HID upgrade kits
- Thread starter daveydave
- Start date
European type headlamp - Characteristics a. an asymmetric dipped beam pattern with · a distinctive horizontal cut-off on the right, and · a 15 degree wedge of light above the horizontal (the'Kick up') towards the left
pinched from the uk mot site
the reflector types ive seen with hids in just dont have that pattern anymore
Soldato
The HIDS in reflectors i've seen always seem to have a huge spread of light up the wall next to the car.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
And this is the problem - without the cleanly cut off beams all that light on the road also goes to the wrong places and affects oncoming traffic. It's not you that needs to worry about badly fitted HID's into cars not meant to have them, its other road users.
Plus is there anything more ***** than the current trend of old Peugeot's with HID's..
my mum has an slk with oem hid (how cool is self leveling!) but it looks like it has reflectors. the beam on that isnt as defined as my retrofit into projectors setup.
on other cars with reflectors though (ie a mate of mine with a vw corrado) the beam is all over the place and its a real (eye)ball ache if he is following. unfortunately he followed me for a lot of the way to le mans
on other cars with reflectors though (ie a mate of mine with a vw corrado) the beam is all over the place and its a real (eye)ball ache if he is following. unfortunately he followed me for a lot of the way to le mans
Soldato
look how that lights up the wall above the cut off
that bit is what blinds people
I don't know what someone has done to create such a rubbish beam pattern, because the beam pattern my HIDs make is nothing like that.
Soldato
Phew. Still, that's not much a kick
Mine kicks up probably 2 or 3 times that amount in a \ type angle.
Soldato
Pictures explain it well 
Andy
Andy
Soldato
I bought my projector HIDs off eBay for 40 quid new (from Hong Kong), work perfectly, the quality is top notch and they just passed an MOT at a main dealer garage, so certainly nothing wrong with the cheap eBay kits (well probably depends on the seller)
Caporegime
Cheap HID kit to be fitted in your projector lights??? Have you also got an expensive kit for reference?
If not its like only ever driving a Nissan Micra and declaring it the best car in the world ever simply because you don't know any better.
The real issue is any HID kit fitted in reflector lenses, cheap e-bay kits whilst not being as good and the bulbs going pop sooner at atleast ok when fitted in projectors.
If not its like only ever driving a Nissan Micra and declaring it the best car in the world ever simply because you don't know any better.
The real issue is any HID kit fitted in reflector lenses, cheap e-bay kits whilst not being as good and the bulbs going pop sooner at atleast ok when fitted in projectors.
Associate
now I'll agree that I have seen some that are really bad and have a pattern that should fail the MOT( generally these are on older cars though) but mine do have the correct pattern and look normal, although I will concide that there is light produced above the line, but no more than using halogens.
packaged the same, almost exactly.
the connecter were the same waterproof type, the ballasts where of a pressed (ebay)constuction rather than cast(HID4U)(but there is no reliablity issue with that)it made them smaller so could be better for installation, the plastics used in the bulb holders were okay, softer on the ebay ones , but was easier to cut down. wire was of the same thinkness, installation was the same and so were the instructions( bad english all round), the best thing about the ebay ones was the VFM, and no one can complain about that.
bullit
Caporegime
I'll agree with this, the man issue i had with the cheaper kits is not knowing the actual quality of the ballasts and i know that the bulbs are of a cheaper construction so won't last as long, pays ya money and all that lot.
Soldato
The quality difference between HID kits is more about how good the ballasts are... i.e. in terms of construction, forgivingness to crap voltage or wiring and how waterproof/bombproof they are. The quality difference isn't going to affect the actual light output really at all. A HID bulb... is a HID bulb...
Edit: Yeah, and how long life the bulb is... missed that one
Caporegime
Don't agree with a HID bulb being simply a HID bulb, you can buy cheap knockoff bulbs to replace dead HID bulbs then you can go out and spend £60 on a single phillips one, you could use the same argument with Halogen bulbs.... Actually we all know the light output on these varies greatly, you could treat a bulb casing the same you can the optics in glasses or lenses, different makes might apply different coatings to give a different quality of light.
But thats all down to the user to decide, like said the real issue is what you fit the kits into.
But thats all down to the user to decide, like said the real issue is what you fit the kits into.
with halogen ones there was definately a difference between cheaper and dearer ones in terms of quantity of light output
with the hids, theyre such an improvement, i cant see myself needing more tbh
the quality of the kit (wiring etc) was spot on too.
with the hids, theyre such an improvement, i cant see myself needing more tbh
the quality of the kit (wiring etc) was spot on too.
Soldato
Well I've not seen an expensive kit but compared to other cars I've been in with xenons they look pretty much the same and they're certainly 10x better than halogens. The build quality of the ballast seems fine and every connection is waterproofed.