HID Headlight conversion

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October 10, 2008, 09:59:15 PM

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HIDKits_body.asp

Scroll down to where it says "H4Low" that is true HID for those that want the real thing and not like what me and Danmc77 did.

On another note i have brighter lights i tested out the new wiring harness and FANTASTIC! brighter bulbs now. tomorrow i will see about getting a picture.

Reason i opted for the cheaper verison of the "HID Look" was becasue of cost. when i usually looke dat kits they ran from 250+ for the real HID bulbs.

Quote from: demon340v on January 03, 2008, 12:15:46 AM

Demon340v, I think you might have misunderstood what I did - I DID use real HID bulbs for my conversion. The links I posted in my original post is the seller I bought from. You can buy them now for pretty cheap. This is now the 4th set I've bought and have had no quality/fitment issues. I personally don't think the halogen "xenon" bulbs come close to the output of true HID.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&viewitem=&item=170162253326

Those are what i have always went for which are those Xenon bulbs the HID.

Here is a pic i took today with my Siverstar H4's installed. This is brand new wiring with NO RELAY

Thanks, I like to collect sites like that untill I buy that part.

Quote from: demon340v on January 04, 2008, 01:44:07 AM

Those are what i have always went for which are those Xenon bulbs the HID.

Here is a pic i took today with my Siverstar H4's installed. This is brand new wiring with NO RELAY

Nice!
The pics that I posted don't do it justice - if your bluestars where next to real HID bulds - such as the ones I'm using - they would look yellow. Although they sell those bulds as "HID look", they're not the same. I'm using bulbs that need a ballast to ingnite, and have no filament. Belive me, I am using silverstars right now on my Ramcharger with updated H4 housings - they don't compare to the illumination and color of the real HIDs. And concidering I paid about $45 for the Silverstars, I will never use them again, since I can get the HIDs for about $20 or $30 more.

I think there is some confusion between HID and "HID look" bulbs. This is my car that I converted the fog lights to real HID. The first picture is the SILVERSTAR bulbs - notice how yellow they look:

This is after I converted to HID's. You can see how white and bright they are conmpared to the Silverstars.

I know it's not a MOPAR, but I don't drive my muscle cars every day! 4 speed

yeah i know the difference between the HID's and H4'sthey give the look of it that's all.

I was just amazed hwo much brighter my bulbs are now since i have went to this new wiring harness talk about how crappy my factory one was.

A buddy of mine has HId on his grand am and even when i am driving the truck the damn lights blind me.

i just want to blind people with the truck now by getting some silverstars in there for cheap i love deals!

I bought some cheap ass chinese projector lights for my Yukon. They look cool as hell when they're off but they're nowhere as good as the stock lights. I have to take a better look at what's out there.

being able to see better at night is always good , but have any of you given any consideration to other people on the road. those things are horable to look at when they are coming at you. also many people tend to get a light fixation and will tend to steer towards a bright light witch could result in a head on colision. and any one that may have a bit of fog or a dirty windshield is usually rendered nearly or completly blind.

Dude, these are the same wattage as used on late model passenger cars - as long as your headlights are aimed properly, there's no issue. So, to answer your question, I do think about other drivers on the road - but I also think about my own safety and want modern headlight illumination. The housings I purchased are DOT approved and the bulbs are direct replacements for many late model vehicles.

I'm not tryin to put you down . Its just that I drive around 175k a year. and muchof that is at night. so many people are running overly bright fog lights when its perfectly clear out. they are indeed poorly aimed. I have them on my 03 2500 and can see no added vision benifit when they were in use. I do realize that these things are not fog lights ,but they amount to the same thing . as for dot leagle any body can say and stamp there product dot leagle when they are in reality not. i.e. I observed a set of euro clear tail lights that were marked dot leagle and infact had not one bit of red in or on them. they did light up red ,but when not lit they were anything but leagle. as for head lights to be dot leagle the lense is suposed to be defused in order to keep the light from being to bright . but that particular law seams to be ignored by nearly every auto manufacturer for quite some time now. they seem to me to be an un needed exccess that will do nothing more than agrivate other drivers on the road and attract attension from the police that should otherwise go to the ricer crowd. also if they are the same wattage as other bulbs then what the point? as for your safety that could be in jeopardy by drivers that cant see where they are going.

I found this . It made me go crosseyed and yawn a lot. and I dont know how to put it on here so you can just click on it. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

Quote from: Cpt Panzer on January 08, 2008, 12:04:36 AM

I found this . It made me go crosseyed and yawn a lot. and I dont know how to put it on here so you can just click on it. http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

Panzer - I agree about the extra light sources and improperly-aimed heads and fogs can be very distracting, but if aimed properly, These should not cause any problems.

However, as to the benefits of the HID's, I've taken an excerpt from the very link you posted discussing some of the benefits and misperceptions regarding excessive brightness:

2.2 - Glare from High Intensity Discharge Headlamps

In the case of HIDs, we have received numerous complaints stating that these newer lamps produce excessive glare. Even though they are required to comply with all federal lighting requirements and we have no reason to believe that they do not comply, HIDs are still being singled out as being troublesome glare producers for other drivers. The reason expressed by drivers is that the HID headlamps are brighter. This may be due to the spectral content of the produced light, the generally wider and more robust beam pattern, and/or their conspicuous color relative to other headlamps, or misaim.

In an effort to create a headlamp which provides better illumination, longer life, and a unique styling appearance, vehicle lighting manufacturers developed HIDs. They have been typically offered on higher end vehicles and can cost as much a $400 to $800 for the option. HIDs are unlike conventional halogen headlamps in that they operate more like street lamps. Instead of heating a tungsten filament, an electrical arc is created between two electrodes. This excites a gas inside the headlamp (usually xenon) which in turn vaporizes metallic salts. These vaporized metallic salts sustain the arc and emit the light used for the headlamp's beam. These lamps provide more light than that produced by halogen lamps and only use two-thirds the power. As a result, they are more efficient, and because there is no filament to burn out, these bulbs are claimed to last for as much as 100,000 miles of driving time.

Although the agency has seen advertising and received many complaints claiming that the light produced by HIDs is twice or three times as bright as that which is produced by halogen lamps, laboratory measurement, made by various parties, do not support these claims. HID light sources (bulbs) typically have about two to three times the available light flux (volume) of halogen light sources, but because of such an abundance of light, the HID optical design does not necessarily need to be as efficient at collecting and distributing light as a halogen system. The HID beam pattern is certainly more robust, providing more even and wider illumination and the potential for better visibility and comfort. This performance results in more light on the road surface and more of the roadway being illuminated. However, this additional light is not supposed to be projected upward from the lamp toward other drivers' eyes. During inclement weather, when the road surface is wet, the additional volume of light can result in higher levels of light reflected off the road surface into other drivers' eyes. However, those who have complained about HID glare have not specifically reported inclement weather as the only time when there is a problem with HID glare.

Another factor that may be involved is the phenomenon that may have occurred with the introduction of halogen lamps in the early 1980's. Drivers are attracted to headlamps that are different colors than would normally be seen. As such, the drivers may look directly at oncoming headlamps during driving to see the unfamiliar item. This is something that they do not normally do. Initial halogen headlamp introduction elicited some glare complaints, even though the first halogens used were actually very similar in performance to the standard non-halogens headlamps. The only marked difference was the color of the halogen headlamps. If this is the case now, one would expect glare complaints about HIDs to stop when drivers become familiar with the HID color.

I respect you opinion and concern, but either way, I'm doing it and just wanted to put the info out there if anybody else is interested in this conversion - to each his own... thank you

P.S. - as far as the fog lights that I converted on my BMW, they have the ability to be adjusted and actually are pointed along the ground pointing outward. I live in a very woody area, so it made a HUGE difference in visibility of the area along the side of the road where I can spot deer before they jump in my path.

Another demystifying post by another well informed member. I truly thank everyone for their candid opinions and am now able to be forarmed in making a sound decision...I'm going HID just like my X5. Those BMW fogs look almost identical to mine, where did you find the bulbs? Any special installation needs?
thank you

Quote from: golferjohn on January 09, 2008, 01:24:51 AM

They are not the exact part as the X5, but very similar, so the conversion would be identical. It's very easy, but might be difficult to explain - but I'll try:

For my application, the original fog bulbs are H7's (if I remember correctly). The fog light housing is like a clam shell - when removed from the car, it splits in half to service the bulb. The rear of the housing has a plug recpticle on the outside in which the factory harness plugs into the housing. Inside, there are 2 wires that then are connected to the 2 prongs on the factory bulb.

Now, the conversion HID bulbs have wires permenantly attached that lead to the ballast. that means you have to modify the housing to run the wires through the back, then to the ballast. So , with all that explained, it's as easy as replacing the bulb with the HID one, drilling a hole in the rear of the housing to run the wires through (the kits come with a grommet to seal the hole you drilled), plug that into the ballast, and plug the ballast into the factory wiring harness. Sounds complicated, but it's VERY easy and really only takes about 20 minutes if you know what to expect.

Just find out what buld size is in your X5 fog housings, and then do a search for the HID conversion on Ebay ( for me, I searched "H7 HID conversion), from there, just find the best price. You also have to pick the color temp - I think mine are 5000k. Most listings will give you examples of what each one looks like to make it easier for you to decide.

Now the fogs will match your factory headlights and will loook so much better than those yellow bulbs. Not to mention, you're going to LOVE the visibility at night!

Sorry for the BMW talk fellow Mopar nuts duster

I ordered a pair off of Ebay. They were $28.00 including shipping. For the 28 bucks it's worth checking out. I'll keep everyone posted when they arrive.

Quote from: '73Dusta on January 09, 2008, 03:05:00 PM

I ordered a pair off of Ebay. They were $28.00 including shipping. For the 28 bucks it's worth checking out. I'll keep everyone posted when they arrive.

Wow! that's the cheapest I've seen 'em - good find.

Wait - are you talking about the bulbs or the housings?

Quote from: 68_Val_Sedan on December 24, 2007, 03:00:36 PM

$28 bucks complete with shipping ....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/UNIVERSAL-7-INCH-ROUND-H6024-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-H4_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33717QQihZ005QQitemZ150197667833QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

PS I highly reccomend using a relay with these headlights ... use the old wires for the relay coil and a new run with circuit breaker to the battery

have you actually bought those? it seems pretty cheap.

Quote from: flyboy01 on January 09, 2008, 03:35:12 PM

Quote from: 68_Val_Sedan on December 24, 2007, 03:00:36 PM

have you actually bought those? it seems pretty cheap.

Personally, and not offend anybody who bought these, but I don't like them at all. I don;t think the fake "projector" would look good on a muscle car, and I also don't like the little blue bulb/led that serves no purpose. That's why I spent $70 on my housings, because I knew they weren't "ricey" and they were good quality.

Quote from: flyboy01 on January 09, 2008, 03:35:12 PM

Quote from: 68_Val_Sedan on December 24, 2007, 03:00:36 PM

have you actually bought those? it seems pretty cheap.

NO ... all of my cars just have Halogen sealed beams run off of relays. I think they are bright enough to see anything once the relays were installed.

Guys, This has been such a hot topic that I decided to spend the $28.00 and see what I get. I can afford to throw away if they are cr#p. I have not received them yet but when I do I will take pictures and post how they look. I really don't know what I'm getting but it's worth a shot. If they are decent I will run with a relay(like diagram in post).

Stay tuned!

Quote from: '73Dusta on January 09, 2008, 05:15:52 PM

I got my housings off ebay as well i think they wanted 15 bucks plus 20 shipping ro somethign like. did htat about a year ago or so. If ti's teh same housings as mine you won't be disapointed just look at the pic i posted with my Silverstar turned on.