HIDs, which ones and where
#1
10-31-2009 | 06:16 PM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: East London
HIDs, which ones and where
Hi, I am planning to by an X-Type soon and want to put HID lights to the main headlight (dipped lights) and the fog lights. Does anybody know where I could buy it and then where I could get it fitted or even buy it at the same place where I can get fitted, for a good price obviously. Should they both be the same wattage and kelvins..?
Also should I put led on the sidelight and super white bulbs on the main beam. What would you suggest. Also what can anyone tell me about those dual HIDs that power the dipped and the beam..?
I live in East London by the way.
Also should I put led on the sidelight and super white bulbs on the main beam. What would you suggest. Also what can anyone tell me about those dual HIDs that power the dipped and the beam..?
I live in East London by the way.
#3
11-02-2009 | 07:51 PM
Veteran member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 14,472
Likes: 3,942
From: Great Mills, MD
Monz, lets start with the easier questions and move on from there. Going with the bi-xenon HIDs are going to be wrong for your car. They are meant for vehicles that require a single bulb to act as both high and low beams. Because you have separate high and low beam bulbs, stick with the cheaper single beam HIDs.
Now, for the wattage rating and color. This is again a fairly easy answer. For street use, only go with 35W HID bulbs. These will output 3x the light of any halogen bulb out there. So, going with a higher wattage HID bulb is only going to **** off the drivers around you. Would you appreciate a lifted truck coming up behind you with all its offroad lights on? That is essentially what you would be doing with the 50 W HID bulbs. As for temp, this is a judgement call. What look are you going after? Some people like the same temperature bulb all the way across the car that way all the bulbs match. Others go after function and therefore would require the use of different colored bulbs. For reference, the factory bulbs are 4300K (mostly white, slight yellow halo to them and the brightest of all HID bulbs for a given wattage). A lot of people like the 6000K bulbs because of their all white appearance (possible slight blue halo). But, the 6000K bulbs will cost you about 200 lumen (down to 3100 lumen from the 3300 lumen of the 4300K bulbs). If you want something that will cut through the fog, then step down to the 3000K HIDs. These will be definitely yellow, but they also cut through the fog light nothing else. You can run 8000K, 10000K, even the 15000K and 30000K bulbs. But the higher in temp you go, the more blue/purple they become and can lead to problems with the cops. THe 10000K, 15000K, and 30000K are really blue and it amazes me every time I see them on a car and how the car is not pulled over. So, what look are you after?
As for switching over to LEDs. Again, this is a personal preference. I will tell you that most of the LEDs that you buy for the side lights and whatnot are going to be in the 7000K range. So, if you are wanting to match up all the lights, this may steer you one way over another. They tend to match up a lot closer to the 6000K HIDs than any other bulb. Just be ready to spend a pretty penny for those bulbs as they are not too bad each, but when you start buying 10 and 20 bulbs, it is easy to rack up $200 in LEDs alone.
As for upgrading the high beams, I would say for ease, go with say the Sylvania Ultra Stars and call it good. They give off a fair amount of light and are an easy and cheap upgrade. IF you want more light than that, let me know and I will give you step by step instructions on how to get the most light without extensive upgrades. Granted, it will still require some wiring upgrading. So, how are you with wiring?
One side note, most of the HID kits out there are pretty universal. So, some crafting skills are needed. For example, with the fog lights, you have to take the factory bulb housing and drill out the center of it using a 1/2" drill bit. Then you end up using some silicon to "glue" the HID bulb into place after running the wiring through the hole you just drilled. There are pics in my gallery as I recall about this. Not hard, but if you don't have a drill to handle a 1/2" drill bit or even the 1/2" drill bit, this can start to get pricy having to get all the tools needed. If you need any help, let me know.
Now, for the wattage rating and color. This is again a fairly easy answer. For street use, only go with 35W HID bulbs. These will output 3x the light of any halogen bulb out there. So, going with a higher wattage HID bulb is only going to **** off the drivers around you. Would you appreciate a lifted truck coming up behind you with all its offroad lights on? That is essentially what you would be doing with the 50 W HID bulbs. As for temp, this is a judgement call. What look are you going after? Some people like the same temperature bulb all the way across the car that way all the bulbs match. Others go after function and therefore would require the use of different colored bulbs. For reference, the factory bulbs are 4300K (mostly white, slight yellow halo to them and the brightest of all HID bulbs for a given wattage). A lot of people like the 6000K bulbs because of their all white appearance (possible slight blue halo). But, the 6000K bulbs will cost you about 200 lumen (down to 3100 lumen from the 3300 lumen of the 4300K bulbs). If you want something that will cut through the fog, then step down to the 3000K HIDs. These will be definitely yellow, but they also cut through the fog light nothing else. You can run 8000K, 10000K, even the 15000K and 30000K bulbs. But the higher in temp you go, the more blue/purple they become and can lead to problems with the cops. THe 10000K, 15000K, and 30000K are really blue and it amazes me every time I see them on a car and how the car is not pulled over. So, what look are you after?
As for switching over to LEDs. Again, this is a personal preference. I will tell you that most of the LEDs that you buy for the side lights and whatnot are going to be in the 7000K range. So, if you are wanting to match up all the lights, this may steer you one way over another. They tend to match up a lot closer to the 6000K HIDs than any other bulb. Just be ready to spend a pretty penny for those bulbs as they are not too bad each, but when you start buying 10 and 20 bulbs, it is easy to rack up $200 in LEDs alone.
As for upgrading the high beams, I would say for ease, go with say the Sylvania Ultra Stars and call it good. They give off a fair amount of light and are an easy and cheap upgrade. IF you want more light than that, let me know and I will give you step by step instructions on how to get the most light without extensive upgrades. Granted, it will still require some wiring upgrading. So, how are you with wiring?
One side note, most of the HID kits out there are pretty universal. So, some crafting skills are needed. For example, with the fog lights, you have to take the factory bulb housing and drill out the center of it using a 1/2" drill bit. Then you end up using some silicon to "glue" the HID bulb into place after running the wiring through the hole you just drilled. There are pics in my gallery as I recall about this. Not hard, but if you don't have a drill to handle a 1/2" drill bit or even the 1/2" drill bit, this can start to get pricy having to get all the tools needed. If you need any help, let me know.
#4
11-03-2009 | 07:03 AM
Thread Starter
|
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 114
Likes: 0
From: East London
Monz, lets start with the easier questions and move on from there. Going with the bi-xenon HIDs are going to be wrong for your car. They are meant for vehicles that require a single bulb to act as both high and low beams. Because you have separate high and low beam bulbs, stick with the cheaper single beam HIDs.
Now, for the wattage rating and color. This is again a fairly easy answer. For street use, only go with 35W HID bulbs. These will output 3x the light of any halogen bulb out there. So, going with a higher wattage HID bulb is only going to **** off the drivers around you. Would you appreciate a lifted truck coming up behind you with all its offroad lights on? That is essentially what you would be doing with the 50 W HID bulbs. As for temp, this is a judgement call. What look are you going after? Some people like the same temperature bulb all the way across the car that way all the bulbs match. Others go after function and therefore would require the use of different colored bulbs. For reference, the factory bulbs are 4300K (mostly white, slight yellow halo to them and the brightest of all HID bulbs for a given wattage). A lot of people like the 6000K bulbs because of their all white appearance (possible slight blue halo). But, the 6000K bulbs will cost you about 200 lumen (down to 3100 lumen from the 3300 lumen of the 4300K bulbs). If you want something that will cut through the fog, then step down to the 3000K HIDs. These will be definitely yellow, but they also cut through the fog light nothing else. You can run 8000K, 10000K, even the 15000K and 30000K bulbs. But the higher in temp you go, the more blue/purple they become and can lead to problems with the cops. THe 10000K, 15000K, and 30000K are really blue and it amazes me every time I see them on a car and how the car is not pulled over. So, what look are you after?
As for switching over to LEDs. Again, this is a personal preference. I will tell you that most of the LEDs that you buy for the side lights and whatnot are going to be in the 7000K range. So, if you are wanting to match up all the lights, this may steer you one way over another. They tend to match up a lot closer to the 6000K HIDs than any other bulb. Just be ready to spend a pretty penny for those bulbs as they are not too bad each, but when you start buying 10 and 20 bulbs, it is easy to rack up $200 in LEDs alone.
As for upgrading the high beams, I would say for ease, go with say the Sylvania Ultra Stars and call it good. They give off a fair amount of light and are an easy and cheap upgrade. IF you want more light than that, let me know and I will give you step by step instructions on how to get the most light without extensive upgrades. Granted, it will still require some wiring upgrading. So, how are you with wiring?
One side note, most of the HID kits out there are pretty universal. So, some crafting skills are needed. For example, with the fog lights, you have to take the factory bulb housing and drill out the center of it using a 1/2" drill bit. Then you end up using some silicon to "glue" the HID bulb into place after running the wiring through the hole you just drilled. There are pics in my gallery as I recall about this. Not hard, but if you don't have a drill to handle a 1/2" drill bit or even the 1/2" drill bit, this can start to get pricy having to get all the tools needed. If you need any help, let me know.
Now, for the wattage rating and color. This is again a fairly easy answer. For street use, only go with 35W HID bulbs. These will output 3x the light of any halogen bulb out there. So, going with a higher wattage HID bulb is only going to **** off the drivers around you. Would you appreciate a lifted truck coming up behind you with all its offroad lights on? That is essentially what you would be doing with the 50 W HID bulbs. As for temp, this is a judgement call. What look are you going after? Some people like the same temperature bulb all the way across the car that way all the bulbs match. Others go after function and therefore would require the use of different colored bulbs. For reference, the factory bulbs are 4300K (mostly white, slight yellow halo to them and the brightest of all HID bulbs for a given wattage). A lot of people like the 6000K bulbs because of their all white appearance (possible slight blue halo). But, the 6000K bulbs will cost you about 200 lumen (down to 3100 lumen from the 3300 lumen of the 4300K bulbs). If you want something that will cut through the fog, then step down to the 3000K HIDs. These will be definitely yellow, but they also cut through the fog light nothing else. You can run 8000K, 10000K, even the 15000K and 30000K bulbs. But the higher in temp you go, the more blue/purple they become and can lead to problems with the cops. THe 10000K, 15000K, and 30000K are really blue and it amazes me every time I see them on a car and how the car is not pulled over. So, what look are you after?
As for switching over to LEDs. Again, this is a personal preference. I will tell you that most of the LEDs that you buy for the side lights and whatnot are going to be in the 7000K range. So, if you are wanting to match up all the lights, this may steer you one way over another. They tend to match up a lot closer to the 6000K HIDs than any other bulb. Just be ready to spend a pretty penny for those bulbs as they are not too bad each, but when you start buying 10 and 20 bulbs, it is easy to rack up $200 in LEDs alone.
As for upgrading the high beams, I would say for ease, go with say the Sylvania Ultra Stars and call it good. They give off a fair amount of light and are an easy and cheap upgrade. IF you want more light than that, let me know and I will give you step by step instructions on how to get the most light without extensive upgrades. Granted, it will still require some wiring upgrading. So, how are you with wiring?
One side note, most of the HID kits out there are pretty universal. So, some crafting skills are needed. For example, with the fog lights, you have to take the factory bulb housing and drill out the center of it using a 1/2" drill bit. Then you end up using some silicon to "glue" the HID bulb into place after running the wiring through the hole you just drilled. There are pics in my gallery as I recall about this. Not hard, but if you don't have a drill to handle a 1/2" drill bit or even the 1/2" drill bit, this can start to get pricy having to get all the tools needed. If you need any help, let me know.
Also based on what you say, i think it will be wise, if it is a blue X-Type, then have 6000K 35w on both fogs and headlights. But if I get a black or grey then maybe 5000K for both. I appreciate your comments, I will look at your postings and get some tips. I will difentely come back here when I come closer to doing it and will post PIXXXX.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
rsa760041
XJ XJ6 / XJ8 / XJR ( X350 & X358 )
23
09-25-2015 01:33 PM
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)