Aftermarket HID

[Kaos]

Originally posted by t-im


actually, I didn't know that..haha i'm pretty stuipd about this

How much would this whole thing cost me?..and I don't think

i'd be able to do it myself (i'm not exactly mechanical)

thanks!

Im not exactly sure how much it would cost you for install.

If you were gonna buy euro ellipsoid headlights, I would suggest buying ZKW (2nd best to my standards but affordable) or BOSCH (Expensive but very good cut-off quality)

IMO, any other brand like DEPO or DJ Auto, are garbage. I've read that they tend to fog up.

Heres a sample pic of ZKW and DJ Auto in action
ZKW on the Left, DJ Auto on the right
No comparison.
ZKW owns!!!!!

[2m0a0x2]

DEPO is not really that bad. I wanted DJ auto but umnitza sent me depo, however, they're not as bad as everyone thinks. Mine aren't even aimed properly yet (no time), but here are some pictures. The cut off isn't bad.

This pic is when it was warming up, but I used it for 15 mins before I washed my car and turned these on. BTW, these are 6000k XTEC hids.

[2m0a0x2]

cut off

once again, i haven't had time to aim properly

[ZorroAMG]

^ Wow...those are brutal.

[2m0a0x2]

LOL are you serious? i said they're not aimed right...

[Chester]

Yah the cutoff looks fine, other than the aiming.

[bart]

they should be:

.....___ ___ (ignore the dots, it wont let me do only spaces)
__/ __/

and not:

___/|___/|

and you can still see that most of the light is being focused in the middle, and its not being distributed evenly...

[benyl]

Originally posted by 2m0a0x2
LOL are you serious? i said they're not aimed right...

Aiming has nothing to do with the hotspots you have in the middle.

You probably get WAY better vision out of the halogen bulbs you had.

The rebased bulbs you bought were obviously not optimized for the housing.

The cutoff is nice, but most euro cars have that kind of cut off.

Proper hid lighting should look like Bart's photo. Evenly distributed all over the place.

[2m0a0x2]

even the ZKW's in Kaos' pics are like that though......And I did NOT have better lighting with my halogens.

Oh, what do you mean by rebased bulbs? They're H1 bulbs for my projector headlights which also take H1.

I'll take pics next to my dad's E60 w/ oem HID some time tommorow maybe

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by celica girl
Thanks guys... I appreciate all the advice. It's just that there's a group buy going on where I can get a Phillips Kit (the exact one in the picture above) 4300K for $220 USD. So I want to get in on that asap. If I need to get new housings for her later on it shouldn't be a problem. I guess I could always sell the kit if it didn't work out.

The HID kit shown in your first post uses rebased D2S bulbs presumably to fit the stock halogen housings. The US halogen housing of the 528i is a reflector type and the performance gains will be nowhere near that of OE HIDs. As others have already stated, you'll get huge glare with the rebased D2S HID bulbs (which are not suited for reflector type headlight housings).

If you buy this kit for the existing headlights, you won't be able to use it when you get the OE HIDs. Save your money and do it right the first time.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by ZorroAMG
^ Wow...those are brutal.

Originally posted by bart
and you can still see that most of the light is being focused in the middle, and its not being distributed evenly...

Originally posted by benyl
Aiming has nothing to do with the hotspots you have in the middle.

Let me clear up this misunderstanding. The HOTSPOTS you see in 2m0a0x2's beam pattern is because the photo was shot too close to the wall, or in this case the inside of his garage door. Distance should be about 25 ft for photos and for aiming.

Even Bart's headlight pattern will show hotspots without sufficient distance to the wall, and his are the real deal OE Euro HIDs.

______________________


Here is a photo of OE Euro HIDs in action, a few feet away from the garage door. Valeo housings, Philips 4100K bulbs, Philips 35W ballasts. You can see the circular hotspots and the apparent uneven distribution.

[FiveFreshFish]

We rolled the car back to sit about 20 ft from the door. As you can see, the beam pattern is more even and the hotspots are essentially gone. Much better!

[FiveFreshFish]

This pic was taken in a parkade, about 25 to 30 ft from the wall. I can't get that distance on my driveway because of its slope.

No hotspots, no uneven distribution.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by 2m0a0x2
And I did NOT have better lighting with my halogens.

Here is the shitty OE US halogen headlight pattern. Yes, I know it's not properly aimed.

[FiveFreshFish]

Originally posted by 2m0a0x2
Oh, what do you mean by rebased bulbs? They're H1 bulbs for my projector headlights which also take H1.

A standard D2S bulb with ballast looks like this:


...and fits into the HID bulb socket (left). Right socket is for halogen H7 bulb.


______________________


A D2S rebased to H1 looks like this:

[FiveFreshFish]

... and fits into the H1 socket.

[2m0a0x2]

oooh sexxy pictures

yeah, my cut off thing was taken maybe just over a foot away from my garage door

Im having trouble aiming my lights cause I just cant seen to get it low enough......without hearing the dreaded POP.

FiveFresh, your pics make me wish i got ZKW and HID instad of DEPO/HID/DDE....fuck!

[bart]

ok, here we gooooooo:

6 inches


1 meter


6 meters (repeat)


100 meters


220 meters (contrast and brightness increased for test purposes)



long side view


and finally the headlamps


-bart

[EnRich]

Very nice man...

[bart]

hey FFF, what car are those Valeo's for?

btw anyone look for good headlamps, Valeo are good ones, same with Hella, if you go aftermarket. Mine are OEM, but made by BOSCH. Bulbs I use are 4100k OSRAM's.