HID Conversion

cmy330go
cmy330go Posts: 2,341
edited February 2008 in The Clubhouse
Has anyone here tried an HID conversion on their car? I have a '96 Lexus ES300 that I've been driving more lately, and I find myself really missing the Xenon headlights on my other car.

If anyone here has tried it please chime in. What kit did you go with? I'd really like to know how they compare to a factory setup. I understand that they won't be auto-leveling. I'm more concerned with how white, and how bright the light is.

Thanks!
HT
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2 CH
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  • BIZILL
    BIZILL Posts: 5,432
    edited February 2008
    from what i've read, so long as you retrofit with PROJECTORS for better aiming, you should be fine. thought about adding to my silverado minus projectors, but others who have done it get flashed all the time due to the glare from the unfocused beam.

    i see exhaulted in here. i'm sure he's got a setup. maybe he'll chime in in 3....2....1....

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  • Bill Ayotte
    Bill Ayotte Posts: 1,860
    edited February 2008
    I would look into an OEM option if there is one....I know there is a set of OEM HIDs for my Jetta, and although it is by far the most expensive option, it is the only one that fits 100% properly and auto-levels....
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  • BaggedLancer
    BaggedLancer Posts: 6,371
    edited February 2008
    I did the conversion in my old car using a kit I got for a couple hundred from www.xenondepot.com. Couldn't have been happier.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited February 2008
    I was going to do a :true: HID conversion on my GTI until I found out the good kits were $799. I don't need a lighting upgrade at that price.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Bill Ayotte
    Bill Ayotte Posts: 1,860
    edited February 2008
    heiney9 wrote: »
    I was going to do a :true: HID conversion on my GTI until I found out the good kits were $799. I don't need a lighting upgrade at that price.

    Hahaha I'm thinking the same thing.....It is about $2200 for a OEM kit for the Jetta....That is harness(es), "HID" fogs, light assembly, new switches, and the headlight units with all bulbs....Including shipping from Germany...
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited February 2008
    Bill Ayotte wrote: »
    Hahaha I'm thinking the same thing.....It is about $2200 for a OEM kit for the Jetta....That is harness(es), "HID" fogs, light assembly, new switches, and the headlight units with all bulbs....Including shipping from Germany...

    I know!!!! My GTI is a MKIII so it's a little less expensive and thats for the relay and head light assemblies only (including bulbs). Also the euro radiator brace has to be used. No fogs included. HID's weren't even an option back then.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Bill Ayotte
    Bill Ayotte Posts: 1,860
    edited February 2008
    heiney9 wrote: »
    I know!!!! My GTI is a MKIII so it's a little less expensive and thats for the relay and head light assemblies only (including bulbs). Also the euro radiator brace has to be used. No fogs included. HID's weren't even an option back then.

    Yeah, I've got a MKIV....The HIDs were only available outside of the US....They look awesome and put out a great beam, but christ are they expensive....
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,781
    edited February 2008
    A cheaper alternative is to buy better bulbs. I installed Sylvania SilverStars on my car and was amazed at the difference the whiter light made. I ended up putting them on the wife's car and my bike. Much better than stock. About $20 a bulb.
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  • BAD ASP
    BAD ASP Posts: 361
    edited February 2008
    There are car clubs for virtually every type of car. I have a jeep srt 8 and there were members on there that had access to the components and technology and offered "kits" for the conversion. As always "buyer beware" but for the most part the members were all interested in upgrading their cars. Feedback for the individuals was offered and just like here bad sellers were soon gone. I upgraded mine for 315.00 and I couldn't be happier. Just a suggestion of a route to go. Find a website for your car hang around a little do some thread searching and you'll probably find something. A lot like being around here. Good luck.
    Home Theater
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited February 2008
    WilliamM2 wrote: »
    A cheaper alternative is to buy better bulbs. I installed Sylvania SilverStars on my car and was amazed at the difference the whiter light made. I ended up putting them on the wife's car and my bike. Much better than stock. About $20 a bulb.

    I was going to try those. Cheapest I've seen them for my application is $29 each so since I have (2) bulbs in each light pod that's about $120 which I didn't want to spend unless I was absolutely sure it would be a decent improvement.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,204
    edited February 2008
    BAD ASP wrote: »
    There are car clubs for virtually every type of car. I have a jeep srt 8 and there were members on there that had access to the components and technology and offered "kits" for the conversion. As always "buyer beware" but for the most part the members were all interested in upgrading their cars. Feedback for the individuals was offered and just like here bad sellers were soon gone. I upgraded mine for 315.00 and I couldn't be happier. Just a suggestion of a route to go. Find a website for your car hang around a little do some thread searching and you'll probably find something. A lot like being around here. Good luck.

    Great advice!! Which I do use, I hang around VWVORTEX. But Volkswagen like Honda has hundreds upon hundreds of aftermarket suppliers and 75% of them supply cheap junk. It's hard to really find the 25% products that are quality parts. Most of my effort is to research and find the best aftermarket alternative.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,781
    edited February 2008
    heiney9 wrote: »
    I was going to try those. Cheapest I've seen them for my application is $29 each so since I have (2) bulbs in each light pod that's about $120 which I didn't want to spend unless I was absolutely sure it would be a decent improvement.

    You're right, they are $29, but Advance Auto has them on sale quite often for $18.99 each. That's when I picked mine up.
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited February 2008
    I just did this about a month and a half ago on my Honda Accord and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

    I got a kit off of Ebay for a total of $75 shipped and it is a night and day difference. I don't know what type of bulb you have, but THIS is the set that I purchased. I chose it because it has a 2year warranty compared to most that only state a 1 year warranty.

    I do occasionally get flashed from people because I have reflector headlights, but it's only on occasion and I've even been behind the po po with them on and had no issues.

    I was replacing my headlights at the same time because several years ago I had gone with the super white halogen lights and basically cooked the plastic lenses from the inside, so I had to replace the entire headlight assembly. Because of that, I had to remove the front bumper to put the headlights in, but even if my headlights were in good condition and not needing to be replaced, I would have had to remove the bumper to find some real estate to mount the metal ballast boxes. Removing the bumper isn't too difficult, but if you're not sure, go to a body shop and ask them exactly which screws you have to remove to get the thing off and then if you have problems putting it back on go to a shop and have them tighten everything up.......

    The HID kits don't run hot at all, at least comparative to what those halogens did and the brightness on street and freeway signs is astounding.........sometimes I'll be driving down the street with a pack of cars and I'll just flip my lights off and watch all the street signs go dark even with many of the cars being ahead of me......

    True the focused projector lights are what they're designed for, but who cares.......I have brighter lights and I did make sure that they weren't blinding someone's rear view when i drove it around for a bit on the install.

    EDIT: Oh ya..regarding the low and high beams.........I only put the HID's in my low beams and left the regular bulbs in the high's. It's so bright with the lows (especially if you're using a reflector headlight vs. projector) that you really won't need the high beams.
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  • cmy330go
    cmy330go Posts: 2,341
    edited February 2008
    Wow. Thanks for all the replys guys.

    The ones Brett got are the ones I was considering trying. I'm not too concerned about them being a distraction to others because the car has a projector style headlight that seems very tightly focused.

    What temp of bulb did you go with Brett?
    HT
    Mits WD-65737, DirecTV, Oppo DV-970HD, XBOX ONE, Yamaha RX-A1030, Parasound Halo A23, Rotel RB-985, Music Hall MMF-7, Parasound PPH-100, LSi-15, LSi-C, LSi-FX, LSi-7, PSW-1000, Monster HTS2600

    2 CH
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  • 66chevyIISS
    66chevyIISS Posts: 857
    edited February 2008
    say no to HIDS! I think I am going to start a anti HID webpage lol tired of being blinded when I look in the rearview! :D
    My Home Theater (WIP):
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  • Phasearray
    Phasearray Posts: 437
    edited February 2008
    66chevyIISS wrote: »
    say no to HIDS! I think I am going to start a anti HID webpage lol tired of being blinded when I look in the rearview! :D

    I'm going to ebay one. I can't wait to blind all those SUVs
    Receiver - Onkyo HT-R340
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited February 2008
    cmy330go wrote: »
    What temp of bulb did you go with Brett?
    I went with the 8000K........the 6000k would be more white, but I wanted the blue tint personally.

    Also, don't think that the higher the k rating the brighter the light they put out........it's actually opposite........the lower K's are brighter than the higher ones......
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  • Toxis
    Toxis Posts: 5,116
    edited February 2008
    Anything with a Philips bulb is one of the best from what I've read. Other than that, XenonDepot and a couple other HID sites have some good kits for under a couple hundred bucks. There are kits under a hundred on eBay but just like anything else in this world, you get what you pay for.
    Never kick a fresh **** on a hot day.

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  • edbert
    edbert Posts: 1,041
    edited February 2008
    I think that most factory HID's are around 4300K if I remember correctly. I was considering doing this to our new Altima and most of the guys on the Nissan boards are doing either 6000K or 4300K for the headlights and 3000K for the fogs(they generally have a yellow tint to them). FYI
    I know just enough to be dangerous, but don't tell my wife, she thinks I'm a genius. :D

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  • devani
    devani Posts: 1,497
    edited February 2008
    why put others in danger with your china made HID kits?:( My car is retroed with FX35 projectors. I use all OEM parts for easy replacement. You get quality speakers/receivers for your HT system why settle for a vehicle with crap HID kits that carries your child, wife and yourself?:eek:

    www.hidplanet.com/forums

    the best resource for hid lighting....get OEM parts at a fraction of the cost.
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited February 2008
    devani wrote: »
    ..........why settle for a vehicle with crap HID kits that carries your child, wife and yourself?:eek:
    You DO realize we're talking about headlights, right? I could see your level or drama on something like remanufactured tires or used airbags, but don't be such a tard with something as basic as headlights.........
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  • devani
    devani Posts: 1,497
    edited February 2008
    brettw22 wrote: »
    You DO realize we're talking about headlights, right? I could see your level or drama on something like remanufactured tires or used airbags, but don't be such a tard with something as basic as headlights.........

    Ok tard:D back at you..:rolleyes:
    Video: LG 55LN5100/Samsung LNT4065F
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,781
    edited February 2008
    brettw22 wrote: »
    You DO realize we're talking about headlights, right? I could see your level or drama on something like remanufactured tires or used airbags, but don't be such a tard with something as basic as headlights.........

    Right, cheap HID kits only endanger other drivers by blinding them. The driver of the car with the HIDs will be safe.
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  • brettw22
    brettw22 Posts: 7,623
    edited February 2008
    I assure you that the hundreds of thousands of cars I've driven around haven't been run off the road because of my headlights.........promise........
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