I've had one of these kits before for my car but it was a HID low beam and a standard high beam.

I've now got a new car and i want HID high & low beam but im trying to work something out.

My car is either H4 or H1 bulbs, not yet looked.

If its H1 then would i be correct in saying that i will have 4 bulbs? 2 for high beam and 2 for low beam?
Would this mean i would have to buy two HID kit's? Or does anyone know of any kits which come with 4 bulbs to two ballasts? It would suck if i had to buy two HID kit's as the warm up period for swapping between high beam and low beam would be a pain in the ass.

If its H4 then does anyone know of a company somewhere who sell a kit with two different temperatures in each bulb? So lets say 10000k low beam, and then a 4000k high beam?

Quote from Migz :

So lets say 10000k low beam

Why the hell would you want 10k?

It'd give you less lighting than standard.

as far as i understood that was example?

but maybe the value wasnt just random

HID bulbs should not be used in housings designed for normal incandescent bulbs. The extra light produced causes the reflectors to become overloaded, and light is scattered in a way which is not the same as with normal bulbs. Youll basicly dazzle people coming the other way. Projector lights might be different mind you, not too sure about those.

With your hi/lo beam question. Some h4 kits ive seen have a rotating reflector on them which allows the switch between hi and lo beam. Some have two capsules, but you lose the ability to do a quick flash due to the warm up period. Having a design that uses two bulbs and one ballast would still suffer from the warm up period delay when switching between bulbs, so that wouldnt help either.

Ive never seen different colour temperatures used in the same bulb housing.

Basicly, unless you have a single HID capsule (with a rotating reflector that moves damn fast) that can act as both a hi and lo beam, and you want an HID hi beam, then you will lose the ability to do a quick flash.

HIDS Direct are the best people to talk to, http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/

I've got the 6000k standard beam set on my 02 Vectra C and they are amazing, slight blue tint to them, and the visibility is 100x better. The vectra comes with projector lenses so light spread wasn't an issue, but you'll have to check with your vehicle.

HIDS for high beam aren't really that much better, and as above, the startup time for the bulb would stop you being able to flash correctly.

However, hids in fog lights used as DRL's instead of fogs look awesome with 6000K +

Examples for colours:

Be careful though, if you're car doesn't come with factory fit hids (including self levellers + washers) then some garages will fail mot's on this, and a copper who knows what he's looking for could be a twat and ticket you if he's having a bad day.

Quote from Migz :

Would this mean i would have to buy two HID kit's?

ja

Quote from Migz :

Or does anyone know of any kits which come with 4 bulbs to two ballasts?

Each bulb needs it's own ballast - it's why each bulb already has it's own unique ballast.

Quote from Migz :

It would suck if i had to buy two HID kit's as the warm up period for swapping between high beam and low beam would be a pain in the ass.

Not only would it suck, but it's also illegal as well - HID's take a while to warm up, and would fail the MOT because they don't come on quick enough (although I have no idea what the situation is on the CI).

Some companies have cheats to get around this (i.e. overvolt for the first second), but to be honest the only way around it (currently) is a much, MUCH more expensive HID kit.

Quote from Migz :

If its H4 then does anyone know of a company somewhere who sell a kit with two different temperatures in each bulb? So lets say 10000k low beam, and then a 4000k high beam?

Why would you want that?

10000k = useless for a start - even 6000k is too blue. The optimum is 5000k.

Quote from dynofiend :

HID bulbs should not be used in housings designed for normal incandescent bulbs.

This. Or at least, if you DO use reflectors, at least get the HxR bulbs which are designed for reflector headlights.

I've tried HID's in the past - but for a start 6000k was too blue, with not enough light output, and secondly the glare (I was a wanker with HID's in reflectors...) was atrocious. I found it much easier to buy the optional-extra Xenon projector headlights on eBay from a breaker (was only ~£80). No more dazzling, better light output, and a better lens as well.

However, if you can't find projectors for your car, here's (1, 2 & 3) what i'd do (to do it PROPERLY)... in short, you can buy HID's built into a projector lens, and then manually fit the projector lens into your headlights.

You can't really state about light output for 6000k if you used unsuitable bulbs in reflector lenses, it's like daylight infront of our car and the light spread is amazing

6000K seems fine colour wise, with a slight blue tint, no more so than these blue bulb all season halfrauds kits.

I've seen people driving round with 8000K and they are stupidly purple. Although at the the end of the day it's down to each persons preference colour wise and the risk of a fine/points. (Most aftermarket kits will be deemed illegal anyway if you don't have self levelling suspension and headlight washers)

Anyways to the OP ring HIDS Direct or email them, they'll sort you out with what you need to know, and if you check some owners clubs first you can get a discount for car makes/models if they have any schemes set up.

Newer cars with CANBUS systems have circuitry built in that stops you fitting retro-fit HID's.

I looked into it, but it appears to cause a problem with my Mazda, so I just got 4 Osram nightbreaker bulbs for £10 instead!.

For the love of god, don't install HID's in place of normal reflector based bulbs, even projector lights need a different type of lense for HID bulbs for them to gather the light properly to where it needs to be. All you end up doing is blinding everyone else on the road and earning a title of being a massive mobile cock while doing so.

Quote from danowat :

Newer cars with CANBUS systems have circuitry built in that stops you fitting retro-fit HID's.

Not always - pretty much all the lights in my car use CANBUS (which triggers a warning when a light is out), but you can get round this with resistors. Having said that, HID's draw enough curent not to set it off in the first place.

Quote from Matrixi :

For the love of god, don't install HID's in place of normal reflector based bulbs, even projector lights need a different type of lense for HID bulbs for them to gather the light properly to where it needs to be. All you end up doing is blinding everyone else on the road and earning a title of being a massive mobile cock while doing so.

Seconded.

If you want better headlights on your car, buy a car with better headlights. If the headlight design could be improved for £500 then I reckon the manufacturer would have done it - or at least put it as a dealer option.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Seconded.

If you want better headlights on your car, buy a car with better headlights. If the headlight design could be improved for £500 then I reckon the manufacturer would have done it - or at least put it as a dealer option.

It is a dealer option, on most cars, however its amazingly overpriced.

Quote from danowat :

*snip*

Most come with cancellors that get round bulb out warnings, but it's worth checking beforehand as you can get strobing issues from the pulse that comes off the bulb check sequence.

Most dealers will call it something like adaptive front lighting or similar, i think the lights new (or retro-fitted) from dealer are pricey, but there's other things that have to be installed apart from just bulb systems themselves.

I left it, too much aggro, plus the problems Matrixi mentioned above.

Decent bulbs make a huge difference for not alot of money

Quote from Matrixi :

For the love of god, don't install HID's in place of normal reflector based bulbs, even projector lights need a different type of lense for HID bulbs for them to gather the light properly to where it needs to be. All you end up doing is blinding everyone else on the road and earning a title of being a massive mobile cock while doing so.

Not true regarding projectors. Majority of lenses are factory fit and are the same for most lighting setups with a few exceptions. If you buy correct kits and not 30 quid import sets then you will get shields designed for that lense setup that corrects the light spread.

HID's in reflectors are a different story, it's like two lighthouses driving towards you with the light seemingly aimed only at your retinas.

Naturally, projectors don't blind oncoming cars as much as reflectors with HID bulbs do, but they aren't designed for HID lights and do not collect the light transmitted from the brighter bulb as efficiently as proper HID lenses do. The way the light is output from HID and average halogen bulbs is different.

If one must absolutely have aftermarket HID lights, he should get projectors that are designed for HID and not for halogen and modify those to fit the car. Example.

As i said, i've had a HID kit before. So i don't need to be told everything i already know, like i need different headlights, or that they are illegal. I know both of these things, they aren't illegal here, only if you buy the cheaper kits with no high beam (like i did). And my headlights are getting changed anyway so they will be fine.

Some of you asked why i wanted two different colours. Well i want my low beam to be a full blue colour, and then the high beam to be a bright output. That way when im driving around everyone can see the blue headlights, but when im in the country i still have the BRIGHT AS **** high beam to use.

Quote from Migz :

As i said, i've had a HID kit before. So i don't need to be told everything i already know, like i need different headlights, or that they are illegal. I know both of these things, they aren't illegal here, only if you buy the cheaper kits with no high beam (like i did). And my headlights are getting changed anyway so they will be fine.

Some of you asked why i wanted two different colours. Well i want my low beam to be a full blue colour, and then the high beam to be a bright output. That way when im driving around everyone can see the blue headlights, but when im in the country i still have the BRIGHT AS **** high beam to use.

Quote from Migz :

That way when im driving around everyone can see the blue headlights

And this is why people think only tools have HID's.

Quote from Migz :

they aren't illegal here, only if you buy the cheaper kits with no high beam (like i did)

They are actually illegal if they don't meet certain criteria:

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

That's why all HID conversion kits are sold as off road use only.

Hardly a tool, i want my low beam to be for looks, high beam to be for being able to see everything. I don't need to see everything with my low beam as its only used when driving around places which normally have street lamps.
Some people on this forum are really rather pathetic.

Edit: Someone i know was pulled over by the police because of his HID's, he was told they aren't actually illegal as long as they have a high beam as well.

Quote from Migz :

i want my low beam to be for looks

Quote from Jakg :

double it

Seriously? So all cars must be 100% performance? Hah. Id rather not have a shit bucket which does 200mph. Rather a nice looking car which does 120.
Grow up, learn that other people have different tastes. The world does not revolve around you.

Speed =/= Performance