drolex

It's dumb to have bright lights non-stop. Have a switch or something. You're blinding oncoming traffic.

wcbcruzer

You'll get a lot of glare! Don't do it! Do a retrofit with projectors. That's my next project. If you have any other HID questions, just ask me. I know a lot about them. Right now I've got 4 sets of HID ballasts, 6 sets of HID bulbs, and 1 pair of e46 projectors sitting in my room. Stay away from HID kits. Only go with OEM stuff. Catz is the only aftermarket HID company that is good. But again, that's because they use OEM ballasts with their sticker on it.

BTW, I don't think anyone supports driving with high beams on. Let alone driving with HID's in the high beams. That is very dangerous. You will blind oncoming traffic, which poses a threat to yourself and others.

In addition, using HID's in a non-HID headlight housing produces a lot of glare that is also dangerous for oncoming traffic also. 4300K is the brightest. Anything higher gets more white/blue but lumens decrease. Blue light also has more scatter due to the higher energy wavelength.

Dave88LX

Maybe you know then, are there any replacement housings that are projector that can use an HID bulb that don't look like they belong on a Honda?

What is a projector exactly, I have some googling to do I guess.

wcbcruzer

The projectors I refer to come from luxury cars. There are many different ones. Some popular ones are e46 (BMW), h7 Valeo (Audi A4), s2000 (expensive, but most colorful cutoff), and Lexus sc430 (same as s2000 w/ different lens) just to name a few... The color flicker you see on these luxury cars is due to the "cufoff" of the projector. Some projectors produce a little wider blue cutoff so when you see it, the headlights appear to have more blue color. All the projectors I mentioned above are popular because of their nice wide beam pattern, good cutoff, and availability.

As far as pre-made aftermarket projectors, I don't believe they make them for HIDs because it's against the law to sell HID kits as of Aug. 2004 (although you still find them on ebay). Based on experience, TYC has made aftermarket projectors that respond "ok" to HIDs. Still not as good as an oem projectors. Any other aftermarket projector designed for halogen would have a crappy beam pattern if HID was placed in them. For example, you'd have hot spots on the ground and you'd get no better visibility than if you just put a halogen bulb in there. The ground would be brighter tho.

The only real way to achieve tru HID quality lighting is to retrofit an oem set into your headlights. I bought some clear lens Depot sport headlights that i'll use for my retrofit.

Here is a kit on ebay that has everything for the retrofit:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...63318956QQrdZ1

If you do but oem projectors like this one, make sure it comes with bulb holders. It's not pictured in the auction. Sometimes it's a clip in the back of the projector.

Finally, you can add some shrouds to put on top of your projectors so the install looks original. These are expensive, I just got some chrome pipe covers from Ace for $3.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E...63720022QQrdZ1

xtoyz17

What are the purpose of the shrouds? So for 300 dollars that projector auction has everything needed to throw HID's in our headlights, after a little hacking of course? Interesting. Do you have pictures of how yours look?

wcbcruzer

Well, it's still in the making. But here are some pics of the process. I took the front cover off the headlights by putting them in the oven at 200 degrees for a few mins. at a time. Then it just takes some drilling and elbowgrease. Aiming them straight is another thing.

Dave88LX

Ah OK interesting. So those are true projectors then eh. What are then the kind of housing where the bulb protrudes through, and it looks like there's this "cup" in front of it? Is that just a regular old housing? How are you actually mounting them projectors into the housing? What about aiming? Do you have a high & low beam or only low?

Sorry for all the questions...I just have a lot I want to know.

Thanks!

Dave88LX

Oh, one other area of confusion, was that by just putting an HID bulb in a regular housing gives off a "bad" pattern of light, that you need a specific HID housing? Or, is it that you need a projector housing for an HID bulb for it to work properly?

wcbcruzer

The "cup" is what you'd find in just a regular old reflector housing. It's there to help prevent glare. I've used JB weld to mount projectors before, this time I'm using screws as well. You can see the screws sticking out the back. Aiming is just trial and error. I put the headlights on the truck and mess with them till i'm satisfied. Can't think of a better way. But in the end they can be aimed pretty well as long as your aiming at a plain wall.

They have projectors that are "bi-xenon" which have a solenoid that move a shield up and down so you have high and low beam capabilities. But the Ram Sport headlights have a separate bulb for high beams so I'm not going to mess with bi-xenons. Bi-xenons just add more wires and complexity to the retro. They're usually a little bigger too so room might be an issue.

Putting an HID bulb in a non-HID housing will give a bad beam, unless you're lucky. Some are better than others. Some reflector housings are designed for HID too so HID isn't restricted just to a projector. But there's no way you can retrofit a reflector. Not all projectors take HID either, that's why you still get a messed up beam with aftermarket projectors. One exception is the Valeo ECE (or DOT) projector, which was designed for a h7 halogen bulb. But many people retro the Valeo for use with HIDs since it works very well. You'll need an h7 based HID bulb or you can convert the d2s bulb to h7 with an adapter (found on ebay).

Dave88LX

Holy crap I need to read that over a few times. I do thank you for taking the time to type it out though! What kind of housing does an HID bulb use?

Dave88LX

Oh, yeah, and so these aren't a real projector? What are they then?

xtoyz17

I *think* they're projector housings, but not necessarily used for HID's or maybe not even designed for them. I *believe* when he refers to projectors like in that auction it's everything you need to put HID's in your headlight assemblies because the beam pattern is already defined by the round glass looking thingy? Am I close?

LanceD

I have the above pictured projector headlights, the light pattern is much better than stock and it has a distinct cutoff point. but there is a sticker on the side of the housing that says "not for HID use" is this because the HIDs are hotter or just because its not designed for them? they use an H1 bulb by the way.

would I be able to unscrew the projector in them and put a audi or other HID projector right into it? are they all the same size?

adidasman23

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HIDKits_body.asp

what about these. are these real HID or just another fake

LanceD

those are real. just don't go too high on the K scale. the 6500K ones are the brightest. the higher the number, the darker they get, but the color gets more and more blue