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HID bulb differences

Great now I'm gonna have to order mine as well. I've been trying to hold out but running halogen blows when you've had HID's.
 
BrApple said:
lol, yeah I might get some sets for the fog lamps also, seeing as how cheap the raptor kits are. I think I would do that after the price comes down again like mentioned. First I think I will get another DDM kit and put the two I have on my SeVT and SVT. Then get a Raptor kit for the mystique.
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I'm gonna do the fogs for sure. I used to love using them with the headlights but now they just look silly because you cant even tell they're on from the drivers seat.
 
SOB! I installed one side last night, just to make sure everything was working. I plug everything in, turn the car on and then the lights, but they just flicker. Looks like they're not getting enough power to turn completely on.
The problem is, with the harness, you have to hook them up directly to your battery, right? Well, with the 'LS, the battery is in the trunk! :crazy:

Mark
 
there should be some kind of distribution block up front right?


did you try to light them straight from a battery to see if they would work?
 
I'm going to have to do some more digging this weekend. Aside from oil changes, I haven't had any need/want to go digging under this hood.

I didn't have much time to try anything else. I might try going straight from the batter this weekend.

Mark
 
I didn't mean run wires to the battery, but mearly test them with a battery to make sure they are working as they should.
 
Yeah, like Brian said, you should have a power source available in the front of the car. My BMW has a little door on the engine that flips up for the postive battery connection. It leads straight back to the rear where the battery is.
 
I was going to post this before the boards went down. it was noted before that the raptor hids had been changed toa one year warrenty. Well reading the bimmer forums this was going to drop the price to $35 each. well it appears that it was decided to leave the price at $40 and offer a life time warrenty again.

So I ordered a raptor kit to put in the mystique and another DDM kit for my Se and the current ddm kit I have will be moved to my SVT.

did some highway driving with the car tonight. Under street lights they kind of get washed out. but when there are no lights I can very clearly see the difference over halogen. more light and its brighter. so other then being washed out under street lights it is great.
 
Dyoel182 said:
Harness? Are you talking about the extra harness for running 55w bulbs?
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Yes, the same harness. But it's not necessarily, only for 55w bulbs. It's also for electrical systems that can't produce the start-up voltage to get the HIDs fired up. Mine are flickering, telling me I'm not getting the power I need.

Mark
 
BrApple said:
did some highway driving with the car tonight. Under street lights they kind of get washed out. but when there are no lights I can very clearly see the difference over halogen. more light and its brighter. so other then being washed out under street lights it is great.
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This is normal of any HID setup.
 
kinda figured but good to know.

is it also normal that when turning on they flash bright for a split second and then slowly warm up? I know they take time to warm up and to bring the light output up.
 
doh :blackeye: my timing is bad again. just checked the ddm web page and the raptors are out of stock again as the last shipment was late. no wonder I haven't gotten a tracking number yet for my last order ...
 
BrApple said:
doh :blackeye: my timing is bad again. just checked the ddm web page and the raptors are out of stock again as the last shipment was late. no wonder I haven't gotten a tracking number yet for my last order ...
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Haha yeah I went to order a set of 880s for my fogs and saw the same thing. Last night they had the button to order but I was on my ipod and didnt wanna deal with it.
 
Dyoel182 said:
Haha yeah I went to order a set of 880s for my fogs and saw the same thing. Last night they had the button to order but I was on my ipod and didnt wanna deal with it.
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I ordered like last wednesday ... I suppose I will call and ask about it tonight.
 
BrApple said:
I ordered like last wednesday ... I suppose I will call and ask about it tonight.
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actually I ordered on the 3rd. I think they tried calling last night but I didn't answer because it said unknown called on the caller id.

honestly my order should have gone out last week imho. I am not paying again to upgrade if that is the offer.
 
got my order in tonight. one DDM and one Raptor.

I check the bulbs out and they are the same, doesn't matter what kit you get. So I left the bulbs I had in the mystique in the lights.

the raptor balasts have the same footprint as the DDM balasts. The Raptor are alittle thicker but not so much one would fit where the other would not.

driving tonight I honestly thought that the raptor balasts seemed brighter. they didn't seem to wash out as much as before under street lights. but that could also be partly conditions.

I almost thought I got a bad balast. when I first turned the lights on after replacing the passanger side it would flicker as it would light up. it was alot slower then the ddm one on the drivers side. swapped the other one and it seemed to even out more. few hours later I had to go back into work and when I turned my lights on the passanger side didn't light at all. had to turn the light switch off and then back on and it fired fine. was at work for about and hour and when I left both lights fired fine and warmed up at the same speed. So maybe it was just something funny. I don't know how long they where sitting outside today and it was cold and windy.

either way I am happy. So I will get one of the DDM sets installed into my SVT soon and get some photos.

After I get some time and miles on the raptor kit I will be thinking about getting some for my fog lamps.
 
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