eBay HID LIGHTS

[stedyedy]

instead of getting HIDs, is it possible to just get a more powerful globe for the aurion which has a whitish/blue tinge?

Cheers

[DJKOR]

instead of getting HIDs, is it possible to just get a more powerful globe for the aurion which has a whitish/blue tinge?

Not really advisable unless you change the wiring to the headlights. Higher wattage globes will put a higher load on the stock wiring which can possibly lead to burnt out wiring over time. As well, they will produce extra heat which can also discolour the reflective material within the headlight. You can get away with it for a while, but wrecking the headlights is not something I would want to do.

Just to note as well, putting in higher wattage low beams will be just as defectable as HID's.

[stedyedy]

hey

thanks for the reply, o well looks like i'll just stick to stock for now

Cheers

[VF-X]

Any of you guys know any good place to replace the HID bulbs? Mine went out after like 1.5 years. Friends reckon it's a decent life period. And he told me to replace them will cost around $200 for both sides.

[DJKOR]

Any of you guys know any good place to replace the HID bulbs? Mine went out after like 1.5 years. Friends reckon it's a decent life period. And he told me to replace them will cost around $200 for both sides.

I would assume you are referring to the H11 retrofit style right? Unless you had some Presara headlight swap I'm unaware about.

Anyways, 1.5 years is an okay life for automotive use HID's that aren't like $400 per lamp. If I were to get replacement, I would go eBay:

eBay - HID Xenon Replacement Bulbs Kit H1 H4 H7 H11 9006 9007

.... $18.99 shipped. This is what I did when I changed my 8000k lamps to 10,000k on my old Camry. Want a seller with more positive reviews?

eBay - 2 x 35W HID XENON BULB REPLACEMENT H10 H11 H13 880/881 ... $25.99 shipped, or

eBay - HID XENON REPLACEMENT BULBS H1 H3 H7 9005 9006 H11 35W ... $40 shipped, or

eBay - HID XENON REPLACEMENT 2 BULBS H1 H3 H7 H9 H11 9005 9006 ... $41 shipped.

Up to you what you want to spend really. The quality of the product is pretty much going to be the same.

[VF-X]

Yes the H11 bulb. Nah, no presara swap.

What's with the price difference there? And $41.. Is it good quality? Why are there bulbs that's up to $149, on discount from RRP $399?

I know price doesn't always judge things, just curious what's the big difference between those..

[DJKOR]

What's with the price difference there? And $41.. Is it good quality? Why are there bulbs that's up to $149, on discount from RRP $399?

I know price doesn't always judge things, just curious what's the big difference between those..

It's like asking why one particular product cost X amount in one store when another store offers the exact same product for X amount cheaper. It's all about trying to get profit where they can.

I would say that the $41 lamps are no different to the $18.99 ones. I have handled many sets of eBay HID's and have drawn this conclusion based on that. Chances are, an expensive pair like those listed at $149, are just going to be of equivalent quality as well. Maybe the base may be of a slightly higher quality, but it's the lamp that really matters.

They may try to use reasoning like "Bosch made" or "Philips made", but these are only possible if they start with an OEM Philips or Bosch lamp in a D2/D4 base, remove the OEM base, and fit it into a H11 base etc. These lamps would definitely justify the cost (in which you would be looking at around $149 per bulb), but it's not something that is commonly done and you can never guarantee that you are getting a true Philips/Bosch lamp. One key indicator though that they are trying to rip you off when saying they use a Philips or Bosch lamp is the colour temperature. If they offer their "Philips/Bosch" lamps in anything greater than 6000k... then treat it as a scam. No OEM HID is made with a colour temperature greater than 6000k.

The best way for me to put this is that it's ultimately up to you what you want to spend. In my opinion, in the end, all you are paying for is peace of mind while the other guy profits. I currently have a pair of lamps in my Aurion that are equal to those listed for $18.99 (the entire cost of my HID kit was $74 shipped). I have had these in my Aurion for 23 months with a lot of night driving and experiencing a fair amount of bumps while operating (which can reduce their life). There lamps are still going strong, and I would consider them again.

As well, here is some other reply I made that you may want to read. It mostly focuses on the ballasts, but the lamps also have to be up to a decent standard:

Basically though, when it comes to eBay kits, most of them are pretty much the same. As I edited in my post above:

The technology involved with HID's is a little bit advanced so it takes a fair level of quality in the first place for it to work properly. If it works in the first place, you already have a set of decent quality.

In other words, if the kit wasn't up to a good standard, either your bulbs will not ignite, or they will burn out really fast. The thing most people don't realise here is what is involved in HID lighting technology. First you have the lamp which involves a specific gas held under pressure inside the bulb with electrodes on either end that are spaced apart at the right distance, then you have a ballast to drive it which needs to run as per specification to do the job right. There isn't too much room to get either of these things wrong, and if you did, it's going to result in a kit that wears out really really fast.

For those with a more technical mind and want to read up about the HID ballast, here is something for you to read:

Analysis and Design of High-Intensity-Discharge Lamp Ballast for Automotive Headlamp (Thesis - Yongxuan Hu.pdf)

[-DAvo]

just checking out the last link that you posted in the ebay listings daryl, and was reading up on the installation

"100% Plug & Play kit, only replace your stock bulbs with xenon bulbs, plug the bulb to the ballast,and the ballast plugs to the factory OEM harness. No cutting,rewiring,or any other modification needed."

is that true??? from my very limited knowledge, when i had my HID kit fitted, there was a fair bit more involved with it than that....

[DJKOR]

"100% Plug & Play kit, only replace your stock bulbs with xenon bulbs, plug the bulb to the ballast,and the ballast plugs to the factory OEM harness. No cutting,rewiring,or any other modification needed."

is that true??? from my very limited knowledge, when i had my HID kit fitted, there was a fair bit more involved with it than that....

For the Aurion, buying one of those HID kits can actually be fitted as simple as that. Just put the lamps in, mount the ballasts, connect the wire and you're set. Only thing that required a bit of modification due to the manufacturing specifications are the base of the lamps. The tabs on them just needed a quick trim.

That's just a basic installation though. You can do some further modification to get it to suit your needs and or standards. But from a plug-and-play point of view, the kits basically are that.

[Rocketeer1]

I'll add in my 2c here, although I am not sure if its really going to be of any use.....for HID's I use- superbikesupply.com.au H4 Bi-xenon $150, these have been fitted to bikes and cars with no issues, and Tim is really good for warranties or advice. He has a great reputation amongst the bikers who use him.

[Ascendant Rice]

I'll add in my 2c here, although I am not sure if its really going to be of any use.....for HID's I use- superbikesupply.com.au H4 Bi-xenon $150, these have been fitted to bikes and cars with no issues, and Tim is really good for warranties or advice. He has a great reputation amongst the bikers who use him.

I dont think think the aurions use bi xenon as they have projectors

[Rocketeer1]

yeah, he does most bulb configurations, just I know the price of that particular kit is all......

[Steven]

I'm currently in the process of installing HID lights into my ZR6. I've got 35w low beams with slim ballast, and 55w high beams regular ballast.

Sofar I've only got the drivers side installed, but have noticed that when they're on the 55w ballast makes a high pitched noise. It probably wouldn't be heard when the engine's on - it's akin to the noise the ol cathode-tube tv's might make. It's louder when first turned on, then lowers in volume but still easy to hear after they've warmed up.

The low beam slim ballast doesn't make any noise at all.

Is this normal?

[DJKOR]

Sofar I've only got the drivers side installed, but have noticed that when they're on the 55w ballast makes a high pitched noise. It probably wouldn't be heard when the engine's on - it's akin to the noise the ol cathode-tube tv's might make. It's louder when first turned on, then lowers in volume but still easy to hear after they've warmed up.

The low beam slim ballast doesn't make any noise at all.

Is this normal?

I thought you would be well aware of this Steven having all that electronic knowledge that you have shared on the boards.

It's normal operation due to the inverter, which is primarily what the ballast is. During the start-up phase, the ballast needs to output a higher voltage for the arc to establish and as the arc stabilises, this voltage is reduced and the current is increased. The noise is produced by the transistors in there when they are turning the extra-low voltage DC to low voltage AC. The 55W lamps need a bit more power, so as a result, will produce a more noticable high pitch noise.

[Steven]

Sofar I've only got the drivers side installed, but have noticed that when they're on the 55w ballast makes a high pitched noise. It probably wouldn't be heard when the engine's on - it's akin to the noise the ol cathode-tube tv's might make. It's louder when first turned on, then lowers in volume but still easy to hear after they've warmed up.

The low beam slim ballast doesn't make any noise at all.

Is this normal?

I thought you would be well aware of this Steven having all that electronic knowledge that you have shared on the boards.

It's normal operation due to the inverter, which is primarily what the ballast is. During the start-up phase, the ballast needs to output a higher voltage for the arc to establish and as the arc stabilises, this voltage is reduced and the current is increased. The noise is produced by the transistors in there when they are turning the extra-low voltage DC to low voltage AC. The 55W lamps need a bit more power, so as a result, will produce a more noticable high pitch noise.

Can't claim to know everything, and it's always a pleasure to learn something. My concern though was because I've had quite a few HID kits now over a few cars, but they were always 35w and thus hardly made any noise at all.

cheers mate :)

[DJKOR]

Can't claim to know everything, and it's always a pleasure to learn something.

No worries. Same here mate. I guess I've just been pretty curious all my life to read up about stuff that is usually not what others know. It then feels good to teach others.

[Armstrong]

mate...i bought mine from ebay and got the kit that does high and low beam 6000k crystal white. it has a tinge of blue and is fantastic..i love them to death

But what ever anyone says about buying it from a retailer..ebay...auto electrictian its still the same quality HID kit i recon.

I spent $160 with shipping and installed it myself. But i recon u wont get ripped off if u buy it from a seller on ebay like most of us forum members do...try an aussi seller to get a better service. as a side note one of my ballast's didnt work and it took me 5 days to send it and get a replacement back

Edited February 19, 2010 by Armstrong

[Steven]

got the kits in and running, without a doubt a fantastic improvement over stock. The kits I purchased were around the $60 each from a seller in Melbourne, arrived fairly quickly too.

Can't wait to try the 55w high-beams outside of town and see how they go :)

[DAR1US]

Hey peps, what are your thoughts on these

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HID-Xenon-Conversio...alenotsupported

Thinking of going for HIDS but does this just seem to cheap.

Cheers

Oh man, I just got my HID's 6000k for low beams and and fogs tonight... man they look as sick as cream on a stick!!

Warning about installing HID's on your fogs though, they glare like a mofo!!

Also if you're going to by HID's make sure you get same color led parkers as well, coz it'll look horrible without, and might as well install them at the same time...

while your at it, buy another set of LED's for your rear plate lights, coz it looks crazy good, specially if you have personalized number plates!

thats all...

[Speedz]

wonder if glare will reduce if they get one of those anti-glare bulbs?

[DJKOR]

wonder if glare will reduce if they get one of those anti-glare bulbs?

I will repeat my words on this one for simplicity sake (in a thread referring to the anti-glare coating on the lamp):

Thanks for that bro... to be honest, they look useless!! i dont reckon theyll do anything...

When combined with a properly designed reflector, they actually work quite well. The problem here is, this was for a headlight design by Mecedes from a little while back. Now manufacturers of these kits think that they can utilise it to make sales and don't realise that the glare shield has to be placed appropriately at the very least for it work. Then comes the issue of the reflector housing that it goes in, which they can't cater for everyone.

Edit: For example, these lamps here are H7 and you can see where the shield in in relation to the locating tab:

Not all cars that have H7 bulbs have the locating tab at the bottom. Some have it on the side (either 45 or 90 degrees to the vertical)... or even worse, the top. If the locating tab was at the top, so would the glare shield. This would result in lower light output and glare problems still there.

A good example of how most of these are just for marketing, they state on their product listing:

The bulb has a small blackout sticker on the top of the bulb to stop 'glare'.

When in fact this statement is incorrect as the glare is produced by light emitted from the bottom side of the lamp reflecting on the bottom half of the reflector upwards towards anything in front.

Since the H11 placement is pretty universal however, it would be harder to mess up the glare shield placement in terms of having to be on the bottom, but the first issue still exists in that the reflector wasn't designed with this in consideration. In other words, it probably will not work and is a waste of money.

[VF-X]

Just wonderin how hard is the process in replacing the bulbs? I didn't install the HID myself to begin with. Is it the same like replacing those halogen bulbs? Just plug n play?

[Steven]

Just wonderin how hard is the process in replacing the bulbs? I didn't install the HID myself to begin with. Is it the same like replacing those halogen bulbs? Just plug n play?

I found everything in my HID install plugged directly into the factory harness without any issues and worked fine, so was fairly simple however I did remove the front bumper and headlights in order to give myself more room and make it easier to mount the ballasts.

That's only if you don't run it through an addition relay though, as some people suggest you do. However when I studied the cars wiring diagram the headlights already run directly off a relay and the wiring looks to be of a sufficient guage that I can't imagine the HIDs causing any more stress on the system than the original factory bulbs do. Although some people have a different idea behind using relays (DJKOR I believe uses a relay so he can flash his high beams without activating the low beam HIDs - not good for them) I've got HID low beams and high beams so it's not really an issue for me.

[DJKOR]

Just wonderin how hard is the process in replacing the bulbs? I didn't install the HID myself to begin with. Is it the same like replacing those halogen bulbs? Just plug n play?

I found everything in my HID install plugged directly into the factory harness without any issues and worked fine, so was fairly simple however I did remove the front bumper and headlights in order to give myself more room and make it easier to mount the ballasts.

That's only if you don't run it through an addition relay though, as some people suggest you do. However when I studied the cars wiring diagram the headlights already run directly off a relay and the wiring looks to be of a sufficient guage that I can't imagine the HIDs causing any more stress on the system than the original factory bulbs do. Although some people have a different idea behind using relays (DJKOR I believe uses a relay so he can flash his high beams without activating the low beam HIDs - not good for them) I've got HID low beams and high beams so it's not really an issue for me.

Yep. That's absolutely correct. The wiring in these cars is more than sufficient to handle the slightly higher surge current that the HID ballasts require. It's only for a brief second or two anyway. So for most of the part, the kit is basically plug and play. Kind of the same as replacing the halogen bulbs, just requires a ballast to be put in-between. Mounting it is the only 'difficult' part of the install, which is not hard to do.

And that's correct as well. My relay setup was so that I can flash my high beams while the parkers/low beams are off and only the high beams will flash and the HID's remain off.

[Guni]

eBay HIDs FTW !!!!

:lol: :lol:

:P :P :P :P :P