package888

Hi ALl,

Has anyone had any experience with new 50W HID kits? The regular wattage is 35W. The VLED.com guy told me the light output is about double the regular 35W HID lights.

I wonder if reliability is an issue. Input please.

kingomar

im not sure if its double the output, might be a little more. as far as reliability goes, you're not going to get the quality you would if you bought OEM components. Look into xenondepot.com A lot of members here have had very good experiences with them. i know v-led's is known for its LEDs and i have bought tons from them with no problem, im not sure about the quality of there HID kits.

im actually working on a retrofit right now. i dont know if you know what that is, but basically it involves replacing the OEM projectors in the headlights with projectors from a car that comes with HID from the factory. for example, im putting in projectors from an Acura TSX. I bought some Lexus ballasts to power the bulbs and Philips bulbs. If you do it this way, you will get a much more OEM-looking lighting system.

this method involves a lot more work though. you have to pull the lens off the headlight to get to the projector. by no means is it too hard, just involves more time.

i have had one of the kits you are looking at. the output is good, better than plain old bulbs. also be weary of the fact that since the LX470's projectors were not designed for HID, you will be blinding oncoming traffic with the glare from the lights. (HID projectors eliminate this problem). if you do the retrofit like me, you'll get the best output you can.

package888

Hi Kingomar,

You have me interested for sure. I thought that the HID bulb (according to Xenondepot -Steve?) has the same focal length (bright spot?) as the H1 bulb and should therefore light up the same pattern as the stock set up. Is this not the case? What exactly is the projector? Is it the curvy fish eye lens? Do you have pics to show this. How is the TSX different?

kingomar

well, as far as i know, if you put an HID bulb in a halogen projector (which is the circular, curvy thing in the headlight out of which the light comes), it will cause lots of glare to oncoming traffic, even with the xenon depot kit. cars that come with HID have projectors that eliminate this glare. check out this link: http://sr1.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=245611

like the 3rd or 4th picture down. notice how sharp and colorful the cutoff is? not only is it safer (oncoming traffic isnt blinded), it looks pretty cool. if you put HIDs in the projectors you have right now, you'll just get a bunch of light scattered all over the place as opposed to a focused beam. plus, you'll get much much much better output with the newer projectors.

package888

Hi Kingomar,

Yep that is another Mod I want to do. Teach me sir!!! Can I install an XD kist now and then retrofit a TSX projector in later followed by a Ballast mod to up the light output? Will this work for all HID bulbs and Ballast?

kingomar

well i would shy away from the ballast mod. by opening up the ballast and then switching out the resistors, you are decreasing the reliability of the ballast. not only that, you can fry the ballast by pushing it too far. this becomes a fire hazard.

and to answer your retrofitting question, you can install the XD kit right now and then do the TSX projectors later. Thats what I did. I ran my kits for about 4 years until now when I decided to retrofit. In your case, since you know you want to do a retrofit, I would just go ahead and do that since then you wont waste your money on the kits, like i did. Becuase if you do a retrofit, you'll probably want to get Lexus ballasts and Philips bulbs, which the kits do not have. now that im doing a retrofit, the kits that i have installed right now are useless.

aedgington

what do you want for them, kingomar?

kingomar

you mean for the kits? well actually i promised that I would install them in a friends car. sorry man, if you had only gotten me a little earlier i would've given them to you.