HID lights

[kevinod]

Has anyone put a HID conversion kit onto their car (FTO or otherwise)? I'm thinking strongly of going that way, back to driving home from work in the dark and man those lights are terrible...

I'm thinking about gong with the X5 kit (like on kmc-products.co.uk)...

Anyone any experience with them? They worth the money?

Kev.

[CJ]

This kit looks a bit cheaper, not sure if theres much difference though...

CJ

[kevinod]

This kit looks a bit cheaper, not sure if theres much difference though...

CJ

Which kit?

[CJ]

Which kit?

Soz, forgot URL, here it is:

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=7

CJ

[kevinod]

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=7

Thanks, was browsing around that site alright, this kit's description doesn't try to sell it though!

This kit has splashproof ballasts and not waterproof like the the Pilot or X5.

I recommend this kit for those on a tight budget, the Pilot for most cars and the X5 for new cars with complicated computers and bugs (see the OBC Bulb alarm link on the product page).

The quality of the light produced and the beam patterns with these kits is comparable to that of the Pilot kit. The ballasts are not as good and failure rate is approx 5-10% compared to 1-2% for Pilot and X5. Thats honest, and what our business is all about!

RiceRocket tells me he can supply the kits on that site for a good price, just waiting to get figures back from him.

[CJ]

RiceRocket tells me he can supply the kits on that site for a good price, just waiting to get figures back from him.

Kev, I see from the FTOOC forum that you'll be installing them tonight, would be interested to hear how you get on and what sort of difference you notice. Get the camera out while you're at it

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

Kev - you sneaky git!

Are you modding your car on the sly??

[kevinod]

I'm always thinking of doing something with the car, the lights have been on the list quite a while!

Camera will be out with before and after pics, and if I'm still @rsed when I've one done I'll take a pic with the contrast too.

I have a set of KYB shocks awaiting installation too, hopefully next weekend all going well.

The EVO 8 wheels still have to go on once I get tyres on them.

After that I'll stop for a while, cos ya know, I can stop, any time I want...

[kevinod]

Well, I wasn't able to mount the HID ballasts, I need to make up some brackets to put them where I think I'll be able to put them. Unfortunately I don't have anything I can use to do that at home so there'll be a trip to Woodies/B&Q for bits.

I did take a few pics of the kit though...
The kit
Ballast mounting plate
The kit

There's a lead to go from the existing bulb connection to the ballast, and it just goes straight onto the HID bulbs from there.

[kevinod]

Got the passenger side HID working, I ended up having to reverse the spade connectors in the extension cable (very easy to do, small plastic clip holding it in place) and it worked straight away.

Straight away I've gone from rubbish lighting to fantastic lighting, even with just the one side done. Very pleased with them.

My camera battery was almost flat, but here's a pic of the difference in bulb colours (yup, I need to get white sidelight bulbs... LEDs maybe...)



Anyone who is is thinking about upgrading their lights, I highly recommend these, at £175 it's worth every penny!

[Dave]

looks well smart Kev, would these kits work on any car? or is it FTO specific?

[kevinod]

looks well smart Kev, would these kits work on any car? or is it FTO specific?

Its a generic kit, should work on any car. This one is for 9006 type bulbs but you can get them for 9005, H3, H4, etc etc. For the FTO I had to reverse one of the connections (had black to red and red to black when connected to the FTO bulb connector)

[Myfeckin FTO]

Very nice Mod Kev

Where did you mount the ballasts in the end?

[kevinod]

I just have the passenger side on, and mounted it just below the bracket for the air filter/induction kit.

The drivers side I plan to hang off the shock bolts, seems to be the best place without putting it right beside the belts.

[CJ]

Nice mod, looking forward to your soon to come night driving report!

CJ

[stevec]

Looks cool!

Was wondering - has anyone done this on a facelift and then gotten whiter bulbs for the fog lights.

I have HID's and find them great, but it looks kinda crap with the yellow fogs.

[Muad_dib77]

That looks like the way ahead... I'm fed up with driving home in the dark every evening...

Sad fast about sticking white bulbs in the fog lights is that it kinda spoils the "fog" part of them... the white light will be reflected by the fog - and you're little or no better off...

Altough it does look a bit odd with the yellow bulbs in the fogs and the nice white/blue lights in the HIDs..

Personally I'm using Xenon "upgrade" bulbs in my headlights - and standard yellow yokes in my fogs...looks wrong..but it works in fog!
I have to say that the Xenon lights were a massive improvement over the standard bulbs that were in the car when I got it...but they're still noway near bright enough...maybe this HID kit is the way ahead...

Here's hoping to get a closer look at the meet

[alloywheelsinternational]

i have a new supplier of HID kits i can get for you guys.
if you need some info on it please let me know.
i just purchased a wide view HID kit. 9006 6000k. the total cost for the kit delivered was £215.65 including VAT. this is what i paid for my kit. if i am to purchase a group buy i definatly can beat this price.
if you are thinking of going for HID then take a look here.
http://www.alloywheelsinternational.com/HIDLAMPS.html
these are the HID kits i am supplying.
i will keep you posted on my progres with the installation of the kit.

[Muad_dib77]

These HID kits - are they "universal fit" - or are there only specific types that'll fit the FTO?

[Myfeckin FTO]

These HID kits - are they "universal fit" - or are there only specific types that'll fit the FTO?

Read the first page of the thread

looks well smart Kev, would these kits work on any car? or is it FTO specific?

Its a generic kit, should work on any car. This one is for 9006 type bulbs but you can get them for 9005, H3, H4, etc etc. For the FTO I had to reverse one of the connections (had black to red and red to black when connected to the FTO bulb connector)

[Muad_dib77]

Argh!

..Not entirely what I meant though..

I was actually thinking about the bulb fitting in the light housing... the standard bulbs are of the HB type (bendy type yoke)..but from what I can suss looking at different grades on HID bulbs they all look kinda like a tube with a wire stuck at the end of it.. how would that sit in the light housing?

[kevinod]

The bit on that goes into the light housing is part of the bulb itself, so all HB3s for example will have the same fitting into the light housing. In the case of my kit the bit on the HID bulb that fits into the light housing is the same as on the fitting on the original bulb.

[kevinod]

As you say the HID bulb was straight, didn't have the bendy bit but had the same fitting as the orignal bulb.

[Muad_dib77]

Oh right.,., So it's universal to the extend that it'll fit any cars using HB3 bulbs.. right?

[kevinod]

Yup I believe so!