Ok, so STEP6 now after another Saturday spent with wires, relays and connectors.... seriously I'm done for now, it became much complicated that I ever expected....
Relay testing finally became positive and all cables on both headlamps were ready to wire up.
The wire-octopus looks bad, but after few hours of careful wire joining, splicing, taping and sealing the ready-to-fit harness was good to go.
I probably went overboard with protection, as every single joint has 1 or 2 layers of electrical tape + some are also protected by heat-shrink sleeve, but last thing I would want is some of connections going loose in the cramped space. Most of joints were done using those screw-in blocks and connectors+crimper so really did my best there. And hence few hrs lost on precise (and annoying) work.
Fitted in headlamp with no room to spare, adjusted the bulb connector a bit and all in all - it closes perfectly without extra tension, although it is REALLY close to the rear cover. Like zero-gap close.
Final testing on the bench - works exactly as intended. Halos go on with parking lights and goes off when dip beam is on. In future - will be rewired as originally intended (POS2 ignition).
STEP7
lamps in the car, first test on the wall. Everything works fine, light and shutter beam works fine. Not happy with the light sloping to right, but its exactly the same as with previous lamps. Not sure whats going on but seems that its either projector or lamp mounts design that originally were intended for a bit different projectors....
Did some adjusting and allignment and best I can achieve is this. Not bad, with perfect hotspot and levelled cutoff. Just the right slope bothers me, but as I said - cant fix the rotational issue without messing with mounts. Will leave it as is and see how it works on the road.
Right projector has a bit of rainbow effect on the edge but will correct it later (shutter adjustment by screw).
Cant say much about D2S vs H7HID difference yet, as I am yet to drive it at night so really have no clue how it behaves. Main test will be tonight on evening comute.
What I can say, though, car looks great with black lamps. Difference is very subtle, but I see it and really enjoy the new look.
This on its own was worth the hassle, plus condition of those is much better after polishing so win-win.
And then you turn on Halos....
Have to say - love the looks. And I also like the combined look of side amber + halo + parking LED. All together makes a very unique look and have to say I really like it.
Night shot:
Im not kind of person that would use that just for the looks (i.e. will never drive on them at dusk/night just because "that looks cool") but during the daylight, when its either no lights or those on - Im happy to have them on like DRLs would.
As for the brightness - I have to admit that keeping them behind the difusor does make them dimmer. That was obvious, but I still prefer this to having them exposed. Plus the light output is enough for car to be visible during the day. Something brighter than non-Led DRLs on some cars, and less bright than LED DRLs on full brightness.
Thats all for now.
Will update this thread after some night driving, maybe I manage to take some pics but it will be mostly down to my personal observation and difference in light output noticeable only for my eye.
Also, my old H7 projectors will be taken out in next day or 2, wrapped up and packed in their original boxes and ready for their next owner (see for sale section if interested)