Which HID is nicer looking 5300k or 6000k?

[S14DB]

This is 4300K it's only yellow/white on the ground.

[RBS14]

turdz: the light output is diminished in higher color temp bulbs not only from the coatings put on the bulbs, but also the gases and salts that are used in the capsule itself. To my understanding, the gases and salts used that achieve those high color temps, don't create as intense of an arc. either way, we both agree that lower color temp is better.

kidynomite: If you aren't doing it for yourself, spare everyone driving around you. It's not just a matter of courtesy, it's also dangerous for other drivers to have that much glare shining into their eyes. Besides, why not do it if it's not going to cost you any more than a drop in kit? It'll yield 2x more light on the road than a drop in kit and there will be virtually no glare. Whether you think you want that much light or not, you'll be glad you did it right when you get done.

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally Posted by RBS14

kidynomite: If you aren't doing it for yourself, spare everyone driving around you. It's not just a matter of courtesy, it's also dangerous for other drivers to have that much glare shining into their eyes. Besides, why not do it if it's not going to cost you any more than a drop in kit? It'll yield 2x more light on the road than a drop in kit and there will be virtually no glare. Whether you think you want that much light or not, you'll be glad you did it right when you get done.

What do you mean if I am not doing it for myself? I am doing it because it looks cool to me, and it will be brighter than my current set up. Supermade bucket style will end up costing me more, I paid ~$250 (I forget what the price came down to) in a GB, and close to nothing for the H4 conversion from a friend.

I have seen the difference of doing it with projectors and doing it with halogens, and the troubles outweigh the benefits for what I want.

[SimpleS14]

S14DB - Is that a HID kit?

Turdz - Whatever happen to the write-up?

RBS14 - Never thought about using S2000 projectors.....are they easier to retrofit compared to Audi and BMW? (I'm thinking its the same)

[SilviaDriver]

s2000 is harder than audi and bmw

[FinalDrive]

My 4100K:

[TurDz]

^ see how the S15 headlights have such a clean HID output? it's because the lens is totally clear, unlike S14 Kouki headlights (USDM) with three vertical lines and tiny angular defractive "steps" in the glass design. See below and see what stands between the projector (s2000) and the outside of the headlight. Those 4 lines on either side, plus little steps in the glass. Through a lot of observation, these are used for overhead lighting.




Also, the glass has a design which travels horizontally across (about 15 degrees from the horizontal) from it, and continues to the clearance lamp (next to the headlight) and continues on to the fender, door, etc. That actually bends the light on some projector designs...again, it upsets the sharpness of the cutoff.

anyway..the first is a good pic when i installed oem hid projectors last year. It doesn't look nearly as sharp now, so I'm going to have to open up my headlights again for the um-teenth time this weekend and play with them again. The 2nd pic was taken not too long ago. BTW, 4100k cuts through fog very nicely contrary to what people have said. Going to GT Live with fog for almost 80% of the drive made my HID conversion very worth my while (for the amount of work put in, difficulties..etc).

[RBS14]

95koukis14: audi(valeo), BMW(bosch/zkw), s2k are all the same level of difficulty for a retrofit. You do the same steps to get them into your headlight no matter what projector you are using, and they are all about the same as far as difficulty goes. bixenon are a little bit harder because they are bigger and have more wiring, but still not that difficult. I'm using e46 single xenon projectors for my retro on my zenki S14 so we'll see how it goes. However, I am not expecting any difficulties.

[SimpleS14]

Can I use projectors from BMW and bulbs/ballast from a Nissan? They both use the same bulbs...so I don't see why it wouldn't work....right?

[RBS14]

yea, you can do that. you will be running D2S bulbs, so any D2S ballast will work. Some people even use 2 different ballasts, but I'm not going to be THAT ghetto. You can also grab the ballasts from cars that had reflector HID's from the factory, which use D2R bulbs. But make sure not to use those bulbs in projectors. I got e46 projectors from a guy on hidplanet.com and now I'm gonna go to junk yards and start searching for any car that had HID from the factory and pull the ballasts, and if they're projector equipped, the bulbs too.

[SimpleS14]

Now here's a really weird question...I can use one projector from one car and another projector from a different car?

I'm going to start scouring the net for projectors and what not....I remember seeing this one site with nothing put F/S ads and the stuff was dirt cheap (IMO).

[SilviaDriver]

why would u wanna do that? all projectors are created differently with different cutoffs and flicker.

i guess you like mismatched wheels?

[SimpleS14]

Because I'm a cheap bastard lol


Actually I'm buying a set of Valeo projectors (from the same car). Now I need bulbs and ballast. Anyone care to give me some suggestions or tips before I start this?

I'm going to search (or post) on HIDforums and HIDplanet .....but it doesn't hurt ask here while this thread is still up.

[SilviaDriver]

dont be cheap.

[RBS14]

don't get 2 different brands/models of projectors. make sure both are the same. hidforums got hacked and isn't around anymore, it's hidplanet now. You don't need to ask questions, all the info you need is there if you search. they also have a very active f/s section. as for ballasts, most japanese cars use Matsushita (panasonic) ballasts, and most german cars use Hella ballasts. Both are great and perform the same. Also, I'd recommend against valeos. they have good output, but bosch and most honda/acura/nissan/lexus projectors slightly out-perform them.

[SimpleS14]

Yea...I pretty much have most of the stuff figured out....but one more question. what are you going to do about wiring RBS14?

My car was originally a Zenki and I still have the H4 connector. I came across this site and got a go idea of what to do....but I'd like to know what your going to do.

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/headlamp-harness.html

[RBS14]

I'm going to make a harness to the specs of that faq. However the only thing I'm not sure about is, which wire the signal for the relay is in our cars. There is one other guy that I know of that has done a retro in his zenki, so I'm gonna email him soon. A little bit later I'm gonna get some HIR bulbs for my highbeams too. should be more light than I know what to do with. haha

[RSP13-Sideways]

I have a set of HIDs from a IS300, the cruddy part is...they don't fit inside my tripple projectors on my S13 front end

[RBS14]

e46/audi TT single xenon projectors are the smallest you can find, get a pair and see if they fit. I've got a pair and they are very high quality. Can't wait to get them in the car.

[RSP13-Sideways]

RBS14, hold everything. You were at my house hrmmmm with Luke and Olga like yesterday night hahaha...SELL ME THOSE HIDS DAMMIT! Or I will trade you for my IS300 ones....

[SimpleS14]

I think I know which wire signals the relay for the low beams. Are you going to make a harness from scratch? I'm thinking of using the harness on Painless Performance. Let me know when you get intouch with the other guy.

[RBS14]

Haha hey, what's up man! I'm keeping them tho. I've got em all ready to go into my housings. check the f/s section on www.hidplanet.com I've seen a couple sets for sale in the last week. You can sell your IS300 ones there too.

95kouki: Yea, it's cake. just get 15-20 ft of 12-ga wire, that bosch relay, a few fuse holders, a few fuses, a diode and you are pretty much done. If you search, you can find a thread where a guy who built his own harness provides links to all the parts you need to make one. Which wire do you think is the signal? how do you know?

[SimpleS14]

I remember way back when I did my front end conversion I was trying to figure out what wires would get the low beam working. But I notice that there was one wire that would trigger the light to come on partically, while the other one would trigger the headlight on completely. It's still a thought and I'll check it out once I have everything. Here's a stock wiring diagram if you want to check it out....