HIDS

silversurfer

silversurfer

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I was driving last night in the rain and my headlights were rubbish, no where near enough light (My old S3 had Xenon's so I'm use to the light from them).

I was just having a search on here this morning to find out which HID's people had bought and saw the below link QuattroJames had put up in another thread.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

Has anyone with HID's been stopped or had there car not pass an MOT..? :uhm:
 
Strictly speaking they're not illegal, but by law all xenon equipped cars need to have washer jets and self levelling functionality from the factory. It's a very grey area at the moment but has been discussed many times before.

If you get yourself a 4300k kit and keep them aimed correctly, you will likely have no problems with the Police or VOSA and night time driving will be greatly improved. The kits are a doddle to fit, and nowadays you can get slim line ballasts which tuck away neatly.
 
Hi silversurfer, i did the upgrade 2 years ago to 6000k HID's and they are brilliant, the original headlights were as you say terrible and were in my mind dangerous. My car has been through 2 MOT'S since then, x1 at Audi and x1 at an independant local garage and at no point was i questioned or were they altered during the MOT. My headlights are not auto leveling and just adjusted by the turn dial on the inside. Hope this helps.
 
Yep Ive had 6k's on both of mine and never had an issue when it came to MOT!
 
We are lucky as B6 drivers that we have Projector type headlights, the benefits being the light from an HID bulb is much more directed than a Projector type headlight. HID bulbs in these units (such as a B7) will cause light scatter and are much more dazzling and tend to give HID's a bad name.

I've done 3 MoT's now with them and had no problems whatsoever.
 
Also done 3x MOT's with no problems - I have 4300K HID's.
Recently added the headlight washers - not really recommended unless you don't mind spending the money for this small advantage!

Left the 9xLED white sidelights in this time with no problems.
 
J7USS said:
Yep Ive had 6k's on both of mine and never had an issue when it came to MOT!
Click to expand...


thats a very cold temperture!?!!!


I have 8000k on mine, i was going to get the actual headlamps until i saw that the HID headlamps look exactly like my headlamps with balasts attatched!!!

so i think its a joke to pay so much when a 35 quid kit will do the same!!

I fitted them then took them down the local MOT place where a friend of mine aligned them for free and its a lot better now. Especially during the downpour yesterday!
 
Yep thats right, any higher then your heading towards the corsa Boys...
Though theres some say that 6000k's are too blue:think:..... but IMO perfect!
 
J7USS the 6000k's look really crisp and white close up, but from a distance they look incredibly blue/purple. Have someone drive your car and follow them behind and you'll see that it's really quite blue! It surprised me the first time I saw them because they look so aftermarket.

I had 6000k's in my A4 and I lent my brother my car for a week or two. Every time he'd approach the house you could clearly tell as you'd see a big spot of blue light and the projectors were shooting off colours everywhere. I changed to 5000k and it's much better now, and from afar there's a nice bit of blue/purple at the beam cutoff.

All a matter of opinion, but I like to keep my cars OEM and there's a good reason why Audi et al fit 4300k from the factory! Down here police have been clamping down on any aftermarket looking xenons, a taxi driver mate had 10000k's fitted to his non projector headlights :wacko:, and he got a fine from the rozzers and ordered to change back to his halogens.
 
golf said:
J7USS the 6000k's look really crisp and white close up, but from a distance they look incredibly blue/purple. Have someone drive your car and follow them behind and you'll see that it's really quite blue! It surprised me the first time I saw them because they look so aftermarket.

I had 6000k's in my A4 and I lent my brother my car for a week or two. Every time he'd approach the house you could clearly tell as you'd see a big spot of blue light and the projectors were shooting off colours everywhere. I changed to 5000k and it's much better now, and from afar there's a nice bit of blue/purple at the beam cutoff.

All a matter of opinion, but I like to keep my cars OEM and there's a good reason why Audi et al fit 4300k from the factory! Down here police have been clamping down on any aftermarket looking xenons, a taxi driver mate had 10000k's fitted to his non projector headlights :wacko:, and he got a fine from the rozzers and ordered to change back to his halogens.
Click to expand...

See non projector headlamps is a bit naughty as they arnt designed for these. I see no problem fitting to projector lamps.

10000K is a bit much though, 8000k for me seem over the top but new bulbs only 15 quid so ill try it for a while.

Remember though the projectors add a prism to the lights throwing all sorts of colours from all sorts of angles.
 
As Xenon's and upgrade kits become more common, there's likely to be a bit more of a clampdown on it, but as per QuattroJames' comments: the B6's are pretty much designed to use Xenons... I think we'll hear a lot of B5's and 8L's (non projector) cars getting stopped first before they cotton on to B6's.... it's the Xenon into a non-projector lense that makes then properly dangerous... as long as you trim the beam down when the back is loaded up there's no good reason for anybody to get stopped and gvien that a lot of B6's have them as standard (and I think all B7+ S-Line's now have them as standard), so I don't think they're likely to be a problem.

RE: light quality: 4300K is optimal for visible light, 6000K is not as good as 4300K's but still very good, but it is a bit more blue, so it is the usual upgrade for those that want to show off that they have HID's.

One thing to bear in mind: as Xenon's age, the colour-temp goes UP... so 5yr old 4300K's will probably look virtually 6000K already... mine are OEM (4300K), but 8yrs old and they're pretty blue.... certainly more blue than the Philips Bluevision side-lights....
 
Golf - Ill give that a go and see what they look like then but Im happy with them as they are BUT if they do shine 'incredibly' blue/purple when I test them out then I guess Im seeing what others are seeing and will be changed. Its an excuse to buy a fresh set with Slim ballasts then!
 
ive got 8000k on mine i wish i had gone for the 6000k to be honest because imo they are to blue and look a bit chavey sometimes so if i was buying them again 6000k would be ideal!!
 
I bought 6000k over two and a half years ago, and they are noticeable bluer of late than before. When I swap my lights for J7USS to joey mod them I will replace the bulbs with 4300k ;)
 
Anyone any pics of the xenons installed? I'm thinking of 4300k myself, to keep the OEM look and brighter light
 
4300K are still obviously bluer than ANY Halgoen... nobody will think you've got pretend Xenons (BlueVision Halogens, etc)... and they'll get more blue with time....
 
4300k
240120092860.jpg

240120092859.jpg

Not the best pictures. They are a crisp white light and look very OEM.
 
i ve got before and after shots on the garage wall if it helps with 4500k .


Photo0277.jpg
 
HID's in non projector lights are a definite no no and I can see why the police are clamping down on them. I had a set of 6000k in my Mk4 Golf standard headlights for a short while but soon changed my headlights for projectors as the HID's in the standard headlights were still dazzling other drivers way too much, even with them aimed downwards.

I then ended up replacing the 6000k's with 4300k as the light they put on the road was too blue and I found I couldn't see a lot with them on poorly marked roads, even more so if the road was very black or wet. Yes they were nice to look at and appeared really blue to other road users but for the one very big reason above i'd say if you want good, bright, effective headlights then go for 4300k.

I've now put the kit in my B6 and they are equally as good. The beam spread is also a lot better then on the Golf, as the projectors I fitted to that were non OEM and made by Depo.

Oh also, if it's the blue 'twinkly' look to your lights that OEM Xenons give off that you're after then you still really get that with 4300k's. I'm, pretty sure that blueness is caused by the actual projector lens not the 'k' rating of your HID bulbs. 6000k's will give you a bluey white looking light with that additional blue twinkly look as you approach people, 4300k's will give you a pure white looking light but also still have that blue twinkly look as you approach people.

I still get loads of people say my lights look blue and that's running 4300k's.

Hope this helps.
 
Niknak get a slim ballast kit from Ebay and mount them in the OEM ballast location. I think most of the kits are about the same now on Ebay, I'd just get it from a UK seller.
 
They look like a good deal, I paid that for just my slimline ballasts!

Second vote for 4300k too ;)
 
Im thinking of doing this due to doing afair bit of night driving, Alot of people over on the seatcupra.net forum seem to use 'dianeshop' on ebay even though they are from china or somewhere similar they are well priced and good quality from what people who have them have said, so worth a go maybe for anyone looking to upgrade???
 
Danny, it's probably fair to say that all the xenon kits on eBay are originally from The Far East. The UK sellers just import them first and hike up the price but nearly all xenon kits on eBay would be manufactured and sent from China.
 
Yeah Im with Golf on that one. You pay £70 delivered over here but you get the same from China for £45 delivered from some sellers and they are both identical.

Golf - I did the 'drive' test with my mate the other night and yes its defo going to be 4300k from now on.
 
J7USS said:
Golf - I did the 'drive' test with my mate the other night and yes its defo going to be 4300k from now on.
Click to expand...

Glad you've seen the light (excuse the pun). Your eyes will thank you on long journeys. Now all you need to do is get rid of that spoiler...:whistle2:
 
I had 6000's on the supe and definately had a blue tinge, I went for 4300's on the audi and a much cleaner light. I wouldn't go higher than 6000 to be honest.

I then stupidly realised I had the wrong type of lenses and was blinding people so removed them :(

They're up for sale and I'm open to offers ;)
 
Hey Razza, them hids you have, are they the tiny Ballasts???
 
I have a feeling my HIDs are aimed a little too high. I need to keep the level setting on the dash at around 2 or 3 for them to be at an acceptable height.

I had a go manually adjusting them via the white allen key bit on top of the headlight housing but it didn't seem to do anything?

Anyone know the trick to manually aiming the lights? Cheers.
 
SmoothAssault said:
I have a feeling my HIDs are aimed a little too high. I need to keep the level setting on the dash at around 2 or 3 for them to be at an acceptable height.

I had a go manually adjusting them via the white allen key bit on top of the headlight housing but it didn't seem to do anything?

Anyone know the trick to manually aiming the lights? Cheers.
Click to expand...
are you turning the correct adjuster ,
if not get down to your MOT place im sure they will adjust your lights on a beam setter and it will be done right then .
 
Thanks Paul,

Yea, I think I was turning the right one. I could see the beam moving, but only very slightly. And it seemed once you turned it so far, the beam just started moving back up!?

Looks like it's gonna have to be an MoT place. The guys at my local ATS are pretty good, they balanced my wheels for free, should do the lights for a good price too.

Cheers.
 
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