HID kit - How to not suck at light

So I just installed my Apexcone 35watt kit yesterday. It took me a good two hours (i don't have a garage and my tools suck...and I'm slow). I was very excited for night fall so I could test out my new lights. I won't go into the details of dropping the battery terminal nut down into the engine bay and not being able to get it out, or forgetting to reflash the AP and hitting the 5k base map rev-limiter - lets just say I was looking forward to the BLAZING LIGHT OF FURY to make the skinned knuckles worthwhile.

 

When I hit the lights though, it sucked. It was barely barely brighter than stock, and the cut offs were non-exisitent. I was pissed. I checked out some threads and saw only one guy dissapointed with his HID install, so I figured I'd screwed something up. This morning, I took a second look, and apparently, I hadn't turned the tab on the bulb to the right spot before I locked the bulbs in. The bulbs weren't in all the way. I dunno how I pulled that off on both bulbs, but rotating them to fit properly did the trick. There's a quite literal night and day difference. I can actually see at night now.

 

Short version:

1. If you're installing a HID kit, make sure to rotate the bulbs so they're all the way in before you clip them down.

2. It's a good idea to zip tie your wiring harness down in the engine bay...otherwise it might melt against your engine...not saying that happened to me or anything...just throwin' it out there...

same exact thing happened to me a few weeks ago when i installed mine.....

 

 

but i figured something had to be wrong. I literally could only see directly to the sides of my car and not in front of me

 

 

Felt like an idiot after i rechecked the bulbs and the road lit up...

n00B's!!!! :lol:

 

I didn't even diconnect my battery, and took me 20 minutes through the OEM grommet.

 

But that was the second time around. The first took me around an hour.

 

X

I fell somewhere between. Took me a while but they worked nice. If I were to do it again id be quicker. Same with most of the mods like uppies etc.

I dont care if it takes a while if the end results are good.

^^^ true, but whe you take your time, and it comes out sucky...it is Miller time!!!

 

X

45mins the first time ... About 30 now with a harness ...

 

Still I say

 

Retro ftmfw...

 

That one took a looooong time

hey my harness was messed up and i blew a few fuses and was stuck scratching my head for a couple of hours.

I just installed my HID kit last night. 4300K 35w, they are amazing but my cut off in the beam pattern looks screwed up. I was extra carefull to make sure the bulbs were in the socket properly. Take a look at this beam and tell me what or if I did anything wrong or if I need to adjust something inside the light. It seems like the top of the beam lost the nice cut it had. I was thinking of removing the tab on the bulb and turning it to see if the beam focus's better. Suggestions?

Cutoff looks okay for oem housings, but the shadow cast by the return wire on the bottom left of both beams isn't so nice.

I made my harness, solder & shrink on every connection, 12 gauge feeds, overkill at its best. No crimp connectors on my car. Hate em, I avoid them at all

expense. Using the stock gromet holes really made for a nice clean install too. Two hours total for my first HID install.

 

I see the shadow, and the dim blotches up top too.

Tonight I noticed the beam is actually aimed higher than before (I did not raise them either) so the cutoff as seen on the road is further away, not as sharp. Do you see the dim light shining above the cuts? It almost looks like that light belongs in the shadow area, like a diagonal tweak in focus is needed. Experimentation continues:)

i keep thinking that you broke physics every time i read the thread title...

 

look up "cutoff shield" for an explanation to the little light blotches. i removed the 'blotches' on my driver's side (for glare) but kept the passengers side (for finding squirrels and lighting up signs)

 

i also ended up rotating my HIDs 180deg so that the return wire faced the other direction, and viola! no more dark spot (requires removing some of collar around the bulb)

That beam pic I posted was only five feet from the door. I went out behind the shopping plaza and measured 25 feet. It actually has a sweet beam pattern, which I am relieved at because my lights are amazing. I think there is less glare to oncoming traffic than the SylverStar Ultras I had. I got beamed everynight with the SS's. I have not gotten beamed yet with these.