Hid Head Light Kits, Who Has Them?

[scoob fae ork]

Hi guys i'v been looking at these kits for a little while now and i was wondering if they are as good as they say and if they are worth the money that you pay for them. So i was wondering if any one has any experience with them and if they are good what's the best kit to go for?

Thank's for any help

Donald

[scouk]

FItted a set to my bugeye just over a year ago.. Was a manual install so had to cutout slightly bigger hole in the back of the headlight unit to get the wires to fit though.. Bit of silicone later and job done..

http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtop...p;#entry1216693

Are they worth it.. Oh yes!! Aside from the fact they look nice from the outside, they give off a LOT better light coverage.. With normal bulbs you get various levels of light across the field, but with HID it's solid light all round.. With a very clear cut-off so it'd be obvious if you are goign to dazzle anyone.. Just note they really should only be fitted to the projector lenses. Fitting to reflector lenses, which are not designed for HID's is not only a waste of time, but also dangerous as they scatter the light everywhere!

As fo what kit to go fors.. not sure.. THe kit a got was off a group buy on SNet with slimline ballsts. But I can't reccomend them... Ever since installing, the lights woudl switch themselves off whenever a electrical blip occured.. Like a indicator cancelling.. Often either one or both sides woudl swithc off and I'd have to manually switch off the headlights and back on to get them to fire.. SOmetimes takes several attempts.. Not ideal! THought it was maybe dodgy Impreza wiring, but wired up a basic circuit to a seperate battery with a switch and coudl recreate the problem.. SOmetimes it would illuminate, but randomly woudl switch off.. Recently bought a spare ballast (non slim version) off eBay for £22 and tested.. Worked a treat.. Been trying to recreate the problem for hte last 45 minutes and can't.. Seems the slim-line ballasts I got are unreliable.

[green_goblin]

I take it on my99 classic it would be the wrong lenses then??

Jase

[scouk]

Generally yes.... YOu could get away with using them in high beam as you shouldn't be dazzling anyone wiht those anyway.. HiD's are ideally suited to those eyeball type projector lenses as they dont use a reflector but rather a single lens and a fixed bar for blocking light for dipped angle so as not to dazzle other road users.. I've heard of specially designed reflectors which are compatable with HiD bulbs and also certain kits claim to be suitable for reflector style lights but seen them in action anywhere.. They use a special design of bulb with a built in deflector to force a cut-off of high level light (similar to that seen in H4 style bulbs) but they are probably more expensive..

One thing to be aware of, but shouldnt cause a problem, is that aside from the havign the proper housing for the bulbs, HiD lamps should have auto levelling sensors/motors and have headlamp washers for them to be "legal".. I have neither on mine.. MOT is a pass and they don't dazzle anyone so from a safety point of view they are good.. But not strictly 100% road legal.. But then it's bugeye JDM headlights I have on mine and I don't think the JDM bugeyes had headlight washers...

[kennyuk300]

FItted a set to my bugeye just over a year ago.. Was a manual install so had to cutout slightly bigger hole in the back of the headlight unit to get the wires to fit though.. Bit of silicone later and job done..

http://forums.sidc.co.uk/index.php?showtop...p;#entry1216693

Are they worth it.. Oh yes!! Aside from the fact they look nice from the outside, they give off a LOT better light coverage.. With normal bulbs you get various levels of light across the field, but with HID it's solid light all round.. With a very clear cut-off so it'd be obvious if you are goign to dazzle anyone.. Just note they really should only be fitted to the projector lenses. Fitting to reflector lenses, which are not designed for HID's is not only a waste of time, but also dangerous as they scatter the light everywhere!

As fo what kit to go fors.. not sure.. THe kit a got was off a group buy on SNet with slimline ballsts. But I can't reccomend them... Ever since installing, the lights woudl switch themselves off whenever a electrical blip occured.. Like a indicator cancelling.. Often either one or both sides woudl swithc off and I'd have to manually switch off the headlights and back on to get them to fire.. SOmetimes takes several attempts.. Not ideal! THought it was maybe dodgy Impreza wiring, but wired up a basic circuit to a seperate battery with a switch and coudl recreate the problem.. SOmetimes it would illuminate, but randomly woudl switch off.. Recently bought a spare ballast (non slim version) off eBay for £22 and tested.. Worked a treat.. Been trying to recreate the problem for hte last 45 minutes and can't.. Seems the slim-line ballasts I got are unreliable.

HHmmmm a bit worrying Al ,too have a set of HIDs with the slimline ballasts not got them on the car yet .Would it still be worth fitting them?

Kenny

[scouk]

HHmmmm a bit worrying Al ,too have a set of HIDs with the slimline ballasts not got them on the car yet .Would it still be worth fitting them?

To be honest, I'd say try it.. Desptie the problem I carried on using them for a year but now with the darker nights I'm paranoid that the local police will pull me for having a dufff headlight that I didn't spot so wanted to get it sorted, only recently did I finally get round to buying another ballast for testing..

I have been in contact with the kit seller a few times and haven't seen to heard of any common issues with the slimline ones.. But I didn't have much luck with them.. Both seem to be iffy.. Worth trying I'd say I'm curious to know if it's just me or not... The slimline ones defnately are MUCH smaller than the standard ones!

At least the solution for me is simply swapping out the ballast, no need to completely re-wire things.. So an easy fix.. Even if it is costing £20 a ballast Just glad to finally get a soluton.. Only used it on a test circuit earlier will know for sure if it's fixes it when I get the other ballast and install them properly..

Problem is if you swap back from Hid's to standard it can be a bit of a job as you'd have to try re-seal the larger whoel created for the HiD wiring..

Edited November 16, 2009 by ScoUK

[dipsy]

What size of Hid bulbs do you have i have 35w D2R .Don't know if i can up grade them or not

Edited November 16, 2009 by Dipsy

[scouk]

It's 35w ones I have.. No idea about upgrade options.... They seem to do the job pretty well for dipped.. For long distance I've also fitted a set of driving lamps (non HiD) which give an extra hotspot at high beam. Night driving is sooo much fun these days

[scoobykev]

I take it on my99 classic it would be the wrong lenses then??

Jase

I've just taken off my morrettes and put on crystal headlights with an hid kit. I ran the crystal lights with standard bulbs for a few weeks before putting the hid kit on and it makes a huge difference, as said before it's a much clearer light and nobody's flashed me yet for dazzling them.

I've no idea what make it is, i bought it second hand,(cheers jonboy), took about half hour to fit.

[des_curran]

I fitted a set of hid's to my last impreza, it was a bugeye sti so it already had the projector lenses as standard, the difference was night and day just so much better.

I bought mine from Duncan at Hypertech and i fitted them in about 30 minutes, had them on the car for over a year before i sold it and never had a single problem with them, i cant remember what make they were though.

The construction and use legal requirements for hid's are, headlamp washers, a self leveling system and projector beam lenses, but the only requirements on them to pass an MOT are the correct beam alignment and pattern so as not to dazzle other road users (i'm an mot tester) my current sti has them as standard but if i bought another car that didnt have them i would have no hesitation in fitting them again, a well worthwhile upgrade.

[dipsy]

I fitted a set of hid's to my last impreza, it was a bugeye sti so it already had the projector lenses as standard, the difference was night and day just so much better.

I bought mine from Duncan at Hypertech and i fitted them in about 30 minutes, had them on the car for over a year before i sold it and never had a single problem with them, i cant remember what make they were though.

The construction and use legal requirements for hid's are, headlamp washers, a self leveling system and projector beam lenses, but the only requirements on them to pass an MOT are the correct beam alignment and pattern so as not to dazzle other road users (i'm an mot tester) my current sti has them as standard but if i bought another car that didnt have them i would have no hesitation in fitting them again, a well worthwhile upgrade.

Same as you Des my current Sti has them fitted as standard

[StewartyBoy]

HID Ballasts have a thermal protection on them, when the electricity surges they overheat and shut off. The reason why they will take a few attempts is due to them needing to cool down and reset. Not ideal but better that than blowing something.

I have HID on the Saab and I think they are excellent. Very clear light and looks pretty cool. Classic owners beware fitting HID units. The lense will give an uneven refraction spread and could see the car failing at MOT time.

www.hids4u.co.uk

[scouk]

HID Ballasts have a thermal protection on them, when the electricity surges they overheat and shut off. The reason why they will take a few attempts is due to them needing to cool down and reset. Not ideal but better that than blowing something.

I though my problem was somethign liek that, but it happens no matter the temperature.. Seemed more common on cold mornings, but happened any day at any time of day whether it was the first switch on or later on... The theory sounds good though and to me suggests that the slim ballast isn't up to the job of what it had to do and was cutting itself out.. Which woudl make sense... I did wonder how slim ones coudl be made when full size ones were still beign produced.. But I shouldn't jump the gun, once I get the other ballase and run them for a few weeks I'll know for sure if it's the ballasts at fault..

Strange I've asked several HiD distributers the last 12 months about my problem and none of them coudl give me any explanation or any details on how the ballast function.. *sigh*

[scoobykev]

I have HID on the Saab and I think they are excellent. Very clear light and looks pretty cool. Classic owners beware fitting HID units. The lense will give an uneven refraction spread and could see the car failing at MOT time.

My mate has a saab and his lights are brilliant.

Worst case for the classics would surely be sticking the standard bulbs in for mot. Worth that effort for the benefit of hid over standard

Edited November 16, 2009 by scoobykev

[micra_wrc]

I've just taken off my morrettes and put on crystal headlights with an hid kit. I ran the crystal lights with standard bulbs for a few weeks before putting the hid kit on and it makes a huge difference, as said before it's a much clearer light and nobody's flashed me yet for dazzling them.

I've no idea what make it is, i bought it second hand,(cheers jonboy), took about half hour to fit.

kev, jonboy,

any more details on this? make, fitment etc

am thinking of replacing the morrettes on the RA with HID lights,

am finding that I'm more nervous driving at night cos I can't see that well with the morrettes now that its so dark...

[micra_wrc]

aye Gordy, morrettes are better than the standard lights but been told that HID ones are brighter than morrettes

[scoobykev]

kev, jonboy,

any more details on this? make, fitment etc

am thinking of replacing the morrettes on the RA with HID lights,

am finding that I'm more nervous driving at night cos I can't see that well with the morrettes now that its so dark...

The lights themselves are are just standard crystal ones off the '99 onwards cars, which i have to say even with the standard bulb in it was a huge improvement over the morrettes. I'll have a look to see the make of the hid kit for you.

My morrettes gave me nothing but grief, every mot they needed adjusted, last mot got an advisory for the corrosion of the lenses.

[Connor_scotland]

Mate I can get these kits cheap.

Been getting them from the same supplier for over 5 years at a excellent price, sold hundreds of them aswell ;-)

I just fitted some to my bug 2 weeks ago, Easy to fit no modification required.

P.s - I put HIDS in my morettes, The projecters in the lenses look wicked aswell lol

**** picture but you get the idea - NO light scatter

[scouk]

Got my second Ballast today and fitted. No problems at all.. Not even one single misfire on the bulb

BTW - Found a few photos I took last year when I first fitted them:

One on the left is HiD (4300k colour temp), one of the right is regular bulb.. You can see the HiD appears brighter and probably a better spread of light across the ground..

Distance tests.. May be difficult to spot the difference at first but note even throughout all the 3 settings the dipped HiD clearly has an intense level of light.

Dipped HID only: Good light coverage with sharp cut-off thanks to the projector lens.

Dipped HiD and Full Beam: Full beam using Philips Blue vision bulbs

Dipped HiD, Full Beam with Driving Lights (Hella 500FF's with Philips BlueVision bulbs): Little but more distance, doesn't really show up there due to the distant road, but get a nice extra hot spot of light durectly ahead

As mentioned above, note even with all lights on the HiD light is clear to see over the rest!

Edited November 18, 2009 by ScoUK

[scoobykev]

Dipped HiD and Full Beam: Full beam using Philips Blue vision bulbs

Does this mean your kit doesn't have a full beam with the HiD?

[scouk]

Does this mean your kit doesn't have a full beam with the HiD?

Correct.. Just in the dipped projectors.. The Sti / JDM headlight unit uses separate bulbs for each unlike standard WRX bugeye's which use twin filament H4 bulbs.. Have considered HID-ing the driving lamps though... But wanted to get the ballast bug sorted first...

It's possible I'll go nuts and HiD the whoel lot at somepoint... assuming I find suitable space for all the ballasts

Edited November 18, 2009 by ScoUK

[scoobykev]

Correct.. Just in the dipped projectors.. The Sti / JDM headlight unit uses separate bulbs for each unlike standard WRX bugeye's which use twin filament H4 bulbs.. Have considered HID-ing the driving lamps though... But wanted to get the ballast bug sorted first...

It's possible I'll go nuts and HiD the whoel lot at somepoint... assuming I find suitable space for all the ballasts

Ah, just curious. I didn't realise there were different types, my kit does dip and main beam.

[scoobykev]

It would appear Sophia is the person to contact for all your HID needs

[green_goblin]

It would appear Sophia is the person to contact for all your HID needs

Have you been getting p!m's from her too??

Any chance of me seeing you HID's when im home kev.....thinking about getting them and wouldnt mind seeing what they are like before buying them!

Jase

[scoobykev]

Have you been getting p!m's from her too??

Any chance of me seeing you HID's when im home kev.....thinking about getting them and wouldnt mind seeing what they are like before buying them!

Jase

yes i have.

Give me a shout when you're home and we'll meet up