Halogen to HID upgrades routes - Introduction.
All alternatives mentioned below are made relatively
generic, but specific enough to give an idea of how to start planning.
For some cars you will find that there is no other headlamps other than
stock available. Headlamps eqiupped with separate high/low beam reflectors
utilizing 9005, H1, H7 or H9 are an advantage: The high beam is still intact.
This is very valid until Bi-Xenon systems becomes more available on the
used marked. Per fall 2001, only 2 cars cames with this. See the OEM
headlight overview for details. Rating system below is from 1 to 5
where 5 is world class quality found on BMW, Audi, etc.
Alt 1. Install OEM HID headlamps.
Cars that had HID as an option can simply purchase these
headlights. In most cases HID headlights comes with all necessary hardware
(ballast and in some cases ignotor) to get the P32d2
based OEM HID bulb running. If DOT and E-code versions are available,
the E-code version usually have the best beam quality. The only challenge
here is that OEM HID headlamp harness is probably different. Dealers will
make this sound more scary than it actually is. The task of converting
it isn't that big. The major difference is that:
Alt 2. Install after marked projector based headlamps
and swap projector with OEM
Examples of aftermarked headlamps are APC.
They are all constructed in 4 major pieces: front plastic glass, cosmetic
chromed shell, optical units and a rear gray backplate.
All these parts can relatively easy be separated.
Most of the after marked headlamps uaually have poor quality
optics and sometimes even weatherproofing suffers. Weatherproofing is simply
fixed by re-siliconing the front glass. Getting world class lighting performance
consists of finding the biggest OEM projector unit that you can fit in
there. Ususally its the vertical hight and depth that will limit the choice.
All OEM projector units are listed here.
The physical measurements are approximatly the same
regardless of manufacturer.
Pay attention to that new projector unit is not mounted too far back. Watch out for the light that would normally hit ground around 5m in front of car will
hit bottom of housing and be reflected up in sky. This happends typically when bottom of housing is a 100% straight mirror.
The quality lies in the workmanship, design and materials used.
The quality of the high beams are not that important. If you don't find
them good enough, there are several high quality driving lights available
for a low price nowadays.
function rating: 5
cosmetic rating: 5
Due to large addtions in documentation, follow this
link.
function rating: 5
cosmetic rating: 3-5
Alt 4. Install OEM HID reflector based headlamp into
reflector based stock headlamp..
They would have to be of the clear leans type.
Textured glass lens will be a dead end project. Textured plastic lens "can"
be sanded &polished down.
An example here could be IS300 OEM HID reflector cut
to fit into a 98 Honda Civic. Its a challenge, but it works.
function rating: 5
cosmetic rating: 5
Alt 5. Replace DOT headlamps with E-code reflector
based headlamp and install HID kit.
function rating: 3.5-4.5 depending on car.
cosmetic rating: 5
Alt 6. Replace DOT headlamps with E-code projector
based headlamp and install HID kit.
function rating: 4-5 depending on car.
cosmetic rating: 5
Alt 7. Install HID kit into DOT headlamp.
function rating: 1-3.5 depending on car.
cosmetic rating: 5
Alt 8. Install Sylvania Xenarc Aux. Low Beam X1010
At first glance these lamps look like foglight. But they
are not. They are ment to compliment your cars low beam. Cutoff, beam spread
and total quality is worth the cash.
function rating: N/A
cosmetic rating: 5
Please visit the online forum. There are plenty of people that have automotive lighting as a hobby and are willing to help you.
Copyright 2001, 2002, 2003 Automotive Lighting FAQ
