Fitting HID's

[cliffybabe]

Guys

Im after some advice i got my HID's this weekend and im gonna fit tomorrow.

I've just been looking at the supplied loom and feel i can cut half of it out, the loom supplie dis designe dso u can bypass any car ecu's but the bm would suffer from this.

What i want to know is if i can just tap straight off the earth and pos fromt eh back of the standard lights and then go intot he ballast for power/ switching on

thanks
Neil

[Brianmoooore]

the loom supplie dis designe dso u can bypass any car ecu's

I presume, that when translated into English, this refers to lamp failure monitors, as in the E30 'check' system.
If your car doesn't have the 'check' system you can connect as you say. If it does it'll be easiest to disable the module in the fusebox.
If you have the dim dip driving light function fitted to early facelift cars, then that will have to be disabled by unplugging the two connectors on the LH inner wing.

[bm_boy]

i fitted my hid's and its best to use the supplied loom, even though the check light will still appear as it thinks one bulb is out. Unless theres a way to overcome this?

Below is a pic of the kit which was similar to mine.



It shouldnt take you more than an hour to fit, firstly replace your H1s with your HIDs and then hook the rest of the wiring up as shown.

No.3 are spade connectors which you connect to ONE of your original headlamp connectors, you may have to open the original connector up and remove the yellow and brown wires to connect.
Best to choose the drivers side connector due to the length of the loom.

No.6 is an earth so find a suitable place (i found suspension turret was good)

No.7 is positive which you connect to the battery

Easy!!

[cliffybabe]

that loom pic is wicked, cheers dude

ok so can i cut out the rest of the loom and just use the head lamp feeds to the the ballast packs?? also this would allow the check panel to recivie the correct info from the car or should i go with the loom and go as brian says and bypass the module??

what do u think???

[bm_boy]

i suggest using the loom and connecting it like in the pic no need to cut any wires out, its all pretty much "plug and play" and then do as brianmoore has suggested and unplug the two connectors on the LH inner wing to bypass the check system. Which is something i might do as my check light stays on.

[cliffybabe]

yeah i guess, i just thought it might be easier the other way, this was the sort of thing i was thinking

[Brianmoooore]

i fitted my hid's and its best to use the supplied loom, even though the check light will still appear as it thinks one bulb is out. Unless theres a way to overcome this?

Below is a pic of the kit which was similar to mine.



It shouldnt take you more than an hour to fit, firstly replace your H1s with your HIDs and then hook the rest of the wiring up as shown.

No.3 are spade connectors which you connect to ONE of your original headlamp connectors, you may have to open the original connector up and remove the yellow and brown wires to connect.
Best to choose the drivers side connector due to the length of the loom.

No.6 is an earth so find a suitable place (i found suspension turret was good)

No.7 is positive which you connect to the battery

Easy!!

Bin all this rubbish back to the connector labelled 1 and a short piece of wire left connected to it.
Join these wires to the two wires each side that feed the existing bulbs.
This retains proper fusing for the ballasts and lamps.
The plugs on the inner wing are nothing to do with the lamp check module. This 'modification' is to prevent the HIDs flashing on and off when running with the light switch in the first position on cars with dim dip driving lights.

[DanThe]

The standard wiring will be ok for this then Brian? I wouldnt have thought it be up to the job

[cliffybabe]

CHeers Brian

[d6dph]

I have wired mine in the way Brian said. No smoke as of yet

Need to sort that plug on the inner wing as mine can flicker a little if you don't pull the switch out properly.

Got some brighter white sidelight bulbs too.

[cliffybabe]

cheers dave, did u uprate ur fuse's at all??

[d6dph]

Nope, I think the draw less power than the std headlamps, but this could just be the advertising blurb.

[nickso]

strange. my kit came without all of that extra wiring.

i just used the existing wiring to the lights and made a hole in the back of the waterproof cap for the wires back to the ballast. the other ballast connection then goes back to the bulb.

i dont have numbers 3,4,5,6,7 but an extra set of wires back to the bulb.

[Brianmoooore]

HIDs consume considerably less power than the original H1s. The extra light is because of the extra efficiency, so you're doing your bit to combat global warming.

[DanThe]

Global warming,,,,

The important part is the alternator wont need as much engine power

[cliffybabe]

going to fit now, wish me luck gonna take pic's etc and do a write up

[Morat]

My kit was the simpler one like Cliffybabe's and Nickso's. It only came with the wiring to hook it up as Brian said. There's no need to touch the car loom at any point apart from the two wires inside the headlight. Cheapest is best for these HID kits - they're all made in the same place! Mine came from Hong Kong in about a week and cost £88 all in.

My car is an early facelift with the dim-dip function, but I left it alone apart from hooking up the HID. This means that if I drive around with the headlight switch in the "sidelight" position I get funky flashing lights, but I'm a firm believer in never driving with sidelights on and always use dipped mains - especially I've now got funky HIDs! With the engine off, I can use the parking lights as before. I prefer to leave it like this, if I get a problem with the MOT I can just slap the original H1 bulbs in and nothing has changed (apart from the holes in the back of the bulb holders, I guess). If I could find the connectors Brian mentioned in the LH inner wing I might disconnect it but then again, I'm lazy and it works fine for me as it is

My dipped beam warning light still works correctly, I only get the warning light on if I drive with the switch in the sidelight position or start the engine with the headlights on. It cancels the next time I switch the ignition all the way off.

[Morat]

going to fit now, wish me luck gonna take pic's etc and do a write up

I did one, but it was never stickied

[d6dph]

Morat, Chuck me a link and I'll sticky it.

It was a good write up, but the pictures were not working last time I looked.

[Morat]

ahh, yeah that could be because demon have changed my hostname while I move house.
I'll sort that out and then get back to you.
Thanks

[d6dph]

I have moved it to the styling/ice section as I feel it will be of more benefit there and stickied it.

I'll put it to Steve to be made into a article as more and more people are going to HID's. If that is ok with you?

[BadDave]

I've just fitted mine and they are "strobing" on the dim/dip setting.
Where EXACTLY on the LH inner wing are these 2 plugs that I need to disconnect??

Thanks in advance

Dave

[Morat]

The pull switch should have two positions, off, 1 and 2. 1 is sidelights and they will flicker on that position - but you shouldn't be driving on sidelights anyway. Position 2 is dip beam, if they're flickering on that position then you have a problem. These cars don't have dim dip really, they have dim sidelights.

d6dph, more than happy for it to be an article mate
let me know if you need anything rewritten.

[BadDave]

Morat
They're just flickering on the sidelight position.
Would like to know if there's any way i can get round this so they don't come on and flicker with the sidelights(whch are the bright LED type now)
I mean only send power t the ballasts when the light switch is in position 2??

[Morat]

I geuss you'll need to disconnect the connectors Brian mentioned in the inner wing? Assumin you've got an early facelift car.

[BadDave]

Should be classed as an early facelift model
88 F plated 325 tourer
Any idea as to where the connectors are exactly??

[Brianmoooore]

Look right on the front edge of the LH inner wing at the top.
You will find a clamp there holding two large wire wound resistors. There are two cables running from these resistors which end in two round rubber plugs and sockets.
Simply unplug the two connectors to totally disconnect the resistors and the problem will be cured.
You can then remove the resistors and their cables from the car completely if you wish.

[BadDave]

Brian
Are they located underneath/behind the header tank and have the following wire colours?

1 has yellow with red trace and yellow with white trace.

1 has yellow with blue trace and yellow with white trace.

Are these the 2 you refer to??

Thanks

Dave

[Brianmoooore]

Sounds like them - they have yellow as the main colour.

[BadDave]

Yeah they do Brian
Thanks
Will disconnect them and see what happens

[BadDave]

Job Jobbed
Now working in position 1 without the flickering
That's one thing less to worry about come MOT time


Thanks Brian