I posted this on the other CRV forum and figured I would throw it up here as well. Since you know I HATE hid kits in halogen reflectors and many people want something easier to do than a full scale retrofit, this option may be an ideal compromise.
For those of you who were nervous about retrofitting projectors into your halogen headlights because you would have had to cut/drill the reflector. TheRetrofitSource has recently released some really good alternatives.
They have released the Morimoto H1 bixenon and the Morimoto D2S bixenon projectors. The h1 is a bit brighter, but the D2S can screw directly into an H4 housing (like we have in our CR-Vs).
Morimoto H1
Morimoto D2S
TSX (the OEM projector used in CR-Vs with HIDs)
These projectors beat the heck out of the TSX hands down, plus they are bixenon (while the TSX is only low beam). Now they aren't as good as a TL, FX or FX-R projector but they are very good for the size and do beat many of the OEM projectors on the market.
My advice for our CR-Vs is the Morimoto D2S, it has the H4 adapter plate, can take OEM bulbs and ballasts. The H1 can be used as well and it DOES have a better output, but it doesn't have the adapter plate and you can likely only get true rebased philips bulbs* from TRS and they are more expensive than OEM D2S bulbs.
*there are a LOT of vendors that claim they have rebased philips bulbs and don't. Over at HIDPlanet one of the users did a temp and lightoutput test on these bulbs and they appear to be actual rebased philips capsules, whether they are 1-offs (meaning they failed QC for color or what not, who knows).
Other info about retrofitting:
1) G2 CR-Vs have stock mounting locations for ballasts on the bottom, they use the Mitsubishi Gen 3 ballast (found on TL's IIRC)
2) A relay harness should be used to connect the ballasts to the battery, no ballast is plug and play and plugging the ballast into the stock headlight plugs can result in burnt wires/connectors or worse
3) The headlights open easily by warming them in an oven. The sealant softens and the front "glass" can be pulled right off. You can also paint the insides of your headlights at this point if you want.
Additional info:
A better explanation of how these work. Quite simply on one side they have a base plate that will fit directly into the H4 hole found on our CR-V headlights. On the other side there is a threaded connection with a large tightening nut on it. You remove the lens cover, insert the projector with H4 adapter into the headlight and tighten the nut down from the other side. I am unsure if the projector mount automatically takes care of rotational adjustment for you or not. If not, you will install your ballast, check the output against a wall to make sure the output is not at an angle. If it is at an angle, rotate the device until it is flat and tighten the nut back down. Once that is done, reseal your headlight and finish the install (install harness, mount the ballast, etc). Should take MAXIMUM an afternoon to do. Those who are skilled at working on stuff it should take a few hours max.
