QuismO Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Ever since my lady got her '06 BMW 330i, i've always talked about how good her headlights looked (keep that line within context fellas =P), and how easy it is to see everything. Anyway, as many of you know, it was my birthday yesterday, and my lady got me an HID conversion kit for my pathy. 6000k, 9004, high and lows (high beams are a separate halogen bulb). i'm not sure how your stock r50 halogens performed, but mine SUCKED!!! i've adjusted them at least 5 times to try and get a better lit roadway. So as soon as i opened the present, I excitedly installed them last night as i wanted to see how they performed right away. The difference between the halogens and HID's are like night and day. Oncoming glare is surprisingly not as bad. there is a definitive line where the light on the road ends, which i was hoping for. I didn't want some huge never-ending blob of light that spreads out into the distance in every freakin direction. i'll take pictures when my cousin brings his '98 pathy up this weekend for my bday celebration to do comparisons for looking head-on and from the driver's seat. ian damn, after typing this out, i'm thinking maybe this should be in the product reviews section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drift Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 How much and where do we get them? hate my headlights. I've tried upgrading bulbs and everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 (edited) she said she got them on ebay for $205 which includes shipping and handling. apparently the low beam only kits sell for around $145 incl s&h. with this setup, i could do without high beams, but i like to use high beams to signal to other indecisive drivers at a 4-way intersection or reluctant freeway lane-changers. i never use them to light the roadway better...the high beams sucked too =P Edit: THIS is the kit i got. Edited September 28, 2006 by QuismO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Nice....one more thing to add to the never-ending list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drift Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 she said she got them on ebay for $205 which includes shipping and handling. apparently the low beam only kits sell for around $145 incl s&h. with this setup, i could do without high beams, but i like to use high beams to signal to other indecisive drivers at a 4-way intersection or reluctant freeway lane-changers. i never use them to light the roadway better...the high beams sucked too =P Edit: THIS is the kit i got. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEET Thank you for adding another freaking thing to my mile long list of crap I have to do to my rig. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr How was the install? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 (edited) Nice....one more thing to add to the never-ending list. hehe sorry guys, that wasn't my intention. i just needed a better lighting system as there are some dark NARROW streets in the city. the install is actually pretty straight forward, just used a multimeter to see which contacts in the wire harness were for the low beams. the hardest part i'd say is finding a place for the ballasts. there's a lot of space under the hood, but not a lot of mounting surfaces. mine is mounted via 150 lb test zip ties right now, but i'm going to bolt it onto something this weekend. quite frankly, even though they say that they use 35 watts per bulb, i'm still not sure if that's the total power consumption per ballast. maybe the ballast (ballasts are power inverters if i'm not mistaken) uses high wattage and outputs only 35 watts to the bulb? so i'm going to set up a power relay for each ballast that will be triggered by the hot lead from the headlight wire harness. EDIT: ok after looking at the sticker on the ballast, it says input is 9~16 volts at roughly 3.2 amps which is roughly 29~51 watts, which would be 38.4 watts at 12 volts. so i guess it is lower than a standard halogen bulb, but still, i like to be safe than sorry, so i'll just install a relay and maybe a 5 amp in-line fuse. Edited September 28, 2006 by QuismO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 With a relay, they'll perform even better! Very cool. I'm thinking of getting the Bi-Xenon ones to have the HID high-beams as well, since I do a lot of night-time desolate highway driving, and it's nice to see as far ahead as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 (edited) Great mod! And it was just 1/10the the cost of my JDM HID conversion! (I also used relays triggered by the headlamp wiring harness to power the lights directly from the battery.) Do they sell the bulbs separately? Since the hi-beams are still halogen, I assume you have to replace the entire 9004 HID low/halogen hi if the hi-beam ever burns out... [edit: found replacement bulbs in their site: $89 each! :o ] Edited September 28, 2006 by XPLORx4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 With a relay, they'll perform even better! Very cool. I'm thinking of getting the Bi-Xenon ones to have the HID high-beams as well, since I do a lot of night-time desolate highway driving, and it's nice to see as far ahead as possible. yea, you probably need the bright light more than i do. i can't wait to test these out on some truly dark roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vengeful Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Gee Dean....why not rub it in even more that you've got the coolest Pathy headlights in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Drift Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 Jerk lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted September 28, 2006 Author Share Posted September 28, 2006 Great mod! And it was just 1/10the the cost of my JDM HID conversion! (I also used relays triggered by the headlamp wiring harness to power the lights directly from the battery.) Do they sell the bulbs separately? Since the hi-beams are still halogen, I assume you have to replace the entire 9004 HID low/halogen hi if the hi-beam ever burns out... [edit: found replacement bulbs in their site: $89 each! :o ] man that conversion looks badass! yea i can't afford a whole new HL assembly =P yea i find it ridiculous that a whole setup is $210 on their website, and $180 for a pair of new bulbs...might as well spend the extra $30 to get the set and replace the ballasts too! =P lol @ venge and drift's replies =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 quite frankly, even though they say that they use 35 watts per bulb, i'm still not sure if that's the total power consumption per ballast. maybe the ballast (ballasts are power inverters if i'm not mistaken) uses high wattage and outputs only 35 watts to the bulb? so i'm going to set up a power relay for each ballast that will be triggered by the hot lead from the headlight wire harness. EDIT: ok after looking at the sticker on the ballast, it says input is 9~16 volts at roughly 3.2 amps which is roughly 29~51 watts, which would be 38.4 watts at 12 volts. so i guess it is lower than a standard halogen bulb, but still, i like to be safe than sorry, so i'll just install a relay and maybe a 5 amp in-line fuse. Yes, they consume much less power than incondescent halogens while putting out more lumens. How does that work? Halogens are less than 20% efficient - meaning more than 80% of the power they consume is converted to heat energy, and less than 20% to light energy HID's are far more efficient. So they consume less electricity, generate more light, and produce much less heat. 10 years from now, halogens will be very rare..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted September 28, 2006 Share Posted September 28, 2006 And I would be negligent if I didn't point out that not all vehicles can be converted to HID. The element of the HID is extremely bright - much brighter than incandescents. It's a true electrical arc - like looking into a welding arc. Since "normal" DOT approved headlight reflectors in the US are required to focus some amount of light upward to illuminate road signs, plugging an HID element into an average DOT reflector will result in EXTREME and dangerous glare for oncoming traffic. It's generally not a good idea to blind those folks when you actually want them to see where they're going so they don't run into you. It is generally (and strongly) recommended to convert to an e-spec reflector when converting to HID elements. They reduce the amount of light focused upward. But some DOT reflectors will be OK with HID, if really precisely focused AND focused to shine the absolute minimum amount upwards as required by the DOT (like production HID's on Audi's and BMW's). I recommend folks to plug in only one HID and then compare the HID to the halogen light. If the HID is noticeably brighter, then you are endangering your own life to use them. Head on collisions suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted September 29, 2006 Author Share Posted September 29, 2006 And I would be negligent if I didn't point out that not all vehicles can be converted to HID. The element of the HID is extremely bright - much brighter than incandescents. It's a true electrical arc - like looking into a welding arc. Since "normal" DOT approved headlight reflectors in the US are required to focus some amount of light upward to illuminate road signs, plugging an HID element into an average DOT reflector will result in EXTREME and dangerous glare for oncoming traffic. It's generally not a good idea to blind those folks when you actually want them to see where they're going so they don't run into you. It is generally (and strongly) recommended to convert to an e-spec reflector when converting to HID elements. They reduce the amount of light focused upward. But some DOT reflectors will be OK with HID, if really precisely focused AND focused to shine the absolute minimum amount upwards as required by the DOT (like production HID's on Audi's and BMW's). I recommend folks to plug in only one HID and then compare the HID to the halogen light. If the HID is noticeably brighter, then you are endangering your own life to use them. Head on collisions suck. at 3+ times brighter than the halogen bulb, i can understand how the "dimmer" beams that are projected upwards at road and freeway signs will be much brighter than intended. i compensated by aiming my headlights lower. i sure as hell hope that they're projected downward enough...being in a higher vehicle doesn't help =P i drove in the fog last night and glare seems to be minimal, the beam was defined, and no oncoming traffic signaled me with their high beams, which i got a lot of in my ex's rav4 with stock halogens. if it does indeed prove to be dangerous, i'm definitely swapping them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonianbrat Posted September 29, 2006 Share Posted September 29, 2006 Very cool mod Q. I went the cheap way and bought some Xenon bulbs from EBAy for like 18$ for a pair. They work good but your setup sounds even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 What a hot upgrade...and yes I actually made contacts in Japan chasing down XPLORx4's headlights---I mean LENSES boys!----and they did not want to sell them seperate of the trucks~~~I had to buy a whole wrecked terrano to get them!!! 1 Question...where is the person with the "this post is worthless without pics" logo?? Quismo~~I love ya, but I am dying to see pics!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmorgan4 Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 You bought an entire wrecked terrano for the headlights!? I'll take then engine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 (edited) no no I didn't get them or the truck...I could buy the truck and part it out for the price in american they wanted...but the the shipping is the deals demise!! ;-) Edited October 1, 2006 by 98silverpathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t0ast Posted October 1, 2006 Share Posted October 1, 2006 (edited) I know the issue with most plug-and-play conversion kits with regular D2S or D2R HID bulbs is that the filament is in the wrong place so the light doesn't work properly with the halogen reflector lenses. If you get a chance, I'm curious where the filament is in your HID bulb relative to a stock 9004 halogen. I assume that your HID bulbs with your kit are custom rather than the regular D2S and D2R bulbs. Can't wait for the pics! (And btw, your wife sounds really cool!) Edited October 1, 2006 by t0ast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 haha she's a good lady =) i'll take pics in a bit, going to permanently mount the ballasts today anyways, so i'll stop for a bit and take a few snapshots. unfortunately i couldn't take any pictures with my cousin's and my pathy side by side as he ended up bringing his scion TC...bah! ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 OK, here's a few pics...sorry it's only noon, so no night view pictures yet. Mounting location for passenger-side ballast: Mounting location for driver-side ballast: Bulb comparison, the arc location is within the egg-shaped "bulb" Left: HID and Right: Extra white 9004's water-tight connections: Here's a head on picture at headlight level...doesn't look too bright, but i'll show pictures of driver's view during the evening...so much easier to see at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted October 1, 2006 Author Share Posted October 1, 2006 hehe thanks to the pics, i just realized that my front passenger parking light is out =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuismO Posted October 2, 2006 Author Share Posted October 2, 2006 here are the night time pics...sorry for the driver's view pics...kinda hard to hold it steady while driving =P Head on view at night: From the driver's seat...sorry so blurry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted October 2, 2006 Share Posted October 2, 2006 (edited) So are you happy with them? Was it worth it? (What was the total cost by the time you got it installed?) And would you do it again? Edited October 2, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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