HID Kits

Drummerboy08

Been toying with the idea of getting a kit for the motor. I like the look, and for some reason i've gone through an awful lot of H4's the last while.

How easy are they to fit i.e. could I do it myself or would it be worthwhile getting someone else involved? Are there any drawbacks to having HID's? Are they eligable for the NCT, or will i have to reconvert?

I've spotted a few different kits for sale on adverts.ie and the likes - is there a specific kit I should look out for?

Is there a big difference between the standard H4's and HID's for a driving point of view?

Not difficult to fit, small bit of wiring with scotchlocks iirc. Much better light. Not sure about NCT to be honest.

SV

You could do it yourself, seen them installed on cars before and it's very straight forward.

Not sure about the NCT though tbh.



p.s, will sell you mine for 100 if you're interested?

antodeco

It will take around 30 minutes max I would say. Its not difficult. The hardest part is looking for somewhere to attach the power block. Becareful about placing it near plastic, as some blocks can get quite hot. Mine are stone cold 99% of the time. You may have to lose the rear covers on the lights (the ones you screw on/off for replacing the bulbs) as the bulb adapter will stick out. I just covered any loose wires with electrical tape. If you power wash your car, best off leaving the lights for a few minutes, again, just in case of heat.

What car do you have?

Drummerboy08

It's an 04 Focus.

Is there much wiring up to do? I could probably get someone to install it fairly cheap (or free) but i'd like the satisfaction of doing it myself.

In saying that, I'd prefer not to balls up the wiring.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Have you got projector headlamps? i wouldnt fit them other wise as they are quite dazzling to oncoming traffic, but this isnt a problem with projector casings,

also depends on what intensity you get, i picked a set on ebay from hong kong bout a year for 48 euro, everything included,

no difference in quality either, have them bout 13 months with no problems.

antodeco

Horgan wrote: »

Have you got projector headlamps? i wouldnt fit them other wise as they are quite dazzling to oncoming traffic, but this isnt a problem with projector casings,

+1. Make sure you have projectors. Otherwise it scatters the lights everywhere and can look dodgy (think a lot of older civics and their lights). It is VERY easy to install. The light cables (red and black block unit) that the bulbs would normally pop into, pop into another cable which inturn has the bulb at the end of it.

Think of it like this: If you were to remove the bulb and stick a long cable with a bulb at the end of it, thats the kit. There are additional cables (red/black block to one cable, that cables to the power block, another cable from the power block with the bulb at the end of it). It really is easy.

Atomic Pineapple

s Horgan says without projector head lamps the pattern from a HID bulb will be scattered all over the place and could end up dazzling other drives on the roads.

You may be able to get a kit with projector head lamps but this will be much more expensive than the normal HID kits.

If you dont have projector head lamps its likely that they will fail the NCT but in saying that I know some people have passed with HIDs in non projector lamps but there lights were still dazzling to oncoming traffic

Drummerboy08

Right, you'll have to help me with the lights - how would I tell if they're projectors or not?

This isnt as easy as pricing up a Volvo with a heap of extra's!

mullingar

Mine passed the nct with a HID kit in a non-projector light.

Also a friends 03 laguna passed with them too.

Berty

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Right, you'll have to help me with the lights - how would I tell if they're projectors or not?

This isnt as easy as pricing up a Volvo with a heap of extra's!

This is a projector focus



This is not, aka YOURS

Drummerboy08

Aha.

I do know where I can get my hands on a set though. For free

Atomic Pineapple

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Aha.

I do know where I can get my hands on a set though. For free

if you can get 2 sets i might be interested in buying one off you

Rev. BlueJeans

+1 on the projectors.

The amount of goons I see driving around dazzling the bejaysus out of everybody else, and ironically minimising the efficiency of their own headlights as well is very obvious this year.

The "uprated" blue headlights too, where the filament is not in the same place as the old halogen causes similiar woes.

Rev. BlueJeans

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Aha.

I do know where I can get my hands on a set though. For free

Always the best way to acquire something-and at least you know the job is right.

Drummerboy08

Projectors were standard on the original ST170 Focus, weren't they? I must find out if he'd be interested in a swap......

JHMEG

H4 is the worst bulb to try to replace with HIDs due to having two filaments at different positions in the one bulb.

CrowdedHouse

Slightly OT - but the OH had an 04 Focus,I could have sworn they were H7's.

I do know that the one on the passenger side was a right bastard to change :mad:

SteelyDanJalapeno

I had a nissan Silvia at one stage,

they were so tight to fit, i ended up taking the headlamps,

this ended up in a very tidy installation, just a bit longer,

but worth considering.

Big Nasty

I considered doing this on my Trans Am recently (there's a thread on it here somewhere). Again, the advice I got was that they don't work well in non-projector lamps which mine obviously aren't being a '79 car. In the end I went for Halfords Super Brilliance H4 Bulbs. They are dear at €19.50 each but they were doing a '2 for 1' deal on bulbs at the time so it worked out ok. Savage difference to the candles I had before that!

jamieh

Hi all,

Never even thought about getting HID's until I read this thread.

Just ordered a kit on ebay for €110, for my 06 Astra.

Hopefully they'll make a difference! Are HID's the lights with a purple/blue tint or am I thinking of something else?

mullingar

jamieh wrote: »

Hi all,

Never even thought about getting HID's until I read this thread.

Just ordered a kit on ebay for €110, for my 06 Astra.

Hopefully they'll make a difference! Are HID's the lights with a purple/blue tint or am I thinking of something else?

Seems a little pricey, but still cheaper than buying it a bricks-n-mortar shop.

Are they H4?

Did you get the 'slim' ballast? (makes it SOOOOO much easier to install)

jamieh

mullingar wrote: »

Seems a little pricey, but still cheaper than buying it a bricks-n-mortar shop.

Are they H4?

Did you get the 'slim' ballast? (makes it SOOOOO much easier to install)

This is what I got:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360188682431

Think their H7's (are these the one with a tint or are they just white). There's no mention of slim ballasts there so they must be ordinary ones

Berty

jamieh wrote: »

This is what I got:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360188682431

Think their H7's (are these the one with a tint or are they just white). There's no mention of slim ballasts there so they must be ordinary ones

Sorry to say you were robbed.

The bulbs have plastic bases instead of metal bases which are more durable and have sturdier connections.

They also have

No mention of slim line ballasts will mean you will not receive slim line ones because having slim line is a selling point and they WOULD have mentioned it.

They will also likely have plastic wiring instead of colour coded insulated wiring.

JHMEG

Good chance all aftermarket HIDs are made in the same facotries in China.

One just like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQcXxoLUBeA