Moderator: volvite
Tech wrote:mine are some knock offs from over-seas. The headlight control is in the IPDM and BCM. (and you know how sensitive those IPDMs are!) I find the really problematic ones are those projection style ones. If you test them, you'll find there isn't sufficient ground to project the bulb out for high beam. You CAN add a relay on the ground side, but then you have to make and add a sub harness. If you get digital ballasts and use the 2 filament style as opposed to the proj. style, you should be fine. The kit should also use the controller/relay that has it's own power and ground connections. You'll have to make 3 more connections, but it lasts way longer.
I have also seen some knock-offs that have the pins misplaced in the connectors. The HID's will actually work with the wrong polarity for a while before the ballasts blow, and weird things with flashing lights or lights not coming back after cycling between beams happens.
So basicly the hid kits are a waste of money is how I take this article. Unless you buy the 4k litghts.SPICOLI wrote:Everything that I've read on HID's suggests that 4300K is the whitest with the largest output. From what I understand the brightness(lumens) goes down the higher you go with the number. After doing a little bit of research I found this explanation. Read it and see if it makes sense.
And I quote:
" There are many companies and private merchants out there that will advertise 10000K, and even 12000K HID kits selling for more or less around $100. Most of these vendors lurk around on ebay, online car forums, websites, and ricer accessory shops. 100% of the people that buy these kits do so because they are uninformed, uneducated, or misguided in the field of lighting, and will buy these junk kits thinking three things: that these bulbs are brighter, that these bulbs should cost more money, and/or that they will perform better. All three statements are completely false. Perhaps this misconception and frenzy for purple lights originates from BMW and Audi's infamous Hella projector HIDs. So allow me to explain the real truth of the matter... Philips is the number one manufacturer of HID bulbs. The Philips OEM D2S bulb is rated at 4300K at 12.8 volts and produces 3200 lumens of light. The Philips Ultinon D2S is 5800K at 12.8 volts and produces 2400 lumens of light. As you can see, with all other factors remaining constant, the brightness of an HID bulb declines the higher up the color index you go. Vision, a Korean bulb manufacturer, makes an 8000K bulb, which they used to advertise on Acura-Forums as 2000 lumens bright. This is barely a marked improvement over halogens, and will produce more glare and eye fatigue than it is beneficial. 4300K has been proven through tireless independent research by the Germans, Japanese, and Americans to be the most functional, truest white and thus the brightest possible color temperature (ceteris paribus).
Every car manufacturer in the world (including BMW and Audi) uses none other than a standard 4300K gas-discharge bulb. No exceptions. The reason being is that 4300K is daylight white in color and produces the same color visible light as direct sunlight. This is least fatiguing functional color on the eyes and produces the most comfortable contrast on the road.
So the million dollar question is now: Why do BMW & Audi lights appear blue when they use a white bulb?
Well, this coloration is the result of the light projectors; the lenses: it's transparency, it's curvature, the tiny grooves etched into it; the projector assembly, the shield, and the reflector bowl. All these components work together to produce a signature of light unique to that particular optic's design. On the Audi and BMW projectors, the lens curvature at the edge bends the white light producing a "prism effect". White light is broken down to it's fundemental colors. Since blue lights is high energy, it is absorbed last and thus travels farther. So with this prism effect, you'll notice that BMW HIDs are only purple and blue from the sides, the top, and the bottom edges, but are always daylight white on the road and in the beam pattern. This phenomenon can be demonstrated when you watch an oncoming BMW hit a pot hole or speed bump in the road and the car's nose pitches up and down. The headlights will flicker and "throw colors off", but returns to a solid white beam pattern directly on the road."
SPICOLI wrote:I think HID kit's can improve your lighting. I just bought a kit today after many days of researching my options. I ended up getting a 6000k kit. The kit cost me $100 CDN and came with a 1 year warranty. I wanted to get an HID for improved lighting at night, whereas some people get them because they are cool. As far as the intensity of the light (4300k vs 6000k vs 8000 vs 10000k), one has to make a decision. I wanted a white light without the bluish look. After getting my vendor to show me the different temperatures of lights installed on cars, I decided that their 6000k was the closest to pure white that they offered. I hope that I'm happy with that decision.
I want to thank TECH for helping me out greatly. The man's got MAD KNOWLEDGE and he knows what he's talking about. Thanks TECH.
I'm hoping to have them installed tomorrow and then we'll see how I did in decision making.