Aftermarket headlamp assemblies for 2002 Subaru Impreza

Narse

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I recently backed the front end of my 02 Impreza into a friend's parked truck, breaking my headlamp housing and lens.
In looking for a replacement assembly I discovered that there are aftermarket projector assemblies available.
Specifically these 2:
http://www.аnzousa.com/headlights/subaru-impreza-02-04-projector-h-l-halo-black-clear.html
(Available from amazon in for around ~$215)
http://www.spеcdtuning.com/lhp-wrx02jmtm.html
(Available from ebay for around ~$190 but the amazon reviews here:
https://www.аmаzоn.com/dp/B016RXOOU0/ indicate some problems)

A friend of mine says he has projectors and loves them, and a cursory overview of the technology seems to suggest that it has some important advantages over reflectors.
I'm especially interested in the first pair mentioned as they take a 9005 bulb so it seems there would be the potential to upgrade to an HIR1 if I find the lighting insufficient.

A quick note on my use scenario: I live in Fairbanks, Alaska where it is very cold most of the winter, and dark for much of the winter. I will make a few road trips to Anchorage this winter (360 road miles) which is mostly unlit 2 lane highway with indigenous moose. It's not unusual for people who do a lot of highway driving here to install off road lights ("moose lights") to help spot them early at highway speeds. The principal danger from moose isn't so much when they are standing in the roadway, as when they are on the shoulder and decide to dart across it before oncoming traffic. I don't think I have the budget for moose lights, but I might be able to swing it, if I can get a buddy to help me with the wiring. I think I'm looking into trying to get better performance out of my primary assemblies now that I need to replace them. I found the stock ones to be very inadequate with Philips Xtreme Visions (9007 stock) installed -- I didn't feel like I had enough visibility *on* the roadway to drive at highway speeds, much less being able to detect possible moose on the shoulder in time to stop. My stock reflectors were very likely fogging, and may have been aimed sub-optimally for long range moose detection. I will note that I had improved clarity from the intact headlight reflector after the lens/airscreen was removed by the impact, but even then I don't think that felt like it was quite sufficient. (The surviving parts of the lens are currently held back in place with clear Gorilla tape while I try to figure out a more permanent solution. This is mostly just to try to keep moisture out as I know it's unlikely to hold up to thrown gravel.).

What do I need to know about projectors that I can't find out in the articles I've read giving a general comparison between the technologies?
Does anyone have specific experience with either of those manufacturers, or those specific products? (I don't have a lot of knowledge about this, but it looks to me like the low beams on the spec - d tuning part lack bulb shields, or whatever the cap that goes over the bulbs on reflectors is called, which I understand could cause more glare than when the shields are present?)

I've read some posts on this forum where people have been very skeptical of aftermarket parts. Are there specific reasons for that? Do they apply when the aftermarket parts meet the relevant DOT or ECE standards?
(And is there a list of standards compliant assemblies that I could check to see if either of those models is on? Surely there is some paper trail about which assemblies are standards compliant?)

Thanks for maintaining this forum as a resource for everyone.
 
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Alaric Darconville

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:welcome:
I recently backed the front end of my 02 Impreza into a friend's parked truck, breaking my headlamp housing and lens.
Whenever I back the front end of my car into something, I'm driving forward. :)
Were you towing the Subaru with the nose pointing rearward and backed up the recovery vehicle/towed vehicle combination?

In looking for a replacement assembly I discovered that there are aftermarket projector assemblies available.
Unfortunately, not a single aftermarket composite headlamp assembly is worth a plug nickel. There are some aftermarket headlamps in the sealed-beam form factor by JW Speaker and Truck-Lite, but any aftermarket composite headlamp (whether in "OEM-style" or "Altezza" or anything plain or fancy) is pure junk.

This thread is just one of many that goes into more detail about aftermarket headlamp-shaped toys.

A friend of mine says he has projectors and loves them, and a cursory overview of the technology seems to suggest that it has some important advantages over reflectors.
I'm especially interested in the first pair mentioned as they take a 9005 bulb so it seems there would be the potential to upgrade to an HIR1 if I find the lighting insufficient.
If he has factory projectors and loves them, that might mean something, but for aftermarket headlamps, it doesn't-- either way, it's a subjective impression. Often, *bad* headlamps can be perceived as better than good ones just because of how the human optical system works, and the type of beam shape failure that aftermarket headlamps exhibit often result in excessive foreground lighting or light in the glare zones that can lead to a subjective impression of a better lamp.

Unfortunately, there are no OEM projectors for the 2002 Impreza-- they only came with reflector headlamps. Therefore, only new OEM headlamps will do. Get a set of them, and either these bulbs (although they have fairly short life), or these Osram Rallye 65W which are also excellent performers and have better life.

Don't forget that once the lamps are installed they should be aimed properly-- you'll want to find a large dealership or body shop that has actual headlamp aiming equipment, like Hella's "Optical Beamsetter".

You may be able to get some OEM headlamps from the 2004 model year Impreza (I think they should bolt up), but it will require some slight wiring changes to do that, since that's a quad lamp setup. Use the Philips HIR1 (with a base modification) for the high beam, and the Philips X-Treme Vision H1 for the low beams. (Those aftermarket lamps from Anzo claim to cover the '02-'04 model years, but they might have made changes to try to accomodate any behind-the-lamp differences.)

Thanks for maintaining this forum as a resource for everyone.
You, and all our other members, are why we maintain it. Thanks for joining the CandlePowerForums!
 
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Narse

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When I backed into the truck I was backing up and turning out of a parking space, it was late, I was exhausted and the truck was longer than I thought so clipped it's rear bumper with my left headlight while moving backwards through the turn.

Where can I get OEM replacement headlights for a 15 year old car? Do I need to call dealerships? (O'reilly Auto Parts doesn't list any OEM headlight assemblies for my vehicle on their website).
Unfortunately it looks to me like the 2004 headlamps are a totally different shape than the 2002 headlamps (Subaru used bug-eye styled lights in 02 and 03 only as far as I can tell).

It looks to me like the bulbs you recommended (H7) won't work in the OEM headlamps (9007). Is there something I'm missing here? Are those for the 04 headlamps?

Excessive foreground lighting is something I'm definitely concerned about and, to my subjective impression, was a problem with my OEM headlamp assemblies when I had the phillips bulbs in them. But the issue with moose really has me wanting to put a lot of light right in the glare regions -- which obviously would need to be turned off when other traffic is present -- but this is somewhat standard practice here, most transport semi-trucks here have incredible light rigs that will light up a whole hillside in front of them for their long hauls between towns. I'm sure their set ups would violate FMVSS 108, but a) I'm not sure it applies, and b) the truckers are vigilant about switching back to low beams when other traffic is present in their patterns.
To that end, are there any off road lighting brands anyone can recommend?

Regardless I'd like to be confident that I can spot moose on both shoulders of a 2 lane road 400+ft in front of my vehicle. Unfortunately moose tend not to wear hi-vis vests, so I'll need enough light on them to see a contrast vs. snow or trees.
 

-Virgil-

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Alaric is right on most of his points: none of the aftermarket headlamps are any good; they are all junk, regardless whether they're original-lookalikes or redesigned items (projectors, halo rings, LEDs, etc). Contrary to popular myth, it is not the case that projector headlamps are necessarily better than reflector headlamps (or vice versa), and the same goes for pretty much any two headlamp technologies or categories you might choose to compare: halogen/LED, reflector/projector, US-spec/European-spec, etc.

The Osram Rallye 65w bulb is no longer available; not sure why Alaric linked it in any case, though, because the original-equipment '01-'03 "bug eyes" Impreza cars do not use H7 bulbs, they use 9007 (as you already knew). The best 9007 bulbs presently on the market are these. As for where to find original-equipment headlamps for your car: from Subaru. For example, one side and the other side. Be forewarned, they will not be cheap, but you don't get what you don't pay for; there are good reasons why the real headlamps cost so much more than the imitation units (yes, even the ones that claim to be "OEM quality", "SAE/DOT approved", "CAPA certified", "NSF certified", etc).

Equally as important as buying real headlamps: having them aimed correctly, with an optical headlamp aiming machine. Yours take the "VOR" spec; see here.

All of that said: when your car wasn't as old as it is now, there used to be some legitimate aftermarket headlamps that were completely different from the trinkets and toys that remain available now. The good ones were basically frame and bezel assemblies that used self-contained projector modules from legitimate manufacturers (Hella modules in the case of the ProDrive headlamps, Valeo modules in the case of the Morette headlamps). These were quite good and offered performance potential higher than that of the original headlamps -- not just because they were projectors, but because they happened to be better in some aspects than the originals. As far as I know, these are no longer available, and any set you might find on the used-parts market would certainly need refurbishing (all new modules), which would mean paying twice.

If it's any consolation, the odds are your crushed headlamps were ready or past-ready to be retired and replaced; the plastic lenses degrade with age.

I can understand your wanting to keep the car on the road; we had an '03, racked up close to 200,000 miles and countless smiles on it!
 

Alaric Darconville

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Alaric is right on most of his points
...
the original-equipment '01-'03 "bug eyes" Impreza cars do not use H7 bulbs, they use 9007 (as you already knew)
Well, darnit! Missed 100% *again*!
(A friend of mine is on a trivia team and they missed just ONE point because the song title was "No Scrubs", not "Scrub". But he did stand his ground when it came to the 19_7 event in which the Little Rock Central High School was integrated. Those... "scrubs" wanted to say 1967!)

As far as I know, these (projector lamps) are no longer available, and any set you might find on the used-parts market would certainly need refurbishing (all new modules), which would mean paying twice.
Or you might find them "refurbished" with Morimoto junk, or otherwise improperly "refurbished". Or, simply counterfeit.
 

Narse

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Thanks a bunch for those Amazon links! I hadn't found any when I started googling, Amazon doesn't make it easy to separate OEM parts from aftermarket.
Unfortunately amazon is telling me that the place selling the part I need, 84001FE030, doesn't ship to Alaska.

I have Philips X-treme Vision +100% 9007 XVB2 bulbs installed right now. Is there a difference between those and the XVS2 bulbs?
One of the reasons I got so excited about those aftermarket assemblies was the prospect of being able to install HIR1 bulbs.

It's good to know that competent aftermarket headlights did exist (there is certainly demand for them!) and what they looked like. Unfortunately messing around with projector modules themselves is way more engaged than I want to be with this project.
In my opinion it doesn't make sense to take this car off the road just because I broke a light (still works with the taped up assembly but that's a huge kludge till I can get a fully functional part).
I do like the fact that when I do get an OEM replacement in, that it will offer better performance than my hazed, slightly yellowed assembly right now, but that does suggest that maybe I should do the other one too. But that's too spendy for right now. Especially when I have a major engine misfire problem I still need to get diagnosed, and when I'll probably only drive the car till February.

Still looking for any suggestions about off road lights. I was looking at some Morimoto parts, are their LED bars also junk?

Thanks so much for your feedback!
 

-Virgil-

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I have Philips X-treme Vision +100% 9007 XVB2 bulbs installed right now. Is there a difference between those and the XVS2 bulbs?

Just in the display package, not in the bulbs themselves. Same bulbs.

Still looking for any suggestions about off road lights. I was looking at some Morimoto parts, are their LED bars also junk?

Anything bearing that pretend-brand is not worth a plug nickel.
 

Alaric Darconville

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I do like the fact that when I do get an OEM replacement in, that it will offer better performance than my hazed, slightly yellowed assembly right now, but that does suggest that maybe I should do the other one too. But that's too spendy for right now. Especially when I have a major engine misfire problem I still need to get diagnosed, and when I'll probably only drive the car till February.

A matching pair looks so much better, and performs so much better. New lamps don't just benefit you, they produce less glare for other drivers.

Matching new headlamps also make it a more attractive trade-in or help draw a better price on a private sale. Probably won't quite get your money back on it but your safety is still worth it anyway.

The misfire is probably a bad coil pack. Driving too long with that condition can damage the catalytic converter from raw fuel reaching it. A few miles is one thing-- weeks or months is another.
 

KXA

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Especially when I have a major engine misfire problem I still need to get diagnosed, and when I'll probably only drive the car till February.

Have you ever had your head gaskets replaced? If you haven't, that can give the engine a misfire due to coolant getting into the combustion chamber. It is $$$$. I'd check that out first before spending $$ on new OEM headlights.
 

Narse

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Thanks for all the replies folks! I definitely want to do both headlights, but it is a matter of if it's worth it with potentially end of life problems on the car. The best deal I can find is $300 for each assembly including shipping to Alaska. (From this parts dealer in Washington State: https://www.subarugenuineparts.com/oem-parts/subaru-composite-assembly-84001fe030 ). OEpartsmart in Alabama has it for $20 less, but they want $70 more in shipping to Alaska. Local dealer can get it for $350.

While I'm here, I suppose I should ask about replacing the fog lights -- they weren't in good shape when I bought the car and I've broken both harder by hitting snow banks over the years, right now both are non-functional. I was thinking of getting some cheap aftermarket ones mostly for cosmetic reasons since I've never been in a situation here where my fog lights helped me see anything. When we get fog here it's usually ice fog which usually isn't very thick, but can sometimes produce light pillars. I don't think those are a problem with well working fog lights since they don't direct much light vertically. Since I don't intend to use them unless I'm absolutely desperate I don't imagine they will be much of a glare hazard to other drivers. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket fog lamps? Are they similarly chintzy to headlight assemblies and does that present as much of a problem for a component that is rarely used?
For reference I believe that on this model the fog lights can't be operated without having the low beams on.

Regarding the misfire I had one briefly 15 months ago but it was diagnosed as being due to low compression in one cylinder and it basically stopped after putting some compression restore fluid in the oil. Since I was told at that time I could either rebuild or replace the engine or drive it till it died I opted for the 3rd at that point. I suspect it is a related issue right now, but the misfires do feel different this time around. Going to try to have it diagnosed next friday. (All the shops I trust around here are super busy right now since the roads are getting slick, and people are preparing their cars for winter).
I haven't had the head gaskets replaced, and I know that can be an issue on this engine. The previous owner didn't do it either, but never had a problem.
Regardless I'm hoping it's not something that requires an engine replacement to fix. A garage in town did mention that sometimes you can get low mileage subaru engines from Japan that have failed emissions tests over there and been pulled, so I was thinking of going that route rather than a rebuild of one half of the engine (it was just one cylinder missing last time).
 

Alaric Darconville

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While I'm here, I suppose I should ask about replacing the fog lights -- they weren't in good shape when I bought the car and I've broken both harder by hitting snow banks over the years, right now both are non-functional. I was thinking of getting some cheap aftermarket ones mostly for cosmetic reasons since I've never been in a situation here where my fog lights helped me see anything.
Front fog lamps, even excellent ones, are of so extremely limited utility that you're better off ignoring them.

Opt for a *rear* fog lamp instead, if you must have a fog lamp-- otherwise, just ignore that you had front ones. This is a good thread which references yet other threads.
 

-Virgil-

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If I'm not mistaken, Daniel Stern has a trick electronic widget that adds an effective rear fog function to that car without having to cut/drill/add new lamps to the back of the car. At least, I think he's who sold me the widget; you might check with him.

In more than 9/10 cases I'd totally agree with Alaric about front fog lamps, but you being in Alaska might just have good reason to have and (properly, sounds like) use them. You can do better than the stock items; I put very nice selective yellow Koito fogs on our '03. Never used them in Alaska (never drove the car there) but they were much appreciated from time to time in New Hampshire!
 

haha1234

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The European version probably has H4 headlights, so you could go to ebay.de and search for "scheinwerfer rechts impreza" and "scheinwerfer links impreza"

If I'm not mistaken, Daniel Stern has a trick electronic widget that adds an effective rear fog function to that car without having to cut/drill/add new lamps to the back of the car. At least, I think he's who sold me the widget; you might check with him.

If Stern doesn't have it, you could probably get it from Susquehanna Motorsports (rallylights.com)
 

Narse

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Thanks for all the advice folks!
I did get the misfire diagnosed and fixed (it was a coil pack, but there was also oil leaking into/onto the spark plugs and wires that needed to be addressed).

Anyhow, I'm ready to think about my options for replacing the fog lights.
Right now I'm considering using some brackets used by aftermarket tuners to mount HELLA 500FF driving lights in the spot currently occupied by the (non-functional) fog lights. The purchases would run to about 100$ which seems like a great deal for getting driving lights and mounting hardware. My goal is to work with a friend on the wiring. (I have some basic breadboard electronics experience, but I don't know where most of the relevant nodes are in my vehicle and how the wires are routed -- yet.)

Is the low position of the fog lights going to make the driving lights ineffective? Will it be hard to aim them high enough to get good visibility above or to the sides of the high beam pattern? (which is where I need it).
Are there other reasons this would be a bad idea?

Looking around on this form it seems folks aren't enthusiastic about the Hella 500s. Are there other lights that are less than 6.5" in diameter that will mount to a vertical surface I should consider?
(I looked for PAR46 housings that mount to vertical surfaces rather than horizontal ones and couldn't find any, but my knowledge of what to search terms to use is weak here).
I'm not enthusiastic about drilling holes in my bumper, but I suppose that is another option I could research.

Once again thanks for all the great advice!

Edit: I realize this is pretty far off of my first question. Would it be best to move this conversation of auxiliary driving lights to a new thread?
 
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-Virgil-

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Right now I'm considering using some brackets used by aftermarket tuners to mount HELLA 500FF driving lights in the spot currently occupied by the (non-functional) fog lights.

No idea what the quality's like on those brackets, it would seem difficult to screw up such a simple part, but there is nothing in this world someone can't screw up.

Is the low position of the fog lights going to make the driving lights ineffective?

Yes.

Will it be hard to aim them high enough to get good visibility above or to the sides of the high beam pattern?

Yes.

"Driving" (aux high beam) lamps really have to be at/above headlamp height to be of much use, the exception being trucks and SUVs with such a high bumper height that even if the "driving" lamps are below the headlamps, they're still high enough.

Are there other reasons this would be a bad idea?

Too much foreground light during high beam/"driving" light usage.

Looking around on this form it seems folks aren't enthusiastic about the Hella 500s.

The old 500 is OK, not the world's finest. The newer 500FF you asked about would probably do a better job for you, and the price is hard to beat, but it wouldn't "undo" the problems of the low mount location.

I looked for PAR46 housings that mount to vertical surfaces rather than horizontal ones and couldn't find any

JW Speaker makes a nice one with mount + aim provisions. So does Wipac (mount S5538, front trim ring S5723 on that page).
 

Alaric Darconville

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Thanks for all the advice folks!
I did get the misfire diagnosed and fixed (it was a coil pack).
Called it. Surprised it took anyone that long to figure out which one if there's one per cylinder, or even one per two cylinders. The OBDII codes, and trading the coil packs around, makes that a simple task.

Right now I'm considering using some brackets used by aftermarket tuners to mount HELLA 500FF driving lights in the spot currently occupied by the (non-functional) fog lights.
Way too low for auxiliary high beams.
 

Narse

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Thanks again for all the advice! You've talked me out of putting driving lights there.

The delay on the fix for the engine was because the shops I trust around here were slammed with customers doing winterization tasks. The one I really like was booked full 4 weeks out, so I took it to my second choice that got me an appointment for a week out.

I dropped in the new OEM headlight assembly last night and it makes a world of difference. Puts more usable light on the road than both of my old assemblies combined. (using the exact same bulb). I think I'm going to buy another for the right assembly instead of auxiliary driving lights. Might try to get some pictures so other folks can see the kind of difference it makes.
I still plan on trying to replace the fog lights (they look like crap right now and I probably want to sell the vehicle in not too long).

As far as I can tell I have 4 options:
1) Replace with imitation/chinese foglamps like these ones: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M587SQV/?tag=cpf0b6-20
Advantages: Cheap (~$80), Cosmetically appealing, easy install since I just replace the old housing and clip it into the existing wiring.
Disadvantages: Probably poor build quality, probably very bad light pattern.
2) Replace with OEM part: https://www.parts.com/index.cfm?fus...&diagram=7591030&Title=-2002-03-FOG-LAMP-ASSY
Advantages: OEM quality -- probably won't deteriorate quickly, probably has a legal beam pattern, but may not be a useful one. Guaranteed easy install.
Disadvantages: Cost (>$300), beam pattern may not be useful -- I never found the one working but degraded one I used to have to be useful.
3) Replace with Hella 500 Fog lamp. (as far as I can tell there isn't a 500FF fog lamp).
Advantages: Pretty cheap (~$60 for lamps). Wiring shouldn't be too difficult -- just need to splice into existing fog lamp connector. Is known to be mountable in the fog light position on models that had the same fog lights. I expect this to produce a usable fog light beam should I be in a situation that requires one. Can put on the included stone shields in the summer when there is zero chance I'll need the fog lights.
Disadvantages: Mounting -- will either require drilling into existing fog bracket (which I am wary of because I'm not good at drilling straight), or adding kartboy bracket (which will be ~$50).
4) Replace with some other fog lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions? I can only find the Bosch 100 compact fogs in stock at Bosch Australia and I have some reservations about attempting to ship from there to Alaska. (I've heard Aus often gets screwed on shipping, as Alaska does -- having that kind of possible issue on both sides of the shipping seems like asking for it to take forever).
I think a lamp in this position would need to mount to a vertical surface. I'm not sure there are any structural elements below the fog light location to drill into. Possibly it could be mounted hanging from a structural element above, but that seems like it could be a difficult hole to drill. (I'm also not sure I have 7" radius to work with those PAR46 housings - I really need to measure the workable area - and at $37 each without the sealed beams this could add up quickly.)

Thanks again!
 

-Virgil-

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I dropped in the new OEM headlight assembly last night and it makes a world of difference. Puts more usable light on the road than both of my old assemblies combined. (using the exact same bulb). I think I'm going to buy another for the right assembly instead of auxiliary driving lights.

Good plan.

Replace with imitation/chinese foglamps like these

If it comes to that, just install the "no fog lamps on this car" cover/blankoff plates.

Replace with OEM part

A fine option.

Replace with Hella 500 Fog lamp.

Another fine option.

Replace with some other fog lamp. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Other than difficult-to-get Koito units (have to be bought out of Japan, no, not really.

I can only find the Bosch 100 compact fogs in stock at Bosch Australia

Those are way too small for the space, and they're no longer manufactured.
 

KXA

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Narse,

I've used the Hella 500's, and while not perfect, they will work well (they're easy to service and repair). If the Subaru was mine, I'd go this route with the fan boy brackets. (I've heard that rallylights.com has them too.)

I'd also use these clear covers in the winter season. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002M9Y2Q/?tag=cpf0b6-20
 
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