Totally agree with you man. I will not settle for LED unless its producing more then 1500 lumens. The trick is to have LED bulb capable of shining as close as possible to 180 degree so the reflector housing would be beneficial.
I found a lot of options for leds which im thinking about using as test. My brother giving me a set of two piece Depos to play with so i will experiment with projector and high beam. My guess that I wont find anything close to HID output for low beam but as for the high beam im sure i can get something put together.

 

I asked a couple engineers over beers tonight (of note, our company makes LED replacement lights for the HID lights used in warehouses and distribution centers -- 10,000 to 26,000 lm 1:1 replacement while reducing kWh $$$ by 90%) and came out with the following:

1. Halogen bulbs were built and tested over several years to a specific DOT spec. The spec covers both the bulb and the reflector. Deviating from the spec (e.g., using LEDs deviates from the spec and introduces unacceptable glare from the reflectors) is illegal.

2. HIDs that illuminate through projector lenses were built to a specific DOT spec. LEDs through the same lenses will deviate badly without optical re-design and subsequent DOT certification -- so add another year before after the optics are ironed out before we see LED headlights in the USA.

3. The next generation of automotive lights will be digitally controlled LEDs (10x more efficient and 5x longer lasting than HIDs while being equally or more bright), first with reflectors and later projector lenses, built to DOT spec for safety. Heat isn't an issue because HIDs create a ton more heat, except in desert conditions. Desert cars with LEDs will need larger heatsinks, which will mean all cars will need larger heat sinks as per DOT. Tack on another year before DOT cert.

Yes, I'll get projectors, but I'm poor so the LED idea was attractive.

Philips and Osram will not sell LED as a headlight solution until it becomes super cheap (which it is nearly now) and also have R&D under their belts so as to present to DOT. Without doubt they'll work from a Europe-first spec.

So, I'm still stuck with crappy 2-piece halogen lights with integrated fogs (dumb design). I've found that ignoring traditional headlight aiming techniques and just pointing the driver's side way up and the passenger side up a little more helps to improve illumination. My car has had two timing belt changes and I believe a passenger side collision years ago, so both horizontal and vertical precision is way off due to the front of the car body being out of square versus a factory fresh B5, the main problem being the front edge of the topmost metal bar connecting the front fenders being bent downward.

 

I have been told that I shouldn't change my regular head light bulbs for the LED along with the resistors because they will only last a year because if the minimal space inside the projector casing, Has anyone heard this or is there a better setup too buy for the low beam bulbs??????

Jordan