For sure, I kept gradually trying to upgrade my headlights every year and finally pulled the trigger on a retrofit. I think its also safe to factor in what you have available. I actually had a hard time finding IS projectors for a while so I just went with what the best projectors were at the moment. Now I have too many extra headlight accessories.
The warranty on my MLED 2.0 are good for 5 years, which I think I will outlast my needs if I don't get an itch to upgrade again.
Heads up I did buy everything at 20% as I waited for the holiday sale earlier this month.
1) I did buy the Morimoto retro-quik brackets. The $24 was worth it for me. I seen Biggu's post on his DIY retrofit (
2014-2017 HID Projector Retrofit DIY) and I decided I did not want to spend more time on them if I could help it.
I do want to say I did make the mounting holes larger to make my horizontal plane a 100% for micro-adjustments. I did spend like 5-10 minutes modifying.
2.) What other wiring adapters did you need?
Depending on what system, HID/LED you go with, I just had to buy headlight socket adapters (H11 male ->9006 female) and high beam splitters. Which I see is question #4. That's it. The socket adapters may have been just for my application so I highly suggest you reach out to these headlight guys to ensure the materials and build sounds solid before you dive in. Caesar @ Lightwerkz or Matt @ TRS are who have helped me before.
3.) Did you use a shroud to cover the sides of the projector and which one did you use?
I didn't use a shroud. I don't think a shroud may fit around it. Stock projectors are 3", so are the MLED series and IS 350 ones. There is about a 1/8 inch gap around the 3" projector. Just test fit your lens since the stock shroud is mounted on the lens. I did have to adjust the height higher a couple times since it sat on the bottom of the stock shroud lens when test fitted. I must say I do see a little bit of the CNC stainless steel housing if I look really hard but other than that I could of sprayed it black if it really bugged me.
4.) Did you use anything for the factory high beams?
I bought high beam 9005 cable splitters for like $4. My projectors were bi-xenon so I was able to keep the stock 9005 socket with upgraded Silverstars for keeping DRL's on. I did attempt LED light bulbs but they do not dim like halogen bulbs. So I have x2 high beams, stock + bi-xenon shield down which is nice.
This is my first time with LED projectors so I need more drive time with them. I do enjoy the ease of less wires and 'plug n play' for this build.
Here's a run down of what I bought while using the stock headlights:
-MLED 2.0 Projectors
-2x H11 headlight socket adapters
-2x 9005 high beam splitters
-Retro rubber butyl sealant.
My grand total was ~$330 and about 12 hours from bumper removal to complete assembly & driving. I felt half the time was spent opening and cleaning the permaseal. TYC should be way easier though.