hid headlight question
- Thread starter Matt82
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The reflector needs to be designed for the HID lamp, hence why the general concensus is that if you are retrofitting HID's its ok to do them in projector type lamps,as you get a pretty uniform light and nice sharp cut-off, if you put them in 'normal' lamps the scatter is terribile and they can prove to be an annoyance to other road users.
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In this case the reflector will be specifically designed with the HID application in mind. It is not the case that you can bang HID's into a car with reflector headlights simply becuase a totally different much newer car from another manufacturer had reflector based HID's.
As a rule of thumb, projectors are required.
yup, no more debate. i had noticed 99% of oem hids were behind projectors, ive done a search on here now and it has been debated a million times before, so im getting a set of projectors.
im getting a 5000k set of hids, i cant stand the chav blue look, so my only question is 35w or 55w?
is 55w likely to be the reason crappier setups are so dazling?
im getting a 5000k set of hids, i cant stand the chav blue look, so my only question is 35w or 55w?
is 55w likely to be the reason crappier setups are so dazling?
Nope, the angle of the beam is usually the problem.
but with 55w over 35w youre going to have over 50% more light again, non?
I think the 55w ballasts have quite a drain when they're starting and i've heard some people having heat buildup problems (admittedly this was on motorbike installs so the enclosed nature of the light housing might have been involved.)
I'm assuming you are also getting an adequate washer system fitted at the same time - just so your vehicle actually remains road legal.
How much is that costing?
ive not seen anywhere that says it needs the washers etc from what i can tell that only applies to new cars. whats your source?
as for cost, not a lot. this is how the front end will look
not pretty, but then golfs arnt pretty anyway. hella twins with black surround and black grill
as for cost, not a lot. this is how the front end will look
not pretty, but then golfs arnt pretty anyway. hella twins with black surround and black grill
HID headlights legally have to be fitted to a E marked D type headlight. These headlights are often projector type but you still get reflector type.
There are a lot of kits available to retrofit HID bulbs in to halogen headlights. Every single one of these are illegal to use on the road in the UK. The E approval for and HID light only applies to D type headlight and fitting a HID bulb to any H (halogen approved) headlight renders the bulbs approval void.
Some retailers of such kits sell them as E marked, DOT approved or ISO standard. As you can see from the paragraph above the E mark means nothing unless fitted to the corresponding headlight unit. The DOT and ISO are not UK standard and not relevant.
HID of 35W are all over the 2000lm limit and so to legally use such powerful bulbs in the UK as well as having to have the correct headlight as to the bulb used but you must also ECE auto levelling system to sustain the beams aim at all time and a ECE headlight cleaning system.
Have a look at the UK Governments Department For Transport fact sheet on this subject http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps
Just as a side not HID bulbs over 35W and/or of colour temperature of or over 6000k are also illegal to use on the road within the UK and for that matter all of Europe.
There are a lot of kits available to retrofit HID bulbs in to halogen headlights. Every single one of these are illegal to use on the road in the UK. The E approval for and HID light only applies to D type headlight and fitting a HID bulb to any H (halogen approved) headlight renders the bulbs approval void.
Some retailers of such kits sell them as E marked, DOT approved or ISO standard. As you can see from the paragraph above the E mark means nothing unless fitted to the corresponding headlight unit. The DOT and ISO are not UK standard and not relevant.
HID of 35W are all over the 2000lm limit and so to legally use such powerful bulbs in the UK as well as having to have the correct headlight as to the bulb used but you must also ECE auto levelling system to sustain the beams aim at all time and a ECE headlight cleaning system.
Have a look at the UK Governments Department For Transport fact sheet on this subject http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps
Just as a side not HID bulbs over 35W and/or of colour temperature of or over 6000k are also illegal to use on the road within the UK and for that matter all of Europe.
Unfortunately the DFT's "fact" sheet is a lot of "ifs" and "therefores" stitched together and as such has little actual weight behind it, despite being published on the DFT site. What we need is for a case to go to court and a precedent to be set, or a firm legislation be put in place.
At the moment we have neither, leaving aftermarket HID lights in a legal grey area.
with 55w HIDs, 4300k flavour, id expect them to be a very bright white area tbh
The big problem with that DFT "fact"sheet is that it misses out a few important things. Cars only need comply with the regulations that were in force at the time of manufacture, so a car made before the EU started requiring that HIDs have self levelers and washers (ECE Regulation 98, 8th July 2005) would be exempt from that requirement.
But, the old regulations don't allow HIDs at all I'm sure someone is about to say, and this is true but the old European regulations do have clauses allowing for new technology which could reasonably be taken to include HID lighting. The European regulations trump the UK regulations so providing that the "new technology" that you fit to your lighting system is compliant with all the other requirements of the old regs, such as beam pattern, scatter and so on then they could be fine.
Of course most aftermarket HID installations don't comply with said requirements for pattern and scatter and so on which is why so many people are complaining about them. If they did this, then no-one would be trying to crack down on it anyway.
But, the old regulations don't allow HIDs at all I'm sure someone is about to say, and this is true but the old European regulations do have clauses allowing for new technology which could reasonably be taken to include HID lighting. The European regulations trump the UK regulations so providing that the "new technology" that you fit to your lighting system is compliant with all the other requirements of the old regs, such as beam pattern, scatter and so on then they could be fine.
Of course most aftermarket HID installations don't comply with said requirements for pattern and scatter and so on which is why so many people are complaining about them. If they did this, then no-one would be trying to crack down on it anyway.
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Except one of the UK requirements is that there is an adequate washer system in place.
This is why it is not cost effective to have HIDs fitted to any vehicle that wasn't fitted with them at factory.
There is a high possibility that in the future the OP is going to end up with a vehicle that he can no longer get an MOT for.
If the OP wants to take that risk then it is his choice at the end of the day - many people have in the past and all has been well.
However he should be warned of the potential problems and certainly shouldn't come crying if he can no longer take his vehicle on the road.
Except that's not true because things like type approval are not applied retrospectively so there is nothing concrete and legal to cover fitting them to a 1996 Mk3 Golf.
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I doubt the OP will come "crying" should he fail the MOT, I imagine he will simply revert to a Halogen setup for the MOT and then switch back to HID.