halogen to projection headlight

[brunskill43]

Hello fellow members i just want to no if its possible to convert my standed bulb for projector bulbs with out getting new lights.

The connection is different but what else needs to change to accommodate the projector bulb.

pictures and info mmuch appreciated.

my car is is250 manual 55 plate if this helps.

 

 

[normski2]

I don’t think you can just change halogen bulbs for d4s discharge bulbs without changing the whole unit. Assuming that is what you are referring to. It would be a lot of work. You would need to remove the front bumper to get at hidden bolts. There may well be implications for the wiring too.

I might be wrong but I thought there had to be headlight washers fitted when HID lights are present. Could well give an MOT failure. Mind you mot centres are unlikely, at present, to look that closely.

I’ll be intrigued to see what other replies you get. Maybe it’s possible without too much hassle.

[normski2]

Also, forgot to mention, the headlights need to be self levelling for HID lamps.

The headlight housing has a motor to facilitate this. It is prompted by sensors fitted front and rear on the car. 

 

[johnatg]

Which lights are you referring to? The dip beams are projector lamps and have either Halogens or HIDs depending on model (SEs have halogen, SE-Ls have HID for example). The main beams are halogen and these cannot be changed for HID (or at least should not be)

You can put HID bulbs in the dip beams - kits are available on eBay from £30 ish. They are illegal but work pretty well. I've had them for over two years in my SE and have had no problems with MoTs or getting flashed at. It is true that for EU type approval a car has to be fitted with headlight washers and self-levelling headlamps for HID bulbs to be used but this does not affect the MoT (but does make the HIDs illegal if the extras are not fitted). The MoT test checks roadworthiness, not type approval (and they are not the same thing). The MoT manual says that lights fitted with HID bulbs may be fitted with washers and self levelling and these must be working if they are fitted - but note 'may' and not 'must'.

Don't think that by fitting HIDs to a halogen-equipped projector dip beam you will get the same result as an oem HID set up. The manufacturer fitted dip beams with HID have a shutter which opens when you switch to long range/main beam and closes when you dip the lights. This movable shutter is not fitted to halogen equipped dip projectors - they seem to be permanently 'shuttered'. It is a big improvement to the lighting to fit HIDs to the dip beams though, despite the howls of disapproval that will follow this!

Use HID bulbs rated at 5000K or less - the higher temperature ones have strange colours and actually produce less light (fewer lumens). The after-market HID kits come with a ballast and the whole thing just plugs in using the standard bulb plugs. You have to cut a hole approx 1" diameter in the rubber dust protector on the back of the dip beam lamp. This is plugged with a grommet from the kit which has wires between bulb and ballast passing thought it (and fitting very tightly for water and dust protection).

Fitting is a bit tight, especially on the left hand side, but not too difficult.

[brunskill43]

Thanks for your reply guys as just wanted to use projector bulbs as seem a better option but that just sounds like to much hassle to change. May consider hid kit but not sure yet.. 

Just done all my interior lights with LED blue and look awesome in the dark my puddle lights are next. 

[leelacey17]

Thanks for your reply guys as just wanted to use projector bulbs as seem a better option but that just sounds like to much hassle to change. May consider hid kit but not sure yet.. 
Just done all my interior lights with led blue and look awesome in the dark my puddle lights are next. 

I did my puddle lights a few weeks ago and look good. Be careful with the hid kits as they are effectively illegal but you do what you need to do. I changed my fogs to LED and they are as I was reminded on here illegal but they do look good and I use them as drls

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

They are illegal but work pretty well.

You mean "works pretty well" by blinding oncoming motorists? Except of that they don't do much - have very blue eerie colour which are tiring and as you said actually produces less light.

As for LED lights - same story, if you replace them with good quality white (5000-6000k) then OK, but if with high kelvin blue they do pretty much the same job as fake HIDs. One think people need to realise - blue means poor quality. That is because specifically for LEDs it is hard to make powerful and perfectly white colour, as such some simply have yellow filters to mask blue light, but produces considerably less light, or they have no filters and are blue. Similar for HIDs - people still think that blue means HID, but that is not true, HIDs should be as close to white as possible - blue is low quality fake HID conversions which doesn't even use relatively expensive Xenon, they use various mixtures of argon/neon and works on similar principal as halogen just produces ugly blue light.

I know above I am just grumble a lot without actually suggesting anything positive. My advise would be either get the good quality high k halogen bulbs, like Osram blue intense/night breakers - they are like 4300k, nowhere near HID counterpart, but still huge improvement over OEM, secondly you can try to get LED bulb (not conversion kit) but should not go mental with k rating and lumens, seasonable bulb will get you about the same light output at 5000-6000k - so in summary it would just change the colour to something more pleasing. If you try to go for something crazy with high lumens you ultimately getting into same problem as illegal HID kits - blue light and annoying ballasts which tends to get on fire.

[leelacey17]

[emoji651][emoji651][emoji651][emoji651] Reminded [emoji23][emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[johnatg]

Can't let that go, Linas.

My lights do not blind oncoming motorists - if they did, I would get flashed at and I have never experienced retaliation since my HIDs have been fitted. Also, the aim and beam pattern is checked at MoT time and is correct.  And there is a very sharp cut off along a horizontal line between light and dark - lower and upper areas of the beam pattern. Sub-5000K HIDs produce white light - the blue/green colours come in above that.

There is no similarity between the operation of HIDs and halogen bulbs. HIDs strike an arc between electrodes. The inert gas - be it Xenon or one of the other noble gases - is largely there to prevent too much erosion/burning away of the electrodes. The actual gas may affect the colour to some extent, but the gas plays no other part in the operation. HIDs are bright like a welding torch - the arc produces the light. Doesn't matter if they are cheap or expensive - they all work like that.

Halogen bulbs work with a fine Tungsten filament. The Halogen surrounding it (Iodine) creates a chemical reaction with Tungsten atoms evaporating from the filament whereby Tungsten Iodide is produced which dissociates and redeposits Tungsten on the filament. In this way a very fine (and hence, bright) filament which would otherwise burn out very quickly is enabled to keep on working for a reasonable time as it is effectively reconstituted continually. Noble gases are present to fill the bulb and create the correct (high) pressure needed for operation - only a small amount of iodine is present, and again, the noble gases play no part in the operation.

As for LED bulbs - they just don't work in headlamps not designed for them. They look bright but they just don't produce illumination. (Hence I can see that they work very well for DRLs in the fog lights). Cars which use LEDs have headlamps designed as a unit and they work - too well, as they are just too bright, as featured in the news a few days ago.

[johnatg]

Perhaps I could have put the bit about the noble gas playing no part in HID operation a bit better......the light is of course produced by changes in energy levels in the electrons of the gas through which the arc is struck. It doesn't really matter what gas is used - any gas will give out light when an arc is struck.

[leelacey17]

Perhaps I could have put the bit about the noble gas playing no part in HID operation a bit better......the light is of course produced by changes in energy levels in the electrons of the gas through which the arc is struck. It doesn't really matter what gas is used - any gas will give out light when an arc is struck.

Great description. If you've made them work for you then great as it makes the car look so much better than normal.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

... if they did, I would get flashed at

I don't flash at fake HIDs, I just hate them as they are very tiring when driving in the dark and you can spot them straight away.

I know very well the difference between halogen and Xenon, that is exactly my point - some fake HIDs doesn't even arc and other just uses cheaper substitutes instead of Xenon, hence inferior light output. 

[Shaunomercy]

If you want to improve the halogens, look at pia bulbs but sit down before you read the price.
A cheaper alternative would be osram night breakers..

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk