Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics HID F.A.Q

This should put a end to the same questions asked over, and over again.


HID F.A.Q

1. What are they?
HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. HID lamps do not use a filament, instead the light is generated by an electrical arc inside of the capsule. In order to generate the arc, a high energy pulse is produced from the electronic ballast, this high energy pulse produces an electrical arc across the electrodes in the capsule and generates light.

2.Why do HID headlights look blue when they are turned on?

The color of a light is determined by its color temperature. The interaction of the electrical arc and the gasses inside of the capsule give off a higher color temperature (4,100 K) that is closer to true white. So when you compare the color of a halogen headlights (3,200 K) against the color of HID headlights, the HID lamps look blue/white and the halogen lamps appear more yellow.

3.How long will my new HID headlights last?

The HID system is designed to last an astonishingly long time -- up to 10 times longer than a conventional halogen capsule.

4.Is such a bright light legal?

Yes. All XeSighting Systems Headlamps are engineered using the same stringent requirements that Original Equipment Manufacturers demand.

Info taken from www.xesighting.com
******NOTE************

This is true, but any HID kit found in a non-factory equipped HID car is illegal. YOU WILL BE TICKETED!!! Trust me.

5. What does that kit include?
The kit includes:
2 Ballast
2 D2R BULBS( When ordering make sure you specify D2R,9006!!!)
All the wiring included.

6. How much does it cost?
They retail from $300-$1000. You can easily find them on www.ebay.com for around $500.

7. How long do the bulbs last?
I am told they should last longer then your car... One more thing. They do blow out. So be prepared to pay $150-$200 EACH for new bulbs.

8.Are they easy to install??

A. Disconnect battery.
B. Unplug lights.
C. Plug wiring harness into ballast.
D Plug wiring harness from ballast to D2R bulb.
E. Upgrade driverside, and passengerside headlight fuses to at least 30AMP.

NOTE: When you turn them on make sure the car is running, they use alot of power.

F. Get a headlight alignment. You don't want to run into the boys in blue with high headlights do you..


9.Why can't I just get the blubs from walmart, pepboys, PIAA etc's??
Well to put it bluntly if you buy any of those blue bulbs. Your better of taping flashlights your hood. Trust me there is a big difference, and remember you get what you pay for.


Well that is it. If you have any questions please contact me at: wright_antonio@hotmail.com

I have a question

What does H.I.D stand for?

Serious questions:

1-Why some of the HID kits have a purpulish look?

2-Why the bulbs blow out? Quality? mis-handled?

i have hid look lite bulbs in my car. they work great. but they are not exactly the real hid. the ones i have are much stronger then stock but they dont even come close to the real hid. my brother has an x5 and those bulbs are the real thing. they light up an whole area evenly, and are much brighter then the ones i have. and they emit blue/light purple light onto the street.

HID is much more powerful then any of the bootleg HID bulbs. if u dont spend the penny your not getting anything but crap. the only reason piaa and other company bulbs look that way is becaus they have a blue filter on the blub. the more blue u have the less light u have to see on the road as the light is absorbed by the blue filter. to make the light look brither.

this answered my questions pretty well, thanks for the info Antionio & NITROS.

I too have the HID conversion kit in my SVT. There are a couple pics of my lights in the pic forum but pictures do them no justice... The purple color hue comes from the type of gas that is used in the bulbs. I have the purple bulbs, which are the 6000k color temp. Be careful when converting to HID - you will NEVER want to go back to Halogen!

High Intensity Discharge

http://www.lltek.com/about_HID.htm

interesting page on HID technology.

Jus playing with Antonio.......

I've read that if your car did not come standard with HID, you should not add them in. Your headlamp reflectors are not designed to focus the light in the same way that REAL HID ones are.