HID's vs Standard headlights Help

[jon-m42]

Afternoon Zoners,

Right guys this is just a Sunday afternoon thought”¦I am still thinking about getting HID’s for the old turd. Not because I am a huge fan of them and all this angle eyes stuff dose not bother me. I much rather prefer my original smiles which I currently am using but with Philips extreme vision bulbs. Night Visibility has improved but not a great deal.

After driving through central London the other night in a friend’s E46 325 Motorsport I must admit the night visibility is amazing in compression to my old turds extreme vision bulbs. I understand it’s a new and improved yet refined car which comes with new technology (HID’S) ”¦

Now guys who here is using the new technology (HID’s) and who are using the standard set up as I am?
Do you find a huge difference in using HID’s and dose it effect battery power/ performance?

I was quite impressed with the night vision driving through central and yes e46 I must say smooth car but I much rather still choose the e30 as it just feels more connective between the driver and the car.
So guys whats your thoughts on the upgrade to standard lights to HID’s ??
Any pointers, advantages and disadvantages about them?
I have had a quick search on amazon and found these ..



I must say they do not look good at all however if it improves night vision and safety I guess it’s a positive right?

Are they any good or shall I steer away from these and look elsewhere?

Do you recommend any makes models of HID’s ?

Regards
Jon

[daimlerman]

All that is needed is an HID kit at about 4300 output.These,in effect,are a 35w bulb so consume less power than your existing bulbs.

Forget the 'Angle eyes'....

[jon-m42]

daimlerman I must say the angle eyes do look very nice on new cars i guess but just cant see it working with our old turds ..

who here has HID's fitted on their cars and do you have pictures ?

if so what makes and models should i be looking for?

how bright can we go here in the UK ? i was just quite happy with the e46 lights to be honest.

wouldn't need to go any brighter than that

sorry to sound so uneducated about this topic i myself am totally new to this

[polsta]

Have you ever tried decent bulbs ? I had some Philips extreme ones they were a great improvement over standard ones, I'm going To try the Orsam ones next I think

[daimlerman]

As I understand these things,the higher the number,the 'bluer' the light...so a modest output as suggested above is fine,the difference is literally 'night and day'.

Ebay has dozen's of supplier's,I have used two different one's for my two E30's and there is no difference in the parts supplied.The ballast unit can be hidden under the headlight units,so no extra wiring is on view.

[penton08]

6000k hids on the left, 4300's in the middle and standard bulbs on the right.

[Brianmoooore]

Just get an ebay H1 4300K HID kit, fit it to your facelift E30 lamps, make sure they are aimed correctly, and you will have lights every bit as good as the E46 ones.
Out of my roadworthy collection of BMWs, I only have the E39 still running on halogen lamps, and that's only because this is the first winter I've had it, and haven't got around to changing them yet.

[jon-m42]

polsta - I presume i have decent bulbs currently using Philips Extreme Vision H1 Bulbs. They seem to improve light a little more then standard.

penton08 if i must sat so myself the e46 seemed same if not closest to the one on the left of the picture. where did you get them from ?

my current light is a tad more then the white e30 in the picture.

so guys is it really as simple as just getting the kit and installing it ...? do i need to look out for any brackets or specific wiring connections ?

regards
Jon

[Andy325i]

HID's FTW! They transform night driving and are simple to fit

[jon-m42]

i would know where to start .

it seems all to go for after your input seems as if its a good upgrade.

i understand i need to be on the look out for a h1 hid kit however is there any makes i should look for in particular can anybody recommend me shops or places to get them ?

whats the brightest level we can go within uk regulations ? 4k 5k 6k 7k 8k ?

[jon-m42]

I have been looking at some here on amazon has anybody tried any of these :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... 0K+HID+kit

if so which do u recommend?

Jon

[Grrrmachine]

You might not have played around with our Wiki yet, but it does cover the HID topic:

http://www.e30zone.net/e30zonewiki/inde ... Conversion

There's also a sticky over in the Technical section of this forum.

It's something I'll be doing to my car this week

[jon-m42]

Grrrmachine hi mate yes i have had a look at the wiki seems a good instillation guide.

all i need to know now is well which kit to go for and where to go and get it from ?

do you recommend any places ?

have you bought your kit if so where did you get it from and how much did it set you back ?

do keep me posted on how you get on with your instillation

[jon-m42]

diable correct London is full of street lights however driving in and around epping forest has its pitch black streets. however if it improves light for a small amout then i guess its a good upgrade.

i am using philips extreme vision h1 bulbs and i can confirm they are good and improve light but not by a large margin a small difference but the HID's are a world different to the standard halogen bulbs

[DasChin]

I bought an eBay kit for my old track e30 and it was like night and day in terms of difference with the HIDs over normal.

It wad about 30 quid and really easy to fit. Cannot recommend enough.

I used to drive to track days and got caught once coming home from a track day and it was rather scary on cup tyres with near zero lighting!!

[jmc330i]

As above, the eBay kits are more than good enough, and usually the same kits from different sellers. I think my 4300k kit was £40 delivered.

[jon-m42]

guys are these any good and would these work fine ?



or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-3-Series- ... 5633da1948

jmc330i

[steve_k]

here you go

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/55W-HID-Xenon ... 336a192ce0

[Andros]

I have the h,I,d lamps aswel and 1 of my bulbs has blown but with only 1 working its stil brighter than 2 standard head light I'm sure it was on here somewhere that you have to disconnect the lights for making the dashboards brighter to prevent the 1 bulb going all the time

[jmc330i]

Mine didn't come in a 'presentation box' and I wouldn't pay £30 extra for the privilege. I just went for the cheapest I could find on eBay and no problems so far.

[Andros]

And I'm sure mine are the 8000k ones they are well bright

[Andros]

They was already fitted to my car when I bought it

[DasChin]

if you need replacement bulbs then go to www.hids4u.co.uk

always been a good source for a kit too.

[jon-m42]

DasChin these are the prices i was expecting to pay however i have managed to find to some cheap ebay and amazon kits for 50ish pounds

seems worth it i guess arghhh how so confusing when you really dont know the subject inside out

[oomz1975]

After HIDs, the standard set up will look like candle light.

[Quaser]

For the price you pay for upgraded bulbs nowadays, i dont think its even worth considering as HID's are only a little bit more!

[jon-m42]

Thank you all for the help and advice it seems the way to go ... our standard lights cost far to much and HID's perform better as my experience tells me it was seriously a world of a difference.

a quick ebay or amazon kit should do just fine keeping away from angle eyes yuk

thanks once again

Jon

[jon-m42]

one last question guys i am sorry

for HID's

what temp is more brighter 4300k or 6000k ?

Thanks

[harry_p]

I have cheap £20 eBay kits in the otherwise standard lamps in both e30 and e36, and have had them for several years and performed without fault.

I expect the more expensive kits come out of exactly the same factories but have a prettier box.

I have recently swapped the bulbs in my e36 from 6000k to 4300k as I thought the slight blue tinge was a bit too obvious, the 4300s have a crisp white light and are noticably brighter.

Don't do what many do and think a higher number means a brighter light. It doesn't, it's the colour temperature, and the human eye is more sensitive to the orange/ red end of the spectrum.

[Andy325i]

I think I read ages ago 4300k give the most light output. Its what I have gone for every time

[jon-m42]

Harry_P thanks i am not after a blue bright light possible white light will do for me do not want to pass by looking like a old man driving a chavs car lol

i guess its the 4300 is the one for me then .. which exact kit did u get ?

[Morat]

Jon, you are over thinking this. All the kits are Chinese and seem to work as well as each other. I just buy the cheapest, I've had 55w and 35w and for dip beams 35w is all you need. There's only so much road area that the dip beams can cover due to the beam pattern, I found with the 55W that the near part of the road was so bright i couldn't see full beam pattern beyond it very well. Of course, everyone's eyes are different.

4300k every time. They are not blue, but they are much whiter than halogen which looks quite yellow in comparison.

[jon-m42]

I possibly was over thinking this whole thing. I am from an era where regular halogen yellow lights were good enough and then to white upgrade bulbs were a wow factor lol but now HID's, technology has improved and it shows all over when you switch them new lights on.

Guys i am spanner friendly and up for a little challange here and there, working on the e30 or shall i say doing bits and bobs is just a passion and keeps the love for the e30 going strong. This whole saga of HID's in an e30 puts a smile on my face.

Thank you all again for all the help support and advice

regards
Jon

[jon-m42]

Zoners

I have some sad news ... I received the ebay HID kit today so thought excellent followed the zone wiki and to be honest it seemed simple and straight forward to install.

i started of by installing 1 side first and then turned the key, switched on the lights and nothing. started with left side and when switching the lights on my right side lit up with the regular h1 bulb in there.

i have e mailed the ebay seller asking for a exchange or full money back refund. says the guys location is in china so we shall await his reply.


what a morning hey.