ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Actually, the MOT test for beam aim states two different aim levels for vehicles with teh ehadlamps above 850mm from the ground.

http://www.motuk.co.uk/images/lights_diagram1.gif

(blue lines for above 850mm, red lines for below).

As for main beams. Personally I'd replace the front fogs for spot lamps. My main concerns is with the amount of cars that dazzle when using dipped beams.

vindaloo

No idea if they're any good or not. Personally, I hate angel eyes, they're so old and so BMW!

A lot of mini-projectors appearing, google for "morimoto mini" and have a look on retrofitsource and youtube. At least there's an ongoing development of those and feedback of problems/issues.

J.

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

But you don't have to wire up the angel eye rings do you

GREGGYG

iTrader: (2)

IN my opinion, based on experience, I would say that after fitting your HID kit, if the light projection onto the road is bright, equally spread with no dark shadows, then you have bought a good kit.

Many people are disappointed with aftermarket HID kits due to certain factors, 2 being the lenses they have on their car, the other being the poor quality manufacture of the HID filament (bulb) itself.

I suppose that's why you can buy complete kits for £50, yet to buy just 1 Philips oem HID D2R filament would cost you around £80-£100.

Greg

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

What you are saying is correct I was just wondering if anyone here had bought this particular kit as I don't really fancy buying a kit for £130 just to find out it is rubbish!!

wimpy

iTrader: (2)

Fingers crossed i will have mine fitted on my 94 classic in a week or 2 so will take a few pics of before and after.

sedge69

iTrader: (11)

taking mine off my01 bugeye getting sick of people flashing me, and also the drivers side mainbeam has stopped working

sedge

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

I would be really interested in seeing how they look you must definitely post on here as I reackon there will be loads of interest!

Sabas

iTrader: (22)

I'm not a numpty, where have I said I drive with full beam on?

I used to get flashed with normal dipped beam with HID's, even after they were adjusted, I don't drive around with full beam on, so next time you call someone a numpty get your facts right first

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Those look interesting, but I'd be VERY interested in seeing a set of instructions for them.

Do they need the headlight to be split to fit them? Like Darms did?

If not, how DO they fit. I'm e-mailing the seller to try and get a set of instructions.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Errrrrrrrrr, it COULD have been read like you were using main beam all the time.............

Calm down, anyway, we don't want THIS thread vaped due to infighting.
Thanks.

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

From what I can see in the pics I believe that you do need to split the lights, they just seem to be an easy to fit solution. Darms had to do a lot of modding to fit the actual projectors whereas I think all that will be needed is to split the lights, remove the bulb reflector and then fit the Projecotr in fromn the front and fit a retaining ring seal the fronts back on and bobs (not THAT bob!) your uncle!!

It would seem that the adjustment is carried out using the normal headlight adjusters.

magneel1

iTrader: (18)

Keep messing around with them and they will work at some point

You wont be disappointed, I've got HID fogs too.

See the image below

joey_turbo

iTrader: (26)

I put the link on for these when you asked last, :https://www.scoobynet.com/lighting-an...r-project.html

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

Yes I have read that, I was just abreviating the post for easy reading - not trying to stael your thunder

joey_turbo

iTrader: (26)

Not worried about that, just thopught you may have missed it.

I have the instructions here, they are a typical japanese to bad english translation, I'll scan them and try to attach.

wimpy

iTrader: (2)

Yea I will do. Just waiting for them to be delivered. Bloody royal mail.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Tell me they aren't fogs though? Please? They ARE driving lights, really, aren't they?

magneel1

iTrader: (18)

FOGS

dan83590

Any before and after pictures anyone??

We could name the best and worst kits by manufactuer, and price. To get an idea of which kits are worth spending our cash on.

It must be a beam against a flat surface type piccy, dipped and main.

urban

iTrader: (1)

I had a set(well known on SN) fitted to my old MY05 STI.

Yes there was plenty of light, but I had to use the in car head lamp adjuster to lower them as I was being flashed at all the time.

Now, comparing the above to the factory fitted HID's on my 330S I'd say they were poor.
The 330S beam is very focused where as the aftermarket option sort of spread the light about to the sides if that makes sense.

Now, I had dip and main beam and it passed our official government MOT with them fitted.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

And there you have it: even the single filament bulbs aren't PERFECT, although the cutoffs etc are sufficient to pass an MoT unless you get a particualrly nasty cheap set.

And it's all down to shape of discharge and design of reflector.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

This is why we need more pictures against walls so we can say "xx" conversion is crap or not suitable for MY"xx" model year Subaus with "xx" type headlamps What really doesn't help is it seems there are a good number of MOT testers that don't know how to use a beam tester properly. Which is a joke considering the simplicity of using these devices is less complex than making a cup of tea.

My Golf with factory HIDs upon purchase, was passed by an MOT tester at a VW dealership....with the N/S headlamp pointing at the sky! The obvious clue when driving it was it illuminating the reflective on 20ft tall road signs Took it back to our bunch, stuck it infront of our own beam tester and checked it myself, miles out, O/S headlamp wasn't brilliant either (kick up too far to the nearside ).

Funnily, upon return visits, the same dealership was quick to point out legal/technical issues with my LED front side lamps I guess the shop floor staff was more confused as to how I managed to overcome the bulb failure warning system, thus gaining more attention and scrutiny. Hows that for double standards, eh? Quibbling over a marker light that to all intents does no harm, but not batting an eyelid to a headlamp thats aimed so high that its dazzling local air traffic.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Doesn't surprise me, I often wonder how LOTS of cars can have MoTs with one light on the road and one in the air, or one out altogether.

Like you, I'd LOVE to see pics posted of both good, and bad HID conversions. I'll have to see if I can get a pic of the one I know.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Its because you guys get your MOT's done by garages - perhaps where your mate works.

In N.Ireland we can only go to government test centres
They most certainly will not let you off with much.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Also - to be fair when I was being flashed after the kit was fitted both lights were a bit high, because the mechanic who prepped my car for MOT told me that he adjusted both.
I still kept them lowered a bit though in order to prevent further blinding of oncoming traffic

harvey

iTrader: (48)

If you are seriously interested in other people's experiences and observations, I would have thought you would have asked for their views on HIDs before purchasing, not after. There is a good post at #42 for you to digest.
The crystal headlights are nice to have but I would not be motivated to have them until I actually needed to change a headlight. Not worth the expense IMHO until then.
I have done many tests on both HID kits and various light bulbs, predominently H4,H7 and H1. We have two particular places where we can examine the light performance. One of the cars used in the tests was fitted with uprated wiring and relays to ensure there was adequate current to the high wattage bulbs on trial.
In H4 I am yet to find an aftermarket HID kit that I consider an overall improvement over quality uprated H4 bulbs. Some HID kits on the market are rubbish but generally the H4 dipped beam can be very good, in some cases even better than the dipped beam from uprated H4 bulbs. The last set of H4 HIDs I tried were very impressive so much so that I thought I had found a genuine improvement. Sadly, out of town and on to unlit roads where full beam was required, there was great disappointment. The lights were very bright but there was a lack of focus and scatter.
We then did some back to back tests. The H4 HIDs were short on range by 35-40 meters over conventional H4 uprated.
The H4s I use now are Phillips Rally 100/80W.
Other bulbs tested included three sets of PIAA, one set costing over £70. Not any better than average 60/55W, Phillips Extreme and Osram Nightbreaker and several sets of "off road" or "rally bulbs" 130/90, 150/100 and so on. While producing very bright light there was an obvious lack of focus and scatter. It is probably because of the focus on the Phillips Rally 100/80 that I have settled on these for H4 application.
On a dipped beam H7 application I have just replaced Phillips Rally 80W with HIDs 50W 4300 from www.hids-direct and the improvement is good, so much so I am now cosidering trying a set of H1 full beam HIDs to replace the 100W Phillips Rally in use at present. Before I do that however I plan to fit uprated wiring and relays to see if there is any benefit to be had there.
My conclusion is that for long range vision, which is what I want, away from urban areas in H4 then HIDs are a step backwards but quality HIDs can be a boon on single filament operation.

SkydiveMacca

I'm surprised no one has mentioned E marking yet?

Isn't illegal to fit anything without it? Not sure many (if any) of the after market HID kits are E marked...?

Tazman861

iTrader: (2)

As usual there is loads of good info here but it seems there is no point in fitting H4 HIDs - does this also mean H4 HIDs in a projector housing??

I have a set of those angel eye projector headlamps easily available on fleabay, now I think an option may be to take them apart and put in some single filament HID projectors in as the dipped beam and then some small driving lights (or single filament HID projectors ???) in as a seperate main beam.

My only problem is heat, I have tried the above mentioned lights with Halfords 90% uprated bulbs and whilst they are a bit better the front clear plastic "headlight front" has melted in two small places directly in front of the standard projectors - they are very hot if you put your hand in front!! And the fitting instructions with those lights does say no HIDs so I daren't try them in those particular lights.

I can't believe that Subaru would make such a fast car with such cr*p headlights or that no one has come up with a credible solution!!!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'm afraid that HIDs in projectors designed for a halogen are likely to be a no-no for two reasons.

Firstly, and more pressingly, the HID burner will be difficult, maybe even impossible, to fit physically in the space available.

Secondly, it's the focus again. ANYTHING designed to use an H4 CANNOT work perfectly on both main and dip in HID. It's not yet do-able. Sorry.

As regards heat, I'm unsure. HID stands for "High Intensity Discharge", wherein the discharge is actually electrons dropping back from an "excited" state in a higher available shell back to their normal position. The electrical energy which was given to them to jump to the higher shell is given back out as light when they drop back to the lower shell. As such, this is known as "cold discharge", and DOES NOT produce heat, well, not much. (For a better explanation check quantum mechanics).

To give you an example, a 60W halogen bulb is typically around 14% efficient. That means that of the energy coverted in it, ONLY 14% is converted to LIGHT, the other 80% being converted to heat, hence why they get so hot.

Now a cold discharge burner converts MOST of it's energy to light, so a 35W HID "bulb" is producing the equivalent of FOUR times the halogen output, or over 240W. THAT is why they are so bright.

However, cheaper HID bulbs, like cheapo fluorescent tubes, DO produce some heat, so they may be unsuitable for a lens made of plastic which focuses the beam. They certainly SHOULD NOT, however, have ANY problems with standard plastic lighting lenses where the light just passes straight through.