Have You Fitted A HID Kit?

[A3 T]

Hi guys


As i mentioned in another thread, I'm planning on fitting a hid kit.



Can someone that's fitted one confirm if they needed to fit a relay or was it just a case of connecting the wire going the the original bulb to the ballast?



Thanks

 

[Prawn]

No relay required dude, as HIDd actually draw less current than a regular 55w bulb

Get the kit specific to your bulb type, and it's a ten minute plug and play job!

 

[Syvo]

whats with the whole canbus kits you get with some would i need this if i have a bulb detection on the red bit in the middle of the clocks 4got what its called lol

 

[A3 T]

No relay required dude, as HIDd actually draw less current than a regular 55w bulb

Get the kit specific to your bulb type, and it's a ten minute plug and play job!

Thanks mate :thumbsup:

So how does the ballast get its earth as the standard bulb gets its earth from the headlight housing ?


Also did you go for a 35w or a 55w kit ?

whats with the whole canbus kits you get with some would i need this if i have a bulb detection on the red bit in the middle of the clocks 4got what its called lol

I think the canbus kits are dependant on the year of the car


Thanks for asking save me doing it.....lol

 

[Syvo]

im guessing prawn went with 35w as he said: as HIDd actually draw less current than a regular 55w bulb

 

[DaveA3]

No relay required dude, as HIDd actually draw less current than a regular 55w bulb

Get the kit specific to your bulb type, and it's a ten minute plug and play job!

yep mines the same

 

[A3 T]

yep mines the same

Same how mate....lol




If the 35w kit is fitted where a oem 55w bulb was, will it give a “bulb out” error on the DIS ?

 

[A3 T]

I think this ones going to be a case of buying a 35w kit and see what happens.....lol

 

[bhavin1986]

Yep, as mentioned before dude. Just fit the 35W kit. Just a matter of finding somewhere to mount the ballasts. I just used zip ties to keep mine in place.

Decided which temp bulbs you're getting?

 

[DaveA3]

yeh 35w is what i meant. my ballasts are zipped to the lil holes on the front around the lights.

 

[Prawn]

Same how mate....lol




If the 35w kit is fitted where a oem 55w bulb was, will it give a “bulb out” error on the DIS ?

Some cheaper 35w kits will give a bulb out warning, but most of the newer slimline ballast kits won't give a bulb warning at all.

2 sets of HID's on my 2 A3's, both ebay kits costing around £80, and neither give a bulb out warning at all.

 

[A3 T]

Thanks guys , i m going to order a 35w slim ballast kit tonight

Decided which temp bulbs you're getting?

I was going to get a 8k kit but i think ill end up getting stopped with it so I'm going to get a 6k kit. From what I've read they give off just a hint of blue.



I've also just bought some white led sidelight bulbs so i shouldn't have any yellow bulbs ...lol

 

[Syvo]

8k will be very blue 6k will give blue tint and mostly white 4300 will be all white

im gonna go for 6k but carnt decide to get a canbus kit or get a normal kit as prawn said the cheap kits will throw up bulb light so would a £65 canbus hid kit be ok?

 

[Prawn]

8k is gay. I went for 8k on my first kit for the track car, thinking it'd look really cool.

I then got 6k's for my daily, and the 8k's give ****E light by comparison. next time around i think I'm going to try and find some 5k's, or just go for 4300's to get the most light possible.

6k's still look really blue to other road traffic, my girlfriend can spot me from a mile off when I go to pick her up from work at night

 

[A3 T]

im gonna go for 6k but carnt decide to get a canbus kit or get a normal kit as prawn said the cheap kits will throw up bulb light so would a £65 canbus hid kit be ok?

I'm going for a non canbus kit so if your not in a hurry, you could wait and see how my one turns out

8k is gay.

I thought the 8k kits were blue not pink....lol

 

[A3tell]

i got a £55 kit off ebay last year for my a3, you do need to make sure you get the slim ballast kind, which do not throw up a bulb out code, as part of the wiring plugs into the existing loom! and 6000k down to the 4300k are best for light.

 

[DaveA3]

6000k is perfect imo. 4300k looks boring and some bulbs give a slight yellow like the standard xenons on slightly older cars.

6000k is a nice clear white but are only a slight blue as u look at them.

 

[NHN]

MOT rules next year will be clamping down on these now, headlight washers/levelling systems will be required by law for oem systems, aftermarket hid kits from what I'm led to believe will be outlawed, so allot of people will not be happy, lets see if they stand by these rules or make amendments, but from what I was told thats it done & dusted.

 

[Lingo89]

MOT rules next year will be clamping down on these now, headlight washers/levelling systems will be required by law for oem systems, aftermarket hid kits from what I'm led to believe will be outlawed, so allot of people will not be happy, lets see if they stand by these rules or make amendments, but from what I was told thats it done & dusted.

It wouldn't be too hard to unplug them for the one day a year you need the car to have an MOT test and then plug them in for the rest of the year, would it? not that I'd condone such illegal activity . A3T if you're running the HIDs through projector lenses, go for 6000k, you get a nice white with blue tinge, also anything above is quite obviously aftermarket. If you're running them through pre-facelift reflector headlamps (which you shouldn't be as they generally lead to a scattered beam pattern) with there being no cut-off the 6000k will look a very white colour with almost no blue tinge so I'd go for 8000k in this situation.

 

[NHN]

& if you get stopped by Vosa, I hazard a guess its a nice fat fine, although thats remote admittedly, but a risk nonetheless, also depends how you fitted your hid's as they will be looking or should I say should look for obvious signs of tampering, they're going to check looms, the lot, I had a read of the EU document last night, with all this I cant see how they wont put the price up for these extra checks.

 

[Prawn]

I know that what you're saying is correct, but I can't see after market HID kits being outlawed by the MOT totally, even if they should be.

I think the big crack down will be on people using HID kits in non projector headlights. I've never had a problem with aftermarket HID's in projector headlights, and that's not just a ''I've never been flashed'' comment, I've been on loads of road trips and things with mates who all have the same lights as me, and never once been blinded by any of them.

HID's in reflector headlights though, make baby jesus cry, and blind everyone on a 10 mile radius!

I reckon if Vosa pulled you over the most you're likely to get for HID's would be a £60 fine and a vehicle rectification notice, unless you got caught repeatedly.

LED side lights have been outlawed at the MOT for years now, and I've never had a problem with mine in 4 years.

I think it's largely about common sense, and not taking the ****.

 

[bhavin1986]

MOT rules next year will be clamping down on these now, headlight washers/levelling systems will be required by law for oem systems, aftermarket hid kits from what I'm led to believe will be outlawed, so allot of people will not be happy, lets see if they stand by these rules or make amendments, but from what I was told thats it done & dusted.

If you know some 'friendly' MOT stations then HIDs shouldn't be a problem, especially if fitted in a Projector lense!

How's your A3 coming along Lingo? Not seen any updates recently!

 

[NHN]

Thats part of the issue though isnt it, friendly mot stations, they ignore critical issues, what happens if someone smashed into your car, killing someone close to you & the mot was bodged by your friendly mot guy who if had properly mot'd would have taken it of the road or got issues repaired, how would you feel then, always gotta consider ramifications of these things, prefer to be lawful than risk as it will comeback & bite you in zee butt everytime.

 

[bhavin1986]

Thats part of the issue though isnt it, friendly mot stations, they ignore critical issues, what happens if someone smashed into your car, killing someone close to you & the mot was bodged by your friendly mot guy who if had properly mot'd would have taken it of the road or got issues repaired, how would you feel then, always gotta consider ramifications of these things, prefer to be lawful than risk as it will comeback & bite you in zee butt everytime.

Fair point, but there's a difference between 'friendly' and down right bodged. I failed for having no ARB (fair enough I guess), but he didn't even mention the HIDs, since they're in a projector lense. The only thing making them illegal is the absence of the washer jet. But seeing as my car is cleaned weekly I'd bet that my lenses are cleaner than most people with legit xenon headlamps and washers, making that a non-issue.

I agree that major things such as the ARB issue should be pulled up, but minor things such as this lights is another matter. Its just a case of where to draw the line between the minor and major issues. I do think that fitting HIDs in a reflector lense isn't sensible after being at the receiving end of somebody having them and blinding me!

Its like Prawn mentions, its about common sense and not taking the biscuit.

 

[Lingo89]

I'd agree with the general consensus here, if MOTs do crack down on this stuff that's fair enough but I find it extremely unlikely VOSA will be able to differentiate a car driving around with 6000k HIDs in projector lenses from an OEM system and would likely have to pull over a lot a OEM cars to catch people out (which isn't going to happen). The guys that will get caught out with this are 'Mr. Chavtastic Saxo' with 12,000k purple xenons in reflector headlamps which to be honest is no great loss to any of us. In regards to friendly MOT testers, they have to protect their testers licenses too so I'm sure they wouldn't be so friendly if the issue was obvious which again just goes back to the point of not being silly and sticking with an OEM HID look which is what most people want to do anyway.

Bhavin, I've been really busy with final uni exams mate but I finish next Friday and the parts for my next update have already arrived, so I'll update my thread next in about a week and a half when I have some time to work on and fit the new parts. I have a lot of time off this summer so I'm hoping to get a lot done over the next few months too. Any new plans for yours?

 

[A3 T]

you do need to make sure you get the slim ballast kind, which do not throw up a bulb out code, as part of the wiring plugs into the existing loom!

I bought a slim ballast kit, but how does it make a difference as i thought it would just be that the ballast had a slimmer housing and the way you wire them up would be the same.

LED side lights have been outlawed at the MOT for years now, and I've never had a problem with mine in 4 years.

I think it's largely about common sense, and not taking the ****.

I never knew this about the led side lights, I knew that the blue ones were a big no no but not that all led sidelights are.


And yes i think a lot of getting pulled is down to acting like a d*ck.


for example ... I had a heavily modded motorbike and never got stopped were as other people i know didn't have half the mods i had but because of the way they rode them they got stopped all the time and the police tried to get them for as much as they could.....lol

 

[Lingo89]

for example ... I had a heavily modded motorbike and never got stopped were as other people i know didn't have half the mods i had but because of the way they rode them they got stopped all the time and the police tried to get them for as much as they could.....lol

Absolutely, to anyone who knows about bikes my Honda CBR400RR is completely modified from the ground up but most normal people would just assume it's stock. The majority of people seem clueless in regards to modifications, I've even heard recently that the EU would like to blanket-ban all modifications to vehicles but there's just no way they could enforce it when they don't know what it modified in the first place.

What do you ride?

 

[Syvo]

i carnt see how they will ban hid's i have stock bulbs in my projector lambs and they are poor carnt hardly see the road when there is no street lamps and how does the washer jets help fair enough it cleans them slightly but it they say it totally cleans them might just spray me car quickly when i next clean it and see how clean it looks lol if you clean your car weekly like most people on ere your lenses will be just as clean if not cleaner if you didnt and had washer jets.

i had hids in my last car which didnt have projector lamps and never got pulled for them had them on for 2 years

 

[A3 T]

LED side lights have been outlawed at the MOT for years now, and I've never had a problem with mine in 4 years.

Are you talking about blue led’s as i cant find anywhere that says that “white” led’s are illegal ?

 

[A3 T]

I fitted the white led sidelights today and so far no bulb out error.



Lets hope the hid kit is the same (I'm still waiting for it to arrive).