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HID kits and DSM's-The real story on why you shouldn't use them

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Omega

20+ Year Contributor
1,558
10
Oct 10, 2002
Randolph, New_Jersey
I really hope this thread can help you guys. I found it on another site and thought it could save myself and few others the headache of constantly explaining this.

Your're making the road more dangerous than it already is by adding a HID kit to your car. so please do HID the right way by doing a retrofit.

HID kits are illegal due to the glare that they cause. Glare is Light that is emitted in a Uncontrollable path. When light is traveling in a uncontrollable path it can hit other vehicle operators affecting there vision because of the High amount of uncontrollable light that is being Emitted from a HID kit in a standard Halogen housing. If you have ever turned a flashlight on right in front of your face while it is dark out, that is the same feeling that the other drivers on the road experience from a standard HID kit.

OEM Vehicles such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus are all equipped with HID or Xenon Headlights. Some use reflector housing’s without projectors. Others use HID projectors.

The Lexus IS300 is a Prime Example of a HID reflector housing. It does not use a Projector. It uses a Specially designed Reflector housing that is meant to use HID. This does not create the Super sharp cutoff. But it does control where the light is being Emitted.

Other vehicles such as the Honda S2000 Use HID projectors, These Projectors are meant to use HID. They are Specially Designed and have been tested Hundreds of times to get the right projection of light while maintaining a Good Cutoff.


Here are pictures of Halogen housings mated with a HID kit


9006 6000k HID Kit... lots of glare:
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This 'teg is a prime example of Glare. This is what it looks like to oncoming traffic
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Disaster pix. HID kit in Halogen Housing:
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NOW THE GOOD stuff!


This is what HID is suppose to look like.. Pictured is a STi:
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Talk about a Razor Sharp Cutoff. Pictured is a S2000 OEM setup:
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Another S2000 Retrofit:
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Comparison.. Pictured is a Acura TL-S with HID from the factory vs H4 6000K civic
See the difference?

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Its not just honda's either. Here is a mid 90's Lexus with a HID kit:
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Article stating why the kits are illegal.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

To date, NHTSA has investigated 24 HID conversion kit suppliers; all investigations have resulted in recalls or termination of sales.

RM Racing
Astex USA
Kmax International
FET, Inc.
J. Liu LLC
Gourmet Garage
JC Whitney
Lighting Research
SPW Industries, Inc.
Pacific Micro-lite
McCulloch Motors, Inc.
Santeca Electronics
JF Manufacturing
Streetglow, Inc.
Outback Products, Inc.
Nu Performance
GR Motorsports, Inc.
Global Premier
New Clor
Importhookup.com
DG International
MTC Lighting
Umnitza
Liteglow
American Products Company


Here are a few sites to get you on your way to a proper conversion:

Basic HID info:
http://www.intellexual.net/hid.html

Housing disassembly:
http://www.auburn.edu/~fauchpj/headlight.htm

2G retrofit how-to:
http://home.gwu.edu/~nloke/eclipsehidretro.html

Parts:
http://www.hidtech.com./

HID/LED/+more forum:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/
 
Great thread, I saw this info elsewhere but couldn't find it to post again. Stickied.
 
Cool, thanks.

I am hosting a few of the pics that have been resized. It looks better now.
 
This is a great post with plenty of information and pictures. Hopefully it will eliminate all questions about HIDs on DSM's, and threads such as This one, specifically post #20 and #23

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6052hids_at_night.jpg
 
One of my biggest surprises was coming up behind a new (ugly) Celica on the freeway one night. "Oh, great, another brainless wonder tearing down the road with their high beams on." My mind immediately flashed to my fantasy about a spare exhaust system mounted with explosive bolts. "Well, maybe he'll dim as I pass." So I was watching for him to turn his lights down... which he didn't. And which surprised the hell out of me to find out he didn't have his highs on, and -perhaps a bit more alarming than that- if he'd been coming up behind me, I don't think I'd have known there was a car back there between my dimmed mirror and tinted rear.

I need to get out more and find more surprises. I hear the even have fish in cans now. OMG
 
I don't understand the products in that link you posted. Are these covers that go over our existing projectors? Or are they complete projectors that you replace yours with?
=Jason-
 
unlikely hero said:
I don't understand the products in that link you posted. Are these covers that go over our existing projectors? Or are they complete projectors that you replace yours with?
=Jason-



There are 3 basic parts. The projector housing, the ballast/ignitor and the bulb. I assume you already have projector style headlights. Basicly you would take the guts out of the ones you have and replace them with the parts I menttioned earlier.
 
is HID the same as Xenon? In my country I've never heard of HID but lots of Xenon..... Maybe we got another word for HID, I wouldn't know :s
 
DanniR said:
is HID the same as Xenon? In my country I've never heard of HID but lots of Xenon..... Maybe we got another word for HID, I wouldn't know :s

HID and xenon are the same, although MANY companies claim their normal halogen bulbs are HID or xenon, so you have to watch out for that.


G-UNIT said:

Thank you for the excellent example of the wrong site to visit. They sell drop in kits that use a normal halogen reflector housing. That site also touches on the BS 1000000000K bulbs. FYI folks, you just want a 4100K bulb. Anything over that isn't true, puts out less light and has a pretty colored coating.
 
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