2000UZJ's big HID thread - what, where and how (12 Viewers)

[fish2live]

to hell with my Daniel Stern HIR's (which I think don't give you more then a 5% boost anyway, I'm NOT a big fan....) time for some HID's!! Maybe I'll wait to see what the cutoff looks like - anyone have a good "garage door" cutoff pic of these???

you think it's $20 worth of "rap"??

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

What about this "Slim Ballast" 55W kit, what's the difference with that and the "raptor" ballast - just smaller???
Slim Ballast - $59 (55W) - DDM HID Kit Slim Ballast (35W or 55W): DDM Tuning - HID Kits, DEPO Lights, BMW Bumpers & Lighting
Regular Kit - $39 (55W) - Apexcone Raptor HID Kit (35w or 55w): DDM Tuning - HID Kits, DEPO Lights, BMW Bumpers & Lighting

The slim ballast is smaller but you have an in-line electronic box to deal with. I went with slim set up on my moto and the extra box made it not so slim IMO. I will not get the slim the next time around.

 

[Anthony.L]

There is plenty of room for the standard ballast, the slim ballast is a waste of money in my mind.

 

[Anthony.L]

is this the harness? $15 - so are you saying with this harness it's basically plug-n-play for low beams?? No fiddling with the reflector or creating modified cut-off's or anything???
HID and Lighting Accessory: DDM Tuning - HID Kits, DEPO Lights, BMW Bumpers & Lighting

Yes, and if you look at the picture of the harness you can see the relay looks identical to the Radio Shack one I posted a link to previously.

I was about to order the $15 harness because at that price it's very reasonable. However I decided against that idea and will be making my own. The reason why is the DDM Tuning harness is universal, and you can bet the wires are much longer then needed which will leave a lot of wire bundled up under the hood. I would rather make my own custom harness that is a exact fit for the 100 headlights and the ballast locations I will use.

 

[2000UZJ]

No fiddling with the reflector or creating modified cut-off's or anything???

I did not adjust or modify anything. I was going to adjust them down a bit but after a few laps around the neighborhood, I realized it was unnessecary. Since you have to pull either the headlight or battery to glaccess the adjusters on mine...I decided to leave it.

I wonder how many people have/will order these. Seems like a huge interest in them.

 

[fish2live]

I am going to, probably also do it for the wife's Volvo XC90.... I think there is some REALLY strong demand for affordable HID conversion if they are at least moderately reliable and have a good cut-off....

can you take a pic of the cut off at about 25 feet from the garage door???

 

[2000UZJ]

Friday (outa town) I'm going to take oodles of pictures. In the first post I posted one of the cutoff on a hill roughly 20 feet infront of the 100. I was standing about 40 feet away zoomed in slightly.

My driver side headlight has a small amount of sift in it, that's why it always looks slightly dimmer. If any body noticed...

 

[pman]

The reason why is the DDM Tuning harness is universal, and you can bet the wires are much longer then needed which will leave a lot of wire bundled up under the hood. I would rather make my own custom harness that is a exact fit for the 100 headlights and the ballast locations I will use.

Or you end with a harness that has wires that are too short like a friend of mine did

and that was on an FJC, which is smaller than a 100

 

[lndcruz]

FWIW

at about 30 feet

 

[2000UZJ]

Anthony L- any progress so far? Im curious. Did the headlight style change in 04? Or is it the same as the 98-02 lights?

 

[Anthony.L]

I'm sorry, been very lazy, slept most of last weekend. However your thread has lit a fire under my ass. I will get some pictures soon. I'm going to build a complete custom harness. It will be documented as part of my soon to come build thread.

 

[Mxndrnks]

to hell with my Daniel Stern HIR's (which I think don't give you more then a 5% boost anyway, I'm NOT a big fan....) time for some HID's!!

I hear you 100%. Just recently did the upgrade to the HIR's. yes they were a little brighter... but no where near what was expected. This totally seems like the way to go. And it isn't one of those outrageous upgrades you keep reading about.

Thnx 2000uzj for putting up the link. I googled it and came up with a kit that was $250. So, this is a total deal!!!!!!!

 

[2000UZJ]

I'm sorry, been very lazy, slept most of last weekend. However your thread has lit a fire under my ass. I will get some pictures soon. I'm going to build a complete custom harness. It will be documented as part of my soon to come build thread.

That's good, I didn't really do a write up on it. Which could of helped a ton of people. I'm interested on how yours goes... What do your ballasts look like? Same as mine?

Thnx 2000uzj for putting up the link. I googled it and came up with a kit that was $250. So, this is a total deal!!!!!!!

There are a few good kits, and way to many cheap kits. I did some research and found out that a lot of guys on the E46 forums use the DDM Tuning, as well as many toyota guys in the Camry/Corolla forums and read that they were super reliable (which most of these kits were probably designed for tuners. I will test out the durability against water, dust, vibration, and constant use driving throughout the country at night) and came with a lifetime warranty. I don't think you can go wrong for 30$ and a lifetime warranty for a HID kit that everybody uses and really likes. Sure, the Phillips HID's may be a bit higher quality, with anything, something is out there that is better in some way.

 

[2000UZJ]

I remembered I took some and put them on photobucket. here they are.

... 2nd pic makes me want to clean my headlight out

I'm buying a new driver headlight. Whos got one?!?!

but you can't tell it's dirty inside by looking at it

That double sided tape is damn strong. this is the final mounting place for the ballast. The cables werent long enought to go back further and anything closer was infront of the airbox. I didn't want it that low, so it went here

 

[smm3]

I ordered a set this morning. I just have the stock bulbs so I am looking forward to an upgrade.

 

[2000UZJ]

I ordered a set this morning. I just have the stock bulbs so I am looking forward to an upgrade.

good to hear. Which kit? 35/55W? Bulb K?

 

[smm3]

good to hear. Which kit? 35/55W? Bulb K?

I order exactly what you installed...55W and the 5000K bulb. I sold an 07 MDX with HID and got my 00 LC so it has been quite an adjustment for me. Sometimes I have to check to see that my lights are turned on!!

Really hoping this narrows the gap some....I don't want to spend 1000.00 to get true HID lights in the LC

 

[Mxndrnks]

So.... do the IPF fogs in the ARB 03+ combo bar have a replaceable bulb? If so, what is the general consensus with trying the HID upgrade in those? From a couple of the comments in this thread there seems to be hesitation. and not to hijack this thread... but is there a HID light that will fit the fog location on the 03+ bar? Like some others have noted it would be nice to have the same color light in the lows and fogs......

 

[fish2live]

I put Nokya Hyper Yellow 2500K bulbs (H3 halogen, 70W) in my ARB fog lights - $15/pair. They are pretty damn yellow, so the HID low beams I put in will be very different looking (not like comparing HID to white halogen..). I'd go HID in the ARB's if I could, but those lights aren't very big and I'd be concerned with heat disipation and HID bulb length, it might hit the glass or come very close... sorry, I'm not too willing to experiment - well, at least until I get my Low Beam HIDs installed.

 

[2000UZJ]

The ARB fogs are probably to small. I have found the halogens to get insanley hot in the fogs, they say HIDs are a cooler light, but I'm not gunna try. The HID are a bit longer than the halogens, and the metal housing in the arb's fogs (surrounding the bulb) is very small. I think you have issues. Let alone cooling if they produce heat. I can't tell if the hid's produce as much heat because the 100's headlights are a pretty good size.