Hold on! You're going to put xenons as high beams? They don't work so good as high beams because they aren't instant on. The bi-xenons are both but they have a shield that moves to allow them to be instant on.

 

Why would you spend all that money to make your Highbeams Xenon? sounds like i waste, you said yourself that you wouldnt use them all the time so whats the point.

 

More light when you need it and extra bling when you don't.

 

Well to clear up a few things, mdsbrain is getting xenon lights and most likely will probably use them for low beams. Sure the glare will be there and with out the projectors they will be scattered but if you take a look at your nissans and such they dont use projectors and they use stock xenons as well. These kits are pertty much the same as an oem kit except the fact that the ones the manufactures make are proally integrated. Take a look at the nissans and ull see what mdsbrain is talking about when it comes to putting HID/xenons in with out projectors.

this HID's/xenon lights comes with ballast and wiring as well.

if you guys are still skeptical take a look at this video. the lights are blinding to the camera but they look totally natural when seen in person.

http://home.comcast.net/~sapandhora/matrixmeet.wmv

 

You don't need projectors for xenons unless you decide to use a non hid housing. Then that's probably the only way to get them working with the light scatter. Headlight housings have reflectors that are designed for either hid or halogen both not both.

 

yah thats pretty much it. It will have light scatter but when it comes to oncoming traffice the light will be mostly scattering on the ground according to tests.

 

check this out

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/show...6&page=5&pp=15

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=7953814991

 

well see. 2 diff things. those ebay POS's are just some crap because they are justing plain lying and they are no gooder then silver stars. AN Actual replacement HID system consists of ballast, bulbs that use xenon gas instead of halogen bulbs, and the proper wiring. Its mostly plug and play, but just plain bulbs wont cut it. the may have the same color, but when it comes to light output I highly doubt they will do anything for you.

 

The clublexus link has pictures of the installation. I wouldn't put stock in the ebay link other then to show where the bulb came from.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3505

This link is the most revealing concerning aftermarket hid kits.

http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

ruling from nhtsa..pulled from the above link.

 

yah thats definetly a great link and good information when it comes to the glare factor. Its all about what you want and what you want to do I say. I have the kit and I do have to say that there is some glare.

The thing is that some people are wiling to do this for the extra light without having to resort to modding the bajesus outta ur headlamp housing.

I have been dirving with them for about a year or so now and i have to gotten any high flashes from any oncoming cars when i am using my low beams alone.

I am not too sure about how the mini headlight housing is designed but my matrix is doing me good so far.

we do know its illegal but again i highly doubt this would be rice related when it comes to the looks department.

 

Looks vs Safety hmmm..I'm against it but that probably wont change your mind.

 

I still think its a bad idea no matter how you try to justify it. But its your car and your money and as long as i dont live around you to reap the damage you can do what you want. Just one last comment. You can never add something that isnt OEM and make it look OEM they spend millions of dollars to test and engineer there parts. The only way to do it right is to buy the OEM parts.

 

you guys are talking like people are ripping out light outta of a cessna aircraft and poping them on the front of the mini.

It will not be that bad at all, I have that system on my car and again I am not blinding no one because I have seen it with my actual eyes from another car points of perspective.

The Whole point of car modding is to make a inexpesnive car better with aftermarket parts that are cheaper. If you get a car that has all the OEM Equipment such as oem xenons, superchargers, and turbos, then the modding is done for you.

 

They put xenons in cessnas?

 

How is it any different then someone having 4 driving lights added to their front grill on the MINI? Thats not legal in some states nor practical. How is it any different?

 

no one drives around with the 4 driving lights on....

its not the glare as much as a lack of an auto-levelling system im talking about

 

Well, I guess you just summed it up..OFFROAD USE ONLY.

Driving lights properly set up are used only in conjuction with the highbeams. Your xenons will always be on..do you see the difference?

 

Then when do you use them? Or are they just a conversation started

Are all xenon headlights auto leveled?

 

yes....all OEM xenon's are by law auto-level. The aftermarket ones are not unless you get the xenon housings with the ZKE module, and sensors for your suspension

You use the 4 driving lights while driving, but only when there is absolutely no traffic around at all...they are extra high beams basically...for country driving

 

In Europe, self leveling is required but is it in the U.S.? I didn't find that referenced in the NHTSA link. However, I did find this...

Another disturbing trend in this look-a-like phenomenon is the substitution of OEM filament headlamp bulbs with aftermarket HID conversion bulbs. The desire is to achieve the look and achieve the more robust performance of HIDs. While not designed to be interchangeable, some aftermarket companies are substantially altering the HID bulb bases or providing adapters so that the HID bulbs can be inserted in headlamps designed for filament bulbs. The consequence of making these substitutions is to adversely affect safety. Filament headlamps are optically designed for the volume of light and filament placement and other critical dimensions and performance that OEM filament bulbs have. The HID conversions result in two to three times the volume of light and potentially imprecise arc placement. Such conversions often result in beam patterns that behave nothing like the original filament beam pattern, cannot be reliably aimed, and have many times the permitted glare intensity. In informal conversations with persons who have tested such conversions, the light intensity on one at a point aimed toward oncoming drivers was 22 times the allowable intensity limit. Another lamp was more than 7 times too intense. With poor HID bulb and arc placement, the glare intensity could be significantly worse. Thus, the use of these conversions could be yet another source of the glare problems about which many drivers have complained.

 

ive looked into doing a conversion for my 05 light the after market ones look like they are too much hasle and blinding to put it. also a lexus does not have a washing system or a projection system for the headlights but it does have the auto leveling. so not all cars need the washing system and nor the projector headlight. neither does a nissan maxima. so we can dispell that myth. if every car had to have them then they would have put them into every car. i am however taking 02-04 xenons hacking them apart taking out the guts scrapping the plastic and retrofitting them into my 05. i did a test fit them to see if and how blinding they would be and i can honestly say that they were not blinding. i even had my best friend drive in front of me and see if it blinded him from behind and oncoming. it didnt. so if you have the correct lighting i think the conversion can be done without hurting other drivers. ill post pics and results when i get done with both lights.

 

It took 3.5 hrs. The first hour we spent trying to see how it would fit and work in the cramped confines of the MINI. I have pics and some videos to show. I will have these up soon. Also the difference driving is incredible. My old H7 bulbs projected about 10ft, these are like 50 ft.

Oh and the kit has suddenly dropped another $50 for April so there $299.

 

I am not sure where you got the idea that projectors are required for oem hids because nowhere was that written, not at least by me. Many cars with oem hids have the proper reflectors for hid bulbs. If you want the proper retrofit with non hid headlights you will need projectors.

The research done by NHTSA resulted in aftermarket hids being outlawed. There was a reason for that. And if you want to second guess the auto manufacturers as to why they designed reflectors specifically for hids that's up to you. The real test will be if the cops think they the aftermarket hids are blinding them and they decide to pulled you over and give you a fix it ticket.

 

the ones i installed are factory xenon bulbs and ballast and xenons. the only thing i didnt use was the housing itself. besides when cops drive around flashing there high beams or shining there spotlight in cars that blinds the drivers as well. we should give them a ticket too. even though they need those lights but they dont have to be so dramatic.

 

There is purpose behind their madness. I just don't know what it is.