HID upgrade kits? Recommendations? Problems?

c.troutman · Nov 6th, 2007, 05:31 PM

have a 98 and have been thinking about doing one of those ballast kits with HID bulbs. Anyone done this yet to theirs? and if so, everything work out okay??.I'm leery of the ebay kits, because alot are out of the country, but they have come down alot.

looking for feedback, downsides/problems, website, quality brand..

laxman0324 · Nov 6th, 2007, 06:35 PM

i think most will agree with me that they will definitely make everything a lot brighter. I know from personal experience that they are not hard to install if you know the basics of wiring, and can find a good spot to mount the ballasts...

the problem with those is our headlights are not designed for HID use, and you could potentially be blinding other drivers pretty bad, and you will lose your high beam function as HID high beams always deal with some sort of shutter or motors to move the bulb to aim higher

if you do decide to do this and have a grill guard, you could go with something unique and wire up a set of offroad lights to function as the high beams, not real complicated if you know how to wire...

i am also interested to hear the results from someone who has done this

blitZ · Nov 9th, 2007, 07:10 AM

I installed one of these on my old Porsche. It made a huge difference. I have heard the cheap plastic kits on ebay suck. I spent a few more bucks and got a Hella kit. It's metal and glass, very solid. I got mine from Crutchfield, but many places sell them. You might want to stick to the 55 watt bulbs, anything more may over tax older fuse panels.

Hella HID

c.troutman · Nov 10th, 2007, 11:16 AM

thanks, but those are for sealed beam upgrades...talking about ballast/capsule upgrades

smj999smj · Nov 15th, 2007, 12:39 PM

Personally, I would just upgrade to a set of Sylvania Silverstar Ultra headlamp bulbs. It'll save you a lot of headaches regarding installation and legality issues and will be almost as bright as the HID units. It's also a lot cheaper!

mann777 · Nov 19th, 2007, 04:19 AM

i HAVE OVER A YEAR BACK INSTALLED HIDs WITH THE BALLAST KITS PLACE BEHIND THE H/L AND THEY HAVE WORKING PERFECTLY TILL DATE. THE PACKAGE WHEN BOUGHT CAME WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS AND ALL YOU NEED TO SPLICE AND DICE THE WIRE A BIT AND THERE YOU GO. NIGHT DRIVING THE BRIGHTNESS HAVE BEEN GREAT AND THE LIGHT BEAM HAS A LONGER REACH ON HI BEAM.

rpeirats · Nov 24th, 2007, 05:03 PM

DO NOT install an aftermarket HID kit! Aside from being illegal, they dont provide any lighting enhancement. Halogen reflectors have different optics than HID reflectors. What you will do is have a lot of glare, hot spots, and almost no usable light.

Fortunately, there is another option. If you want xenon lighting, do it the right way. What you need is HID OEM projectors, easily found on ebay and such, and OEM components (bulbs, ballasts). Go here: HiDPlanet.com :: Index and go to the university section. LOTS of info there.

Then basically you do a retrofit. You open your headlights, and install an HID projector in there, put a bezel to make it look good, and then seal it up.

I myself retroed a set of Lexus LS430 HID projectors in my 2002 pathfinder.

Here are some pics to show you proof:

This is a regular halogen pathfinder headlamp output:

This is the same headlamp with an hid bulb in there:

This is a output shot on the ground from a hid bulb in a Halogen headlight:

This is an OEM HID projector from a 350z:

Here is my 2002 pathfinder:

Here is an output shot from another member at hidplanet.com, hes using the same projectors as me:

Now, WHAT DO YOU THINK?

TheCROW163 · Nov 25th, 2007, 12:21 PM

Hell yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!

mann777 · Nov 25th, 2007, 09:32 PM

Could you tell us how you went about doing the mods on standard ones. If you can email with the details appreciated. they are really good and looks similar to the adaptive lightings systems of oem cars. appreciated if you have the photos if not just email us the workaround you did. thks once again

rpeirats · Nov 25th, 2007, 10:37 PM

Unfortunately, I didnt take pics of every step, so I cant do an illustrated how-to. But, I think I took pics of some of the most important steps, so what I can do is post some pics and explanation of how it went.

If someone is really interested in doing this, Ill gladly take you through every step.

WARNING: this is not an easy task. This project is not a dissassemble, install, assemble, and your done kind of project. You have to commit to it so you can do it. But if you do, the rewards are simply awesome. You will have HID headlamps, LOTS of light, NO glare, awesome color, and sick looking headlights.

To accomplish this, here are the basic requirements:

-basic electrical knowledge
-good tools
-a Dremel or any rotary tool
-COMMON SENSE
-patience
-some basic DIY skills
-$ to buy the components (You can do it for as low as $250)

If you meet these, then you will succeed.

Dont be afraid, its pretty easy if done the right way.

Expect soon some pics of how I did it.

laxman0324 · Nov 26th, 2007, 02:47 PM

That was pretty popular to do on my old accord, but you will still lose your high beam function unless you are really good and have lots of money to spend on a projector with the motors to aim the light higher...

also if you go this route have a spare set of headlights just in case, cuz i know a few ppl who made a little mistake which ended up parking them for a while at night

rpeirats · Nov 26th, 2007, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laxman0324

That was pretty popular to do on my old accord, but you will still lose your high beam function unless you are really good and have lots of money to spend on a projector with the motors to aim the light higher...

also if you go this route have a spare set of headlights just in case, cuz i know a few ppl who made a little mistake which ended up parking them for a while at night

Wrong... There are LOTS of cheap Bi-xenon (projectors with high beam function) projectors out there, the most common being the FX35/45 bixenon projectors. Here is the market price as of today for some projectors:

Bixenon (needed in the pathfinder because it uses the same bulb for lows/highs:

FX35/45 = $50 - $80
E46 = $60 - $100
E55 = $90 - $110
TL (the best bixenon) = $190 - $240

There are many more, but these are most popular.

These are in order from good to best.

Even the FX45, which is the cheapest, is night and day difference when compared to stock halogen.

mann777 · Nov 26th, 2007, 09:26 PM

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST, AND WHICH ONE IS THE BEST AND WHERE CAN I BUY IT, PLS ADVISE WEBSITE DETAIL ALSO, THANKS ONCE AGAIN

rpeirats · Nov 26th, 2007, 10:15 PM

I strongly suggest getting Bi-xenon projectors, so you dont lose your highs.

The best bang for the buck would be FX projectors, which have great output, and are bixenon. If you have $ to buy TL projectors, go for it. Much better output/color. But, these are very big, so it will be a tight fit, but it ill work.

If you want absolute maximum output, the best single xenon projectors are much better than the bixenons. I went with LS430 projectors, since theyre the best projectors available. But they are single xenon, so I lost my highs. I rarely used them, so it doesnt matter to me.

I suggest you go to hidplanet.com/forums and register, then browse through the website and youll learn very much. Also, this is the best place to buy everything you need. Second choice would be ebay.

rpeirats · Nov 26th, 2007, 10:19 PM

I see you currently have Bosch HIDs... Could you specify a little more about your setup?
I want to know about what ballasts are they, and exactly what bulbs.