Xenon HID upgrade

[mpt]

That's just the euro / US naming conventions (roughly) 9005 = HB3. Check out the very first post for high-beam H9B kit and caveats.

I started with 6000K but moved down to 4500k as the light output is higher, more white and more 'factory' if you know what I mean.

[ipdamages]

henry -

first, i'm not sure i ever thanked you for the j1772 adapter. i put it to use the first weekend i had it (on a trip to san diego), and it worked perfectly.

as for the paint, i have had a drawn out e-dialogue with elie rothstein, the owner of al & ed's #54 in horth hollywood, which is where i had my modifications/upgrades done, and you are correct that the paint is unique to that application. for the body i used the lamborghini yellow, but the brake calipers aren't the exact same color. close, but not the exact same. that paint doesn't have the metallic element that the body has. the calipers also require special prep work/primering.

if you want more details the best thing to do is to contact elie at this email address: elie at al-eds dot com.

and i'm sorry about the delay on responding. i hadn't seen the activity in this post until last week and it has taken some time to get the paint question sorted out.

- chris

[hcsharp]

Thanks Chris! I'll send Elie an email. We don't have Al & Ed's around here so I might check with the shop that powder coated my wheels.

henry -

first, i'm not sure i ever thanked you for the j1772 adapter. i put it to use the first weekend i had it (on a trip to san diego), and it worked perfectly.

as for the paint, i have had a drawn out e-dialogue with elie rothstein, the owner of al & ed's #54 in horth hollywood, which is where i had my modifications/upgrades done, and you are correct that the paint is unique to that application. for the body i used the lamborghini yellow, but the brake calipers aren't the exact same color. close, but not the exact same. that paint doesn't have the metallic element that the body has. the calipers also require special prep work/primering.

if you want more details the best thing to do is to contact elie at this email address: elie at al-eds dot com.

and i'm sorry about the delay on responding. i hadn't seen the activity in this post until last week and it has taken some time to get the paint question sorted out.

- chris

[smorgasbord]

It seams like many have gone with the 4500k color does everyone like that or do you wish you had more blue or yellow?

Since I didn't want to replace my high beams (can't flash them if you do), I wanted to match the stock high beam color as closely as possible. 4500K is bluer than the stock, which I think is 3200K or so, but not so much that's it's annoying. I think you can go up to 6500K (daylight) before the lights start getting too blue.

Also, since replacing the bulbs is technically illegal in many states, not going too blue helps you fly under the radar. Some cops will pull you over for lights that are too blue.

[jordanthompson]

I just installed the HID's in my 2010. I am very pleased with the results. I actually went ahead and installed the high beams also. If you decide to go this route, you will see that it does take a significant time for them to come on. I try not to drive at night (but it happens, of course.) I generally refrain from flashing people (but its nice to be able to do that occasionally.)
When they do finally come on, the results are very impressive.

I haven't decided to switch the highs out with the original ones (yet). I am extremely happy with the low's reasonably happy with the highs.

[smorgasbord]

This morning my front right low headlight (DDMTuning HID) isn't working. I'll take a look at it this weekend, but anyone got any pointers for debugging what's actually wrong? Here's what I think I'll do:

1) Check all connections.
2) Swap out transformer/ballast.
3) Swap out bulb.

That should pretty much cover it, right? Anything else? The car's telling the bulb isn't working, so I assume it's not the fuse - is that a bad assumption?
TIA

[jordanthompson]

Is it actually not working (is the car lying?)

[smorgasbord]

Is it actually not working (is the car lying?)

Yeah, that's the first thing I checked. The car is not lying.

[jordanthompson]

For what its worth, I have had an issue with my brights where the car says they are not working, but the problem goes away quickly and it rarely happens. From what I can tell (because it happens while driving) they are working during these events.
I replaced both low and high with DDMTuning lights.

[mpt]

Bulb check is just a current measurement - it shows up if you put LEDs in the side lights (grr).

I'd guess that the controller is not connected or not using enough power which could be the bulb. I think that you're on the right investigative track.