just wondering, browsing on ebay, i see these bulbs that are supposed to be HID, just simply take out existing bulb and plug new ones in. is this true you dont need a HID kit. and they are going for like $7-$10 bucks and are they worth a try.

btw: those rumors about "low voltage"...nothing showed up on mine, purchased a kit on ebay for $119 w/ free shippin, 8000k. installed them, works great.

 

No. It is not true. You can't have an HID headlight system without an HID bulb and ballast. Putting blue coating on a high wattage halogen bulb does not equal to a real HID system.

 

I'm surprised eBay doesn't go after sellers who call their incandescent lamps "HID". HID means high intensity discharge, where light is produced by arcing a high frequency electrical current across two electrodes in a gas filled capsule. Calling a bulb containing a filament "HID" is nothing but false advertising.

 

I guess people just call it "HID" because it some how suppose to replicate the look of HID. But anyways it doesn't at all. No filament bulb could look crisp and white as HID so no point in buying those filaments.

 

did they actually call it "HID" or just "xenon" or "HID-like?" Xenon just means the bulbs contain xenon gas, and does not equal "high intensity discharge." Blue-tinted bulbs of the same wattage have much decreased light output, no matter what the manufacturer claims (even well-known brands). Higher wattage bulbs can generate more light output, along with more heat, shorter life span, and possible damage to the wiring. If there is truly such a thing as HID bulbs, HID kits would've been extinct by now. Even $120 sounds too cheap for an HID kit--guess time will tell if the components hold up.

 

HID's are expensive, as far as buying a lite bulb is concerned, if its too cheep then you gotta 'wonder'. If you want the HID look but not the price, just goto any auto store and see if you can get Sylvania Silver Stars, its not HID but it is the best of the halogen and they are pretty bright.

 

Okay this is offtopic and a newb question but I'll ask it anyway:

What do you get with the ISs which don't come with HIDs/AFS? Is it just regular yellow bulbs all around? Or is it still blue but just not HID?

 

^ It's a halogen bulb, so yes, yellow all round.

 

Hmm, that's pretty appaling on a $40,000 car, isn't it?

Do we have bi-xenons? I guess not?

 

The HIDs on the IS are bi-xenon. When you turn on your high beams, a shutter in the HID projector mechanism moves, changing the shape of the light to a high beam pattern. (Yes, there is also a second halogen lamp that comes on with the high beams; this supplements the bi-xenon and also provides the ability to "flash" your brights, and is used at low intensity for the DRLs)

 

Ah, finally someone explains to me what bi-xeons are. I thought you had two xenon bulbs... one for DRLs and one for night lights. Now I know, thanks.

 

Ah so thats why the low beams appear to stay on when you use your high beams! Its actually the HID low beams with the light focus moved up to aid the high beam bulbs huh? Nice to know. Thanks.