I am not planning on doing this immediately, but I can't help but wonder how well these upgrades work. This system apparently replaces your stock setup with no modifications at all - unlike most HID upgrades. Has anyone done this to their car, and if so, does it make a huge difference? Do you have trouble with overheating or under-volting? Would you recommend this? Or is it kind of pointless?

http://www.plasmagarage.com/index.html

I know many bikers who have added HID kits to there bikes, and they swear by them.

Its actually easier to fit to a car because you have more space to put the ballast units, as for voltage, they use less than "normal" bulbs, so no problem there, as for overheating, they do get hot, so not a good idea on cars with plastic lens.

Also, I think you can't use them on the high beams/flashers, something to do with the way they switch on

Remember that if you have HID bulbs fitted to your car they need to be self-leveling or you'll fail your MOT. In other words, unless your car came with HIDs it's illegal to have them fitted.

Don't even think they have MOT's in the US, judging by some of the wrecks I have seen on pimp my ride........

Quote from danowat :

Don't even think they have MOT's in the US, judging by some of the wrecks I have seen on pimp my ride........

I'm fairly certain that as long as your headlights WORK, you'll pass inspection in the US. They could care less about that kind of stuff, lol. To give you an idea of how thorough the inspections are in New Jersey, the building is much like a car wash. You step out, they drive it up a bit and check all the lights (just to make sure they work) then they pull it up a bit farther and check the emissions on a machine for about a minute, then the go a bit farther onto a machine that shakes the hell out of the car... and then that's it. It's essentially a drive through, and the whole process takes no more than 5 minutes.

Much as I thought, loads less stringent than our MOT's

The big problem with plug and play HID kits is that your current non-HID projectors don't have a proper cut off and allow the glare to blind oncoming drivers.
Another problem is reliability. If a bulb blows in 3 months and the company won't return calls (happens all the time, many times companies just change their name and continue selling inferior products) you are SOL.

One way to go is to retro fit a proper HID projector into your headlight housing. It's more work and generally more expensive, but the results are worth it.

Also, try to stick with kits that offer Phillips bulbs and ballasts, which are OEM on most HID cars.


More info about the retro fit here:
http://www.team-integra.net/se ... rticle.asp?ArticleID=1061

So, in other words, an OEM-style solution like this would be MUCH more advisable?



For the car I eventually want to get, though, I don't think there is any other option for me than my original plan up top. I get the feeling the reason I can't find projectors like these ebay ones for it is because the headlight assembly just doesn't leave enough room for both high and low beams separately:

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

They couldN'T care less about that kind of stuff, lol.

Fixed.

:gnasher:

http://incompetech.com/gallimaufry/care_less.html

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

Yes, the more OEM equipment you use the better off you will be.

What vehicle are you thinking about? Usually the HID bulbs are only for the low beams, as they take a second or two to warm up and highbeams need to come on immediately.

As far as finding OEM projectors, most of the time it takes a lot of work (cutting, trimming, etc.) to get it to fit in which ever headlight housing you choose for the car in question, but once it does the output will be of OEM quality.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors ... 63QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

^^put those in your stock headlight housing and you're all set.

Everything you ever wanted to know about HID:

http://www.team-integra.net/se ... Article.asp?ArticleID=973

Also remember modified headlights will invalidate your insurance. They may not even change your premium but you must notify your insurer.

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Fixed.

:gnasher:

http://incompetech.com/gallimaufry/care_less.html

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

AHHHH!!! Sorry!

Quote from titanLS :

Yes, the more OEM equipment you use the better off you will be.

What vehicle are you thinking about? Usually the HID bulbs are only for the low beams, as they take a second or two to warm up and highbeams need to come on immediately.

As far as finding OEM projectors, most of the time it takes a lot of work (cutting, trimming, etc.) to get it to fit in which ever headlight housing you choose for the car in question, but once it does the output will be of OEM quality.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors ... 63QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

^^put those in your stock headlight housing and you're all set.

Everything you ever wanted to know about HID:

http://www.team-integra.net/se ... Article.asp?ArticleID=973

Those are nice... for $500, lol. But I guess you're going to pay to have it done right. I was looking at an 04 Outback. What I meant about the high and low beams is that I think the reason that I cannot find an OEM style solution for that car is that there simply isn't enough space in the headlight assembly to have a separate high-beam bulb, as you mentioned would be necessary. So I don't know if you could even do it with that car at all? The older outback - which is the car I have now - has wider headlights (first picture), so there's room for both an HID bulb, and a high-beam bulb.

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

AHHHH!!! Sorry!
...But I guess you're going to pay to have it done right.

This holds true with HID lighting more than anything.
The chances of you being happy in the long run with an inexpensive kit are slim to none.