So I've been looking at Homer's thread on Tbricks in showroom about his Bi-Xenon headlights, and I'm pretty pleased with the pattern he's gotten using them in his E-codes. The price on these kits has come down drastically and the quality has gone way up, from what I can see, so I think it's time to do a little experiment of my own.

Before I bought any, I wondered who else would be interested in getting a set for themselves, and hopefully working with a seller who will combine shipping & give us a better deal.

I've looked at a few kits on eBay recently, and they all seem to be a mix of chinese, japanese, and german parts. Not to say that this is bad, but it's tough to say how high quality they are. It's a pretty certain bet that most of these sellers and/or companies will not be around in a year or two, and that there will be something newer/better out then and possibly for less money. The kits may last, they may not.

Most sellers offer your choice of bulb and your choice of colour, and if you're looking at getting H1, H3, 9005, 9006, or any other style that is replacing a single filiment bulb, the prices range from $50 to $75, with $30-60 in shipping to Canada. If you're looking at a Bi-Xenon H4 or 9007 (where the bulb is moved back and forth to satisfy low and high beams), the kit ranges from $80 to about $140. Some kits are way out to lunch - close to $400 - but they might be of higher quality. Still, I'm not going to invest that much money into them just to find out.

Many sellers offer a couple colours of bulb, mostly around the 6000-9000 Kelvin range. 6000K is a bit blue for my taste, and 9000K is getting close to purple. I hope to get a kit closer to 4300K, which is whiter than a halogen bulb and probably very close to OEM HID kits. One or two sellers I've found offer every colour and every style - all you have to do is tell them what bulb and what colour you want, and they'll set it up. If you want something near ultraviolet (and completely useless & illegal) you can get up to a 14,000K bulb from one or two sellers, but they're kind of rare and a bit more expensive because of it.

One thing to mention when talking about HID bulbs is that they are really not supposed to be shut off and quickly relit. I'm not sure how the OEMs do it - possibly that's part of the cost of the ballast in the OEM systems. Presumably the aftermarket stuff is getting better in this regard, but it might be wise to avoid getting HIDs for your fogs, driving lights, or high beams in a dual lens setup. If you can wire your HID low beams to stay on while you are in high beam, so much the better. The nice thing about the Bi-Xenon stuff is that the bulb never shuts off when switching from low to high and back - the bulb just moves forward and back to simulate the H4/9007 dual filiments.

So is anyone interested in trying some with me? I don't want to hear "yeah, depending on price" because I want to KNOW you'll be paying for these things while I negotiate a deal. If you say yes, there's no backing out. Check the thread on Tbrix if you're interested: http://www.forums.turbobricks.com/showt ... p?t=112082

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One other tip I recently read about are the new-fangled 9011 and 9012 bulbs, which are close to a replacement for the 9005 and 9006 bulbs. The deal with these new bulbs is that they draw the same current, they make the same heat, but they produce between 75 and 110% more light than a comparable 9005/9006. Supposedly the way they do this is by shaping the bulb so that they can deposit multiple layers of ultraviolet reflecting coating on the inside of the bulb, and have the UV reflect back on the filiment, making it burn hotter and brighter. The increased visible light passes through the coating, and it's supposed to be a very dramatic difference.

These bulbs were developed for a few new-ish cars (Viper, new Maxima, certain BMW and Mercedes models) and are produced by only one or two manufacturers, and are understandably expensive. They can't be purchased yet at parts stores (supposedly Agro Equipment, the John Deere dealer, sells the low-beam version for some of their tractors, but I'm dubious) but can be bought online. They're around $30-50 per bulb, so far.

The fitment issue is minimal - one of the alignment tabs is wider than the 9005/9006, and you've got to cut some of it off. Takes a few minutes with a knife.

I might try a set of these in Roberta's car. We've tried Sylvania Silverstars, and have been sorely disappointed in them. They make a really nice whitish light and look really good when they work, but we've blown up 3 or 4 of them in only a few months, between both our cars. Not an uncommon problem, from what I've read & heard. Save your money on Silverstars (at least, the Sylvania brand. Apparently the Osram ones are quite different, and much better).

So there's another tip for Kat & the Ians, who have cars that take these bulbs.

I'll take at least one set; likely 2...

I would be interested in a kit for the C70 which uses H7 bulbs in 4500-5000k range. ... and probably a kit for the Volvord ... maybe

Just curious, what is the expected bulb life?
where are replacement bulbs availability?
What are their cost?

Athal has all his play monays (and then some) tied up in a rockin M5 that won't be here until Dec/Jan. I'll just see how you guys do and perhaps outfit it with HIDs in the new year...

Dale: I'll need to know bulb and colour. I'll talk to you about it this weekend, I'm sure.

Ian: Osram/Sylvaina claims that their 55w H7 bulb is rated at 370 hours, and that the 45/65w 9004 bulb is rated at 850 hours low and 250 hours high beam. The H4 is a bit more confusing - there are 4 or 5 different part numbers, rated at between 150 and 300 hours low beam and 75 to 150 hours high beam. Sylvania rates their D1 and D2 bulbs to between 2000 and 3000 hours.

The bulbs we're getting aren't necessarily Sylvania brand, but that gives you an idea of what we're talking about. All the eBay sellers claim up to 3000 hours and/or 10 times longer life for their HID bulb kits.

By the way, the link to the HIR 9011/9012 thread is here: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736 Don't confuse regular 9011/9012 with the HIR 9011/9012 bulbs. Also, supposedly there's a 9009 bulb that fits where the 9011 goes and has about double the output of the normal 9011, but I don't know how that relate to the HIR version. HIR, by the way, is the High Intensity Reflective process I described above, with the reflective coating and yadda yadda yadda.

Hi Matt,

Count me in - need H4's and would like the 4500K range. My current low beams are weak and who doesn't need another project? Got some serious night driving in on Monday as I drove Edmonton to Lethbridge after a late Monday meeting - had to teach Tuesday AM. My highs were fine, but the low beams were just not quite up to snuff.

Craig

Right on, Craig.

By the way, I have read all the stuff on Daniel Stern's website condemning HID retrofit kits, etc., and all I can say is that time moves on. I believe that he was 100% right in claiming that these kits were not safe when they first came out, and I also believe that he's 100% right in claiming that they're not safe when used with most DOT lenses.

Things have changed since he gave those opinions, though: bulbs are being created specifically for retrofits, rather than brewed up with an HID bulb, a 9007 housing, and some 5 minute epoxy. The arc is placed much more accurately and consistently in the housing, and with the new bi-xenon bulbs, proper shielding and shutters are designed that eliminate nearly all of the glare that unshielded bulbs gave in H4 applications.

Certain headlights are just not suitable for the added power, though - To be given DOT or ECE certification, headlights must give off light within a range of intensity within a given pattern, and obviously there is an area where light is NOT desired (up and to the left in low beam application). DOT lights tend to focus much of the light in front of the car, in a fairly narrow beam, and have a certain amount of scatter to the left and right of the beam, but the scatter is still below the levels allowed to enter oncoming traffic. Increasing the bulb intensity will push these levels over the top, blinding oncoming traffic, and quite likely blinding traffic you're following. E-codes use shutters and sheilds to eliminate light from exiting the front and bottom of the bulb, which ensures that all of the light on low beams is sent to the top of the reflector, which bounces it towards the ground. Increasing the intensity of this bulb isn't going to increase glare as much as it will in a DOT lamp.

Just another word of warning...

Hi Matt,

I've got various 7" round reflector that I could use (a set of Hella H4's not on the car and some Chinese projectors on the car) - is there a brand of rounds that would work best?

Craig

By "chinese projectors" you don't mean these, do you?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/59-79-VW ... dZViewItem

Or do you mean these?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MG-MIDGE ... dZViewItem

The former are something new, with a "projector lens" installed in the reflector. Completely useless, I'm pretty sure that lens will do nothing at best, or just scatter light everywhere in the worst case. The H4 bulbs have a shield that doesn't let light exit the bulb directly forward, so this projector would be trying to "focus" the light bounced around from all of those facets in the reflector. I think these are complete junk.

I grabbed a set similar to the latter from Dale just to try them on my truck, but I haven't installed them yet. Powered by my battery charger, the low beams make a pretty "straight line" pattern, similar to a fog light, but there are areas that are clearly scattered, and would probably irritate some folks. Probably okay with regular bulbs, and worth a try with HIDs if you're getting some, but I think the proper E-codes would be best.

I have the laters (exactly) - what E-codes would you suggest? Hella's?

I'd be interested in some H4's. Probably in the 4600-5000K range

Jordan

I have done some reading, and I agree that from what I've seen on one retrofitted car that Daniel Stern is certainly right if you live in 1999, not so much in 2007.

What kind of power consumption is typical? I haven't seen a lumen figure yet. I don't need very bright lowbeams where I am, though since I'd have H4s in either the singe 7" rounds or the H4 square lights, I'd probably accept a very bright lowbeam (since it has to be one bulb with one arc) and hope the beam pattern is good enough (which looks promising) that I can just aim my lights a little low and live with the fact that they are kinda bright.

I almost wonder now with the shutter and being able to effectively change the shape of the arc exposed in a very small space if whatever isn't all that accurate about the bulb output really matters much if you are me with ECE H4s of either round or square variety with late 70s/early 80s era of lighting design.

I like my light pretty "mellow yellow" for most here. Like 3500Kish. I'd settle for 4K or whatever is likely the "yellowest" all you guys will tolerate.

Is there a timeframe you have in mind that I should or shouldn't be committing to?

As far as timeframe goes, I am looking to get a few folks I can trust to follow through to say that yes: they'd like some in such-and-such a flavour. At that point I'd look to see what folks are asking for, and try to get the best price on them. I guess "that point" should be stated, so let's make it this coming Monday, a week from today.

James, you and I still have a financial matter to work out, so this might be an opportunity for me to pay back some of it, maybe?

Okay, so far I've got orders for H4 kits at 4500K for Dale, Craig, Jordan, and myself, and an H7 kit for Ian. Is there anyone else who wants something?

I've sent a question to the same dude who Homer bought his from - the kits seem to be the best compromise of quality, features, selection, and price. The shipping is outrageous, but I'm certain that he's beefed up his shipping costs to allow him to bring the sale price below anyone else's. We'll see what kind of deal he'll cut us on 6 kits to the same address.

Is there something like the 9011/9012 bulbs that can be substituted in a similar way for a 9004 ? That's what my 940 T uses.

What are my options, if any, for improving the amount of light my 940's (single) 9004 bulb headlamps use ?

Roj