I used to think my headlights were quite good until I bought this kit.

It is a Bosch kit consisting of a pair of HID bulbs, ballasts and wiring loom. The conversion took me less than half an hour and is easily reverseable for MOT time if required.

The results are nothing short of amazing! My regular night time run from Kent to Essex takes me down lots of dark country lanes and now its like driving in daylight! There is still the same excellent beam pattern of my original H7 lights with the same cutoff so I am not dazzling anyone, but I can see for miles now.

The conversion actually give 300% more light for 60% of the current so its good for those with small alternators. The best part is that it only cost £50 delivered from Beijing.


[Edited on 7-11-07 by RazMan]

Nice one.

Any linky?

Would the kit fit a normal 7 headlight?

Mike

A most illuminating post but I see no linky to where to get these from - ebay?

is this conversion a direct replacement of H4 type bulbs and would the extra gubbins fit into a 7 inch lamp housing?



ooooohhhh, must learn to type faster

[Edited on 7/11/07 by 02GF74]

oops silly me

Link

You might have to search around for the correct bulb type and I think that the H4 might have beam pattern issues due to the fact that you need two beams in one package - worth a look though.

The ballast pack is mounted near the headlamp so you can't really stick it inside the headlamp bowl.

*edit* fixed link now

[Edited on 7-11-07 by RazMan]

I am looking at this for my daily driver as it has the worst dipped beam I have ever experienced.

Linky no work for me though - need login & password?

Cheers

Daz

You can fit it for either beam (with separate headlamps of course) and I chose to fit them as my dipped beam.

The only trouble is that it makes my main beam look pathetic now - and I thought it was excellent before the conversion

I feel another eBay order coming on.

Try this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HID-XENON-CONVERSION-KIT-BULBS-BALLAST-H7-6000K-NEW_W0QQitemZ110188969624

Damn it he's already fixed it, I should really refresh before doing this

[Edited on 7/11/07 by hobbsy]

For H4 bulbs, there is a "special" version, where the lamp part is moved by a solenoid to mimic the two different filament locations of a normal bulb. Some say this gives problems. For what seems more usual for a daily driver with separate main and dip beam bulbs, it should be a great change.

I read somewhere that Bosh don't make HID lamps - their name has been "used" that's not to say that the Bejing product isn't excellent in all respects, in which case other suppliers who claim better quality, longer life etc are overpriced?

There are shed-loads of them on ebay and the prices are dropping all the time.

Raz - are these on your tintop or kit?

I was considering fitting these on my BMW but you have to do quite a lot of drilling plus I also read that you will dazzle people to death unless they are used in either a projector style housing or one that is definitely suited to HID use as some housing really don't work very well with them (ok, you can probably see but the oncoming drivers can't!)

Considered it for the kit as I sometimes feel I'm not very visible even though its bright red and loud.

Just to clarify - This is fitted on my kit car which is also my daily driver.

I would think that fitting is quite easy on the majority of cars that have single filament bulbs. As I said, it took me less than half an hour and I didn't have to cut any wires in the process - the supplied loom goes between the original bulb holder and the new HID bulbs and the ballast is attached with a simple bracket. I can still remove it if required (for MOT).

As far as dazzle is concerned, I haven't been flashed by oncoming drivers yet so I can only assume that beam alignment is ok. Looking at the design of the new bulb, it fits in the holder precisely and is the same (dimensionally) as the H7 bulb. The beam pattern looks exactly the same to me - just a LOT brighter.

I think the dazzle problems are probably attributed to the 'twin position' H4 which can't really emulate the halogen version and the beam pattern gets distorted as a result.

quote:

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Originally posted by JohnN
I read somewhere that Bosh don't make HID lamps - their name has been "used" that's not to say that the Bejing product isn't excellent in all respects, in which case other suppliers who claim better quality, longer life etc are overpriced?

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Well done, you are now another one of those "chav" idiots driving round with an illegal headlamp conversion and causing a danger to other road users.

These conversions are not legal for a good reason - they are dazzling to other road users not only risking causing an accident but also damaging peoples eyes due to the amount of UV light given out by HID bulbs.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

quote:

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Originally posted by andyharding
These conversions are not legal for a good reason - they are dazzling to other road users not only risking causing an accident but also damaging peoples eyes due to the amount of UV light given out by HID bulbs.

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quote:

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Originally posted by speedyxjs

quote:

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Originally posted by andyharding
These conversions are not legal for a good reason - they are dazzling to other road users not only risking causing an accident but also damaging peoples eyes due to the amount of UV light given out by HID bulbs.

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If that is the case, why are some tin top manufacturers selling their cars with HID as standard (or option)

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Thats kinda what I was trying to say in my post about the reflector not being suited to aftermarket HID kits...

But you put it better

I have one of these kits on my A3. The standard lights are shocking giving about 10ft visibilty and meaning I could drive round with my full beam on with no one even flashing me to tell me to turn them off. It passed mot's and was legal even though they were very poor. I fitted a HID kit and can now see at night which makes driving safer and I haven't had anyone flash me and don't dazzle or annoy anyone with them.

Cheers Confused, i understand

quote:

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Originally posted by andyharding
Well done, you are now another one of those "chav" idiots driving round with an illegal headlamp conversion and causing a danger to other road users.

These conversions are not legal for a good reason - they are dazzling to other road users not only risking causing an accident but also damaging peoples eyes due to the amount of UV light given out by HID bulbs.

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The problem is that the lens of a normal halogen light is designed around the beam pattern produced by the filament. The shape the the HID light source is somewhat different, so whilst MOST of the light goes in the right direction, you get a lot of scatter in the wrong directions.

Further, the in the H4 style HID conversions, a small solenoid powered shutter is used to block light coming out of one "side" of the bulb in order to "dip" the lights. Again, a normal Halogen headlamp has the filament in a physically different location to the main beam filament, which this shutter does not emulate.

OEM HID lights are always of the "projector" type because the beam pattern can be controlled with far greater accuracy than with a lens. Projector style lights are not as efficient as reflector lights however, as they use a mask to define the beam cut off, so light is wasted.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/videos/featuresvideos/204742/xenon_test.html

Raz, does your MINI have projector lights as standard anyway? If so then the HIDs are probably fine. My fiat coupe has projectors, and lots of people upgrade the lamps to HID (as standard ones are dangerously poor) and have no issues with beam pattern at MOT time.

[Edited on 8/11/07 by MikeRJ]

My headlights are the vanilla flavoured ones fitted to the Mini One iirc. There is an HID version available but I needed to get through SVA and didn't want to fit the required auto-levelling or washer systems (which are an MOT fail if not fitted)

The video link is very informative and states that these illegal conversions are dangerous due to beam scatter. I certainly agree that if the beam is distorted or scattered in any way then they shouldn't be fitted. Luckily my lights still have the same beam pattern with a clearly defined cutoff point and no dazzle.
Rescued attachment IMG_2356.jpg

looks like you have projector headlights in which case HIDs are fine if aimed correctly.

Ive a set on my A4 with projectors and they are spot on but Ive also a set of a mk4golf with no projectors and while Ive never been flashed they arent ideal. So Ill be buying a set of R32 lamps with projectors to fit them to.

PS - that autoexpress video is usual journalist crap. The megane with the hids fitted is pointing right at the camera almost while the other car is pointing to the side so it looks a lot worse. They arent projectors tho so will be a bit crappy looking.

quote:

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Originally posted by RazMan
Coming home this evening along very busy (but dark) roads, I was not flashed once - doesn't that confirm anything to you? This conversion is one of the safest things I have done to my car imo!

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quote:

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Originally posted by RazMan
However he did say (rightly so) that without the self levelling and washer system they would have failed an MOT.

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quote:

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Originally posted by chriscook

Doesn't the fact they would fail an MOT say something???

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