I found low-beam HID kit (8000k) H3 for $30.
Does this seem legit to you? Has anyone ever ordered lights from here? This seems too good to be true! I am leery of this, but could use new lights!
I haven’t used these exact HID’s but I bought a set off of Ebay. Their brand was VVME ($40 +/-) I believe and they lasted me 2 years in my FA5, traded the car and they still worked. The only issue I had was that one of the bulbs started to put out a different shade of color after a while. I still continued to use them though because it didn’t affect the light output. Plenty of reviews on other forums regarding the VVME brand and I could’ve gotten new bulbs from them for like $20. I think they’re worth the money. Even if they have a shorter lifespan than the more expensive kits, it would take like 3 kits to equal what some of the pricier ones retail for.
Most sites look down upon on PNP (plug-and-play) hids in non-projector headlights but personally I think if you use them and 1) aim your headlights lower, 2) Put in a seperate inline relay [helps with the misfire], and 3) don’t get obnoxious colors [it will only give less lumens], then you should be fine.
I have been thinking about these for the past two weeks doing research and came to a conclusion that though the PNP kits will not entirely resemble true OEM HIDs or have the same effectiveness at night they will certainly light up the road better than the standard 9004 bulb + fog lights. And from the pictures i’ve seen the beam width will not be as wide as OEM hids rather it will be more narrow.
Also google “pnp hid kits” to get many threads talking about these.
I had VVME without any problems on my G2 when I had it, and it worked fine for over 2 years even when my parents gave the car away to a friend.
Just be aware of basic HID care procedures:
If turning the HIDs on, leave them on for at least 5 minutes before shutting them down.
-If you shut them down and need to turn them back on, wait 5 minutes before turning them on again.
Basically, commit to have them on for 5 minutes at the very least. I laugh when people flick them on and off several times within a minute cause one bulb doesnt ignite. That’s wearing both ballasts out a lot faster.
But in the end PnP in our stock lights suck real bad. I didnt think so at first, but my TL which has arguably one of the best bi xenon projectors on the market changed my mind. I love my TL’s HIDs.
Also, dont get the “Xentec” brand. They’re terrible. I had a kit from them for my fog lights in my TL but they flickered like a candle (never shut off completely). If you google for xentec flicker you’ll see what I mean. Got rid of that and put in a DDM slim kit. Works like a charm. Dont forget a Relay harness as well.
It’s because the OE lenses in our cars have fluted lenses. And since the light from a HID is so much more intense than a standard bulb, the glare is extreme.
HID’s really need a projector to focus the beam to properly work, otherwise you’re just going to be blinding people left and right. Unless you lower them down enough, but then if you don’t have a Hi/Low HID kit, you won’t have highs, and won’t be able to see very far. This was my problem.
Then one of the balasts crapped out on me, so I just went and got some Silver Stars, removed the glare guards from my fogs, and bought some Catz H3 driving bulbs. Works good enough for me.
[QUOTE=TegFan;2230163]Could you elaborate “But in the end PnP in our stock lights suck real bad.”
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
Totally sorry i didnt even see this response as I dont check this part of the forum often, but Boosted_90 got it right. I had mine aimed down on my G2 real low to avoid glare, and it ended up illuminating a small portion of the road directly ahead (no peripheral lighting). I had a VVME bi xenon which uses a solenoid to pull the bulb in for “high beams” so it was a little less illegal than the kits that eliminate highs altogether. It worked alright I guess…but the output really, really sucks big time when compared to a full on HID projector. It’s not even a comparison. on my TL with my 3000k fog lights I illuminate a ton of road on my side as well as in front. It’s a very wide beam of yellowish light (fogs on).
the fluted lenses of G2 headlights are simply not meant for HIDs. The only fluted lenses i’ve seen that are “HID” ready are the older '99 generation TLs with factory fluted lenses for HID. They then moved to clear lenses and parabolic reflectors later by 2003. the G2 lenses throw light everywhere. With HIDs, drive up to a wall or garage door and you’ll see instead of a flat beam, you’ll see almost a star pattern. Not good and looks terrible once you’ve seen what projectors do. I was a skeptic, but now I’m a believer.
Go to ddmtuning.com, They make great hid kits with a lifetime warranty. The basic kit is 3O.00 (35w) and 40.00 (55w). Or you can get the digital slim ballast kit for 40.00 (35w) and 50.00 (55w) and all of there hid kits have a lifetime warranty so how can you pass that up.