HID, whats best?

So aside from what the Vendors say, whats the best way to upgrade to HID and what have you done? I am in no way HID savvy!

They are super easy to install, if you have ever changed headlight bulbs before you can install HIDs.

 

My kit had great instructions but they basically weren't necessary because all you do is plug the "bulbs" into a ballast and attach it to your battery, then put the "bulbs" into the headlight housing.

Installing them and installing them nicely is another thing though. Depends on if you're a stickler about the details. (Securely mounting ballasts out of view, clean wire management, etc.)

 

Personally I haven't bought HIDs because I don't have the money to throw on a set of 300-400+ dollar lights. (OEM quality) I just can't bring myself to buy the ones the vendors sell for a hundred bucks, regardless of the warranty.

There's a little bit more to that, but nothing too bad. For my car at least it needed a bit of drilling, and my DRLs had to be disabled. All in all it should take you no more than a couple of hours to get done, assuming you have NO mechanical ability.

 

Also, while price is usually a good indicator for the quality of the HIDs, some kits like the 55w DDM Raptor V2 (I think that's what it's called) are actually very reliable for a relatively low price. Do a bit of searching on the forums and you'll find lots of information on the topic.

This is the kit I went with...55w 6k color. You do have to drill your stock caps, disabling DRL's (there's a walkthrough somewhere). Hardest part is finding a place to mount the ballasts and run the cables cleanly. I also put RTV around the holes/grommets you thread thru the stock light caps.

 

Would recommend blacking out/clearing your corners (if you want to) while you're at it b/c you will want to seal up the squirrel blinders or you will have people constantly flashing you b/c the glare is so bad.

 

There's a little bit more to that, but nothing too bad. For my car at least it needed a bit of drilling, and my DRLs had to be disabled. All in all it should take you no more than a couple of hours to get done, assuming you have NO mechanical ability.

 

Also, while price is usually a good indicator for the quality of the HIDs, some kits like the 55w DDM Raptor V2 (I think that's what it's called) are actually very reliable for a relatively low price. Do a bit of searching on the forums and you'll find lots of information on the topic.

best = OEM.

majority of kits' electronics generally aren't made to last well over a year, and the best they can make of your halogen projectors is an approximation of optimal hid performance.

that said, i'd still take a kit over halogens anyday of the year.

best aftermarket ive encountered yet is ddmtuning.com hids

 

cheapest and yet best quality ive ever had..

 

lifetime warranty covering bulbs too,

 

good stuff

IMO, check into a high quality halogen and be done. No wiring, no ballast to blow, no cheap Ebay xenon bulb to burn out. I and quite a few other members have 65W (10 over stock) Osram Rallye's and love them.

There's always multiple opinions on HID or halogen. Personally I love my HID's. Cheap set off of Ebay. Find the cheapest order two sets and your good to go. Easy to install and night and day differance.

Silvercorona: which kit did you go with?

I've heard a few good things about ddmtuning.com hids, so probably will try their kit this summer.

i second DDmtuning.com... i have 2 sets from them and both are going on 2 years strong.

I agree OEM is best.

OEM for sure.

 

Now on my second set of DDM's.. Xenon Expert sent me 2 kits (I paid for one).

 

Quote to return one of my busted ballasts using their lifetime warranty is 80% of the cost of buying new.. imho not entirely worth it.

Wow, for a 55w HID Slim Balast H7 kit at DDM tuning is $49.95. I'm purchasing my kit tonight.

i love my 10000k HID's!

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz7/scooby05lgt/leggy4-1.jpg

^^^^

i love my 10000k HID's!

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz7/scooby05lgt/leggy4-1.jpg

 

how hard where the fogs to do

Don't know y ppl make a big deal over retro-fitting other projectors & stuff - I put some nice cheap ones on my '09 and didn't even drill the plastic protection cover. Been running fine for 1.5 yrs & 31,000 miles with razor sharp cut-off & proper bright...Y put Lex or Bimmer projectors when I notice my '09 with aftermarket HIDs has a sharper and straighter cut-off than those cars??? (I leased the car from 0 miles)

^^^^

you say no, but have you ever had them? their so bright that i dont even need to use my HI beams! and when your driving in the rain, the white lines glow like a blacklight so no "blind lane" driving for me!

how hard where the fogs to do

took me 20 min..

you say no, but have you ever had them? their so bright that i dont even need to use my HI beams!

 

Yeah, because they're glaring all over the place. Your light output is SO much worse than stock (4300k) color too. Yellow/white light is best for actual light output... most don't care though.

 

I was in my friend's mazda mx-6 on backroads awhile back... he had 8000k HIDs and I was scared for my life, you could barely see 50 feet in front of you.

 

Cars with blue headlights look like a big wave of light saturation coming at you on the road. I shake my head everytime I see someone on the road with them, they're worthless.

 

Projectors that actually AIM white light look incredibly tasteful; the color change in the projector lens is enough.

Go retro or go home!

Silvercorona: which kit did you go with?

 

DDM tuning 55w 5.5k

I've done HID's on my old car, but I've stayed away from them since then, But maybe my issue was the set I bought. I noticed when you would turn the lights on they would take 2 min before they were putting out full light output. A friend of mine has a Pilot HID kit and his do not have this very slow warm up delay. As noted I'm not sure if it was due to bad ballasts or bad/cheap bulbs. So needless to say a $49 kit from DDMTuning sort of worries me.

 

Anyone have any info regarding their start up/warm up time?