DIY - XD2-Style City Lights in an XD

[Josh K]

First off, this mod is not for the faint of heart! If you are not completely comfortable with your modding skills, then do not attempt to do this mod. It's not terribly difficult but you can very easily ruin your headlights!

Alright, with the disclaimer out of the way, here's my DIY.

Many of today's cars come with standing lamps (aka "City Lights"). Bimmers have them, my Mercedes has them, the new XD2's have them, etc. etc. In short, they're cool looking and can either be classy (using a normal or super white bulb) or sporty/ricey (depending on your taste) using a colored bulb.

I really missed this feature in my XD especially considering that the high and low beam were seperate and wanted to add it. I also didn't want to have a mess of wires coming out of my headlights or introduce water leaks into them. Want to install some city lights into your XD housings? Here's what you need:

Materials
1 - Pair of 3893 (T4W) Bulbs
1 - Pair of 3893 Pigtail connectors
2 - 3/8" Rubber Grommets
2 - Quick release connectors
2 - Eyelet Terminals
Various Lengths of Wire (16-18 Gauge)

Tools
Power Driver/Drill
10mm Wrench/Ratchet
X-acto Knife
Wire Stripper
Crimp Tool or Soldering Iron/Solder/Flux/Heat Shrink Tubing
Test Light

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/1materials.jpg

1. After you prepare your workspace, get your pigtail connectors ready. You're going to want about 12-14 inches of wire on the power lead. The ground lead will be much shorter but I made both wires this length to begin with.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/2sockets.jpg

2. Follow the headlight disassembly procedure in the headlight painting DIY (http://www.compactdivisions.com/projects/diy/light_diy.html). If you want to color match your headlights now would be a good time to do so.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/3oven.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/4apart.jpg

3. Now we get to the point of no return. Be advised that the chrome reflector piece is VERY susceptible to scratches. Remove the high beam bulb and drill a hole about half an inch down from the high beam bulb hole. I used a 3/8" drill bit but the hole still needed to be enlarged.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/5hole.jpg

4. The next step takes a little patience as well as trial and error. Using the drill bit, or preferably a dremel tool, enlarge the hole until the grommet can fit into the hole and accomodate the bulb.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/6bulb.jpg

5. Once the hole is the right size, you'll need to insert the socket from behind the reflector assembly. I couldn't get the reflector assembly out so I had to install the socket from behind using the high beam bulb access hole. Needless to say, this was a PITA. This would be much easier with the reflector assembly removed - if you know how to do that.

6. Now for the wiring. Cut the ground wire to the appropriate size and attach the eyelet connector. Use the OEM screw to attatch this eyelet to the factory grounding point for the high beam.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/7ground.jpg

7. Run the power lead to the other side of the housing and through the access hole for the parking light. You can leave it hanging out for now.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/8power.jpg

8. Put the high beam bulb back in and reassemble the headlight. It's a good idea to apply a new layer of silicone. You might need to put the lights back in the oven to re-soften the adhesive enough to get them to go back together. From the outside, the city light should look like this:

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/9final.jpg

9. Once the light is back together, you'll need to modify the parking light socket so you can run the wire out of the housing. To do this, use the x-acto knife and cut off one of the nubs. The following pic is blurry, but you get the idea.

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/10turnsig.jpg

10. Once the nub is cut off, you should be able to run the wire out of the housing and put the socket in without pinching the power wire. You should have about 3"-4" of power wire hanging out with the socket in place. Strip the wire and attatch an insulated quick connect spade terminal.

11. Using the test light, find the parking light power wire (not the flasher power wire). Connect the other end of the quick connect terminal (the snap on one) to this wire (as close to the parking light plug as possible). Once this is done, you should be able to connect the OEM parking light harness to the socket and then connect the city light power lead.

12. Reconnect all of the headlight connections and bold it back in place.

13. Repeat for the other side and enjoy your new city lights!

Before

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/joshxd4new.jpg

After

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/11final.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~joshkeaton/citylights/12final2.jpg

The only "problem" with this mod in my opinion is the fact that the bulb is a PITA to service - you have to crack the housing open everytime you need to replace the bulb. To get around this, I'm going to be looking into an LED replacement bulb. LED's don't go out very often (if at all) so that should take care of the problem.

[Keyan]

Just like a GK...

SWEET DIY!

[SuperGLS]

I must be tired... I don't understand.

Very nice DIY though.

[archywills]

Why not just run with the lights on low beam?

[GTSTISL]

yea i dont understand what you did either? i thought u were trying to swap XD2 headlights into an XD

[archywills]

He added a small light to the two lights already in the headlight. I assume so there would be a really bright small light shining during the day (like Daylight Running Lights).

[GTSTISL]

oh, i get it. so the xd2 has this? i havent seen it in mine.

[Keyan]

The XD2 has city lights in the low beams...when you put your lights on the first "click" the sidemarkers and the city lights come on.

The Tiburon has city lights in the high beams. When you turn the low beams on, the high beams glow that shimmer like Josh's car does now.

[Josh K]

I added a before/after pic for those that weren't understanding. ;0)

[GTSTISL]

ohhh ok. i didnt realize the xd's didnt have the driving lights. i usually only use those if it just stopped rainin or somethin, or its dusk. i prefer the low beams so i can use my fogs.

[VTElantra]

I dont get it the lows on a XD2 are the outer lights and the highs are both Outer and inner bulbs. Why do you ahve it setup the inner light as the daytime running light?
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/798000-798999/798958_17_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/6/web/798000-798999/798958_18_full.jpg

[Josh K]

They're not daytime running lights. Perhaps it's hard to tell from the pic, but the lights are not bright at all. They simply make the inner part of the housing glow, no brighter than a parking light. They're not DRL's or driving lights. They're called standing lights and are not meant to light up anything in front of you - they're simply part of the parking lights.

Here's a pic for comparison on my other car.

http://www.benzworld.org/gallery/pics/9120314861731200324202PM.JPG

[2BIT]

Just got my new 2005 Tib about 6 weeks ago. Seems that for 2005, there is no city lights for them either. All that is there is a plugged hole where they used to be, no socket, no wiring, no anything. Just FYI. Great mod job though!!

[Keyan]

My 04 Special Edition Tib had them...you got ripped 2Bit :)

lol.

[2BIT]

Yea, I think I got ripped too..LOL I like them , think they are cool.

By the way, I understand from NT.com that the Tib was using 194 bulbs for the city lights.

[Gelicious]

Yeah my 2004 has thouse lights in the low beams already. I would advise against using the leds in there. with the extensive heat of the low beams and if you use your high beams alot the plastic houseing on the 194 leds melt. Trust me I know! I put colored 194 wedge bulbs in mine and i love the way they turned out. picture below in my signiture :D but that was a great mod, and there is no way i would have the guts to try that LOL..

[megamanfre]

I got my 05 GLS Hatch in December, it has those lights on the low beam side. I was thinking about swapping them out for something blue (as I intend on using either a lot of blue or red on the interior/exterior at some point, its a silver car, so anything would go pretty decently) but havent gotten around to it cause it just looks like a PITA.

[Keyan]

I got my 05 GLS Hatch in December, it has those lights on the low beam side. I was thinking about swapping them out for something blue (as I intend on using either a lot of blue or red on the interior/exterior at some point, its a silver car, so anything would go pretty decently) but havent gotten around to it cause it just looks like a PITA.

That post was a tiny bit off topic but I'll forgive you :)

If you remove the headlight from the car, take off the low beam "cap" you can get the 194 out with needlenose pliers. They come out easier every time.

[acarzt]

my LED's melted :-( lol, the low beams melted the plastic around the LED, and it stopped working... so i have 1 LED that works for my city lights...