HIR Bulbs....meh

Low-Tek

Low-Tek

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I recently installed a set of the newest Phillips HIRs. While they ARE brighter than stock... most of the reviews I read made it sound as if the light output was this insane, amazing, eyegasm of luminescence that would kill birds and small mammals that were caught in its apocalyptic beam. I was expecting to turn my headlights on and see the sun itself quiver with jealous rage....

But it was meh. They are not bad, but I should have looked up the actual outputs before I bought them.

Was there anyone else who wasn't blown away by them?
 
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I was blown away only when I used the upgraded filament bulbs...so in-lieu of the 9005 buy the 9011 and trim the tabs to fit and you WILL be eyegasm'd hard! Incredibly better and touted at 88% brighter than 9005 HIRs...you won't be disappointed with the 9011 upgrade in HIR...
 
9005 bulbs = 1,700 lumens each ... 55w D2S HID bulb = 4,000 lumens each. Quit farting around with ancient technology and get yourself a projector retrofit. Just finished my 5th retrofit, and results are astounding, all for $170.


GrGslWh.jpg
 
*Cough. Baaaack in my day we didn't have light, we had sticks and rocks, and sometimes we didn't even have rocks, we just, hey who took my jellooooo?

Anyway don't make me sound so old, I'm 30 and desperately clinging to my beloved halogen mistress.

The wifes MDX had HIDs and I have HIDs on another car as well so I'm aware of their brightness. I do like the sharp curtain as well. I may do the retrofit in the future. We will see. Only complaint, I noticed that in heavy snow/fog, the HIDs, with their higher Kelvins Temp reflect a lot worse. I can actually see better in the heavy fog and snow with halogens. Not a big deal if I wasn't about to move to Alaska....


absalom said:
9005 bulbs = 1,700 lumens each ... 55w D2S HID bulb = 4,000 lumens each. Quit farting around with ancient technology and get yourself a projector retrofit. Just finished my 5th retrofit, and results are astounding, all for $170.


GrGslWh.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Low-Tek said:
*Cough. Baaaack in my day we didn't have light, we had sticks and rocks, and sometimes we didn't even have rocks, we just, hey who took my jellooooo?

Anyway don't make me sound so old, I'm 30 and desperately clinging to my beloved halogen mistress.

The wifes MDX had HIDs and I have HIDs on another car as well so I'm aware of their brightness. I do like the sharp curtain as well. I may do the retrofit in the future. We will see. Only complaint, I noticed that in heavy snow/fog, the HIDs, with their higher Kelvins Temp reflect a lot worse. I can actually see better in the heavy fog and snow with halogens. Not a big deal if I wasn't about to move to Alaska....
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HID's aren't limited to a certain color temperature. I run 4,300k, but you could easily do 3,000k color temperature which is near spot on with halogens.
 
Thats good to know. All the vehicles I have owned with HIDs had a much whiter, almost blueish color stock. I have never seen any warmer HIDs in person. I'll have to check it out.


absalom said:
HID's aren't limited to a certain color temperature. I run 4,300k, but you could easily do 3,000k color temperature which is near spot on with halogens.
Click to expand...
 
absalom said:
9005 bulbs = 1,700 lumens each ... 55w D2S HID bulb = 4,000 lumens each. Quit farting around with ancient technology and get yourself a projector retrofit. Just finished my 5th retrofit, and results are astounding, all for $170.
Click to expand...

Walk me through the process. I have $170 to burn.
 
AKmoney said:
Walk me through the process. I have $170 to burn.
Click to expand...
Go to here and make your options in the drop-down panel look like mine as seen below:





7vfDagk.png








Then, order and wait 1 week for delivery. In the meantime, you'll want to gather a few tools:
-Dremel w/ cut off wheel and grinding wheel
-this exact drill bit
-various handtools


When your package arrives, call me @ 480.779.8307 and I'll personally walk you through the whole install.


Low-Tek said:
Thats good to know. All the vehicles I have owned with HIDs had a much whiter, almost blueish color stock. I have never seen any warmer HIDs in person. I'll have to check it out.
Click to expand...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/efva2UwoX4I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
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AKmoney said:
Thanks...

Is 55W really necessary?

Is there any way I can re-use a set of 9006-based HID bulbs and ballasts I bought some time back?

Is there anything this kit is missing compared to the Morimoto Bi-Xenon kit for $100 more?
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/c...eselect=50325,49455,50560,47372,47338#reviews
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55w gives you 25% more output vs 35w. Completely up to you. I've done one 35w build vs many 55w bulbs, never been disappointed with either setup.

I don't believe you'd be able to use your old kit as this is a D2S specific projector. Just sell your kit on eBay to recoup some of the costs.

It's nearly identical to the TRS kit. I've used both, and had amazing luck with both. Some folks are even suggesting that DDM and TRS units are produced in the same factory in China. After holding both kits in my hands, I wouldn't argue with this.
 
absalom said:
55w gives you 25% more output vs 35w. Completely up to you. I've done one 35w build vs many 55w bulbs, never been disappointed with either setup.

I don't believe you'd be able to use your old kit as this is a D2S specific projector. Just sell your kit on eBay to recoup some of the costs.

It's nearly identical to the TRS kit. I've used both, and had amazing luck with both. Some folks are even suggesting that DDM and TRS units are produced in the same factory in China. After holding both kits in my hands, I wouldn't argue with this.
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm in with the 35W kit...

As far as the bi-xenon aspect of these things, do they render the stock 9005 halogen high-beam non-functional? Or can a splitter be wired in such that the bi-xenon solenoid opens up *and* the stock halogen hi-beams turn on?
 
AKmoney said:
Okay, I'm in with the 35W kit...

As far as the bi-xenon aspect of these things, do they render the stock 9005 halogen high-beam non-functional? Or can a splitter be wired in such that the bi-xenon solenoid opens up *and* the stock halogen hi-beams turn on?
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I highly recommend the 55w over the 35w. The wow factor is incredible. I suppose you could wire in a splitter, but these will render the factory highbeams useless, so your motivation will diminish once you finish. I literally can't tell when I turn my fog lights on when I have my low beams on, they are just that bright.
 
I decided against the 55W kit. It may be just a gut feel but I believe 35W will be more reliable. There's a reason why OEMs (BMW, Lexus, etc) all use 35W HIDs. I've owned several vehicles with factory HID projectors using 35W bulbs and they were all plenty bright.

With regards to the high-beam setting, it's my understanding that these projectors have solenoids inside them that open them up all the way for use as high-beams, similar to a factory OEM bi-xenon setup like you'd get on a BMW or a Porsche. My question concerns the 9005/9006 wiring harness that's included - is it a Y-adapter that uses the factory 9005 harness to click open the bi-xenon solenoid in the projector?

Ideally I'd like to have both available, so I can open up the solenoid *and* light up the factory 9005 high-beam halogens.
 
AKmoney said:
I decided against the 55W kit. It may be just a gut feel but I believe 35W will be more reliable. There's a reason why OEMs (BMW, Lexus, etc) all use 35W HIDs. I've owned several vehicles with factory HID projectors using 35W bulbs and they were all plenty bright.

With regards to the high-beam setting, it's my understanding that these projectors have solenoids inside them that open them up all the way for use as high-beams, similar to a factory OEM bi-xenon setup like you'd get on a BMW or a Porsche. My question concerns the 9005/9006 wiring harness that's included - is it a Y-adapter that uses the factory 9005 harness to click open the bi-xenon solenoid in the projector?

Ideally I'd like to have both available, so I can open up the solenoid *and* light up the factory 9005 high-beam halogens.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's a 9005/9006 to H4 Y adapter IIRC.
 
AKmoney said:
I decided against the 55W kit. It may be just a gut feel but I believe 35W will be more reliable. There's a reason why OEMs (BMW, Lexus, etc) all use 35W HIDs. I've owned several vehicles with factory HID projectors using 35W bulbs and they were all plenty bright.

With regards to the high-beam setting, it's my understanding that these projectors have solenoids inside them that open them up all the way for use as high-beams, similar to a factory OEM bi-xenon setup like you'd get on a BMW or a Porsche. My question concerns the 9005/9006 wiring harness that's included - is it a Y-adapter that uses the factory 9005 harness to click open the bi-xenon solenoid in the projector?

Ideally I'd like to have both available, so I can open up the solenoid *and* light up the factory 9005 high-beam halogens.
Click to expand...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8sHSHm1ByyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


This is what you have to look forward to. That's an install I did a year ago.
 
absalom said:
Lol, I think you'll be disappointed in how little light they'll add to HID's. I understand that lumens are cumulative, but it's such a small addition I doubt you'd perceive much of a difference. But, your HID highs will be sensational.
Click to expand...

You kinda need the factory halogen high-beams functional anyway for the flash-to-pass to work. Otherwise, if you were to pull the stalk towards you to flash someone, all you'd do is flip open a solenoid on the low-beam projector when the low-beam HID isn't even turned on.

Edit: Even if you could, HIDs take a couple seconds to warm up. They're pretty worthless for instant-on, flash-to-pass usage.
 
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AKmoney said:
You kinda need the factory halogen high-beams functional anyway for the flash-to-pass to work. Otherwise, if you were to pull the stalk towards you to flash someone, all you'd do is flip open a solenoid on the low-beam projector when the low-beam HID isn't even turned on.

Edit: Even if you could, HIDs take a couple seconds to warm up. They're pretty worthless for instant-on, flash-to-pass usage.
Click to expand...
Oh you mean during daytime driving, that makes sense. I rarely FTP during daytime, so I guess it's low on my priority list.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
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