HID conversion gone wrong (pics inside)

[xcm]

whatever helps you sleep at night kittrel

 

[Boostwerks.com]

All you kids running HIDs bulbs in your IPF or whatever lenses are running HIDs in a lens DOT approved for Halogen bulbs. You can rant and rave all you want about how nice it looks. But the spread is shit compared to the real thing and you are half blinding people.

I agree that the HID retrofit kits, are not a true projector HID setup (hence the term retrofit). However, using a proven e-code housing with one of the retrofit kits works MUCH better than any halogen bulb out there.

I highly disagree about "half blinding people" as it is entirely up the housing used. There are several e code housings that I've seen that have a very sharp cutoff, and great pattern. My Autopals have a much sharper cutoff than stock even with HID retrofit. More importantly the light is much brighter than the 100 watt halogens I had in there before.

 

[HaleYes]

I'm holding off on HID headlamps. I'll wait for LED headlamps. They'll have more bling factor and, if you know me....I'm all about bling. :laugh3:

 

[FlexdXJ]

I'm holding off on HID headlamps. I'll wait for LED headlamps. They'll have more bling factor and, if you know me....I'm all about bling. :laugh3:

You gonna swap out the 33's for some 28" rims now?

 

[DanMan2k06]

I'm holding off on HID headlamps. I'll wait for LED headlamps. They'll have more bling factor and, if you know me....I'm all about bling

Uggghhh I wish this technology was moving a little faster in the automotive industry. Seems like there's only 2-3 cars that have them, and all are more or less for marketing and not functionality.

 

[Talyn]

I would like to see a picture of the bulb.

Based on his description he is running one of those crappy H4-2 setups with a small halogen for the high beam.

http://cgi.ebay.ph/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260296258086

 

[urban yan]

urban yan may be right about the bulb, but not all h4 hid setups look like this...

mine sure as hell dont...

I guess the next question would be: "What housings is he, currently, using with that HID kit?"

I can tell you that I've seen a crap 6054 housing put out a better pattern.... but the guy was using an oem D2S HID kit with a H4/D2S shield. Regardless, I'd like to see the same kit in a better housing before I pass final judgment.

 

[HaleYes]

Something to also consider when toying with this stuff is focal length. Focal length can play a huge difference in what kind of pattern a lamp with throw.

Focal length is the depth at which the bulb is setting in the housing/reflector.

 

[urban yan]

Good lord I would never trust an American made HID kit. I'll give my business to the Germans. :wantyou:

It's damn near impossible to buy aftermarket German made stuff.... unless you go oem.
Personally, I would worry about the fly-by-night Chinese kits. Not American stuff.

Based on his description he is running one of those crappy H4-2 setups with a small halogen for the high beam.
http://cgi.ebay.ph/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260296258086

I don't even know where to begin with that design

Focal length is the depth at which the bulb is setting in the housing/reflector.

That's why I keep suggesting oem D2S bulbs set in this H4 adapter... it's not a perfect solution,
BUT it takes allot of the guesswork out of HID installs in H4 housings

 

[DanMan2k06]

It's damn near impossible to buy aftermarket German made stuff.... unless you go oem.

I try to stay away from anything but :greensmok

 

[xcm]

That's why I keep suggesting oem D2S bulbs set in this H4 adapter... it's not a perfect solution,
BUT it takes allot of the guesswork out of HID installs in H4 housings

i know for a fact we have spared on this subject many a time, but this is THE FIRST ive seen you post those....

those seem interesting, more info pls?

 

[urban yan]

I try to stay away from anything but :greensmok

Like I said, it's damn near impossible to get genuine German-made HID components when you go aftermarket.

I run oem HID bulbs/ballasts in my bi-xenons, but I used an aftermarket mini H3C hid kit in my foglight projectors. The aftermarket kit was hell. I had one bulb explode in my projector, and the kelvins were way off the 6000k mark. The aftermarket Chinese junk put me over the edge, so I decided to go German. I found an authorized Philips reseller, and I ordered a set of rebased H3 ultinons along with a matching set of 6000k ultinon D1S bulbs. It cost me a poor-man's fortune, and guess what?... it turned out the bulbs were assembled in China. The bulbs were German, but the burners were Chinese. They didn't fit in my housings correctly, so I had to return the D1S bulbs (I kept the H3s because they were still 1000x better than the mini H3Cs, but you get the point.... the HID aftermarket is a bitch.

edit: I realize I lost some lumens switching from 4100-4300k oem bulbs to the 6000k variety. The drop in lumens wasn't that drastic, and I was looking for some bling. I would NEVER go over 6000k though

i know for a fact we have spared on this subject many a time, but this is THE FIRST ive seen you post those....

those seem interesting, more info pls?

I posted them before when I got into an argument with purplecherokee over his HID set-up. Here's a link to a site the sells them (but you can find them anywhere... even on ebay). http://www.hidconcept.com/Adapters-h4.html

These were designed so you can use oem quality bulbs, and retain the correct focal point. Most people don't use them because they don't want to lose their high beams. They rather have an aftermarket hi/lo H4 HID kit that gives them a crappy high/low beam rather than have proper low beam from a set-up like this.



.

 

[DanMan2k06]

I've thought about those multiple times. Do I build a quality retro first and use a crappy kit for a while, or buy quality OEM parts, and use the adapters temporarily? Ultimately came down to the retro first. But I'm still piecing everything together.

 

[urban yan]

If you decide on projectors down the road than you will NEED oem D1s or D2S bulbs to fit into them. You should set-up your Jeep with oem ballasts/bulbs now (fit them into autopals with the H4 adapters I just mentioned).... than when you do the projectors... you will already have the proper bulbs/ballasts. You only lost 25bucks on the adapters (that you can resell when you get your projectors)

 

[xcm]

ok, let me share my hid experience... and lets compare.

built go-jeep harness,bought ipf housings, and a cheap local hid kit....

we're talking no more then 150, and theyre awesome for what i use em for. which is driving in the city and offroad --offroad they are complimented by other hids in an offroad housing--

they may not be perfect for driving in dear country, but they kick ass for desert, and they are awesome budget wise.

whats important is that my lights are definately not my limiting factor when driving fast, and thats all i care about.


if you're grouping everyone without projectors, who run hid's in with purplecherokee... thats just wrong. the way you projector snobs talk about it is out of proportion i think... =\

 

[xcm]

then again, stuff like the pics from page 1 do happen, theres a lot of junk out there... so i couldnt blame someone who bought something like this for being angry.

but, theyre not all like this =\

 

[urban yan]

if you're grouping everyone without projectors, who run hid's in with purplecherokee... thats just wrong.

purplecherokee defies characterization ... and no, I wasn't making that comparison (give me some credit lol). I was suggesting oem components because of my experiences with gray-market HIDs.

 

[ausi02]

There are only two kits known to man that are an actual HID DOT approved kit. All you kids running HIDs bulbs in your IPF or whatever lenses are running HIDs in a lens DOT approved for Halogen bulbs. You can rant and rave all you want about how nice it looks. But the spread is shit compared to the real thing and you are half blinding people.

Sylvania Xenarcs, modified housing for HID bulbs (something NONE of the other aftermarket housings are setup for)

And you've already seen Urban's Projector kit.

I know this seems off topic but is that picture on Colfax by any chance?
And I applaud urban yan for giving good alternate solutions to this HID problem...