The Retrofit Source SUCKS

TRS can't even explain their write up correctly

phenryiv1

12-01-2011 10:36 AM

[quote=Bluefoton;35766634]I start to really worry about the bad opinions on the morimotos.. I'm geting my retroquick kit with D2S any day :([/quote]
You just have to REALLY be careful when installing. Make sure to check for level before re-assembling (at least eyeball it) and mark your adjustor aim BEFORE starting to remove the inner housings. Also, make sure to look for my posts about the center pivot point and how to remove it. The TRS writeup on that part is a huge FAIL.

More unsatisfied TRS customers- WHY SPEND $300 ON CRAP?

phenryiv1

11-22-2011 04:27 PM

[quote=lillefty006;35690183]Great write up..subscribed for when I decide to do this.. Thanks! How is the cut off with the trs headlight kit? Also a project ftw[/quote]

Cutoff is good, but it has taken hours to get them aimed "correctly" after the retrofit. I have them aimed as closely as possible to the OEM HIDs on my wife's '08 TL, but the TRS retrofit output still leaves me...underwhelmed. I really expected that they'd be worlds better than my DDM drop-in HIDs, but to tell the whole truth, I am not seeing it...literally.

First off, their depth of field is less than that of the DDMs. Width is close enough that I'd call it a wash. Intensity within the lighting range has to go to the DDM setup, but not by too much. Ther real kicker: in over 15,000 miles of driving with the DDMs in place, I was never ONCE flashed by an oncoming driver. So far in around 2000 miles with the TRS kit it is 4x and counting. I had them where the guides say to aim them and got flashed, so I aimed them 2-3" lower (@20') but the depth of field sucked. I raised them back up (about 2" @ 20') and got flashed again. Now I am 1" below that mark and I am at the point that if I go any lower I might as well go back to halogens in the stock projector (as far as visibility goes). I can see okay, but I just got flashed again yesterday (with low beams only).

To say that I am not a huge fan is an understatement. I wish that I had left my DDMs in place and saved the $300, to tell the truth.

TRS Owns HIDplanet.com. Posted a complaint and they deleted my post

I had a set of FX-R projectors and posted a problem I had with my projectors. Guess what? They deleted it and I was warned by a moderator (WHO WORKS FOR TRS) to follow the rules.

What assholes.

TRS has cheap HID kits?? NO WAY!

LeSabreUltra Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:18 pm

Cheap HID kits have such spotty quality control it's almost impossible to recommend a best. What works for one person may not work for someone else.

And no matter what the seller claims, or the price attached to it, all aftermarket HID components that don't cater to OEM equipment are cheaply manufactured in China. There's only a small variety of HID kit ballasts out there, they just have different labels slapped on them for the individual seller.

I've seen the same TRS ballast being sold for 10 bucks on one ebay listing direct from China being sold as "Genuine Philips Ballasts!" for over $100 on another listing. Don't trust what you read about HID kits from the seller...they're all crap.

So if that's what you want, pick your poison...they're all virtually the same...
.

Yet another unsatisfied owner of the FX-R and TRS HID kits

Oil Town XJ

February 5th, 2011 23:23

HID help!

I'm ready to toss these stupid things in the trash!!!

I bought the FX-R kit with 50watt Morimoto bulbs and ballast from the retrofit source a couple of months ago and have had nothing but problems. When I was doing the actual retrofit, I had a hard time getting the bulbs to fire and stay on when wired to the battery. I was able to get it down however.

Fast forward to installing the provided harness with my newly retrofitted and I can't get the lights to stay on. They just turn on for a second and shut off immediately after, but the ballasts stay light up. I went over all my wiring a hundred times tried a bunch of different grounds all with the same results. Before I did the retrofit I was running ddmtuning 55watt hid kit and they worked fine.

After talking with the retrofitsource they thought it might be the bulbs, so they sent me out new ones. Installed them today and had the same result, I tried playing around with the fuse they provided for the main power line and one bulb stayed on. The bulb works in both ballast, but the other 3 bulbs I now have dont work in any. Another issue is when I switch to highbeams the light flap for the cutoff only moves a hair.

At this point I'm ready to give up, I've installed hid's before, but never experienced anything like this. The Retrofit source's harness is also shit! Very thin wiring with bad connections.

Here's the kit I installed http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...roducts_id=141

Testimonial on what kind of crap The Retrofit Source sells

Bimmer Man

07-21-2011, 11:31 AM

DO NOT BUY FROM THE RETROFIT SOURCE!

I, like everyone else, had read here that they had good products. In my first Bosch retrofit I used OEM FX-35 bowls and OEM TSX lenses (the oem version of what an fx-r is). When my car was incolved in an accident, it smashed my headlight and TSX lens. I figured this would be a good time to give retrofitsource a try because my cutoff shields had been a little off with my old set up.

I received my order (two new FX-R projectors) and began the retrofit process into another set of Bosch Headlights. I finished up. The one side was spot on but the other one's cutoff line was WAY off, blurry and curved. I called Matt and explained the problem. He said if I shipped it back on my dime that he would provide a replaecment. I received the new projector and went to drop in my OEM 81522+ bulb and it would NOT seat properly because the the hole for the bulb to fit in was too small.

By this point I was fed up, stripped the crap FX-R's apart (by the way, there is a HUGE difference in quality when holding OEM next to Replica) and harvested the lenses and cutoff shields. I rebuilt up my OEM ones with ZERO problems, everything fit together properly.

I took my business else where and bought my HID kit from Cesar at Lightwerkz. He has been really helpful over the years. I haven't used his FX-Rs, I'm sure they may be made in the same or similar factory, but I know he would take the time to check them, ESPECIALLY on an exchange on a defective projector.

Extremely disappointed and they wasted about 2-3 weeks of my time and multiple disassembly/reassembly because their products were defective. For anyone that has ever done a retrofit, you know how intensive it is, it is very frustrating when the products you were given are defective, twice no less.

My finished product:

http://eurofanatics.com/alpine/alpine7a.jpg
http://eurofanatics.com/alpine/alpine10a.jpg

Think twice about ordering from The Retrofit Source

All of their shit is over priced. I found who they buy their products from: http://aescar.en.alibaba.com/

They get projectors for less than $50 and we are shelling out hundreds to build the damn kit. They should be building the kits for us with the $300-500 we give them for the parts.

The "popular" FX-R projector is a rip off of another projector that TRS has produced in China for $30. They sell them for $135... ridiculous.

Be careful lots of Chinese manufactures are ripping off these FX-R ballasts. There is no REAL FX-R: http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/fx--r-projector.html

Wednesday, December 7, 2011