[aznknightz17]

Hello,
I am interested in upgrading the halogen headlights to HID light. Is there anybody who did try to do it urself yet? What are the complications of it? How easy/hard is it to do it urself? and lastly is there any recommendation? I found one on ebay for 340 + 30 S&H = 370....while another website selling for 300 + 30S&H= 330.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[aimdonutz]

Hello,
I am interested in upgrading the halogen headlights to HID light. Is there anybody who did try to do it urself yet? What are the complications of it? How easy/hard is it to do it urself? and lastly is there any recommendation? I found one on ebay for 340 + 30 S&H = 370....while another website selling for 300 + 30S&H= 330.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks
[/b]

its pretty easy if u have 2 ppl, there's a real good writeup on how to do it somewhere in this site just search for it. Don't use ebay, buy the xtec/apexcone kit from www.therpmstore.com, great products, great customer service.

 

[MikeyD]

SAY NO TO EBAY especially when goin with HID kits. DEFINATELY go with the RPM store. They offer great prices, great customer support, and satisfaction.

www.therpmstore.com and its in your price range

Go with the Apexcone or the Xtec. Both have great warranty's unlike ebay products too.

 

[aznknightz17]

0o0o0 thanks alot! Another question is which color is most preferable? and which kit is the better kit? Xtec or Apexcone?

 

[aimdonutz]

0o0o0 thanks alot! Another question is which color is most preferable? and which kit is the better kit? Xtec or Apexcone?
[/b]

i have the xtec kit 5000k, i like it a lot but now apexcone is takin over xtec or something cause rpm is selling them over xtec, u should stick with 4500k or 5000k for the best visibility.

 

[jsherrill28]

ultimately, what color is most preferrable depends on what color you prefer. it's your car

before you buy i suggest you read through some of the threads in the electrical section. sounds like you need to be more informed before you go dropping ~$300.

 

[sl1200]

Having an Xtec H1 kit like the ones referred to above I would strongly recommend spending the extra money and doing a full retrofit with E46/TT euro projectors and D2S bulbs. Any H1 kit will not give you the beam continuity that a proper HID projector will (although they are very bright...there's no comparison from stock). The edges of the beam will be fuzzy and if you don't do the glare removal mod (search) you will have issues with oncoming traffic. there will also be 'hot spots' that you would not find with HID projectors. Last but not least with an H1 HID kit you will experience some 'beam shake' over bumps. What this means is that the HID bulbs, because they are significantly longer and heavier than H1s, move silghtly in the H1 holders when you go over sharp bumps. This causes the beam to bounce slightly, and is rather annoying until you get used to it and tune it out.

Just my .02, speaking from experience. Note as well that I did the H1 retrofit myself, and had no issues with it aside from those mentioned above. If you do decide to get an H1 kit, by all means order from RPM. They are easy to deal with and stand behind their product.

 

[skatingzooyork]

I agree w/ everyone so far.

When I did mine, I had a friend help me remove the front bumper (I had never done it before) and then he left and I installed the lights myself and mounted the ballasts under the headlights(fit perfect).

Then I reinstalled everything, including the bumper myself! It was really easy!

I finished in about 1 1/4hrs...

I purchased the H1 5000k Xtec kit from: Understeer
It took like 3wks to get it, but it was about 256 w/ free shipping. Plus Donny at RPM will offer support for the kit if something ever fails...

As for a How to - search on this board, there is a really good how to somewhere around here...

Having an Xtec H1 kit like the ones referred to above I would strongly recommend spending the extra money and doing a full retrofit with E46/TT euro projectors and D2S bulbs. Any H1 kit will not give you the beam continuity that a proper HID projector will (although they are very bright...there's no comparison from stock). The edges of the beam will be fuzzy and if you don't do the glare removal mod (search) you will have issues with oncoming traffic. there will also be 'hot spots' that you would not find with HID projectors. Last but not least with an H1 HID kit you will experience some 'beam shake' over bumps. What this means is that the HID bulbs, because they are significantly longer and heavier than H1s, move silghtly in the H1 holders when you go over sharp bumps. This causes the beam to bounce slightly, and is rather annoying until you get used to it and tune it out.

Just my .02, speaking from experience. Note as well that I did the H1 retrofit myself, and had no issues with it aside from those mentioned above. If you do decide to get an H1 kit, by all means order from RPM. They are easy to deal with and stand behind their product.
[/b]

The only part of this I don't agree w/ is:

"if you don't do the glare removal mod (search) you will have issues with oncoming traffic"

I planned to do the mod but because of timing and it was starting to rain, I didn't... I haven't had a single problem. No one has ever complained aka flashed me for my HIDs...

At some point in the future I will go retro but for now, these still look great and give a decent output...

 

[pete13]

xtec and apexicone are now the same thing i think... and the reason to go RPM is the customer service if something goes wrong... i had never taken any body piece off of my car before i did my HID's and the walkthroughs got me through it no problem!

got 50 watt 5000K XTEC's from RPM and LOVE EM! DOOOO IT!

 

[skatingzooyork]

xtec and apexicone are now the same thing i think... and the reason to go RPM is the customer service if something goes wrong... i had never taken any body piece off of my car before i did my HID's and the walkthroughs got me through it no problem!

got 50 watt 5000K XTEC's from RPM and LOVE EM! DOOOO IT!
[/b]

As I said, Donny will support the Xtec kit even if you buy it somewhere else!

I'm not trying to screw RPM over, but there is like a $100 difference just to wait a few weeks... It was worth it to me...

Also, if you go for the 50watt Xtec Race kit, you should get the aftermarket harness... That's any extra $20/40bucks depending where you go...

 

[aznknightz17]

Thanks for everyone's input. I did the search and was able to find the "how to" to set up for the HID, but unfortunately the pictures within the post were either deleted or something and i want to see step by step on how to do it. Is there any post left that included pictures?

Also my car color is tungsten grey...so should i go with 4500k, 5000k or 6000k?

 

[skatingzooyork]

Thanks for everyone's input. I did the search and was able to find the "how to" to set up for the HID, but unfortunately the pictures within the post were either deleted or something and i want to see step by step on how to do it. Is there any post left that included pictures?

Also my car color is tungsten grey...so should i go with 4500k, 5000k or 6000k?
[/b]

On the How To post, go to the last page, there will be a repost that I did, showing all the pictures w/ the How To directions...

As for the color choice, it is something personal that you have to deside.

4500k / 5000k Will give you a better output but the 6000k is slightly more blue.

I got the 5k and I like it a lot but there is a slight blueish green tint to it...

There is also a huge discussion in the Vancouver forum about the HIDs... W/ pictures of the color options...