purchase them together from us at KingSource and
we¡¯ll make sure you get the correct H.I.D. kit for your aftermarket projector
headlights. Do note, many projector headlights do not have the depth
required by H.I.D. bulbs.
Many projector headlights have a bar in the center of the cavity in which the bulb
resides. We will verify your H.I.D. kit will work with
the projector
headlights you purchase from us.