HID headlight conversion experience

whoa · Post by **whoa** » 08 Sep 2011, 23:35

So I ordered a kit from a reputable company (and a nice guy--talked to him on the phone).

I had read some stuff that made me worried that because of the geometrical differences between the glowing bits of HID bulbs and halogen bulbs, the light cast by the stock refectors and lenses would be problematic: too much glare for oncoming motorists, too much illumination of nearby stuff at the cost of your ability to see well down the road (even if a lot of light goes there too).

But everyone I'd seen give that warning cited the same one-guy website, by a self-proclaimed expert on car lighting selling other stuff. So I took it with a grain of salt and decided to test it myself.

So I put in one HID bulb and left in a stock halogen bulb. I walked down the road and got a subjective sense of comparative glare, and I also videotaped the beams on a wall. My conclusion is that the HID produces far, far more glare. I did not do any test to determine whether the HID helped or hindered my vision down the road. The glare was a deal breaker.

Here's a shot of the car from well above normal driver level, and close up. Even here you can see the glare.

And here's the video. I took it with a camera that does not allow me to freeze the exposure level. That means that when the general brightness of the scene changes, it accommodates in a second or two by brightening or darkening the image. That's not great for our purposes because we're trying to make comparisons of brightness. But I think you'll get the idea. When the glare from the HID is revealed, the image gets really bright before the camera compensates. When the HID is covered and the stock headlamp is the only one visible, the glare is quite dark until the camera compensates by lightening the image.

There is just no question in my mind that I would be annoyed seeing a car with these HIDs installed coming towards me. And if it was a dangerous situation---with pedestrians, bikes, narrow roads, etc., it could be disastrous. These are "technically" illegal, which means you'll be liable if you install them and they lead to harm. I strongly recommend against installing them, and I apologize to Daniel Stern for thinking that he might be a crank.

Post by **Matty Moo** » 09 Sep 2011, 04:32

You already knew that before you tried it out, if you do any night driving.

I despise HID's that are retrofitted in stock housings. Everybody that has them seems to think they have them dialed in right...as they blind people left and right. 80% of my driving is in the dark, I can spot those things a mile away and it's even worse when it's raining, you're wearing glasses and the wipers are on.

Post by **Xilikon** » 09 Sep 2011, 06:35

That's why you either pick a factory HID set or stay with the halogens. If there are no HID available for your car from the factory, there's no point attempting to convert them.

I hate those who do this and blind everyone while driving around.

D_V_ENT850R · Post by **D_V_ENT850R** » 09 Sep 2011, 07:16

Ok so did you just go cheap and use a "HID" bulb or is it a complete kit w/ ballast? I have HID on mine but it's full ballast kit fogs and headlights. No glare noticed here!?!

whoa · Post by **whoa** » 09 Sep 2011, 09:23

My kit has ballasts and the supplier has been very well reviewed here.

I think the only good way to go if you want HIDs is to retrofit stock HID projector headlights from another vehicle into our headlights (and swap in clear lenses). There are threads at volvospeed and elsewhere about retrofitting, e.g., Acura projectors into stock 850 headlights. Retrofitting, even though it uses stock housings, is very different from putting in HID conversion bulbs (with ballasts), because all the optics (reflector and lens) is done by the OEM projector unit and not the 850 headlight, which simply contains the OEM projector now. There is no reason to expect glare from a retrofitted OEM projector.

There are aftermarket projectors, but people are about as dissatisfied with them as with conversion kits.

I'm going to stick with the stock lights and check on voltages to be sure there are no big drops that could be improved with better wiring.

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 09 Sep 2011, 10:25

Nice job whoa. That's a very good illustration of what's wrong with drop-in HID kits, and I applaud you for being open-minded enough to realize what was wrong with it even after buying and installing the system.

D_V_ENT850R wrote:Ok so did you just go cheap and use a "HID" bulb or is it a complete kit w/ ballast? I have HID on mine but it's full ballast kit fogs and headlights. No glare noticed here!?!

Yes, you do. Your halogen reflectors are NOT designed for an HID bulb type. Even the filament (well, arc, actually) is oriented the wrong way for the reflector you are using. Just like Matty Moo, I can spot these kits a mile away. It's irresponsible; why not just drive around with your normal high beams on all of the time? - you'd have the same effect, and it's free.

Post by **FlyingVolvo** » 09 Sep 2011, 10:38

I bought the ABM projector housings (same ones as you can buy on IPD) and threw in some 35w 4300K HIDs. The light is pure white and is aimed very well. The ABMs shoot the light up to the right a little but it greatly helps seeing signs at night, and the only time it bothers anyone is passing on the left.

TWMn · Post by **TWMn** » 08 Dec 2011, 17:15

Whoa, agreed, there is no point in going HID with old stock housings and lens. I have the euro lens on my 855 turbo with halogens and no problems. That said, I'd be interested in hearing what halogen bulbs you recommend, PIAA, Silverstar, etc. for the best illumination without glare.

zhenya · Post by **zhenya** » 08 Dec 2011, 19:42

TWMn,

I'd suggest you go back to your stock lenses, as the e-code lens, while it physically fits, is meant to pair with the e-code reflector which is different than your US-spec (I assume you are in the US) one. You probably feel like you saw a difference, because the e-code cut-off is much sharper, and the new lens was also clean and not pitted, so it is clearer, but it's really not designed to be mixed and matched like this. Also, assuming you bought the aftermarket lenses, the beam pattern is a poor replica of the Hella originals, with the flutes being much less sharply defined on the aftermarket copy.

Since I've been asked about this before, here's some pictures illustrating the difference (keep in mind it's difficult to photograph reflectors, so the pics aren't great - e-codes are mine - I'll get proper pictures someday when I pull my existing US lights off, as I own US spec lights, genuine e-codes, and replica e-code lenses).

e-code reflectors:

another (not my image)

Here's the US reflector for comparison: (also not my picture)

You can see that in addition to the very different bulb shield, the shape and position of the reflector flats are different.

Again, not good to mix and match.

So, on to your real question. PIAA and Silverstar bulbs are marketing driven products that are expensive and not particularly good. Fortunately, the really good bulbs aren't all that expensive. Philips Xtreme Power bulbs are considered to be the highest quality 9006 (US low beam) bulb available, and are a steal at $34 for 2. No hype, color, or over-wattage with these bulbs. Just precision filament winding and the maximum legal output you can get.

For the high beams, we have available the very good Philips 9011 HIR bulb (unfortunately the even better Toshiba version is no longer available). This bulb can be converted to fit in the 9005 high-beam socket with a simple trim of a piece of plastic on the base, and offers 2350 lumens vs. 1700 lumens for a legal 65w 9005.

With those bulbs, good condition wiring, good, clean reflectors and housings, my US-spec lights are as good on low beams as most cars on the road, and far better than average with the high beams. Not bad for a 15 year old car.

instarx · Post by **instarx** » 09 Dec 2011, 07:02

Very nice post. It clearly shows why you should never do this.