my HID experience

[no2lurch]

thought i would post on here to let everyone know my experience with HIDs on my D9.

before i go on, i am not looking to find out if my car will now fail its mot or will i get pulled by the police, i merely want to let people know my experience.

the kit i purchased was a H7R whcih is supposed to be for non projector equipped front headlights, and the temperature colour is 10,000K.

i got these in the post this morning and set about fitting them at lunch. took my time and the passenger side went in taking 30 mins and the drivers aside went in taking about 10 mins. i also swapped the side lights for white leds.

i secured the ballasts thus... drivers side is cable tied inside the ecu box and the passenger side is cable tied to the outside of the battery box.

the kits are simply plug and play really. one outstanding thing i need to do is drill 25mm holes in the covers for the back of the light units so i can thread the wires through. i didnt have time to do this at lunch. i also intend to cable tie the wire and ballasts better, but i will do this once i know i am happy with them.

conclusion... this colour is quite blue, but i plan to compare it to my partners HIDs on her ST170 which were factory fitted later when its dark as its hard to get a good comparison in daylight. there is a definate beam patern on the wall when parked in front in the shade which i would say is the same as when it had standard bulbs. the main beams are standard bulbs but are visibly higher than the 'new' pattern. i cannot really comment on the glare just yet as i need to see it in the true dark. i'll update more later and get some pics hopefully.

with regards to the mot, i may have a word with the tester prior to testing next year and if he is not liking them, i will disconnect the HIDs and put standrad bulbs in for the test.

if i find the bulbs to be too blue but dont glare, i will buy some 4,300 or 6,000K bulbs to replace them. if they glare too much, i will revert back to the originals.

[modified406]

hi mate glad u got them fitted in u cant really judge on beam pattern till its dark but as u said u can see it as for the bulbs bein blue 10000k indicates blue tint to the lights but is not illegal

[Welly]

Nice easy job then!

I'm going to make myself sound a right kill joy about all this but I have to say are you sure it's ok to mount a balast giving out peaks of 35,000 volts right next to your ECU?

Only saying like but it might be worth checking?

In addition, I know on my Volvo that the earth from the headlights shares the same earthing terminal as the wiper motor and a few people have had problems with their retro-fit HID's taking out the wiper motor (don't know why) so it seems to be recommended to earth your headlights somewhere else on the chassis. Again, might be worth considering or finding out where the existing earths go (good luck with that one ).

[no2lurch]

i been checking on the net and 406 coupe forum about the ecu box location and it seems to be fine. the previous owner mounted them there too.

i'll check my wipers on my way home! thanks

[swiss]

Thanks for the info, t'was always something I wanted to do the 406 but never got around to. But little nuggets of information like this are certainly handy to folks who might be considering such a project

[no2lurch]

Wipers worked fine on the way home.

[modified406]

with the bllast mounted next to the ecu i had no complications with it all worked well
get some pics up mate of the hids on ur car i wish i took pics with them rigged up

[no2lurch]

pics as requested...

from the front with just sidelights on:



close up of the sidelights:



the HIDs on:




close up of the HIDs on:



from inside the car - car parked on drive pointing uphill slightly - see the beam cut off on the hedges:



standing next the the car - beam patern on the floor:

[no2lurch]

my camera isnt the best but it gives a good indication fo the end results. flash is off here for all pics.

glare is not a problem, and i have driven the car for about 30 mins in daylight with the lights on and no flashes from other drivers, and i went for a curry and passed a ploice car with them on the the dark with no tug and again no flashes.

[modified406]

lookin very smart mate remember these work with the light level thing as well