ill try that HID kit (as long as it anit too much)
Is this legal to have on the car ?
- Thread starter coolpunkskater
- Start date
Soldato
<insert standard rant about retrofitted HID kits blinding other drivers because they lenses don't focus the light properly like a full stock HID system>
Soldato
Unless the kit is fitted to a car with Elipsoidal/projector beam type lenses, which mine is.
Projector beam type lenses and headlight units afford the required "cut-off" point as far as beam spread and scatter goes with retro-fit HID's.
Anyone fitting them to a car with standard/non-projector beam lenses, is certainly running the risk of not having their vehicles lighting performance optimised and worse, running the risk of distracting oncoming drivers.
Fitting them to a Pug 205 like the OP in this thread talking about uprated lighting, would be a mistake.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
This is true, when you retrofit Hid's to crap old Escorts and the like.
Soldato
We fitted a set to my old clio and there was no issue at all with blinding people even though it didn't have the projectors and auto levelling.
All you have to do it find a brick wall and adjust them yourself. Aimed them down slightly and had him drive behind me to test and they were spot on and looked great. Plus he was very impressed with how well he could see the road.
All you have to do it find a brick wall and adjust them yourself. Aimed them down slightly and had him drive behind me to test and they were spot on and looked great. Plus he was very impressed with how well he could see the road.
Soldato
Seeing these about quite a bit of late, I went for "Laser blue" which were the road legal ones, cant even tell but they are a more brilliant white than the standards and it makes night time driving a lot easier for a glasses wearer, espcially in the rain! Not cheap though!
You don't think there was, but there was. Regular headlights do not reflect Xenon light properly. You will get beam scatter and risk blinding oncoming motorists.
Soldato
When he was behind me in the darkness there was no issue what so ever.
If you mean tiny fragments of lights that will reflect due to the shape of the headlight lens I find it hard to believe that would blind anyone.
If you mean tiny fragments of lights that will reflect due to the shape of the headlight lens I find it hard to believe that would blind anyone.
Associate
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- 30 Dec 2002
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Unless the kit is fitted to a car with Elipsoidal/projector beam type lenses, which mine is.
I'd personally take a look at the Department of Transport fact sheet regarding aftermarket HID bulbs, which can be summed up as:
"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."
The rest of their fact sheet can be found here.
After reading about the subject I personally wouldn't convert any non-HID lights at all, car headlights are designed to very precise tolerances and there more issues than just blinding oncoming motorists.
Soldato
Everyone already knows that and not many people care. This includes MOT testers and Police.
Northwind2
N
Northwind2
[TW]Fox;10774034 said:
Sorry, but this isn't the case- it varies massively depending on the application, since headlight reflectors vary so widely. You're absolutely right that there's a risk of unsafe glare, but it doesn't follow that every headlight does it.
I've recently fitted a simple HID retrofit into my bike, and after a lot of tweaking established that the right hand headlight is completely safe- I've followed friends with them watching for glare, I've watched it from every angle at the front... So unless it's scattering light in some wavelength that I can't see but that other humans can, it's safe. It does scatter, but it does so almost straight up and straight down, there's no eye-line glare. The left hand glares off to the right, so I refitted a halogen into that one, no amount of adjustment would make it safe. But the right is fine.
This of course is entirely down to luck- the headlight isn't very well designed for the halogens either for that matter. But it's a huge oversimplification to say that any capsule-only retrofit will be unsafe. Of course, an awful lot are- and made worse by the fact that an awful lot of the people fitting them won't even bother to check the headlight aim let alone do the essential safety checks. I imagine very few people would be happy to remove them once fitted too (I tried it more or less out of curiosity, because I'm a tweaker, if it hadn't worked I'd have just sold the parts on, as it is it half worked and it's good enough for me)
are these better??
Northwind2
N
Northwind2
Those are very good... Best standard bulbs I ever used. I had Silverstars before and these are noticably better. Osram, among others, took the exciting step of designing headlight bulbs that create a lot of light, and not worrying too much about whether it's a visually exciting colour
I have read good stuff about the Osram bulbs. But the ones which interest me are the "cool blue" range. They are brighters than stock lights and give a more modern white light.
However, the cost to upgrade the bulbs (excluding front indicators) will cost me £44 (Main beam, full beam, sidelights)
Good website:
http://www.powerbulbs.com/index.asp
Put in what car you have and choose your bulb. If you order a pair of main headlights, they give you sidelights for free (check your basket after adding).
However, the cost to upgrade the bulbs (excluding front indicators) will cost me £44 (Main beam, full beam, sidelights)
Good website:
http://www.powerbulbs.com/index.asp
Put in what car you have and choose your bulb. If you order a pair of main headlights, they give you sidelights for free (check your basket after adding).
are these better??
Very good, powerbulbs are given decent side bulbs free when you order to.
Better than standard but not much, unless my lights need aligned.
Sorry to hijack the thread.
I am doing lots of traveling with work at night and so want to invest in either:
Replacing all my front bulbs:
Full beam
Main beam
Sidelight
Indicator
Comes to £64 inc delivery and fitted by myself.
OR
Purchasing a HID kit and getting it fitted by the retailer of the kit. I would be going for the 6000k diamond white.
£60 for the kit and ~£60 for fitting (would rather a pro do it!) (SEE EDIT)
With the HID kit, would I still need to change the sidelights with a "white light" bulb to match? or is this part of the kit? The sidelights in the above photo look a little yellow in comparison to the full beam
EDIT: After reading up, looks like for a mk4 golf you need to have 2 x HID kits. One for full beam, one for dipped beam. This takes the total to around £120 ex fitting. It would seem that I would then need to renew the sidelight and indicator separately.
Might just go for the safe option of a new bulb set.
I am doing lots of traveling with work at night and so want to invest in either:
Replacing all my front bulbs:
Full beam
Main beam
Sidelight
Indicator
Comes to £64 inc delivery and fitted by myself.
OR
Purchasing a HID kit and getting it fitted by the retailer of the kit. I would be going for the 6000k diamond white.
£60 for the kit and ~£60 for fitting (would rather a pro do it!) (SEE EDIT)
With the HID kit, would I still need to change the sidelights with a "white light" bulb to match? or is this part of the kit? The sidelights in the above photo look a little yellow in comparison to the full beam
EDIT: After reading up, looks like for a mk4 golf you need to have 2 x HID kits. One for full beam, one for dipped beam. This takes the total to around £120 ex fitting. It would seem that I would then need to renew the sidelight and indicator separately.
Might just go for the safe option of a new bulb set.
Last edited:
Northwind2
N
Northwind2
That does look like a fairly hot choice of lamp, mine are 6000K which tbh wasn't my choice, for the best light output you want to go colder, the jury seems to be out exactly what's best but almost everyone agrees it's in the 4000K range.
Your best bet IMO is to get some opinions from people who've done the install on your model (or at least, a car with the same headlights) to see how it worked- you might find you're one of the lucky ones that it works well on, but equally you might find it's just a total messand waste of money. Don't depend on the dealer either, they'll probably do a fine job of the install but getting the beam right (ie, as effective as possible without being potentially unsafe) takes time and patience. The install itself is child's play.
Basically, unless you're able to find out first how well it'll work you need to be open to the possibility that it really works out badly, and you need to remove the kit and return to halogens.
The only reason I went with the HIDs, incidentally, is that my bike's headlights like many bikes are absolutely rubbish. For most modern cars, a good quality halogen will give a very effective headlight.
Your best bet IMO is to get some opinions from people who've done the install on your model (or at least, a car with the same headlights) to see how it worked- you might find you're one of the lucky ones that it works well on, but equally you might find it's just a total messand waste of money. Don't depend on the dealer either, they'll probably do a fine job of the install but getting the beam right (ie, as effective as possible without being potentially unsafe) takes time and patience. The install itself is child's play.
Basically, unless you're able to find out first how well it'll work you need to be open to the possibility that it really works out badly, and you need to remove the kit and return to halogens.
The only reason I went with the HIDs, incidentally, is that my bike's headlights like many bikes are absolutely rubbish. For most modern cars, a good quality halogen will give a very effective headlight.
Ive got those blue sidelights fitted to my accord type R. Theyre tinted blue like that so they block the yellow light you'd normally get from a halogen bulb. In effect the light they shine is white, not blue. IIRC its illegal to have blue lights, at the front of a non emergency vehicle, although yours are tinted blue they dont emit blue light so legal probably
Soldato
I got a frosted single LED 501 bulb for my xenons, they match perfectly, none of the blue and look just right.
Soldato
I'm a bit of a n00b when it come to these things!... but how would I go about a HID conversion for my 02 Civic?... I found the H4 kit but it doesn't seem to do Dip/Main beam!?!?!?!... or am I missing something!?!?!..
Sim.
Sim.