Are HID conversion kits worth anything?
 

www and eBay are full of drop-in or plug-and-play HID conversion kits that offer 3x more light and 35w draw (v 55/60w draw) as compared to halogen bulbs. There is a legality issue, as well as a 'they might melt stuff' issue. Are there any other issues that might prevent an intrepid ecomodder from going ahead with a conversion to HID and reaping the (admittedly minimal) efficiency benefits of these lights while enjoying more light output? Has anyone gone ahead and done the switch?

I have heard a lot of bad things about them... Like the Melting Stuff issue, and Waiting for them to warm up and sometimes they flicker or turn off going down the road (or so iv heard)

In other words I would do some good research on them before Id spend the hard earned money on them, I chose not to get them when I was getting new bulbs... I got the SilverStar Ultras that are 4100k color temperature, they are decently bright, ALMOST worth the $54 I paid for them...

The Sylvania EcoBrights are advertised on this site (pops up occasionally). Any word on them? They're pretty hard to find. Also, these HID kits seem to start at $10 or $20. 2 bulbs, 2 ballasts, wires, and 10 zip ties (wow).

Most of the cheap HID arcs aren't aligned with the same orientation as OEM bulb filaments, therefore don't focus properly in standard reflector housings, and cause vicious light scatter that dangerously blinds oncoming traffic.

if your going to do hids, get a philips kit, there hard to find and expensive, but there worth it.

i got an ebay kit for my wifes car before i knew better, it works ok, except it flickers now after 2 years, and most cheap ones eliminate your highs. Which is funny because her kit eliminates her highs, and now, after 2 years of not having highs, suddenly she has highs.

Did someone say philips kits?

Home

Don't buy the plug-and-plag kits, they put LESS light onto the road, and MORE light into the eyes on oncoming cars. The reflector housings your halogen bulbs use are not designed for the light output nor pattern that HIDs produce.
The only way to do it correctly, is to retrofit a HID projector from a car that comes stock with HIDs into your stock light housings... not an easy task.

And as for them 'melting stuff', that is ridiculous. They put out LESS heat that halogens (35w vs 65w). The only thing you could melt would be wiring, and you would have to be pretty dumb to do that, because that means you are running them without a relay.

The horsepower difference is minuscule. It's not worth the hassle. If you want better lights, get better bulbs (NOT Sylvania SilverStars, they are over-priced garbage that rely on optical tricks to make you think you're getting more light).

The ultimate for better light legally is a relay harness.

I'm going to switch my projectors to HIDs in the next month or two. I'm planning to use a relay harness to keep the HIDs on for low when the 70w highs come on.
http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/s...0908200004.jpg
Yes, thats a set of aftermarket lights on my Neon... Nice look...

Good grief! You think you'll get a noticeable improvement in MPG from 40 watts?