Clueless about HID's and Xenons

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Markjohnstonn
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Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby Markjohnstonn » Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:37 pm

Currently have white smd sidelight bulbs which look great but ovbiously arent any use on poorly lit roads so im wanting to upgrade my main beam bulbs to get rid of the yellowish colour.

I know what HIDs look like but have heard there awkward to fit and stuff because you need washers or something... But what are these xenon bulbs like ?
Im really not looking for the blinding light that i think HIDs give, ideally i just want to change the colour of the standard headlights from yellow to white/blue.

Also if anyone has any pics of comparison between both types of bulbs thatd be great thanks :D

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:03 pm

I have HID's fitted and theyre brilliant.
This is them fitted:

Image

As you can see they give the blue/white colour you want. You dont need washers, or auto leveling gear, as this is for Factory Fitted xenons only, not the aftermarket HID kits.

I put in the yellow sidelight so you could see the diffrence. A kit will set you back £100 quid max, and theyre so much better to drive with.

Only alternative if you just want bulbs is the philips superbright things, theyre £14 quid each from halfrauds

Hope this helps mate

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:04 pm

I have HID's fitted and theyre brilliant.
This is them fitted:

Image

As you can see they give the blue/white colour you want. You dont need washers, or auto leveling gear, as this is for Factory Fitted xenons only, not the aftermarket HID kits.

I put in the yellow sidelight so you could see the diffrence. A kit will set you back £100 quid max, and theyre so much better to drive with.

Only alternative if you just want bulbs is the philips superbright things, theyre £14 quid each from halfrauds

Also fitting the HID'S is easier than changing a bulb! Literally

Hope this helps mate

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

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Markjohnstonn
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby Markjohnstonn » Fri Jul 22, 2011 5:30 pm

they look great :o
how easy are they to fit ?
and where did you get yours from and how much, they look ideal !
cheers :D

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby steve-t » Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:34 pm

As your car is pre facelift from a quick look HID are Not a good idea really need projecter style from facelift or you will blind oncoming.
Sorry
Steve

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:49 pm

Had them in for 2 years + now, no complaints from anyone.

Also had them in my old astra mk4, and it went through 2 mot's with them in.

I got mine from xenonshop.co.uk

Just make sure when you buy them you get the correct bulb fitment. Theyre very simple to fit. Its practically just a bulb change. everything is plug and play.

If your still interested after the previous comment then you can buy them £69. but you need to buy both beams seperate. Ie 1 kit if for low beam, and another for high beam.

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

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Markjohnstonn
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby Markjohnstonn » Sat Jul 23, 2011 12:44 am

Would it be worth going for the philips xenon type bulbs instead then ?
How much hassle/money would u expect it to be to get a refractor lense aswell as anything else required ?
Thanks for the info :)

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby downsyndromedhorse » Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:44 am

I've fitted them to my preface lift one and no complaints.
I bought the H7R kit, which has bulbs with the top blacked off to stop the glare, it seems to work anyway.

I recomend fully, past MOT with no problems at all.
3DR Black 1.9dci Megane 04 Plate 160Bhp(ish) - K&N Panel Filter - Full HID Conversion - Pioneer TS-Q131C - Koni -35mm lowering Springs - JVC Head unit - EGR Blanked - Decat fitted

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Sat Jul 23, 2011 9:49 am

As above ^^^

You dont need a new type lense in your headlamp, Many say you need the type of headlamps i have, the projector kind, but you dont, its nonsense, My old astra didn't have a projector lense, and as previously stated many times, it went through 2 mots with HID's fitted.

Just people on this forum are seriously not in favour of HID's

Buy the kit, fit it too the car as it is, you will not be dissappointed!

www.xenonshop.co.uk.

£69 plug and play, cant go wrong dude
Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

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Ray
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby Ray » Sat Jul 23, 2011 2:05 pm

I DO favour HIDS, but you REALLY/ideally do need projector style lenses.

As downsyndromedhorse said, there are newer released kits where they state they're made for reflector units and i don't know how those get on, but the cheap ones you can pick up for £40 or don't state for reflectors, will blind anyone oncoming. i've had it hundreds of times and it's really annoying and dangerous.
thursday just gone, i had a go at a guy in a vauxhall van as he'd had hids. i was in traffic, single lanes, and when you're sitting there with a bright light in your face it's not nice. so as i drove past in the traffic i had words with him. he said he had no idea and apologied.

unless people stop and tell the driver, they're probably non the wiser and just think hids are amazing (they are great though) and continue to blind everyone.

as for MOT, a lot of it is at discretion of the tester.

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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Sat Jul 23, 2011 4:01 pm

Yeah i see your point too.

My post about this forum and the not liking HID thing wasnt directed at anyone.. It just seems to more of a Dislike thing than a like thing.

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

steve-t
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby steve-t » Sat Jul 23, 2011 4:05 pm

I have after market HIDs fitted to my Clio sport tourer
Had after market HIDs fitted to my previous Megane
Had factory fit HIDs on previous renault sport megane
As an ex MOT tester i never passed a car with them fitted
Quote
Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps
Fact sheet: Aftermarket HID headlamps
December 2006
In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.

The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).

For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.

Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:

1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.

2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).

3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.

In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above.

If you require any further information regarding the regulations covered by this fact sheet, please contact the DfT at the address below:

Transport Technology and Standards 6
Department for Transport
Zone 2/04
Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR

mattyc25
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Sat Jul 23, 2011 4:08 pm

Ohhhh.

Well that solves that then. My apoligies all. I was wrong.

The only question I have is that in the above it states that aftermarket kits are illegall to buy, illegall to sell? So how is it they are so readily available worldwide? and no one bats an eyelid..??
Also notice that document is 5 years old? Maybe in-accurate?

On a side note i think weve scared this guy away from HID's for life lol

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler

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Markjohnstonn
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby Markjohnstonn » Sat Jul 23, 2011 8:07 pm

:lol: to be honest, i still want them :D Just think im going to get them done as close to properly as possible, with the refractor and all that stuff.

Personally ive never heard of anyone round my area being fined for having them, and in the last few months ive seen tons of cars with ultra bright blue and yellow ones which are like driving against the sun ! :lol:

Wont be getting them untill i get back from Magaluf at the end of august though :D

Also, does anyone have experice with these types of (cheap) bulbs ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Car-Front- ... 27bc5cb9dc
would like something non-standard for the time being before i get the HIDs.

Also considering these for the fogs ?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2ps-Car-68-SM ... 5d2f038977

Thanks :cool:

mattyc25
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Re: Clueless about HID's and Xenons

Postby mattyc25 » Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:41 am

Personally dude i wouldn't go for just bulbs on theyre own. Particularly cheap ones as they dont last long.

Hid's on the other hand, Ive had mine in for 2+ years and ive yet to replace any of the bulbs.

Its entirely up to you mate, ive used the philips bulbs before, and theyre definatly slightly whiter, not much but they are diffrent.

Matt
2009 Megane MK2 1.6 16v VVT, Rear Tinted Windows, 18 Kei Force 10 Hyper Black, Painted Calipers, Lowered 45mm, Full 12000k HID's, R26.R Spoiler


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