HID retrofit discussion

[sleepydsm]

Are the fire related issues more to do with the housing the bulbs are put into, versus the bulbs/kits themselves? I see a lot of aftermarket headlights that say "NOT FOR HID." A friend's 2002 3 series BMW burnt to the ground with aftermarket headlights and HIDs.


His actual car!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/1623358150_16346704bf.jpg?v=0

[Kracka]

The problem is, non-HID equipped from the factory cars don't have housings designed to withstand the added heat of HID bulbs which can cause melted housings or worse as mentioned above. I've also heard of fires due to faulty/low-quality wiring. How comprehensive is the 18-month warranty and if something were to happen would someone be there to stand behind the product and cover the related damage? Most people of course never experience any negative side effects but it never hurts to be informed just in case you're one of the unlucky few.

[Kracka]

Discussion for HID retrofit kits to clean up Primo's GB thread.

Posts moved from here:

http://mitsustyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21503

[turbotalon1g]

That is scary shit, I will keep my reg. headlights.

[joem]

No shit me too.
Joe

[mdost03]

Most of the fire-related incidents involving HID I have heard was started by too small of wiring to handle them. I put some plug and play HID kit on my old eclipse using ebay projectors and never had any problems. I bought a wiring kit though that used bigger gauge wiring.

[mx3twinturbo]

Have you tested these HID's before? Any local customers running them for an extended period of time? I've heard a lot of horror stories of cheap kits burning down cars and that's the one thing keeping me from converting.


In response to...
"I've heard a lot of horror stories of cheap kits burning down cars and that's the one thing keeping me from converting."
Most of the horror stories you have heard about the "cheap kits"
are attributed to poor wiring done by inexperienced users.
The other portion of the stories come from users who don't have a plug and play kit, and use a model of bulb that does not fit correctly in the bulbs slot and use whatever means they have i.e. super-glue/tape/zip-ties/ect.
to mount the bulbs, I have seen this may of times the bulb gets loose and contacts the plastic headlight assembly and there you have it a fire.
no good.

I took it upon myself to test if HID's burn hotter than incandescent bulbs..
Here are some photos from my test.
I took 3 surface temp. samples from each style bulb.
Each test utilized the shops beater 626, engine running,
Each photo was taken from the initial start of bulb,waiting 10 min,then waiting another 10 min.

The first set of photos are with the incandescent bulb.
The second set of photos are of the HID bulb
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00422-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00423-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00424-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00425-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00426-900.jpg
http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g284/mx3twinturbo/primostuff/DSC00427-900.jpg

Results...
incandescent bulb(9006)
*surface temp #1 -857 degrees
*surface temp #2 -913 degrees
*surface temp #3- 970 degrees
HID Bulb(H7)
*surface temp #1 -658 degrees
*surface temp #2 -738 degrees
*surface temp #3 -823 degrees

Conclusion:
HID's run cooler than Incandescent's

[mx3twinturbo]

When products are labeled with "no HID" the products lens assembly is correctly matched to the light output of a regular bulb, when a HID is installed the lens basically fractures the light incorrectly making you "beam pattern" worse, and also blinding oncoming drivers making it unsafe for others and you.
It typically has nothing to do with bulb temp, HID bulbs create less heat than a conventional (incandescent) bulb.
and to prove this I did the test stated above.:woohoo1:

[mx3twinturbo]

The problem is, non-HID equipped from the factory cars don't have housings designed to withstand the added heat of HID bulbs which can cause melted housings or worse as mentioned above. I've also heard of fires due to faulty/low-quality wiring. How comprehensive is the 18-month warranty and if something were to happen would someone be there to stand behind the product and cover the related damage? Most people of course never experience any negative side effects but it never hurts to be informed just in case you're one of the unlucky few.

please read above post.

[munchgsx]

Do you know of a good housing for the DSM specifically 1G? Also is the stock housing ok?