HID Conversion W/Video

[4x4Dude]

My Installed HID's W/Video

Just wanted to let you guys know i just did the HID conversion. Let me tell you this. The instructions say for a beginner installer it will take 30-40 minutes. Maybe if you work super fast and already know where to install the balasts. That was the biggest pain.

So if you buy these, map out where you want to install them and then go from there. It took me and a friend about 3 hours to do this. This also involved a lot of drinking during the process and installing the balast in the wrong place to start out with lol. Here is a video of the final product.

High beams and fog's are coming next!

Not really sure why they look green when it first starts out.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=16587182

 

[FORDING]

they look sweet i am thinking of getting some for mine.

 

[XLTman]

Those HID's look good. Alot better than stock eh

 

[4x4Dude]

lol just a little better than stock. The bulbs that came with the projector headlights were so weak. I added silverstars the day i bought the truck and it still wasn't all that great. But now i don't even need high beams anymore! not bad for a mod that's less than 200 bones

 

[AvroAero]

Wow nice. What guy did you buy from? I wanted to get HID for a while but I didn't want to pay nothing on ebay and waist my time with some junk which I've already done a few times.

 

[4x4Dude]

Actually in my video i said it was about 130 shipped. I just checked my ebay invoice and it was actually only 83 shipped. 47 for the actual piece and the rest for shipping as it came from china.

Here is a link to the guy that i bought my stuff from. He sells these all the time and shipping took about 2 weeks.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZmydepots

 

[AvroAero]

You lost high beam? Did you get some for the fog lights too?

 

[4x4Dude]

No i still have my high beams and my fog lights. They just look stupid when you put them on cause it doesn't match the HID color. you just have to buy a whole new kit with another balast and newbulbs to add HID fogs and HID high beams

 

[AvroAero]

I got a set, only I got the bixenon so I wouldn't lose my high beams as I have stock headlight housing. I'm gona see how these go and get some for the fog if they're good. 40 bucks can't go wrong.

 

[4x4Dude]

bixenon?

 

[AvroAero]

Its a hid bulb that uses a servo to tilt it for high beams. For headlights that only have one light bulb on them.

 

[4x4Dude]

it uses the same balast system that other HID kits use?

 

[AvroAero]

Yea, you have to buy a different bulb only. The kit was 89.99 so almost 50 bucks more. Otherwise with stock headlights you lose high beams entirely.

You have the double haloed headlights right? In which case the highbeam is a sperate halogen. In that case you can buy another kit and you don't need bixenon. Although in the end that leaves you with 4 balasts for the headlights alone which will stress the wiring more so than 2 obviously.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Bi-XENON-Hi-Lo-H...hZ019QQcategoryZ36476QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

If you look at the bulb theres a round kinda nipple thing, it has a servo in it which tilts the light to shine the beam higher than low beams.

The only actual reason I'd buy them for a headlight that has seperate 'dome thingys' for the high and low beams would be that the bulbs won't have to warm up when changing from high to low beam.

 

[4x4Dude]

Well that's pretty cool. Ya i have the double light housing where my high beam bulb is completely seperate. Although once the beam is warmed up you can go from high beam to low beam without any hesitation.

HID are totally worth it in any sense, so good find and i hope it works out for ya!

 

[AvroAero]

My review

Bought them off ebay from 'mydepot' or mydepots can't remember since 4x4 gave em a good review as I was kinda turned off thinking they'd be cheap ebay junk. I've had my share of that.

Got them in about a week and a half from half way around the world, not to bad. Cost me about 140 USD shipped.

They are the Bixenon which enable the high beams to be used also in housings that sport only on lamp for hi and low beams. Cost an extra 40 or so. I like perfection so I got em.

Here are some pictures of the contents

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2338.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2339.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2340.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2341.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2340-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2341-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2342.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2343.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2344.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2345.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/AvroAero/IMG_2346.jpg

Instructions weren't that bad. Took a secound to figure out what was going where. Took me two hours or so to install, would of been easier but finding somewhere to put the ballasts within cable length of the headlight was a little hard. Found a bunch of nice spots then try em out and they're just to small. Kills me.

Pros
-Cheap. HIDs can go for 200+ easily and as I haven't seen them I haven't seen any BMWs with much brighter lights or anything
-minimal drilling for installing
-Awesome

Cons
-Not sure if this is really that big of an issue, but when I installed the first light and ballast I tried it and it worked in low beam but when high beam was attempted the light cut out and wouldn't turn on for a few min.
-If the battery is drained a little it may not continue to burn after being fired (with the dome lights on for a while and the lights going on and off a few times one light didn't burn after being fired. once I turned the truck on I refired it and it stayed on)

 

[4x4Dude]

Ya, Installing the ballasts was the worst part. I finally found a spot sort of above the wheel well behind the headlight.
They def don't give you enough slack to place it where you want to.

Glad it worked out for you Avro....140 isnt bad at all since you get high and low beams I have to spend another 80 bucks to get my high beams, and eventually another 80 to get my fogs lol

 

[AvroAero]

Well I ordered my fogs just now but i think you could get a discount on shipping if you order two together.

 

[AvroAero]

Hey 4x4, do you HIDs ever fire and not stay on? I had it happen once or twice and thought it was the battery since it wasn't started and was running lights for a little bit, but now my brother says it does it the odd time with the engine on.

 

[4x4Dude]

No, this hasnt happened to me. I don't ever keep the lights on without the engine running. i would normally with regular bulbs, but i think these HID's have made me a little paranoid lol

So you are saying they fire up and then shut off? and this happened while the engine was on?

 

[AvroAero]

Yea, I went out and tested them a while ago and the one was doing that. I did notice when I got them that one of the ballasts sounded like it had more 'sand' in it than the other. It seems to do it more so when the bulbs aren't warm.