This
is a Projector
Just on the Dipped Beam!, my Main Beam is a Reflector (you can see the other H7 to the right of the Dome Lens)
Thanks for that.
This is mine. so not projector?
HIDs What is the crack?
- Thread starter Orionaut
- Start date
Thanks for that.
This is mine. so not projector?
In my very first car - a Mini Mayfair - I converted the 35/30W sealed units for a H4 setup with 100/80W bulbs and a pair of Oscar Sports with 100W bulbs in them. On full beam I remember it lighting up a motorway bridge about 3/4 mile distant.
On dip beam the 80W on dip was too much and drained the battery.
I had to change to 100/55W on the H4.
I had 4 of those buggers on the front of my N Reg Cooper! (rather than 2 spots and 2 fogs) with the H4's on Full Beam and the 4x 100w spots lit up it was like daylight!!
And you could hear the strain it put on the 1275cc motor when you did it!!
I remember some idiot on Full Beam coming the other way, who didn't seem to want to dip his lights up around Bucklebury (Bucklebury Straight) so I gave him the full 600w 'Flash' he dipped his beams, and pulled over!! I think I gave him Ark-Eye!!
I've toyed with the idea of HID's and nightbreakers on my Fabby as it's Projector on Dip, but I'm probly gonna just go with 4x H7 Nighbreakers
Soldato
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- 12 Feb 2009
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- London
@opstrat no yours arnt but maybe you can add them in? I know it is a pretty easy fit on the E46 lights.
Are these any good?
Is that just for NI? As in England you don't need headlight washers if they are not fitted as standard for the MOT.
Soldato
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Also ive heard stories about people fitting HID's to cars with plastic headlights and melting them (this could be an old wives tale as im not sure how hot they get)
The civic had them (OEM though) and they worked perfectly well. I suspect the headlight housing, even though it was reflector based was still different to the halogen housing though - plus it had auto levellers etc.
If you read up on the capped type bulbs online they don't really get rave reviews. Can't be worse than the usual ones mind you
Soldato
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Been looking around at this as well, I am still reading but this is certainly a concern :
from the dft website:
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:
Transport Technology and Standards 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR
Telephone: 020 7944 2078
Fax: 020 7944 2196
Email: [email protected]
from the dft website:
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:
Transport Technology and Standards 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR
Telephone: 020 7944 2078
Fax: 020 7944 2196
Email: [email protected]
Yes mate, England's VOSA rules that if the car has headlight washers, they must work, if it doesn't no worries
NI says that xeonon cars must have headlight washers, I had to DIY some to the DC5 to get it past, it failed for not having them the first time. I just got a T junction from the windscreen washer pipe and stuck two pipes over the headlights. Silly rule
Soldato
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- 19 Feb 2012
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- 4,409
Yep true.
plastic cannot handle the heat output of a HID, its literally an electrical arc inside a glass tube.
Associate
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- 20 Feb 2009
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- 2,170
- Location
- Ashton-Under-Lyne
I don't see how this makes sense though. You get more light out of the same wattage of xenon, compared to a halogen, therefore surely, there must be less height produced as a bi-product?
Basically, energy in = light + heat. If light increases, heat must go down.
I'm not necessarily saying you're wrong (as I've heard the same thing) but from a scientific point of view, I can't see how
Standard OEM HID lamps tend to be 35w, vs a usual 55w halogen.
If my understanding is correct, a lot of people who "melt" their housings are actually using shockingly cheap HID kits which do not provide a suitable, if any, level of UV filtering leading to the housings getting discoloured, fogged, smoked and melted etc.
I did a lot of reading on this a couple of years ago, and projectors will have different designs for halogen or HID. The difference isn't that much, and most people putting in the kits to projectors will see fairly good results however, because the light output is different (technically a different shape, and also usually in a slightly different position to the equivalent halogen) they will never give as good an output as a proper OEM setup.
If my understanding is correct, a lot of people who "melt" their housings are actually using shockingly cheap HID kits which do not provide a suitable, if any, level of UV filtering leading to the housings getting discoloured, fogged, smoked and melted etc.
I did a lot of reading on this a couple of years ago, and projectors will have different designs for halogen or HID. The difference isn't that much, and most people putting in the kits to projectors will see fairly good results however, because the light output is different (technically a different shape, and also usually in a slightly different position to the equivalent halogen) they will never give as good an output as a proper OEM setup.