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I agree.

Also, if you turn the wipers on (intermittent, slow, fast), the headlights will come on regardless of switch position if you're in drive.

Ok so I pulled out the DRL fuse rather than the Relay and all is working well! Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!

I've had my '04 GXP for barely 2 months and I've already had a fog go out. Thanks to this thread, I was able to replace it myself. I went with 3000k 100w H3s made by Koshin and I left the back covers off to help keep them cool. I'll be sure to post when one of them goes out. Thanks for the walk thru and the tips everyone!

I hope your HID's never go out...

I'm debating HID's for dad's car, They'll last a lot better...

Mine are still good after 8 months... also with back covers open.

My biggest problem is that I broke off the metal piece on the inside of the driver's side foglight that holds the bulb in, so I'll need to JB Weld that back in...

I replaced both fog lights in February 2010 when I bought the car. They've lasted almost 2 years, but I replaced one a couple weeks ago and should have done both because the other went out a week later. I guess they have them down to a life science.

Edit: BTW, it is definitely easier to replace them if you take out the headlight assembly and go in from the top. You can do it all in 10 minutes easily.

I know the HIDS last longer but will anything be affected by the factory harness that everyone complaining about. As in will the harness shorten the bulb light and cause flickering?

xrob, I don't believe your post has anything to do with this topic. This topic is directly about the H3 bulb and projector setup for the foglights of the 04-05 GXP/05 SLE. I do not see either of those cars in your profile, nor does your post address WHICH bulb position you are talking about. Please be sure to place your posts in the proper thread, and with enough information for us to make a good judgement on what you're asking.

I don't recommend HID's in any position but a HID housing (reflector/projector, OEM or Retrofitted), with the proper wiring.

Sorry forgot to update my Year and Trim: I'm looking to swap H3 regular bulbs for HIDS and was wondering can the factory harness known to blow bulb be used or should I run new wire to better power HIDs to prevent quicker burn outs or flickering?

The heck is a 2001-05 Bonneville GXPI?

I run the stock harness with my fogs (with a 35W ballast), so far so good, but I don't keep them on all the time.

I can only guess an 01 SSEi with some GXP exterior parts, obviously including the front bumper.

Jerry, what bulbs/ballasts do you have/recommend? I'd like to do this soon-ish possibly...

The best: The Retrofit Source / Morimoto.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=3958

What I have:
DDM, 35W: http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-H ... 35W-or-55W
Recently upgraded to these bulbs: http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=4125

So I would have to buy the whole DDM kit for the ballasts? How is their bulb quality compared to the Morimotos?

In terms of lighting output of the H3 bulbs, I'll know when I actually install the Morimotos, unfortunately they are still sitting in a box. Right off the bat I can say that they are of much better physical quality.

DDM: Buy the kit and add the (dual in dual out) relay harness if you so desire. Bulbs, Ballasts, Optional harness.
The Retrofit Source: The kit has everything as with DDM, and a relay harness is standard. Also some other installation hardware and accessories.

The only thing I will say about the factory harness, I remember there being a lot of warranty work on them at one time. But I'm not sure if it was from the heat created from having that back cover on the light housing.

I would think if you're running 12v to the ballast for any HID conversion you'd be fine. 12v is 12v no matter what as long as you're pulling the stock amperage. If you're running the stock wiring after the ballast, that's where I would have cause for concern, since most output from a HID ballast is what, 35 - 40 watts? That's at least nearly 3x or more the stock amount. I would also wager the amperage is much higher too...

One thing I DON'T miss about the GXP is these fricken fog lights!

H3 bulbs are rated to draw 55W at 12V. Barring the extremely short duration spike (6A) on startup, steady state on the DDM ballasts is 3.4 amps, or 41W at 12V.

What about LED fog lamps?

Led won't work.

Ddm hid bulbs are rubbish. The color temp is rarely matched within a pair. I've had a couple burn out in my blazer fogs. Their ballasts for that matter don't impress me either. Never had a failure of a 35w, but every 55w I've seen from them ends up with intermittant failures to ignight.

When i bought my GXP and i found myself replacing the fog bulbs both sides 2 to 3 times a month, i got a set of 100watt bulbs and they lasted alittle bit longer and it went down to 1-2 times a month!!! So i got a set of the $39 ($31 Now) 6k (35watt) HID kit from ebay for both low beams and fogs and it's going on around 3 years and never replaced the fogs hid bulb, but i replaced the low beam 2 times within 3 years.. So I would say even the cheap ebay kits work pretty well (atleast the one i got does)....