"Slim" HID Headlight Kits

[yonkerss]

I am looking at going with an HID conversion up front for the low beams and fog lamps. Seems like most of the kits I see listed now (Ebay and like) are listed as "Slim" kits. Anyone know if these are any different then the conventional kits? I am only a little familiar with what my brother used and they were not the "Slim" kits. Just want to make sure I order what I need.

Thanks!

[Mad Myche]

As far as I am concerned, unless you are retrofitting something like projectors you are installing junk. PNP kits are one of the worst things you can do thinking its going to make it better, second only to dingle-balls

[repinS]

eBay HID kits can be very hit and miss. Ballasts can either be finicky, have a short life, or even be DOA. You may also notice that they have a super slow warmup time. If you wish to have a quality kit, this is one: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=3957

But at $150, if you spend another $120 you will have a top end kit to do a projector swap with, this is what I have: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=227

I have had the discussion with your brother before that the PNP HID kits are not an ideal way to go. You are increasing the quantity of light, but decreasing the quality (read: lots of glare). So you think that your performance is improved when you're actually degrading your headlight performance. This effect is amplified for any colour temperature above 4300K. If you can't afford or can't do a full projector swap, I suggest you stick to either relay-harnessed stock 9006 or do an HIR swap into your low beam.

[Mad Myche]

eBay HID kits can be very hit and miss. Ballasts can either be finicky, have a short life, or even be DOA. You may also notice that they have a super slow warmup time. If you wish to have a quality kit, this is one: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=3957

But at $150, if you spend another $120 you will have a top end kit to do a projector swap with, this is what I have: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=227

I have had the discussion with your brother before that the PNP HID kits are not an ideal way to go. You are increasing the quantity of light, but decreasing the quality (read: lots of glare). So you think that your performance is improved when you're actually degrading your headlight performance. This effect is amplified for any colour temperature above 4300K. If you can't afford or can't do a full projector swap, I suggest you stick to either relay-harnessed stock 9006 or do an HIR swap into your low beam.

Exactly

[yonkerss]

Thanks for the info. I have not been in my brother's car when it has been dark he just seems very content with the lights he has. I really do not want to modify the headlight assemblies and start cutting them apart and this is why I was looking at the PNP HID kits....

[01bonneSC]

Doing the searches on here, there are A LOT of HID threads. All say no to the PnP basically.

[yonkerss]

Yeah that is what I am finding from the search reading I have been doing the last couple hours. This all started because I burned out yet another fog light and I got to thinking about switching them out but do not want them to be a different color then my low beams.

Guess I will have to decide if I want to cut a part my headlights or not...

[01bonneSC]

Yeah that is what I am finding from the search reading I have been doing the last couple hours. This all started because I burned out yet another fog light and I got to thinking about switching them out but do not want them to be a different color then my low beams.

Guess I will have to decide if I want to cut a part my headlights or not...

What kind of bulb was it?

[repinS]

Fogs are H3 bulbs in the 05 SLE / GXP.

Are yellow fog lights out of the question if you don't want the 4300/5000K HID to mismatch a stock headlight? A 3000K yellow PNP H3 HID kit for the fogs may be a good, more reliable option. Mine's been going for over a year, no issues. Lucky for us we already have projectors in that spot.

(Sorry, I kind of missed the fog light portion of your original post.)

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

HID's in projectors are okay. Heck, I'm thinking of tossing a set of H11 HID's into my brother's Mazda3's headlights since those are projector, and take to HID's like a duck to water.

HID's in reflector housings are a bad idea. Glare city, and worse visibility than halogen bulbs on a relay harness. I've run harnesses in my current car and in my old Buick. The headlights gave out plenty of light after upgrading the harness.

[yonkerss]

Just so I am clear then, there is not an issue doing the PNP HID kits in the fog lamps because these already have the projectors, it is the main headlights because of the reflector housing is the issue right?

I want to switch over to a 6000k color spectrum as I do really like my brother's color of light just figuring the best option and planning out the future mod.

[Bvill_GXP]

Im not a HID "PRO" so i don't know all of the ends and out of this type of lighting! But what i do know is about the glare and such if you don't have a projector... BUT i will say that i bought two 6000k kits off ebay for $37 each to install into my fogs and headlights.. I adjusted the headlights down a tad bit. But other than that i have had both kits for about a year and half if not 2 years now with no issues at all. I see all of this talk about not buying the cheaper kits ($35 avg cost + free shipping) and buying the $150+ for a high end hid kit. I have the money to buy pretty much anything i want for my car as money is no issue for anything i want b/c i work hard for the money i have! but just from my experience with these lower end cheap HID kits, i will def keep buying these kits for any car that i have and will highly recommend them to anyone. Some even come with 1-3 year warranties! Just my $.02

[Sadden]

Even if you "dont have a problem with them" other drivers do. And some day your gonna run accross someone like me. Then they will show you the difference between pnp crap and real lighting. After you get out of the ditch chances are youll be looking at spending your unlimited wealth for your car on a retrofit. And since you have so much money to spend you can even pay a pro to do it for you. My retrofit cost me 2k , add another 700 for the light bar and 150 for the fogs....

[repinS]

Just so I am clear then, there is not an issue doing the PNP HID kits in the fog lamps because these already have the projectors, it is the main headlights because of the reflector housing is the issue right?

I want to switch over to a 6000k color spectrum as I do really like my brother's color of light just figuring the best option and planning out the future mod.

Sorry, I missed this post from last weekend - you're correct. 6000K is slight blue-white. You will lose some inclement weather (snow/rain/fog) performance compared to the lower temperatures, but it's not a colour I would cry foul at. All factory HID systems are ~4300K, and produce that "purply blue" effect NOT from the bulb, but rather from the optics of the projector. The colour "flicker" you see in this case is the cutoff line as your eyes go above and below it.

Im not a HID "PRO" so i don't know all of the ends and out of this type of lighting! But what i do know is about the glare and such if you don't have a projector... BUT i will say that i bought two 6000k kits off ebay for $37 each to install into my fogs and headlights.. I adjusted the headlights down a tad bit. But other than that i have had both kits for about a year and half if not 2 years now with no issues at all. I see all of this talk about not buying the cheaper kits ($35 avg cost + free shipping) and buying the $150+ for a high end hid kit. I have the money to buy pretty much anything i want for my car as money is no issue for anything i want b/c i work hard for the money i have! but just from my experience with these lower end cheap HID kits, i will def keep buying these kits for any car that i have and will highly recommend them to anyone. Some even come with 1-3 year warranties! Just my $.02

By aiming down, you are effectively lighting the road ahead with only your glare, which 100% guarantees that you have diminished your headlight performance. It FEELS brighter because of that big blob of light directly in front of your bumper, but that's it. Use your money and have a professional retrofit done! You will not regret it. The Morimoto Minis have an amazing throw into the distance and the left-right coverage is phenomenal:



The $150 higher end kits come with much heavier duty components all around, probably on par (if not better) than what would come OE. The bulbs and included harnesses/relays are much heavier duty and have faster warm-up time, and the ballasts have faster warm-up times.

[yourgrandma]

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