HID lights lifespan

[JamaicaBlue]

I'm planning on getting a HID conversion kit for my car, but I'm not sure which product to buy. They have expensive conversion kits and they also have cheap ones. Does anyone have any experience with HID conversion kits? Will anyone happen to know the lifespan of off brand HID lights in comparison to the name brand?

[xkjnboix]

ddm tuning has lifetime warranty on theirs. of course ud be out of a light until a new one comes in.

[toycar]

IMHO, HID lights are really a bad deal for cars that dont have projectors. Are you gonna do a projector headlamp as well?

As far as life span goes, I have a couple setups.

I have a sylvania setup on my 2g dsm, and its perfect no issues for like 2 years. My 1g dsm has a cheapo kit, and again no issues. its only been 6 months, and I suppose I could mention the ballast takes a little longer to light. Maybe 20 seconds compared to the 1-2 of the name brand kit.


I will mention the cheapo kit has overheated on me twice. I only did HID on my brights, so if they crapped out I could run my OEM lights if a failure happened.

[Jmurphy]

Y does everyone keep saying not to get hids without projectors?

[iwork4mycb7]

i have bought xeon HID and i havent had any issues with them, and i also just have them on my onepice headlights with no projector...

[crazymikey]

I've have a 3000k and 6000k set of DDM Tuning HIDs in my Mazda. Going on 7 months with no issues at all.

DDM has been great to deal with. Cheap kits, good product, fast shipping, great customer service.

Also, people are telling you to use projector lenses because that's what an HID light is designed to use for proper light output. You can put HIDs in your stock housings all you like, but they are going to glare, potentially blinding people infront of you, oncoming traffic etc. The glare effect is also amplified if you are driving on snow or wet roads and actually reduces your own visibility.

[JamaicaBlue]

IMHO, HID lights are really a bad deal for cars that dont have projectors. Are you gonna do a projector headlamp as well?

As far as life span goes, I have a couple setups.

I have a sylvania setup on my 2g dsm, and its perfect no issues for like 2 years. My 1g dsm has a cheapo kit, and again no issues. its only been 6 months, and I suppose I could mention the ballast takes a little longer to light. Maybe 20 seconds compared to the 1-2 of the name brand kit.


I will mention the cheapo kit has overheated on me twice. I only did HID on my brights, so if they crapped out I could run my OEM lights if a failure happened.

Well I wasn't planning on using projectors because I wanted the original stock look.

[JamaicaBlue]

I've have a 3000k and 6000k set of DDM Tuning HIDs in my Mazda. Going on 7 months with no issues at all.

DDM has been great to deal with. Cheap kits, good product, fast shipping, great customer service.

Also, people are telling you to use projector lenses because that's what an HID light is designed to use for proper light output. You can put HIDs in your stock housings all you like, but they are going to glare, potentially blinding people infront of you, oncoming traffic etc. The glare effect is also amplified if you are driving on snow or wet roads and actually reduces your own visibility.

Oh okay. Now I understand why they say use the projectors. Are there any projectors that give a stock appearance?

[tm123]

i got Xentec off ebay
they have been on my car little over a year
ive changed my bulbs often though but the ballasts are great
no flickers nothing yet though highly recommended

[crazymikey]

Oh okay. Now I understand why they say use the projectors. Are there any projectors that give a stock appearance?

I think there's some on ebay, but dont get the crappy 1 piece ones. They look ricey, but some people here have them and love them, others hate them.

There should be some stock looking ones around if you search. Try the classifieds here, I think I saw a pair of retrofitted OEM lenses for sale, but they weren't cheap.

[toycar]

Standar bulbs reflect twice before the light leaves the car, and the engineers that designed the housing did so to harness the intensity of the light, and direct it to the road.

With HID, the light goes all over the place because its too intense, so the use a projector housing to contain the intesity and direct the light to the road.

And as the other guy said, not using a projector can actually make visibility worse then regular OEM lights.

[JamaicaBlue]

Alright. Thanks guys for the help!!

[skilzz]

did you guys notice Honda used HIDs without projectors for 5 years. my TL doesnt seem to be blinding anyone and light output is great. IMHO i think the talk about projectors is just B.S.

[Tippey764]

Shut the fuck up with all this you need a projector bullshit



Do you see projectors on that? I don't think so

[quaidum]

you guys do realize that the tl and the rl (which was the first road car to have hids if i am not mistaken) were designed from factory with the d2r bulbs for that reflector housing so glare is not an issue and light is dispersed evenly and correctly