Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics HID light leagle?

I saw an eBay auction of HID lights at around $10-20. Is that real HID? Some other places sell them for about $800. Technically what's the difference? By the way, is it leagle to use on public roads? As I understand the real HID is illeagle but what about the $10 ones? Thanks.

Those are probably just bulbs that give the HID look. The real HID's look a lot better but I can't see spending around $800 on headlights. HID's aren't illegal as they come stock on certain cars. Just spend about $40 on a good pair of bulbs. Gets the job done.



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Brian brian8064@aol.com
1999 Contour SVT Green
Removed Resonator, KKM, B&M Pro Edge Shifter, 5% Tint, Cuzo Headlights, Clear corners, Silver Grills, Eibachs in box till spring.

For 10-20 bucks, those are El Cheapo FakeID deep blue tinted bulbs. Often those are pretty bad. Not only does the light output suck, but since they are often made in 2nd rate factories in Asia, the quality control is virtually nonexistant. Hiper bulbs come to mind. So dim I was getting headaches from eyestrain.

Only OEM HID is street legal. HID retrofits are not legal since halogen headlamps were not designed to use them. That hasn't stopped people from installing them, sometimes they work ok, sometimes the results are terrible.



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P. Valdez
Las Cruces, NM
1999 navy blue SE
Zetec ATX
"Regla de los Contours!"
My Car's Page!

youve got it mixed up...the fake hid (anything under 100 dollars) is usually illegal except for the PIAA's Platinum Super Whites. The real HID's are legal.

Also, all those "hid" look things they sell on ebay are just bulbs. they are overwattage bulbs that are dyed blue to give the HID look. Although some of them look good, they all decrease the amount of light that is actually put out and also can cause problems w/overheating. If you want a light bulb upgrade for brighter light i suggest phillips premium bulbs which can be found at http://www.autolamps-online.com/index.html
browse around this site, you will be able to learn more about lighting.

As far as the real hid systems, they are much more expensive (at least 300 or 400) and have multiple parts. they have these things called ballasts, and also have special bulbs. You can get them, but the cost a lot.

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1998 Ford Contour SVT
*Silver Frost/Midnight Blue
*New cupholders, ceg sticker =)
*BONE STOCK*

vcontoursvt, you are mistaken.

P.Valdez is correct. Any type of retro-fitted HID are "illegal" as they use the housings designed for HB4 etc. bulbs. These are not designed for HID. I won't get into the specifics as why they are different but they are. Reflectors, beam patterns, glare, etc.. Only OE HID are legal as they have been Ecode, CDOT, and USDOT approved and are stamped as such. The legalities come from the type of bulb for the type of housing, bulb wattage and color output. Bulbs that are stamped with DOT on them are usually approved for US road use. Piaa, Philips, Sylvania/GE, etc.. Eurolite bulbs are approved for European use on their Crystal White bulbs. They are marked with an E(4) or whatever number from the locale that they were manufactured under approved standards. Hiper bulbs are not DOT or European legal.

All I'm doing is given legal facts. I myself do have the 9005s in the 9006 location as I was probably the first one to do the mod, and then Kerry Chin posted that he had done it. I didn't know people were that interested and I won't put up a HowTo as it is illegal. I would love to do the HID retro-fit. I truly don't think there are any problems with this, IMHO.
Just a few facts so we can all be clear on it.

HTH John
jc-aimhigher@webtv.net

The difference is this: Hyper and Solaris and
Nokya and Eurolites take a cheaply made 9006
bulb, tint it blue, and sell it to you at 2x
the cost for less light output. The HID gear
BMW and Audi and Mercedes and Porsche use is
based around xenon capsules with NO filament,
the light source is an electric arc like you
see in stadiums. Unlike stadium lights, HIDs
light up instantly because the ballast gear
puts about 20000 volts when the lights first
come up. Otherwise they'd take ten minutes to
get bright.

The other difference -- the blue light from
a set of Eurolights or whatever is the light
you are using to see (or not see, as the case
may be) the road. The blue light you see from
a BMW is noise/interference light that you'll
see as a bystander. The light that is being
used to illuminate the road is pure white, it
is not blue. The blue is a side-effect of the
electric arc and it's not the point. Also of
note is that the beam pattern on these lights
is wide and even, and the cut-off very crisp.

Now...

HID retro-fit has to be done on a per-car,
per-reflector basis however. I have seen
places that are offering "one size fits all"
HID retro-fit solutions that essentially put
a 9006 housing around a xenon capsule. This
results in *horrible* lighting performance
as the capsule is not placed in the proper
location (inside your reflector) to produce
an optimum (or even serviceable) beam pattern
on the road in front of you.

My advice: stay clear of both el-cheapo HID
wannabe bulbs *and* expensive yet inadequate
"one size fits" HID retro-fit shops. If you
are serious about going to HID, places will
do the work, but it will be expensive.

If you want new bulbs... don't bother paying
PIAA $100 for a set of halogen bulbs. I mean,
this is such a blatant scam! Look into Wagner
Brite-Lites or OSRAM 9006HP instead.

I personally just laugh when I see cheapo
HID "look" bulbs. Like I'm supposed to think
somebody opted for the $800 HID option on a
Sunfire or Cavalier or Civic?

Or that they got the $800 HID option but not
the non-plastic-wheelcover option?

T.

[This message has been edited by timd (edited January 14, 2001).]

Which ones are the better, the ones made by Philips or those sold by 'J.C.Whitney'? What is 'Wagner Brite-Lites or OSRAM 9006HP' can where I can buy them? Thanks.

I personally have Philips BlueVisions in all four locations and totally love them. The ones sold by JC Whitney are overwattage bulbs. I know of more than one person using them(80w 9006 and 100w 9005) and they have had no problems for over a year of use. They love them as there is of course much more light on the road and aren't having any oncoming blinding problems, and they really won't for that matter. HTH

John

J.C.Whitney also has 55W 9006, will it be good to replace the stock ones?

Depends on the bulb. If it's a deep blue tinted bulb, forget it. The light output will suck. If your looking into a tinted bulb, I suggest an overwattage bulb if you want any useable light. But prepare for short bulb life. I tried some overwatt superwhite bulbs a while back and while they put out decent light, one of the bulbs quickly burnt out. As I said before, 2nd rate quality from second rate factories. Didn't do any damage though.

I agree with vcontoursvt, if you want good lights, get a set of Philips premiums, I have a set and they're great.


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P. Valdez
Las Cruces, NM
1999 navy blue SE
Zetec ATX
"Regla de los Contours!"
My Car's Page!