H.I.D Light System

sclancy1

Does anyone know how much they cost? CarPro Professional HID light System

anewman

Aftermarket HID kits are nearly always illegal to use on the public highway.

AdrianHi

£200 here
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product.php?productid=81&cat=17&page=1
but there are decent kits around for a lot less, down to as little as £55.

Legality is one of those issues I've seen kicked around on other car forums, especially in connection with lense and back reflector design. Properly adjusted and with a sensible colour temperature choice (like 5000K standard or 6000K white, but nothing silly like 8000K blue where you loose 50% light output comapred to 5000K) most enthusiasts of sound mind see no problem with them and get their cars through MOT year on year with them fitted.

sclancy1

Thank you, I've read the 6000k is legal so I'll look for that.

steveo3002

plenty of hid kits on ebay , the australian version has some that work out a little better due to the exhange rate

i wont go into the legal lecture ...up to you

AdrianHi

I've got 6000K Phillips X-Treme xenon gas filled "halogen replacement" bulbs in my car, similar Osram Nightbreakers in my wifes car. The colour is definately legal, what gets called into question is reflector and lense design for the higher light output.

JDMYOFAN

They are illegal.

One of the main requirements is that they have a means of being cleaned (washer jets and/or wiper blades).

You also need to have a 'pattern', as most cars without HID don't have the correct line, which could be dazzling to oncoming drivers if you were to upgrade to HID.

AdrianHi

From the horses mouth so to speak:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

What has cleaning got to do with not blinding other drivers?

JDMYOFAN

Adrian, there are two points I raised.

1) Is that HID lgihts they need to be self cleansing. If you look at any (factory) spec car with HID, they all have injectors to clean the lights

2) The light unit needs to have the beam pattern. If you look at the 106/206/focus for example, there is an aftermarket set of headlights called 'angel eyes' or 'morrettes'. These are designed to give a sharper beam pattern, which is required for HID lights.

That's why you see a lot of idiots who think their car now looks modern with blue lights, but it all appears as a blur.

CHR15

I believe they also need to be self levelling.

They certainly are in my car, which is why an upgrade option is so expensive with sensors fitted to front and rear axle areas to ensure (with a leaden car) you are not blinding oncoming drivers.

They also require washers too,

AdrianHi

I can see that a headlight cleaning mechanism for HID's is a requirement, I just cannot understand why if they are not needed for regular halogens.
Self leveling is a fairly obvious one.

The replacement xenon gas filled bulbs I have are 100% legal, the only thing is they are 18 months old not and seem to have lost most of the extra brightness. When I first got them they were not far behind "real" HID's for being white and bright, they don't look much different to standard 5000K "yellow" halogens now.