HID Conversion Kits

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:25

A bloke on the Alfa Romeo Owners Club forum had a response to a letter he sent to the department of transport on the legality of fitting HID kits to Halogen cars. The response was along the lines of:e

You may modify a Halogen equipped car to HID provided the following conditions are met:
You fit the HID to a projector lens
You fit headlamp washers
The HID lenses are self levelling.

The reasons for this are because no matter how well you align your lights they still scatter because the quality of the reflectors in a Halogen lamp are not good enough to prevent it. So you end up driving round blinding oncoming traffic, as well as breaking the law.

You can always tell who has fitted the aftermarket lights from the other direction because you end up blinded, perhaps we should follow these people round and shine torches in their faces as they drive round at night?

Department of Transport said:
In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.

The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).

For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.

Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:

1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.

2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).

3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.
In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above.

If you require any further information regarding the regulations covered by this fact sheet, please contact the DfT at the address below:

Trasport Technology and Standards 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street Telephone: 020 7944 2078
London Fax: 020 7944 2196
SW1P 4DR Email: [email protected]

Tom|Nbk · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:25

Scatter is very minimal when properly aligned

Here is a picture from the standard Focus lamps properly aligned with the HID kit.

Come on it's not exactly like thats completely glaring someone. Beam seems rather focused to me with minimal scatter?

Clarkey · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:31

looks pretty poor to me :/

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:31

Tom|Nbk said:
Scatter is very minimal when properly aligned

Come on it's not exactly like thats completely glaring someone. Beam seems rather focused to me with minimal scatter?

Its more an issue of a lack of a self levelling mechanism, as you go other bumps etc your lights will point up slightly, right into other peoples faces. Not a problem with standard lights as they are not as bright (and are more of an annoyance), but HID lights will blind people for a few seconds which is dangerous.

Edit: I have also read elsewhere that in the event of an accident you may not get a pay out if the insurance company finds reasonable evidence that your blinding and illegally installed lights may have been a contributing factor (i.e. if someone hits you head on because they were blinded by your lights).

Tom|Nbk · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:37

People flash me at current with my Osram Nightbreakers which are correctly aligned, you can't win.

OllyM · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:39

Tom|Nbk said:
Scatter is very minimal when properly aligned

Here is a picture from the standard Focus lamps properly aligned with the HID kit.

Come on it's not exactly like thats completely glaring someone. Beam seems rather focused to me with minimal scatter?

It's all over the place!

They're proper HID's (using projector lenses)... Look at the sharp cut-off at the top.

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:39

Yes but the difference is that a blast in the face from halogen lamps is classed as causing discomfort, whereas a blast in the face from an HID lamp is classed as disabling. Which causes problems in the event of an accident if the other driver reports being blinded and an inspection turns up incorrectly installed lights on your car.

Plus if people are already flashing your Halogen lights then thats a pretty good indicator that your headlight beam pattern is not that great.

Biohazard · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:41

I can see the difference 10 times over, easy.

Tom|Nbk · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:41

Hardly all over the place compared to yours the beam just seems slightly out of focus but it's not as if it's glaring directly into someones face :confused:

Fair enough it isn't obviously as good as a projected beam but not the worst either.

Ben M · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:42

Tom|Nbk said:
it's not as if it's glaring directly into someones face

it is when the road isn't flat, that's the whole point.

OllyM · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:44

Beam from my lights is uniform and flat, the one you posted seems to be concentrated high up and scattered everywhere - it is a lot worse.

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:44

Tom|Nbk said:
but it's not as if it's glaring directly into

How can you be missing the point this much?

HIDs come fitted with self levellers so when you go over bumps in the road the headlights point down. This is because otherwise they shine directly into the eyes of oncoming traffic. Since they are classed as disablingly bright they have to be fitted with the levelling mechanism or they are illegal.

Dangerous Dave · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:47

It does depend on the lens though as the early Minis/Mercs/Volvos/Honda Accords/Current Civics don't use projector lenses on there factory fit HIDs.

Ben M · 15 Feb 2008 at 20:47

M0T said:
Since they are classed as disablingly bright they have to be fitted with the levelling mechanism or they are illegal.

and more importantly, very dangerous.

Tom|Nbk · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:00

Maybe I'll just fit the ST lamps I don't want to cause an accident afterall. Still waiting to hear from someone on here who has used one of these. Still curious how they got on.

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:02

I always wondered if mounting HID lenses on gimbals would count as self levelling.

I want to get some HID lenses for my car because the lights are so dim. I can get hold of projectors, but it is hard to find out if I can fit a self levelling device to my existing manual levelling.

wassap · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:02

Tom|Nbk said:
Scatter is very minimal when properly aligned

Here is a picture from the standard Focus lamps properly aligned with the HID kit.

Come on it's not exactly like thats completely glaring someone. Beam seems rather focused to me with minimal scatter?

Imagine how much worse that beam is if you get further and further out.

Im sure the ST's came with xenons as an option and projector lamps as std? (ie clear lenses etc?)

Tom|Nbk · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:05

They did Woohoo but you're looking at a hefty wedge. Maybe I could buy just the Ford projector lamps on their own to use with one of these kits..

Phil W · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:09

Ben M said:
and more importantly, very dangerous.

Dude, you've stressed that point more than once now, you really don't need to drum it in any more.

OP : When i purchased HID's i also purchased Projector Lamps, it meant a much reduced chance of blinding oncoming drivers, but it also massively improved the light output on the road.

You seem to have already made your mind up if you have already purchased the ST170 Headlights, and the HID's, however bear it in mind for possible future upgrades

M0T · 15 Feb 2008 at 21:10

Tom|Nbk said:
They did Woohoo but you're looking at a hefty wedge. Maybe I could buy just the Ford projector lamps on their own to use with one of these kits..

You would still need a self levelling system, which usually consists of some motors on the lights, an electrical box of tricks and a sensor on the suspension somewhere.

Usually for the cost of fitting an HID kit properly it is cheaper to sell your car and replace it with a model with HIDs factory fitted.