HID FITTED! now PICS and Guide

[d6dph]

HID and xenon/zenon are the same thing as far as I am aware.

The HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulb is filled with xenon gas, Hence they are referred to by either name.

Would I go back to std halogen lamps, In short No. My night driving experience is worlds apart with the HID conversion.


The kit pictured above doesn't have any brand name on it, I'd be inclined to find out what brand they are first.

[Sy_325]

good man... just posted up askin about the brand, thanks for your help d6dph!!

anybody any info on where to obtain smoked hella's? can they still be bought new?

[d6dph]

No worries mate, all part of the service

Hella still make smoked headlights I think, But they wait for a batch to be ordered before they make them. Could be quite a wait.

Do a search for it, been covered a few times iirc.

[zimm_zimmer]

well peeps i have to say all your cars with hid certainly look the part, i am seriously concidering this after my mot (end of this month ) as i find the headlamps give a poor vision and would also make other road users aware of me, me questions are if i was to put it only on the dipped beam would i have problems with people seeing my main beam (would a simple bulb upgrade solve this) and i have seen alot of the angel eye headlamps with projector bit for dipped beam, will the hid's still work in this, also could i have a link for the company people have used for the hid's, thanks

[Morat]

I can answer some of your questions:

You won't have problems if you just convert your dip beams, they stay on when you go to main beam (or should do!) so you'll still be visible. I find that main beam is still useful on country roads because of its higher beam pattern but the HID do SUCH a good job on the dips that you can comfortable drive without bothering with your main beams unless you're really going for it.

If you're worried about people seeing your mains when you flash them with the dips on, don't worry. Unless they're already being dazzled by your dips (which they shouldn't be, of course!) then they'll see the extra lights come on.

Personally, I'm not into the angel eye look on old BMWs so I haven't bothered with them myself. If they're your thing, then I don't see a reason why you shouldn't do angel eyes and HIDs on the dips, as long as the angel eyes don't mess with your beam pattern and throw the (vastly) brighter dipped beam into oncoming driver's faces. That would be bad.

There's a link to the company I used in the guide on the first page. They're Bosch HK - which has nothing to do with Bosch in Germany at all, but they're still working nicely and frankly if I have to pay another £88 after 12 months it has been worth it.

It might be a symptom of impending middle age, but I don't like driving a car that isn't 100% up to speed on the paperwork so I've gone with 4300k which some say is yellow but to my eyes is brilliant white (as you can see in the photos on page 1). I wouldn't want to get pulled for blue/incorrectly adjusted lights for the 5-0 to see a set of homewired HIDS in there. It would probably lead to a sense of humour failure. Correctly adjusted white HIDs are the answer in my book. You won't get pulled for having safe lighting!

[padi]

ive just bought some 6ks, and after driving my dads e46s with bi xenons, these arent as blue as his were. cant see having to much of a problem to be honest. has anyone past there mot with these fitted yet?mines next week and am just curious as to whether i shud whip them out?
oops meant to say, just built myself some home made angel eyes, and smoked sum headlamps so will put these in when i can be bothered/get time.lol. used some from hid world on fleabay. delivery was quick and kit seems good so far...

[chinchilla]

Hi there, ive been looking into HIDS for a while and thinking of buying some from china. My dad has quite a few contacts in china as we import furniture from there. Recenlty been looking into a few electonics mainly mp3 players, which i will be ordering a few samples of soon, but will also be finding out if they sell or can get hold of these bosche HK HIDS, then get some samples and test them.

If i find them any good im thinking of getting alot more to sell, and will offer them on the zone at a discount price, as there seems to be alot of interest! Would probly put up a thread in the group buy section!

But nothing for sure yet, will post up any news.

[andye30nut]

i just bought a set from ebay from hong kong so will let you no how i get on with mine they were only £50

[BristolBulldog]

I did this mod 4 years back when they first came out. Set me back a very nasty £460 then. It was still worth it then. I absolutly will be doing main beam once i have the car back on the road, seeing as how cheap they are now!

[sam325is]

do these xenon that everyone is using from ebay have a proper/legal beam pattern?

[bazcoupe]

i had 3 hid kits on my e36, one in the dipped one in the main and projector fogs as well, and it sailed through an mot with them on. the only thing i would recomend is to get your headlights realigned after fitting them.

[sam325is]

so i assume they had the L shaped beam pattern on them then?

[bazcoupe]

erm dunno

[padi]

surely its the headlamp reflector that makes beam pattern. Ive got a pair in my dipped beam and they seem exactly the same, just a shed load clearer!

[gra325i]

brilliant guide..helped me to fit mine in 35 minutes..

[tari]

i heard that when fitting these on an e30, it triggers your check panel warning light!

Has anyone had any probs?

Cheers

[gra325i]

no problems here as yet, mate..

[goosiegander]

great guide!

[shedrool83]

Great guide just done mines in 25 mins

[gra325i]

your just saying that coz i took 35 mins, jake

[shedrool83]

your just saying that coz i took 35 mins, jake

I had them in and working in 15mins the other 10 mins was trying to cable tie the ballast's(or what ever there called).

So i guessing you took longer securing thing properly.

[gra325i]

lol yup bolted on

[shedrool83]

Show off

[BadDave]

i heard that when fitting these on an e30, it triggers your check panel warning light!

Has anyone had any probs?

Cheers

When using sidelights only, the Hid's have a tendency to strobe,ddue to them not receiving full power

This is remedied by disconnecting the resisters

The check panel warning sometimes comes on it you are a bit slow pulling the headlight switch to the 2nd position(in the side light position for any length of time)

HTH

[Brianmoooore]

i heard that when fitting these on an e30, it triggers your check panel warning light!

Has anyone had any probs?

Cheers

When using sidelights only, the Hid's have a tendency to strobe,ddue to them not receiving full power

This is remedied by disconnecting the resisters

The check panel warning sometimes comes on it you are a bit slow pulling the headlight switch to the 2nd position(in the side light position for any length of time)

HTH

The strobing problem only occurs with early facelift cars that were fitted with dim dip driving lights, and is easily cured just by disconnecting the resistor block mounted right at the front of the LH inner wing.
The 'check' panel warning is a different thing altogether. The HIDs consume less power than the standard halogen lamps, so there's a possibility that the bulb failure module will interpret the reduced current as a blown bulb.
The HIDs start up with a power surge, which should be enough to 'pull in' the reed relay in the module, and then the run current may just be enough to hold it in, if you're lucky.
Otherwise, it's just as well to tape over the warning LED, as I doubt if it will indicate a failed HID bulb anyway.

[mattyb240]

I have just fitted my HID's andI am very chuffed with them. But mine will only strike if I go straight to dipped beam, When using the sidelights it strobes and then stops. My dad has disconnected the resistor block? Is there anything else? Or is there one or more connections to get rid of?

[Gibson]

ooooh this sounds like a fun mod. which brand/kit did you use?

[Brianmoooore]

I have just fitted my HID's andI am very chuffed with them. But mine will only strike if I go straight to dipped beam, When using the sidelights it strobes and then stops. My dad has disconnected the resistor block? Is there anything else? Or is there one or more connections to get rid of?

The resistor block connects to the car loom by two round rubber plugs and sockets on the LH inner wing.
All you have to do to stop the strobing is disconnect these. This leaves the resistor block totaly disconnected, so it can be removed completely if required by undoing two screws.

[mattyb240]

Thanks Brain turns out me and my dad only took out one of the two rubber plugs

But one hell of a difference, driving at night is so much easier now, even convinced my dad to get some.


Thanks for the help brian!

[CustomX]

What are the proper brands to go with and the price differences?

I heard the dodgy Hong Kong kits aren't too hot - but who else does them?

[mattyb240]

Mines a hong kong kit and so far im very impressed, 1 year warranty on bulbs and ballasts, really bright and very easy to fit.

[Morat]

What are the proper brands to go with and the price differences?

I heard the dodgy Hong Kong kits aren't too hot - but who else does them?

Did you hear that from someone who has fitted one and had problems? Or someone trying to sell you a "premium" kit for 10 times the price which was probably made in the same factory?

My kit is from Hong Kong and its absolutely spot on. Buy with confidence!

[shedrool83]

What are the proper brands to go with and the price differences?

I heard the dodgy Hong Kong kits aren't too hot - but who else does them?

Mines are from Hong Kong and are perfect.

[toby]

This is what 6000K ones look like, vastly improving visibility on the road ahead.

This is the most worthwhile mod to any E30 - even the originality freaks have no excuse as it so much safer driving at night!

[StuBeeDoo]

Here's where I put the left hand one. If anyone comes up with a better place - please tell me. I'm not really happy with it there.

Anyone got an answer to this question yet? I'm thinking seriously about HID's, but I have nowhere at all to put the ballast box on the left-hand side of the car.
Does the ballast box need to be mounted close to the bulb it feeds? Could I get away with running cables under the radiator from a right-hand mounted box?