Ebay HID conversion kits... too good to be true?

[jonomo]

Anyone try these Ebay HID conversion kits? For US$60 you can get both high and low beams... seems too cheap to be true... Anyone have experience with these? Do the high beams flick on quickly enough to flash in emergencies? Maybe I should keep my high beams stock?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Set-35W-Hi...df8c92&vxp=mtr

[Bear Grylls]

I never used HID high beams, never saw a need too

Maybe check out DDM Tuning as well, I had an HID low beam set from them like 2 years ago and they are still running strong

[jajou318]

Try theretrofitsource.com for higher quality hid units. A lot of folks disagree with putting HID's in non projector units (not sure what headlights you have).

[BMWBergy]

Anyone try these Ebay HID conversion kits? For US$60 you can get both high and low beams... seems too cheap to be true... Anyone have experience with these? Do the high beams flick on quickly enough to flash in emergencies? Maybe I should keep my high beams stock?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Set-35W-Hi...df8c92&vxp=mtr

Short answer: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

There is a fundamental difference between the way light is generated in a halogen bulb and in an HID bulb. Halogens use a filament, whereas HIDs use electrodes to excite Xenon gas encapsulated in the bulb. For safety's sake, only use HID bulbs in reflectors or projectors designed for HID! There are halogen projectors (like ZKW ellipsoids in the international E36s) - do not use HIDs in projectors designed for halogens!

Those kits on ebay plug into the standard reflector of a factory halogen headlight. The reflectors are designed to 'project' a certain beam pattern based on the way a halogen bulb generates light (with a filament). Standard reflectors (ones designed for halogens) are not optimized to put the light from an HID bulb onto the road!

Bottom line - your headlights will appear to be considerably brighter from your perspective, but the light will not be formed into an optimized beam, and you will be 'dazzling' or 'blinding' oncoming drivers, and probably NOT improving your view of the road ahead.

If you want to use HID lights, you need to retrofit an appropriate projector into the Z3's headlight housing. HID/Xenon either use bespoke projection lenses (or projectors) specifically designed for an HID bulb's output.

[Bcar]

Bottom line - your headlights will appear to be considerably brighter from your perspective, but the light will not be formed into an optimized beam, and you will be 'dazzling' or 'blinding' oncoming drivers, and probably NOT improving your view of the road ahead.

....so THATS why I get flashed at night PO on my car put in a really nice HID setup, but did NOT change the reflectors. They are BRIGHT and work great, but it is a VERY diffuse/scattered beam. It 100% makes the road any anything else in front of me light up very nicely! But there is no defined cutoff like I had on my E46 M3 or S6.

[BMWBergy]

....so THATS why I get flashed at night PO on my car put in a really nice HID setup, but did NOT change the reflectors. They are BRIGHT and work great, but it is a VERY diffuse/scattered beam. It 100% makes the road any anything else in front of me light up very nicely! But there is no defined cutoff like I had on my E46 M3 or S6.

Yeah, I don't want to sound argumentative, but that's dangerous for other drivers - you being able to see clearly is important, but if you do it at the expense of everyone else, you're causing problems. Spend some money and do it right.

[dfjaws]

+1 for theretrofitsource.com

I have had only quality products from them and their service is good as well.

[Bcar]

Yeah, I don't want to sound argumentative, but that's dangerous for other drivers - you being able to see clearly is important, but if you do it at the expense of everyone else, you're causing problems. Spend some money and do it right.

no worries, you dont
PO had it done, and changing it is lower on my list (Rod bearnings and trunk floor come first). Ive had my wife drive it at night so I could see how it looked and it wasnt that bad. better than someone driving with highbeams on coming at you. I angled them down to help.

[BMWBergy]

no worries, you dont
PO had it done, and changing it is lower on my list (Rod bearnings and trunk floor come first). Ive had my wife drive it at night so I could see how it looked and it wasnt that bad. better than someone driving with highbeams on coming at you. I angled them down to help.

Rgr. Undoing or correcting PO silliness can be very... challenging. I'll stop lecturing.

[spacecowboy]

The best bulbs available for halogen reflector housings are HIR.

http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

[setho1993]

I've had an awesome experience with DDM. I've had HID slim ballasts for a year as well as LED fogs, reverse lights, and license plate lights. They've been great.

For those who worry about too much reflection, just don't get the 55w that's overkill. 35w 6000k done.

[BMWBergy]

The best bulbs available for halogen reflector housings are HIR.

http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

This.

[Bear Grylls]

This.

Must has

[BMWBergy]

Must has

Becuz racecar?

Seriously, though. I used the Toshiba HIRs in my first E36 M3 before I swapped the stockers for ZKW Ellipsoid (halogen) projectors. They were a very good choice. I'm working on an HID retrofit for my coupe, but will use the 9011 HIR bulbs for my high-beams.

[cfmistry]

Obviously the projector retrofit is the critical step... but I'd like to throw out there that the DDM HID kits are a bargain at <$50. I have 3 sets that have been running for 3+ years now, no issues at all.

[jonomo]

I'm not sure I can justify paying 10% of my cars purchase price on some neato looking projector kits... Maybe if my car was a M roadster, then I'd rock them.. but for now 1% on some eBay lights are fine by me... as long as there are no critical failures, i'm fine! thanks for all the feedback ya'll!

[jajou318]

You're fine - how about all the drivers you are blinding at night? Just get the HIR bulbs. http://store.candlepower.com/hirlighting.html

[KeysCoupe]

My Coupe came with aftermarket HIDs installed two owners before. They were nice and bright and an interesting color, with a slight pinkish tint. They just didn't light the road like the factory HIDs in my Mini Cooper. With misty rain or wet roads, it was like driving in fog with a bright haze ahead of the car.
I removed the HIDs, ballasts, and hacked wiring and replaced the bulbs with Philips HIRs with replaced stock wiring and headlight backings (the original backings were hacked for mounting the ballasts, blocking flow to the airbox on the drivers side).
I now have much better lighting, maybe not as good as proper HIDs on the Mini, but close. Best of all, I'm not blinding oncoming drivers!
Unless you retrofit correct HID projector lenses in your housings, don't use aftermarket HIDs! They just don't work correctly and are not safe. HIRs work great and are a direct fit.
-Donny

[BMWBergy]

My Coupe came with aftermarket HIDs installed two owners before. They were nice and bright and an interesting color, with a slight pinkish tint. They just didn't light the road like the factory HIDs in my Mini Cooper. With misty rain or wet roads, it was like driving in fog with a bright haze ahead of the car.
I removed the HIDs, ballasts, and hacked wiring and replaced the bulbs with Philips HIRs with replaced stock wiring and headlight backings (the original backings were hacked for mounting the ballasts, blocking flow to the airbox on the drivers side).
I now have much better lighting, maybe not as good as proper HIDs on the Mini, but close. Best of all, I'm not blinding oncoming drivers!
Unless you retrofit correct HID projector lenses in your housings, don't use aftermarket HIDs! They just don't work correctly and are not safe. HIRs work great and are a direct fit.
-Donny

A nice summary of posts 4, 5, 10, and 17.

[paul4223]

After market HID's, especially the cooler color temps, and particularly when used in an improper housing, should be, most emphatically, avoided. They're especially hazardous in wet weather.