school me on HIDs/lights

[Alkasquawlik]

www.ddmtuning.com

click "hid and lighting" on the left hand side bar

click 35/55 watt kits

on the right use the 55watt option

color temp 4500

bulb type 9006

purchase.

the rest is plug and play. the ballasts connect to the 9006 connector in your car. the bulbs are like any standard bulb. the difference is staggering. 3300 lumens of light output is roughly TWICE the brightness of any standard halogen. its all simple and there are plenty of write ups on here about it. DDM tuning even has their own forum on bimmerforums.com if you have any other issues/concerns.

so this is everything I would need to get an HID running in my car? My friends keep telling me "o it's going to cost you a couple hundred dollars at the minimum", but if it's only $85 bucks or so, I'll definitely look into it.

the higher the Kelvin, the less output you will have and the bluer the color it will produce. DDM tuning kits come either in 35w or 55w and according to them the 55w kits produce 30-40% brighter light than the 35w. I currently run their 35w kit with the 5000K bulbs but I am leaning towards purchasing the 55w kit with the 6000K bulb to compare how much brighter they are.

I don't want a blue light at all. I think it would look trashy on an E30. So I would need a higher number. Good to know. Thanks.

[smonkbmw]

so this is everything I would need to get an HID running in my car? My friends keep telling me "o it's going to cost you a couple hundred dollars at the minimum", but if it's only $85 bucks or so, I'll definitely look into it.

yes it is everything. im on my 4th set (different cars) and have never had a problem.

3k=yellow
4500=white, the brightest light possible
5k=white with a tinge of blue, but barely noticable
6k=white but with noticable blue hue
7k=mostly blue
8k=voyaging from blue into the purples
anything beyond this is a waste of time and money.

[Alkasquawlik]

Thanks alot Smonk.

So that setup you suggested, it's just for the low beams right? Or do they come for all 4 headlights. Would I need to buy 2 sets for the high and low beams?

[brandondan1]

Just do the low beams. HIDs take a few seconds to 'warm up' to their full brightness, and IMO, brights are for that instantaneous light you want to see further distances. Also, you don't want to flash HIDs on and off because they'll wear out faster.

Since your car came with sealed beams, you'll probably need to connect a relay in the fuse box in order to have the lows (HID) stay on while the highs are on as well (so your HIDs are'nt cutting on and off every time you flash).

I know all of this sounds complicated, but it's really simple. I had no electrical experience whatsoever, and wired up my euro smileys, relay, and HID kit just by reading forums (takes 2-3hrs max). You'll be so glad you did it.

I have HID lows pointed towards the road, and silverstar highs pointed higher into the distance. I don't piss off/blind other drivers and the light output is great.

[JasonC]

I have the same setup as above poster^^^ But i also have HIDs in my foglights too. No need for HID's in the high beams.

[Alkasquawlik]

Just do the low beams. HIDs take a few seconds to 'warm up' to their full brightness, and IMO, brights are for that instantaneous light you want to see further distances. Also, you don't want to flash HIDs on and off because they'll wear out faster.

Since your car came with sealed beams, you'll probably need to connect a relay in the fuse box in order to have the lows (HID) stay on while the highs are on as well (so your HIDs are'nt cutting on and off every time you flash).

I know all of this sounds complicated, but it's really simple. I had no electrical experience whatsoever, and wired up my euro smileys, relay, and HID kit just by reading forums (takes 2-3hrs max). You'll be so glad you did it.

I have HID lows pointed towards the road, and silverstar highs pointed higher into the distance. I don't piss off/blind other drivers and the light output is great.

Thanks for the info. I think this is the route I'll go.
I still have to wire it so my highs and lows stay on together when I flash the highs, I've been meaning to, but I haven't gotten around to it.

I have the same setup as above poster^^^ But i also have HIDs in my foglights too. No need for HID's in the high beams.

What HID setup do you have in your fogs?
One of my lights in my fogs just went out, and I might as well replace it with HIDs if I'm doing this.

[JasonC]

I got the DDM 35w 6000k to match my lows.

[Alkasquawlik]

What is the difference between DDM's 35 watt and 55 watt kits?

[robspeed325i]

anybody run th 55w in facelift fog housings without melting things?

[golde30]

sigh, HID's all the way. too bad DDM makes a crap product. even the HID we import from Taiwan are better quality. we just did a sealed beam to US ellips w/ HID install at my shop on a local guys e30. worked out perfectly!

[Alkasquawlik]

sigh, HID's all the way. too bad DDM makes a crap product. even the HID we import from Taiwan are better quality. we just did a sealed beam to US ellips w/ HID install at my shop on a local guys e30. worked out perfectly!

Cary, why do you say DDM makes a bad product?

[e30trooper]

if i get yellow HID's for my lows would cops mess with me? 35k lows and the MB w123 yellow seald highs. I did a ghetto low beam swap. found some e34 lows and modded them to mount up and they work fine but just are not bright

[MaloventEvil]

sigh, HID's all the way. too bad DDM makes a crap product. even the HID we import from Taiwan are better quality. we just did a sealed beam to US ellips w/ HID install at my shop on a local guys e30. worked out perfectly!

i completely disagree. i have had the old umnitza kit back when they used xtec as their supplier, then i tried prolumen, and now ddm. i have been using them for approx 1 year now with no issues, and absolutely love the price point ;).

why don't you like ddm?

[Alkasquawlik]

What is the difference between DDM's 35 watt and 55 watt kits?

Edit: found the answer:
Our 55w HID kits are 40% brighter than the standard 35w kits.
The 55W system ballasts are about 1 cm longer than the 35W ballasts.
55w kits tend to wash out some of the color of the HID bulb due to the light output( for example, a 55w 8000k will look similar in color to a 35w 6000k kit).
55w Kits are not recommended for smaller fog light housings because they tend to concentrate a large amount of heat in a small area.


But why would someone want to use a 35w rather than a 55w in their headlights?

[robspeed325i]

Edit: found the answer:
Our 55w HID kits are 40% brighter than the standard 35w kits.
The 55W system ballasts are about 1 cm longer than the 35W ballasts.
55w kits tend to wash out some of the color of the HID bulb due to the light output( for example, a 55w 8000k will look similar in color to a 35w 6000k kit).
55w Kits are not recommended for smaller fog light housings because they tend to concentrate a large amount of heat in a small area.


But why would someone want to use a 35w rather than a 55w in their headlights?

one reason is that on low beam, if you light up the ground right in front of the car like daylight, that will destroy your night vision further out. it creates the illusion of good vision but is in fact collapsing your field of view to that which is right in front of the car.