It's important to note that the majority of stock headlight housings won't make full use of HID aftermarket kids. You need the proper reflector assembly and beam positioning settings to make full use of it, which basically requires an entire new headlight assy, which is quite costly. For most people, simply adding these aftermarket kits will only result in an extremely bright and slightly colored light that won't improve visibility by much, but will blind opposing traffic.
This is a common mistake. High Kelvin rating does not equal high light output. Highest light output with the whitest color will be around 4,000-5,000 Kelvins (oem HIDs are usually 4300k). Anything below that will be yellowish and not as bright, while anything above will be blueish or even purple and not as bright. Also, never ever install HIDs in a halogen housing. It will not work as intended, since the light source will be different in shape, size and position. Really tiny things make a huge difference in the beam pattern. If you want HIDs, retrofit projectors. edit: I did watch the re: vid. I still maintain that you should not install HID kits to reflector housings. Even if the beam pattern seems correct, there will be extra glare. Headlights are designed to produce some glare in order to light up street signs etc. so if you have a bulb in there with double the light output, the glare will also be doubled.
+Mawerick77 Agree with this 99%. I was fortunate to find an aftermarket halogen projector housing for my car that is JUST ABOUT as good for output as on a retrofit. Some spots are a little hotter than others but no glare beyond the sharp cutoff. Some of these companies definitely upped their game from 10 years ago when I first got into this.
+Mawerick77 HID in halogen reflector the glare is much worse than twice. The HID has two hotspots at the end of the arc so no matter how you aim the reflectors will still blind everyone else. You'll also have hotspots on the roud and the pupil will adapt to them by shrinking and you won't see other areas. STICK WITH THE TYPE OF BULB YOUR CAR CAME WITH.
That's correct. Anything that's not made for HID's shouldn't be installed. HID equipped vehicles were set up for that type of lighting to keep them aimed lower to the ground. It's not Eric's fault but it's just a free product issue here.
I would like to thank Eric for mentioning at the start of this video to check your local and state laws concerning the use of HID headlight kits. I operate an auto repair shop that is also a Virginia State Inspection station and have unfortunately had to tell many people that the HID kit they installed on their car will not pass inspection. In Virginia it is required that the entire kit be removed and put back to a DOT approved light. This also goes for any lens replacements. All lenses on the vehicle must have either a DOT or SAE number stamped or printed on the lens as well as headlight bulbs. Personally, I have no problem with HID's as long they are a reasonable brightness and properly installed and adjusted. Of course, HID's are legal if they are OEM. On a side note, my wife is an optician and informed me that blue is the most irritating light spectrum to the eye. This is why people often hate to see super bright blue headlights coming toward them. Keep up the good work.
Actually what you were talking about with Kelvin, is called Color Temperature. Color Temperature, basically abbreviated as K for simplicity sake, is a measurement of color not visible brightness, which is measured in Lumens or Lux. The brightest color temperature for Xenon HID bulbs (at least for autos sake and in terms of Lumens and Lux) tends to be around 4,500K - 6,500K. It depends on a few things I have seen 8,000K bulbs blue as blue, and I have also seen them almost near white. So it depends on the brand, bulb, ballast, power, and etc.
This is an improper and actually illegal installation which is exactly why most people with DIY HID's blind everyone else one the road. Proper installation has to account for the conformation of the actual headlight itself and type of lens material . A proper kit will have HID compatible replacement lenses to prevent the fractionation that causes glare.
John Adams WIth a name like "John Adams" you ask me to refer you to laws? Ironic. ALL States have local laws regarding headlight specifics. Without knowing your specific state I cannot point to a statute but you can easily find it and all other motor vehicle statutes on your state DMV website with minimal effort.
Schrodinger is right. It is ILLEGAL in ALL 50 states to make this mod under NATIONAL law: 49 U.S.C. 30122 It states that if you make a modification that renders INOPERABLE the original vehicle safety features (like the halogen headlights) it is illegal. When you do a conversion, you are technically rendering the halogen bulbs inoperable. It is only legal IF THE CAR ORIGINALLY HAD THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE FROM FACTORY. Now, some states take this even further with more regulation, and others don't have any regulation at all and defer to the national law. It is a lot like pot being legal in Colorado, but still illegal nationally. Your cops might not be enforcing HID conversions because there is no specific STATE law, but if they wanted to ruin your day, they sure could if they wanted. isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Shih.3.html
By the same hand, I'll add that TECHNICALLY it WOULD BE LEGAL to install HIDs IN ADDITION to keeping your original halogens. You could add them as fog lights or hell put 'em wherever so long as the STATE law says it is okay. That one is going to vary, but on a national level is legal.
Great video. Your video was the only one I could find that had the same plugs as mine. So it was a real life saver because I didn't know where that 3-pronged plug was supposed to be plugged into. Thank you very much :)
Back in the late 90's early 00's police would pull you over if your headlights were even bluish in color. I told the hearing officer that some higher-end imported cars come that way from the factory; to which he responded, "well once they get over here, they need to have those lights changed". Hahahah, can you see someone going back to the dealership and saying they need an "American legal colored headlight setup" ? >x-D Anyway, fast forward to about 2006 and the cops start to understand that some cars actually do have bluish headlights. At this point you wouldn't get pulled over because of the lights, but if you did something else to get pulled over, then they might question them. It seemed that HID had become "somewhat common" to the police by 2011. Now it seems that they just don't care; hell I see people driving around with purple, greenish and deep-deep-blue colored headlights. To make things even more whacky, now that LED accent lights have made it in to your Walmart stores, people are just sticking LEDs everywhere on the front of their cars. Saw a sedan coming down the road with LEDs behind the grill, underneath the headlights, along the front bumper, and in the foglight wells; perfect example of "too much of a good thing can be bad".
Hi Eric, I haven't watched any videos of yours recently, I've lost enthusiasm with my postion, so I have taken some time off to get back into it and remember why I enjoy fixing cars so much. Your Videos are helping, cheers.
Eric was only half-right about the Kelvin number. He was correct when he said it is a measure of the color. The higher the color temperature, the more blue the light will appear, but it has NOTHING to do with the brightness. As a point of reference, the surface temperature of the sun is just over 5000 degrees Kelvin and that's what determines the color of daylight. The filament of a halogen lightbulb commonly found on cars is about 3200 degrees Kelvin and looks a bit yellow.
Bill, you're not quite right on the brightness factor when it comes to color temperature (Kelvin). As number in Kelvin increases say from 3K up, the brightness output of hid lamp decreases. Thus 3K hid lamp produces more light than say 10K bulb.
***** I agree with the edited version of your reply. I should not have said that the color temperature has nothing to do with brightness because the eye is more sensitive to some colors than others (less sensitive to blue). I was mostly objecting to Eric saying that the higher color temperature was brighter and also the common misconception that higher numbers are somehow better. Even when it's legal to use HID bulbs in headlights that are designed for them, it's not legal to use higher color temperatures than 4200K.
Great Video as always Eric.. I love how you show every step in detail. Nobody else is doing that. As for all these people complaining about HID - I don't know what you're talking about. I don't recall ever being 'blinded' by a passing car with HIDs.. anyway how would you know that's what they were? Maybe it was just a fool that didn't dip his high beam as you passed. Stop complaining people!
Everything above 4300K is a nightmare on wet road where the tarmac goes completely black. You can also see on the camera that there is too much glare above the cutout line.
Jordan Bannantine I agree. Just installed 4300k HID kit on my truck, looks great. I think the 8000k he used is a bit too blue, at most I would only get 6000k, even that is noticeably bluer than 4300k when compared side by side.
Just want to encourage everyone considering an HID conversion to instead look at an LED conversion. Prices have come down, and LEDs use far less energy, produce less heat, and are more reliable. In addition, I think the beam patterns are more similar to halogens and may produce less of that glare that clearly can disturb a lot of other drivers.
The white light from the LEDs usually reflects more off the rain mist and fog, so there will be a bright white wall ahead of you, more like telling you that you are close to heaven if you hit something. The remedy for this is to install bright amber-yellow fogs to neutralise the effect, that is what we do here in Kenya.
So I ordered my kit from motor fiend, H7 4300k, and it did not come with instructions, bulb shields (Casper shields), nor a harness , it only came with the ballasts and the 2 bulbs. what happened?
Same. But, luckily I did find instructions for installation on my car from a video I found on youtube... I think the channel was Xenonsupply. See if you can find instructions there :)
For all you people who are hating on HID's being installed in other vehicles. If you don't like them stay away from North Little Rock, Arkansas because almost every law enforcement vehicle here has these upgrades in their cars and they just happen to use 8-10k bulbs. And I should also point out that HID setups are "not" illegal in the state of Arkansas as long as they are installed properly (in other words you must have a projector lens if upgrading from halogen). Also I would like to point out that the bracket used to mount the ballasts has bolt holes on both ends of the bracket and they are supposed to be mounted as flat as possible (not hanging from where Mr. Eric mounted his) in a location where there is little to no vibration or where moisture can get to them. And most HID install kits come with a projector housing in case you are replacing Halogen bulbs just like in my case as Mr. Eric here my Mazda 6 uses 9003/H2 bulbs my kit was the exact same kit he received except I didn't receive a cheap kit like him. in my case each ballast ran independently instead of needing a control relay as he did. if you buy a kit that has this relay you got yourself a very cheap kit.
You can run 8000k all day in Michigan with no problem from law enforcement. Hell, some jerks even run their halogen high beams without getting pulled over (BTW I have been blinded more by halogen high beams and stock projectors than any hid kit) I wanted higher light output, so I went with a warm white 4300k hid kit. No trace of blue unless they are just warming up.
I've been a ETCG subscriber for some time and this has to be the first video that i've seen where potential issues, like with HID's, haven't been addressed. Too many people fall foul of the 'higher the kelvin the brighter the light'. Its just untrue and it can be seen on many of the boy racer cars aiming for that BMW look. Higher kelvin lights (6000k or more) are for consourse/show cars more than practical use. The best for range of light is between 4300k - 5000k. And they are legal too.
Very disappointed Eric! Read all these comments and PLEASE read up on how HID's are VERY different than Halogen. Only install these kinds of lights into housings that were designed for them! HID lighting systems installed on a vehicle that previously had Halogen light bulbs is NOT cool. Those lights will cause extreme amounts of glare in those housings and other motorists will be at great risk of being blinded by them, possibly causing an accident! It's a very serious problem here in California. So many ignorant douche bags putting these lights in not only their driving housings but, their fogs as well! How stupid is that!? Blows me away.
***** Did you use a relay harness and run off the car battery or just the factory harness when you installed the hid kit? I have the same car and was thinking about doing an upgrade to the terrible halogens in the Fusion but I'm not sure what I will need. My car has the daytime running lights disabled.
I installed hid on my higbeam even its illeagal but only higbeam loybeam need to bee original xenon or leave it to halogen. Sorry my english is horrible, I am from finland
Saw those on a semi truck the other night. It looked like a retrofit as done here. Wasn't blinding at all. I am old school as far as staying with halogen but that is just me. Great video Eric.
Of course resort to name calling. That's not a cutoff shield, I have Hella E55 projectors with the cutoff shield, and foreground limiter. Just look at that glare when he compared the stock to his "HIDs" there's light scattered everywhere!! You just don't retrofit halogens with a HID bulb, there's a lot more involved in the process. I see you guy's all the time with your cheap crappie "HID kits" blinding ppl. That's not cool, it's dangerous!! People please do the rite thing, and buy yourselves a nice HID kit, with really good projectors and don't go pass 5500K. You don't have to resort to name calling, even if you don't agree with the other person.
Gotta get terms right so people dont get confused. A Cut-off Shield is on the projector. It's a metal flap that extends over the front of the bulb and creates the cutoff line, and also flips out of the way so it doubled as your high beam. That's your bi-xenon. That is what Dat Dude is saying. A Anti-Glare Shield is what you see in this video. To reduce exactly as the name says, glare. This is what Jeffery is trying to point out, but is calling it the wrong thing 2 different times. Went from calling the cutoff shield to a shroud, which its neither. Did this right after calling someone else an Idiot. Gotta love youtube comments A Shroud is what fits over an entire projector for that final look. There are MANY different kinds. Hard to explain, but just google HID Shroud. As far as the K rating. 4300-5000k will give you the whitest light, which also means your brightest. 6000k Is best for that slight blue look without loosing much for light output. 8000k you are trading off quite a bit of light output for your blue color. 10k and up you are just an idiot. I seen a 12k kit once (purple) in the rain. I couldn't see his lights on the road but I could see the surrounding halogens fine. The bluer color may seem 'brighter' to a lot of people because your eyes can pick up the blue hue easier than just things being lit up. I'm not really arguing with either of above posters, I'm just making a point to say something to educate anyone that reads your comments. Been following HID headlights for long time. There is a TON of info to learn to be as educated as you can be.
Great video; helped me decide to convert. Only have a couple suggestions: Since the plug-in is so close to the battery it might help to smear some "bulb grease" (dielectric lube) on the terminals. Drilling small pilot holes first (love that automatic center punch) helps prevent the larger bit from walking. Once your sheet metal screw is tested in the hole, you could have just dulled the point on your bench grinder to prevent it from damaging the wire loom/harness. You can tell you are a bright spot on the channel by all the moths you draw. Ignore the asshats and maybe they'll grow up. Good work! BTW, turning on your high beams to blind someone else is not only stupid and dangerous, but in most states it's against the law. Please reconsider this very unsafe practice.
I hate people who think it's okay to put HID headlights in a car that originally had halogens. I have two cars that have HID headlights but they were a factory option so I'm not blinding anyone. You should take those bulbs out of your car and put the factory ones back in so you don't blind someone and cause an accident. Every time I see someone with aftermarket HID headlights I turn my Highbeams on so they can be blinded too.
How old are you? 10? Your issue is about blinding people yet you turn on highbeams deliberately to blind them back? LOLOLOL what's your role in preventing accidents then?
seeing all the negative comments has litterally hurt my heart......you people are sick heartless bastards to all the people who love and supprt etcg there is a special place in heaven for you
Exactly what I was thinking! Guys/Gals, if you don't like his blue lights, pick something else! Fact of the matter is, this is a pretty great how-to for installing HIDs.
Very thorough installation Eric. Not exactly how I would do it but well done. I have watched both this video and your response to it and I've tried to find your error that you edited out and could not find a hint of it. However I would like to point out your edit related to "relay module will hereafter be known as control module". This is actually a relay module. There is nothing smart in this black box. It's main purpose is to supply constant power to the ballasts especially during switching on and between high/low beam. If you did not have this here the ballast sees a momentary drop on the input and your bulbs would dim. I had a similar problem when I installed a kit that was designed for a low beam only. Switching from high beam back to low, I had about 500ms before the low beams reached full intensity.
Awesome video as always ....but another way ....if your fuse is blown and don't have a replacement fuse and you need headlights ...just cut the fuse out and direct wire it without the fuse ....now that's only if u r stranded and have no other way and need to get home....and when it home make sure you put the fuse back in....just an emergency need to do!!!
Cool video Eric! I'm not going to belittle you for this decision, I installed a kit on my car as well. I used projectors though so that there wasn't chance of me blinding others, but I see this retrofit has a metal shield over the bulb, seems quite nice for a drop in kit. Only thing I'm going to mention about your kit is that you might find the blue light difficult to see even though theyre brighter than your stock bulbs. Blue wavelengths are the hardest for humans to see.
The point made at the beginning of the video is really important -- you need to be sure that your repair is legal and your car won't be a magnet for law enforcement. Those who don't understand the problem of blinding light should spend a day looking at the world through early cataracts, like millions of drivers do every day. Those people are absolutely blinded by oncoming light.
DDM tuning for the win! They are the only ones with a true lifetime warranty. I know because I've gone through 4 bulb RMAs! 55 watt HID kits are harder on the bulbs than 35 watt kits. 18 months of life, max before a bulb goes out if you usually have them on during the day.
I've been running a hid kit for the last year and love it. One thing I noticed is the kit I have has a single fuse which supply's both ballast units. A normal setup has a fuse per headlight meaning if you have a fault on one you lose that fuse and one light with the hid kit you have a fault in one ballast which blows the fuse and your in the dark. Been meaning to rewire that with two fuses but have not gotten around to it yet. Cant be sure but I think your kit had just one fuse too.
Job well done. I really like to follow your channel. Here in Brazil I also work with automotive maintenance and all you show is of great help in my work.
I got the 6000K I just installed them, it's very straight forwards. Luckily, I didn't have to drill any hols, however and unfortunately, I had to switch them around for it to work, no Idea why, and it took me some like an hour and a half to reinstalling it after I did the first time and it didn't work. Word of advice: try them before hoking them and get some good grounds very important. I was very happy, really excited and of course, best thx to Eric. :D
Eric, a few things. Regarding the Kelvin scale, the higher up you go the less light output you get. To anyone considering installing HID's please don't if your car does not have projector housing headlights. You will blind other drivers at night and possibly cause an accident. Some cars require 35w systems and others require 55w systems so do your research before you buy. Some higher end cars have "bulb out sensors" that can be triggered by HID's because they draw very little power.
Chris is installing the H4 equal. If you install a H7 or a H1 Hi-Beam only they are wired different, and the hi-beam takes longer to get to maximum brightness, meaning that you have to rely on the H4 equal until the hi-beam heats up properly.
I think you did a great job with the video, and as always I appreciate the time and energy you put into these. I don't even know what to say about these comments...It must be hard to continue making videos knowing people will always find something to complain about and there will always be flame wars that create unnecessary drama. Wish I could do something about it, besides flag them. Thanks again! P.S. I've never installed HIDs, but I've been blinded by them, I think most people don't adjust em
Good video. Can't say I agree with the statement, "the higher the temperature the brighter they'll be." The closest to white will be the brightest light output you will get. So anywhere from around 4300-6000K. Just like with LEDs, the 5000 or 6000K LED bulb will have more lumen output than the same bulb with amber LEDs.
Casey, you're correct, the higher Kelvin (4300K vs 6000K) simply refer to the frequency of the light waves. Higher isn't brighter in the same way that higher frequency sounds aren't louder, they're just higher, and could be louder or softer depending on the amplitude. If you get the frequency of light high enough, it goes towards ultraviolet, which is invisible to the human eye no matter how bright it is. That's the second part of the equation: how the human eye and brain perceive light. Turns out that the human eye evolved to be optimized for color temperatures between around 4300K and 5000K. So there are two factors going on here, the physics of light, and the human biological perception of that light. Bottom line is that, everything else being equal, the higher color temperatures don't translate to better road visibility.
Greetings, Eric! Today I installed myself a 6000k HID kit on my 3 cylinder Korean Daewoo Matiz. It was almost the same way as you did it in this video, but without drilling wholes. I just used plastic strips.. It won't go anywhere so.. Most important is it works and it costed me just about 60 dollars.. That's just the price of the kit so.. My car suffered from bad mechanics (our technicians in Bulgaria are not very known for their good job) back with it's first owner so now I'm full of fixing on my own most of the issues and problems.. I don't have the tools for most of the jobs, but.. I'll get em.. Anyway.. You've been an inspiration to me and I learn a lot from you videos! Thanks and yes, I stay dirty! : )
For a bass competition car it does great. It never falls apart on me and takes all the bass very well. That's why I have it. My first bass truck was and Explorer and it fell completely apart on me. I'm selling this now and going for a Tahoe. As long as I keep getting trophies I'll put a system in any truck as long as it starts and holds up.
The release of this video has probably led to all those d-bags that tailgate me in my taurus with their stupid HID lights causing me to be blinded when I drive home from work. Thanks.
I have HID bulbs and to cut down on wondering beams I plastidipped my delights where the beam wonders. This makes the beam seam more focused. I had to do 8 layers with plasticity. Also looks cool this way
If you don't want to get actual HID's since you probably have a reflector housing (versus a projector), you could try the Sylvania Silverstar zXe bulbs. I believe they are around 4100K (4300K is standard white for most OEM HIDs).
Great video, if I watched before I attempted this yesterday i would of saved hours. I did not know the wire with the fuse went to the positive battery terminal lol. Got em going nice today :)
Completely agree with that, most people who buy a "Plug and play" kit, automatically assume that after installation nothing else has to be done with it. This is a perfect case of people not knowing what they're doing, or not reading instructions effectively.
Just a note, the Kelvin scale doesn't necessarily get brighter as you go up, it's the color temperature. Lower goes toward the yellow/red scale, higher goes toward the blueish/purple scale. Typically right in the middle, around 5k or so is white, and you actually loose a bit of light/lumens as you deviate either higher or lower from there. Thanks for the vid!
To protect from rust when you have to drill a hole you could use clear nail-polish if you don't have paint. I used it around bolts on my car after removing rust and it stays nice after all those years
he's done it right... used a proper H4 conversion kit, with shroud and magnetic hi-lo.. and adjusted the beam... 34.09 and 35.40 is the proof that he's done it properly... he still has his original beam pattern... those who blind you will have light all over that garage door. keep rockin those HIDs ericthecarguy :D
It makes perfect sense. Have you seen 12000k and above in person? They look bright as all hell, but their light doesn't travel very far. So they're more intense, which can be synonymous with being brighter, but their lumen output is much lower than that of the 4300 to 6000k temperature range, therefore not brighter. I'm considering brighter as a higher lumen output.
I remember when I installed my HID kit on my 97 Grand Cherokee with a 5.2 Magnum and lemme tell ya, when you install a HID kit in a modern vehicle, you tend to think of how easier it would be with a older vehicle being that there's more room in the engine bay. Mine wasn't too bad and only took like 20 minutes to install solidly being that I off road a lot, but it was quick. Zip ties were my friend for that day, but compared to my '72 Chevy C10 350, it would've taken 15 mins.
Casper Shield are only used in double beam headlamp, which means the high beam and low beam use the same bulb like the video. Single beam are when low beam and high beam are separated and use two different bulbs. I'm surprised no one mentioned it
AlphaZ No, Casper Shields are not only used on High-Low beam headlamps. My 2002 Lincoln LS has separate bulbs for high and low beams, and the lows have Casper Shields.
Hey Eric, love your videos, they really give me confidence to do repairs and upgrades on my own that I would usually pay a lot of money at the repair shop for. One thought, and I'm not sure whether someone else mentioned this before, but the little bracket for the ballast seems to have holes on both the "top" and the "bottom" end so you can easily mount it sideways onto your support beam. This way it won't wiggle around and you don't have to break your head about zip-tying down. :)
The higher rated ones seem to work better at lighting up distant objects especially road signs and markings, but I find the lower rated hids light the area right in front of you much better,but i also agree these kits work better in some types of headlamp and not so good in others.
The HID kit he has a shield to make a cutoff type(or similar to OEM), all the cheap hid kits that other people get does not have this. Therefore the cheap ones blind other drivers, this one makes it so you're not blinding other drivers. As shown @ 4:43
Great stuff Eric ... I'm looking forward to replacing the halogen projectors with hid on my Outback. Motorfiend's prices are really attractive; the kit they sent you looks to be good quality.
I have a 08 honda crv did you run into any issues with day time running lights after install .does that element have drl.if so how dud you solve the problem
I have a crv of the same year (which is the same rolling chassis) and I actually am currently installing an hid kit and new headlights. I bought a smaller battery (in size) so I have more room next to that headlight. Another option is to reroute the battery to the rear.
all of you are wrong about light output, forget about kelvins...... you can have any color light that you want but with enough wattage you can be as bright as the sun
Lol i find it hilarious (in a good way) that this video is the "guide to HID headlight conversion" for the Motorfiend website lol. Vary promotional for Eric I think.
yes that shroud is important to keep the beam pattern correctly in place, other than also having the arc in the same position as the original filament. pay attention to the stock H4 bulb. it has a cup shielding the low beam filament.
Once you use the self-tapping screw and the hole is made I would have used a hacksaw to cut the screw down to the correct size. That way the screw sits flush when installed and at least there isn't a huge pointed object (cap or not) sitting up against the wiring harness. I think you could have done much better on that train of thought. A rubber cap isn't a fix it's just a matter of time before that screw tip causes an issue. Love ya big guy.
+frank rubi If you'd like h.I.d.s then you will have to open up your headlights and install an aftermarket projector inside of the housing. Those projectors typically use H1 hid bulbs. However, if you want to cheap out and blind people then just install hids. Remove your factory bulb to find out what bulb you have. From there every thing is straight forward.
The higher the Kelvin number the brighter they're going to be is not true. It's only color, not brightness that it refers to.
It's important to note that the majority of stock headlight housings won't make full use of HID aftermarket kids. You need the proper reflector assembly and beam positioning settings to make full use of it, which basically requires an entire new headlight assy, which is quite costly.
For most people, simply adding these aftermarket kits will only result in an extremely bright and slightly colored light that won't improve visibility by much, but will blind opposing traffic.
This is a common mistake. High Kelvin rating does not equal high light output. Highest light output with the whitest color will be around 4,000-5,000 Kelvins (oem HIDs are usually 4300k). Anything below that will be yellowish and not as bright, while anything above will be blueish or even purple and not as bright.
Also, never ever install HIDs in a halogen housing. It will not work as intended, since the light source will be different in shape, size and position. Really tiny things make a huge difference in the beam pattern. If you want HIDs, retrofit projectors.
edit: I did watch the re: vid. I still maintain that you should not install HID kits to reflector housings. Even if the beam pattern seems correct, there will be extra glare. Headlights are designed to produce some glare in order to light up street signs etc. so if you have a bulb in there with double the light output, the glare will also be doubled.
+Mawerick77 moreover HID in reflector housings annoy oncoming traffic and I think there are instructions to only install HID in projector kigts
+Mawerick77 yeah to me it maeks it harder to see stuff too.
+Mawerick77 Agree with this 99%. I was fortunate to find an aftermarket halogen projector housing for my car that is JUST ABOUT as good for output as on a retrofit. Some spots are a little hotter than others but no glare beyond the sharp cutoff. Some of these companies definitely upped their game from 10 years ago when I first got into this.
+Mawerick77 HID in halogen reflector the glare is much worse than twice. The HID has two hotspots at the end of the arc so no matter how you aim the reflectors will still blind everyone else. You'll also have hotspots on the roud and the pupil will adapt to them by shrinking and you won't see other areas. STICK WITH THE TYPE OF BULB YOUR CAR CAME WITH.
That's correct. Anything that's not made for HID's shouldn't be installed. HID equipped vehicles were set up for that type of lighting to keep them aimed lower to the ground. It's not Eric's fault but it's just a free product issue here.
I would like to thank Eric for mentioning at the start of this video to check your local and state laws concerning the use of HID headlight kits. I operate an auto repair shop that is also a Virginia State Inspection station and have unfortunately had to tell many people that the HID kit they installed on their car will not pass inspection. In Virginia it is required that the entire kit be removed and put back to a DOT approved light. This also goes for any lens replacements. All lenses on the vehicle must have either a DOT or SAE number stamped or printed on the lens as well as headlight bulbs. Personally, I have no problem with HID's as long they are a reasonable brightness and properly installed and adjusted. Of course, HID's are legal if they are OEM. On a side note, my wife is an optician and informed me that blue is the most irritating light spectrum to the eye. This is why people often hate to see super bright blue headlights coming toward them. Keep up the good work.
Actually what you were talking about with Kelvin, is called Color Temperature. Color Temperature, basically abbreviated as K for simplicity sake, is a measurement of color not visible brightness, which is measured in Lumens or Lux. The brightest color temperature for Xenon HID bulbs (at least for autos sake and in terms of Lumens and Lux) tends to be around 4,500K - 6,500K. It depends on a few things I have seen 8,000K bulbs blue as blue, and I have also seen them almost near white. So it depends on the brand, bulb, ballast, power, and etc.
This is the most detailed HID install video I've ever seen. Eric pretty much covers everything in great detail and didn't leave out any aspect.
This is an improper and actually illegal installation which is exactly why most people with DIY HID's blind everyone else one the road. Proper installation has to account for the conformation of the actual headlight itself and type of lens material . A proper kit will have HID compatible replacement lenses to prevent the fractionation that causes glare.
John Adams WIth a name like "John Adams" you ask me to refer you to laws? Ironic.
ALL States have local laws regarding headlight specifics. Without knowing your specific state I cannot point to a statute but you can easily find it and all other motor vehicle statutes on your state DMV website with minimal effort.
Headlights weren't around back when i was in office. Also a state police officer told me that as long as it can pass inspection its legal.
John Adams OMFG dude.
EXACTLY.
Schrodinger is right. It is ILLEGAL in ALL 50 states to make this mod under NATIONAL law: 49 U.S.C. 30122 It states that if you make a modification that renders INOPERABLE the original vehicle safety features (like the halogen headlights) it is illegal. When you do a conversion, you are technically rendering the halogen bulbs inoperable. It is only legal IF THE CAR ORIGINALLY HAD THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE FROM FACTORY. Now, some states take this even further with more regulation, and others don't have any regulation at all and defer to the national law. It is a lot like pot being legal in Colorado, but still illegal nationally. Your cops might not be enforcing HID conversions because there is no specific STATE law, but if they wanted to ruin your day, they sure could if they wanted. isearch.nhtsa.gov/files/Shih.3.html
By the same hand, I'll add that TECHNICALLY it WOULD BE LEGAL to install HIDs IN ADDITION to keeping your original halogens. You could add them as fog lights or hell put 'em wherever so long as the STATE law says it is okay. That one is going to vary, but on a national level is legal.
Great video. Your video was the only one I could find that had the same plugs as mine. So it was a real life saver because I didn't know where that 3-pronged plug was supposed to be plugged into. Thank you very much :)
Back in the late 90's early 00's police would pull you over if your headlights were even bluish in color. I told the hearing officer that some higher-end imported cars come that way from the factory; to which he responded, "well once they get over here, they need to have those lights changed". Hahahah, can you see someone going back to the dealership and saying they need an "American legal colored headlight setup" ? >x-D Anyway, fast forward to about 2006 and the cops start to understand that some cars actually do have bluish headlights. At this point you wouldn't get pulled over because of the lights, but if you did something else to get pulled over, then they might question them. It seemed that HID had become "somewhat common" to the police by 2011. Now it seems that they just don't care; hell I see people driving around with purple, greenish and deep-deep-blue colored headlights. To make things even more whacky, now that LED accent lights have made it in to your Walmart stores, people are just sticking LEDs everywhere on the front of their cars. Saw a sedan coming down the road with LEDs behind the grill, underneath the headlights, along the front bumper, and in the foglight wells; perfect example of "too much of a good thing can be bad".
Hi Eric,
I haven't watched any videos of yours recently, I've lost enthusiasm with my postion, so I have taken some time off to get back into it and remember why I enjoy fixing cars so much.
Your Videos are helping,
cheers.
Eric was only half-right about the Kelvin number. He was correct when he said it is a measure of the color. The higher the color temperature, the more blue the light will appear, but it has NOTHING to do with the brightness. As a point of reference, the surface temperature of the sun is just over 5000 degrees Kelvin and that's what determines the color of daylight. The filament of a halogen lightbulb commonly found on cars is about 3200 degrees Kelvin and looks a bit yellow.
Bill, you're not quite right on the brightness factor when it comes to color temperature (Kelvin). As number in Kelvin increases say from 3K up, the brightness output of hid lamp decreases. Thus 3K hid lamp produces more light than say 10K bulb.
***** I agree with the edited version of your reply. I should not have said that the color temperature has nothing to do with brightness because the eye is more sensitive to some colors than others (less sensitive to blue). I was mostly objecting to Eric saying that the higher color temperature was brighter and also the common misconception that higher numbers are somehow better. Even when it's legal to use HID bulbs in headlights that are designed for them, it's not legal to use higher color temperatures than 4200K.
Great Video as always Eric.. I love how you show every step in detail. Nobody else is doing that. As for all these people complaining about HID - I don't know what you're talking about. I don't recall ever being 'blinded' by a passing car with HIDs.. anyway how would you know that's what they were? Maybe it was just a fool that didn't dip his high beam as you passed. Stop complaining people!
Everything above 4300K is a nightmare on wet road where the tarmac goes completely black. You can also see on the camera that there is too much glare above the cutout line.
jeez didn't know an HID video would upset so many people, damn...I for one enjoyed the video as always eric
Nice video! Very informative. Fuck the haters.
Jordan Bannantine I agree. Just installed 4300k HID kit on my truck, looks great. I think the 8000k he used is a bit too blue, at most I would only get 6000k, even that is noticeably bluer than 4300k when compared side by side.
This was the most thorough and helpful HID video I have ever watched.
Just want to encourage everyone considering an HID conversion to instead look at an LED conversion. Prices have come down, and LEDs use far less energy, produce less heat, and are more reliable. In addition, I think the beam patterns are more similar to halogens and may produce less of that glare that clearly can disturb a lot of other drivers.
The problem with LEDs is that if it rains or fogs, you're fucked.
+Bernard Kilaghai thanks man!
Why are you fucked if it rains?
The white light from the LEDs usually reflects more off the rain mist and fog, so there will be a bright white wall ahead of you, more like telling you that you are close to heaven if you hit something. The remedy for this is to install bright amber-yellow fogs to neutralise the effect, that is what we do here in Kenya.
+cmmnt2254 turn on your brights the next time it's snowing hard or foggy out and you'll see exactly why.
I've been looking at replacing my original bulbs on my 01 Pathfinder. This video is everything I needed in guidance. Thank you!
So I ordered my kit from motor fiend, H7 4300k, and it did not come with instructions, bulb shields (Casper shields), nor a harness , it only came with the ballasts and the 2 bulbs. what happened?
+Kevin Rivera Mine is the same way.
Same. But, luckily I did find instructions for installation on my car from a video I found on youtube... I think the channel was Xenonsupply. See if you can find instructions there :)
For all you people who are hating on HID's being installed in other vehicles. If you don't like them stay away from North Little Rock, Arkansas because almost every law enforcement vehicle here has these upgrades in their cars and they just happen to use 8-10k bulbs. And I should also point out that HID setups are "not" illegal in the state of Arkansas as long as they are installed properly (in other words you must have a projector lens if upgrading from halogen). Also I would like to point out that the bracket used to mount the ballasts has bolt holes on both ends of the bracket and they are supposed to be mounted as flat as possible (not hanging from where Mr. Eric mounted his) in a location where there is little to no vibration or where moisture can get to them. And most HID install kits come with a projector housing in case you are replacing Halogen bulbs just like in my case as Mr. Eric here my Mazda 6 uses 9003/H2 bulbs my kit was the exact same kit he received except I didn't receive a cheap kit like him. in my case each ballast ran independently instead of needing a control relay as he did. if you buy a kit that has this relay you got yourself a very cheap kit.
You can run 8000k all day in Michigan with no problem from law enforcement. Hell, some jerks even run their halogen high beams without getting pulled over (BTW I have been blinded more by halogen high beams and stock projectors than any hid kit) I wanted higher light output, so I went with a warm white 4300k hid kit. No trace of blue unless they are just warming up.
Sane here been blinded by more halogens the hid lights still live in Michigan 23 years and still going
I've been a ETCG subscriber for some time and this has to be the first video that i've seen where potential issues, like with HID's, haven't been addressed.
Too many people fall foul of the 'higher the kelvin the brighter the light'.
Its just untrue and it can be seen on many of the boy racer cars aiming for that BMW look.
Higher kelvin lights (6000k or more) are for consourse/show cars more than practical use.
The best for range of light is between 4300k - 5000k.
And they are legal too.
Very disappointed Eric! Read all these comments and PLEASE read up on how HID's are VERY different than Halogen. Only install these kinds of lights into housings that were designed for them! HID lighting systems installed on a vehicle that previously had Halogen light bulbs is NOT cool. Those lights will cause extreme amounts of glare in those housings and other motorists will be at great risk of being blinded by them, possibly causing an accident! It's a very serious problem here in California. So many ignorant douche bags putting these lights in not only their driving housings but, their fogs as well! How stupid is that!? Blows me away.
***** Did you use a relay harness and run off the car battery or just the factory harness when you installed the hid kit? I have the same car and was thinking about doing an upgrade to the terrible halogens in the Fusion but I'm not sure what I will need. My car has the daytime running lights disabled.
I installed hid on my higbeam even its illeagal but only higbeam loybeam need to bee original xenon or leave it to halogen. Sorry my english is horrible, I am from finland
He was provided a anti-glare shield... are you blinded? because the light didnt blind you ;)
Thanks for the hid instal video!! I'm glad you finally made one it's good to see a professional instal
There is a dead cricket on the battery. lol
Saw those on a semi truck the other night. It looked like a retrofit as done here. Wasn't blinding at all. I am old school as far as staying with halogen but that is just me. Great video Eric.
please get projector housings before installing folks!
Yeah. This is the first time i see a HID kit with a shroud. It actually kept the beam pattern the same. That's a good kit.
he has a cut-off line he wont blind any1... I have the same set-up, the little metal shield really helps stop glare...
Are you serious?? He has no cutoff, look at that glare it looks like crap!
Of course resort to name calling. That's not a cutoff shield, I have Hella E55 projectors with the cutoff shield, and foreground limiter. Just look at that glare when he compared the stock to his "HIDs" there's light scattered everywhere!!
You just don't retrofit halogens with a HID bulb, there's a lot more involved in the process. I see you guy's all the time with your cheap crappie "HID kits" blinding ppl. That's not cool, it's dangerous!! People please do the rite thing, and buy yourselves a nice HID kit, with really good projectors and don't go pass 5500K.
You don't have to resort to name calling, even if you don't agree with the other person.
***** You didn't hurt my feelings buddy.
Gotta get terms right so people dont get confused.
A Cut-off Shield is on the projector. It's a metal flap that extends over the front of the bulb and creates the cutoff line, and also flips out of the way so it doubled as your high beam. That's your bi-xenon. That is what Dat Dude is saying.
A Anti-Glare Shield is what you see in this video. To reduce exactly as the name says, glare. This is what Jeffery is trying to point out, but is calling it the wrong thing 2 different times. Went from calling the cutoff shield to a shroud, which its neither. Did this right after calling someone else an Idiot. Gotta love youtube comments
A Shroud is what fits over an entire projector for that final look. There are MANY different kinds. Hard to explain, but just google HID Shroud.
As far as the K rating. 4300-5000k will give you the whitest light, which also means your brightest. 6000k Is best for that slight blue look without loosing much for light output. 8000k you are trading off quite a bit of light output for your blue color. 10k and up you are just an idiot. I seen a 12k kit once (purple) in the rain. I couldn't see his lights on the road but I could see the surrounding halogens fine.
The bluer color may seem 'brighter' to a lot of people because your eyes can pick up the blue hue easier than just things being lit up.
I'm not really arguing with either of above posters, I'm just making a point to say something to educate anyone that reads your comments. Been following HID headlights for long time. There is a TON of info to learn to be as educated as you can be.
Great video; helped me decide to convert. Only have a couple suggestions: Since the plug-in is so close to the battery it might help to smear some "bulb grease" (dielectric lube) on the terminals. Drilling small pilot holes first (love that automatic center punch) helps prevent the larger bit from walking. Once your sheet metal screw is tested in the hole, you could have just dulled the point on your bench grinder to prevent it from damaging the wire loom/harness. You can tell you are a bright spot on the channel by all the moths you draw. Ignore the asshats and maybe they'll grow up. Good work!
BTW, turning on your high beams to blind someone else is not only stupid and dangerous, but in most states it's against the law. Please reconsider this very unsafe practice.
Alot of things are against the law. I highly doubt that hardly anyone ever gets ticketed for shining high beams in another car's direction.
I hate people who think it's okay to put HID headlights in a car that originally had halogens. I have two cars that have HID headlights but they were a factory option so I'm not blinding anyone. You should take those bulbs out of your car and put the factory ones back in so you don't blind someone and cause an accident. Every time I see someone with aftermarket HID headlights I turn my Highbeams on so they can be blinded too.
How old are you? 10? Your issue is about blinding people yet you turn on highbeams deliberately to blind them back? LOLOLOL what's your role in preventing accidents then?
George Au-Duong They blind me I blind them back. It's called being fair. lol
ZNormT6 wow you are really pathetic...
Hes actually right. you need to buy new head light housings and projectors. not just put in the bulb. it doesn't work with reflectors.
Znorm, you are absolutely correct and I do the same exact thing.
seeing all the negative comments has litterally hurt my heart......you people are sick heartless bastards
to all the people who love and supprt etcg there is a special place in heaven for you
But i dont want my lamps hid, I want peeps to see em. :¬/
i just got that, Golden.
Exactly what I was thinking! Guys/Gals, if you don't like his blue lights, pick something else! Fact of the matter is, this is a pretty great how-to for installing HIDs.
Very thorough installation Eric. Not exactly how I would do it but well done. I have watched both this video and your response to it and I've tried to find your error that you edited out and could not find a hint of it. However I would like to point out your edit related to "relay module will hereafter be known as control module". This is actually a relay module. There is nothing smart in this black box. It's main purpose is to supply constant power to the ballasts especially during switching on and between high/low beam. If you did not have this here the ballast sees a momentary drop on the input and your bulbs would dim. I had a similar problem when I installed a kit that was designed for a low beam only. Switching from high beam back to low, I had about 500ms before the low beams reached full intensity.
Awesome video as always ....but another way ....if your fuse is blown and don't have a replacement fuse and you need headlights ...just cut the fuse out and direct wire it without the fuse ....now that's only if u r stranded and have no other way and need to get home....and when it home make sure you put the fuse back in....just an emergency need to do!!!
Nice step by step video, sir. Sorry about the negative comments. I hope they don't keep you from posting more.
Cool video Eric! I'm not going to belittle you for this decision, I installed a kit on my car as well. I used projectors though so that there wasn't chance of me blinding others, but I see this retrofit has a metal shield over the bulb, seems quite nice for a drop in kit. Only thing I'm going to mention about your kit is that you might find the blue light difficult to see even though theyre brighter than your stock bulbs. Blue wavelengths are the hardest for humans to see.
I'm running 8000k 55w HID and they look awesome. I love driving at night.
HIDs. One of the best/most exciting mod ever!
The point made at the beginning of the video is really important -- you need to be sure that your repair is legal and your car won't be a magnet for law enforcement.
Those who don't understand the problem of blinding light should spend a day looking at the world through early cataracts, like millions of drivers do every day. Those people are absolutely blinded by oncoming light.
DDM tuning for the win! They are the only ones with a true lifetime warranty. I know because I've gone through 4 bulb RMAs! 55 watt HID kits are harder on the bulbs than 35 watt kits. 18 months of life, max before a bulb goes out if you usually have them on during the day.
This holds so much truth. I hope people that read this reconsider installing these damn things, or at least do it the right way.
I've been running a hid kit for the last year and love it. One thing I noticed is the kit I have has a single fuse which supply's both ballast units. A normal setup has a fuse per headlight meaning if you have a fault on one you lose that fuse and one light with the hid kit you have a fault in one ballast which blows the fuse and your in the dark. Been meaning to rewire that with two fuses but have not gotten around to it yet. Cant be sure but I think your kit had just one fuse too.
Job well done. I really like to follow your channel. Here in Brazil I also work with automotive maintenance and all you show is of great help in my work.
Eric, as always professional. The best HID installation video.
I got the 6000K I just installed them, it's very straight forwards. Luckily, I didn't have to drill any hols, however and unfortunately, I had to switch them around for it to work, no Idea why, and it took me some like an hour and a half to reinstalling it after I did the first time and it didn't work. Word of advice: try them before hoking them and get some good grounds very important. I was very happy, really excited and of course, best thx to Eric. :D
Eric, a few things. Regarding the Kelvin scale, the higher up you go the less light output you get. To anyone considering installing HID's please don't if your car does not have projector housing headlights. You will blind other drivers at night and possibly cause an accident. Some cars require 35w systems and others require 55w systems so do your research before you buy. Some higher end cars have "bulb out sensors" that can be triggered by HID's because they draw very little power.
Chris is installing the H4 equal. If you install a H7 or a H1 Hi-Beam only they are wired different, and the hi-beam takes longer to get to maximum brightness, meaning that you have to rely on the H4 equal until the hi-beam heats up properly.
One of the BEST install videos I've watched!
Looks great ! Also watched your 'RE:' for this vid, learned a lot don't stop making vids please !
I think you did a great job with the video, and as always I appreciate the time and energy you put into these. I don't even know what to say about these comments...It must be hard to continue making videos knowing people will always find something to complain about and there will always be flame wars that create unnecessary drama. Wish I could do something about it, besides flag them. Thanks again!
P.S. I've never installed HIDs, but I've been blinded by them, I think most people don't adjust em
Good video. Can't say I agree with the statement, "the higher the temperature the brighter they'll be."
The closest to white will be the brightest light output you will get. So anywhere from around 4300-6000K. Just like with LEDs, the 5000 or 6000K LED bulb will have more lumen output than the same bulb with amber LEDs.
***** You are correct and Eric made an erroneous statement. The brightest is 4300k-5000k
Casey, you're correct, the higher Kelvin (4300K vs 6000K) simply refer to the frequency of the light waves. Higher isn't brighter in the same way that higher frequency sounds aren't louder, they're just higher, and could be louder or softer depending on the amplitude. If you get the frequency of light high enough, it goes towards ultraviolet, which is invisible to the human eye no matter how bright it is. That's the second part of the equation: how the human eye and brain perceive light. Turns out that the human eye evolved to be optimized for color temperatures between around 4300K and 5000K. So there are two factors going on here, the physics of light, and the human biological perception of that light. Bottom line is that, everything else being equal, the higher color temperatures don't translate to better road visibility.
Greetings, Eric! Today I installed myself a 6000k HID kit on my 3 cylinder Korean Daewoo Matiz. It was almost the same way as you did it in this video, but without drilling wholes. I just used plastic strips.. It won't go anywhere so.. Most important is it works and it costed me just about 60 dollars.. That's just the price of the kit so.. My car suffered from bad mechanics (our technicians in Bulgaria are not very known for their good job) back with it's first owner so now I'm full of fixing on my own most of the issues and problems.. I don't have the tools for most of the jobs, but.. I'll get em.. Anyway.. You've been an inspiration to me and I learn a lot from you videos! Thanks and yes, I stay dirty! : )
For a bass competition car it does great. It never falls apart on me and takes all the bass very well. That's why I have it. My first bass truck was and Explorer and it fell completely apart on me. I'm selling this now and going for a Tahoe. As long as I keep getting trophies I'll put a system in any truck as long as it starts and holds up.
Thanks Eric your the man, I just got me a kit for my Honda civic I will let you know how the install goes thanks a million
The release of this video has probably led to all those d-bags that tailgate me in my taurus with their stupid HID lights causing me to be blinded when I drive home from work. Thanks.
Slower traffic should keep right or just pull over to let those of us who are not asleep by..
Eric, thanks for the detailed instructions for this installation procedure. Cheers! GREAT JOB!
I have HID bulbs and to cut down on wondering beams I plastidipped my delights where the beam wonders. This makes the beam seam more focused. I had to do 8 layers with plasticity. Also looks cool this way
If you don't want to get actual HID's since you probably have a reflector housing (versus a projector), you could try the Sylvania Silverstar zXe bulbs. I believe they are around 4100K (4300K is standard white for most OEM HIDs).
Good Vid- I just bought a BMW 323i that came with the HID's and I had to repair 1 so thanks for the helpful info
Great video, if I watched before I attempted this yesterday i would of saved hours. I did not know the wire with the fuse went to the positive battery terminal lol. Got em going nice today :)
Completely agree with that, most people who buy a "Plug and play" kit, automatically assume that after installation nothing else has to be done with it. This is a perfect case of people not knowing what they're doing, or not reading instructions effectively.
That tip, to use touchup paint wherever you drill a hole through painted steel, is excellent.
thank you yet again Eric the car guy, rock on
oh god, another HID video?!
at least you did aim down the headlight
maybe you should also consider converting your headlight to projector headlight
Real clean install Eric. Keep up the good work.
For the complaint, Eric has indicated some warnings in the very beginning of this video.
Good tutorial! thank you
Just a note, the Kelvin scale doesn't necessarily get brighter as you go up, it's the color temperature. Lower goes toward the yellow/red scale, higher goes toward the blueish/purple scale. Typically right in the middle, around 5k or so is white, and you actually loose a bit of light/lumens as you deviate either higher or lower from there. Thanks for the vid!
To protect from rust when you have to drill a hole you could use clear nail-polish if you don't have paint. I used it around bolts on my car after removing rust and it stays nice after all those years
he's done it right...
used a proper H4 conversion kit, with shroud and magnetic hi-lo.. and adjusted the beam...
34.09 and 35.40 is the proof that he's done it properly... he still has his original beam pattern... those who blind you will have light all over that garage door.
keep rockin those HIDs ericthecarguy :D
wow- mind blown. kelvin is a measurement for light, colour and noise temperature. thanks to eric and wikipedia for introducing me to something new
This is an awesome tutorial. Thank you so much!
Great video! I appreciate all the detail possible. (As opposed to "first pull the engine out, then...").
It makes perfect sense. Have you seen 12000k and above in person? They look bright as all hell, but their light doesn't travel very far. So they're more intense, which can be synonymous with being brighter, but their lumen output is much lower than that of the 4300 to 6000k temperature range, therefore not brighter. I'm considering brighter as a higher lumen output.
I remember when I installed my HID kit on my 97 Grand Cherokee with a 5.2 Magnum and lemme tell ya, when you install a HID kit in a modern vehicle, you tend to think of how easier it would be with a older vehicle being that there's more room in the engine bay. Mine wasn't too bad and only took like 20 minutes to install solidly being that I off road a lot, but it was quick. Zip ties were my friend for that day, but compared to my '72 Chevy C10 350, it would've taken 15 mins.
Casper Shield are only used in double beam headlamp, which means the high beam and low beam use the same bulb like the video. Single beam are when low beam and high beam are separated and use two different bulbs. I'm surprised no one mentioned it
AlphaZ No, Casper Shields are not only used on High-Low beam headlamps. My 2002 Lincoln LS has separate bulbs for high and low beams, and the lows have Casper Shields.
Hey Eric,
love your videos, they really give me confidence to do repairs and upgrades on my own that I would usually pay a lot of money at the repair shop for.
One thought, and I'm not sure whether someone else mentioned this before, but the little bracket for the ballast seems to have holes on both the "top" and the "bottom" end so you can easily mount it sideways onto your support beam. This way it won't wiggle around and you don't have to break your head about zip-tying down. :)
The higher rated ones seem to work better at lighting up distant objects especially road signs and markings, but I find the lower rated hids light the area right in front of you much better,but i also agree these kits work better in some types of headlamp and not so good in others.
It felt for ever in order to have this video.
I what HID now keep up the good work all the way from Ireland
I run HID on my headlights and on my fog lights! I love them!!! I can see much further down the road than conventional bulbs.
Great job looks awesome
The HID kit he has a shield to make a cutoff type(or similar to OEM), all the cheap hid kits that other people get does not have this. Therefore the cheap ones blind other drivers, this one makes it so you're not blinding other drivers. As shown @ 4:43
1/2 or 3/8?
Great stuff Eric ... I'm looking forward to replacing the halogen projectors with hid on my Outback. Motorfiend's prices are really attractive; the kit they sent you looks to be good quality.
If adjusted properly they will not blind anyone. I've had my kits in my suv and car for five years with no complaints from anyone.
I have a 08 honda crv did you run into any issues with day time running lights after install .does that element have drl.if so how dud you solve the problem
Just got my kit for my CRV, can't wait to install it, :)
What model year i have a 2011 crv and not sure how to get the driver side one in
Great video. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
I couldn't agree more with that. I run 5000k (that's all they had when I got them) but from what I have seen they work the best!!!!
I have a crv of the same year (which is the same rolling chassis) and I actually am currently installing an hid kit and new headlights. I bought a smaller battery (in size) so I have more room next to that headlight. Another option is to reroute the battery to the rear.
all of you are wrong about light output, forget about kelvins...... you can have any color light that you want but with enough wattage you can be as bright as the sun
Lol i find it hilarious (in a good way) that this video is the "guide to HID headlight conversion" for the Motorfiend website lol. Vary promotional for Eric I think.
Really awesome video, Eric. You continually impress me! One tiny error..you used 'an' instead if 'a' in the title. Again, wonderful video!
Motorfiend hooked scotty kilmer up with hids noe eric the car guy. Smart Advertisement for free
yes that shroud is important to keep the beam pattern correctly in place, other than also having the arc in the same position as the original filament.
pay attention to the stock H4 bulb. it has a cup shielding the low beam filament.
The sound of the box and components gave me goosebumps haha.
Once you use the self-tapping screw and the hole is made I would have used a hacksaw to cut the screw down to the correct size. That way the screw sits flush when installed and at least there isn't a huge pointed object (cap or not) sitting up against the wiring harness. I think you could have done much better on that train of thought. A rubber cap isn't a fix it's just a matter of time before that screw tip causes an issue. Love ya big guy.
+frank rubi
If you'd like h.I.d.s then you will have to open up your headlights and install an aftermarket projector inside of the housing. Those projectors typically use H1 hid bulbs. However, if you want to cheap out and blind people then just install hids. Remove your factory bulb to find out what bulb you have. From there every thing is straight forward.