City lights

[Varinn]

HI! new guy here. You rant everytime this is is brought up. Yes they are illegal. But so are most fun things. Relax. Have fun, get over it. People, including me, have will or want to do HIDs no matter how many times you post that they are illegal. Just saying.....

FYI my Dodge had 3 sets of PIAAs in the bumper and a set of aircraft landing lights, 200w a piece FREAKISHLY BRIGHT, on the roof. And yes i used them all. I will be installin HIDs cuz the ellip cut is ok by me. And Yes ricer halogen installs suck.

Way to fit the typical dodge owner stereotype... That just makes you seem like an arrogant twat

[bernzpeed]

OR Ditch the HIDs which are illegal and dont function well with real bulbs and be safe and get better light.

As for wiring up the city lights I spliced into the corner marker lights its was pretty easy.

HIDs are not illegal.

[bernzpeed]

i wired my city lights to the side markers harness, i eliminated the markers as well. You can wire them different though, you can use the switched wire from the front signals in the bumper to the positive of the city light and splice into the negative of the lowbeam or any other desired for the city light negative. That way you will have the front signals working just as signals (as they are supposed to work from the beginning). As for your original question yeah they stay on with the low beam, and you can use any led bulb that fits there in order to match your hids. Good luck

+1

[Gregolas]

OR Ditch the HIDs which are illegal and dont function well with real bulbs and be safe and get better light.

This is ONLY true when using halogen housings that throw light around. Most factory systems (i.e. BMW, Mercedes, Acura with factory Xenons) all use projectors that cut light off, and they all have DOT approval because the cutoff stops light from being thrown up towards the oncoming drivers eyes. Pull up next to a wall and look at any ellipsoid with halogens or HID/Xenon, has the same cutoff regardless of what bulb or system you have installed.

I always buy the Hella high-end bulbs.
Now the thing that is awsome is when someone retro fits a real HID projector into lamp.

I used to buy the high end halogens but they melt harnesses if the wattage is too high and the silverstars I was dumb enough to buy burned out faster and had the same light output as a regular cheaper halogen I ended up replacing them with.

What's wrong with hids in a projector? And illegal? Not where I live and if so y does late model bmws come factory with hids?

Exactly. Nothing is wrong if they are done right and are in a projector. You will NEVER get pulled over unless they are adjusted wrong and are blinding people. I had a few retrofits and have Xenons in my smileys. They don't blind people and I have never had a problem in the 10 years with retrofit systems in my vehicles.

Well if you live in the US than yes its illegal to put an HID bulb in an incandescent lens. Thats why they say for off road use only.

It IS illegal to put an HID kit into a non factory headlight. But either doing a retro or ensuring the projector such as the E30 Smiley/Ellips projector has a nice cutoff, I cannot see how it would be an issue (given it is done right and adjusted correctly).

There is no such thing as an 9006/hb2/h1 HID bulb. What you have is a DS2 bulb that has been modified to fit a different socket.
Factory cars come with a real HID bulb and HID projectors.

The bulbs are the same just re-based. I have the H1 based bulbs in my Smiley's and they fit perfect and have great output. You would be hard pressed to find my setup does not look factory.

Everyone should take the time to educate themselves on the subject. I highly recommend the site below for everything you ever wanted to know about automotive lighting and then some. In addition to the HID article, I highly recommend that you read the article regarding bulb color and "superwhite" bulbs, their purpose, and disadvantages.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

I agree. People have been doing retrofits for years and hidplanet.com is a great place to start the process and educate yourself on how it all works. The forums have great info.

Even though smilies of any sort are of a projector design they are far from being the same as, or designed for HID use. Ever driven at night and been freakin blinded by some ricer racer with purple xenons in his civic? Thats a drop in HID kit in a housing designed for a halogen, and your smilies will be the same way.

I completely disagree with you here. Hella is a huge player in the Xenon market, with projectors in many factory headlights. I have compared the Euro Smiley (Hella made projector) with a spare xenon Hella projector from a newer X5 BMW, and they are very similar. I have played with light output on my workbench and the halogen Smiley projector has almost identical light output with the exception of the E Code cutoff which throws light up at an angle towards the passenger side. Mine are like this on my car with my Xenons and Smileys, and I have had no issues "blinding" people AT ALL.

On a related note(and one that may get me flamed) our beloved euro smilies are tehcnically illegal here too since they don't meet DOT spec. The real difference is how the light cuts off at the edges(especially the top edge). Euro has a much sharper cut off whereas DOT is stepped. My understanding as to the reason for this is that a majority of road signs in europe are lit, so your lights don't need to be throwing light up to help you see them.

I have never heard this before but thats interesting. I know the cutoff goes up from the middle towards the passenger (or driver side, as you can rotate the projector for driving on the left side of the road) which is different than the stepped cutoff. I would be curious to know why exactly the euro ones are allowed to be like this (vs. the DOT standard).

HIDs are not illegal.

This. Factory cars have them and you would have to get a police officer that really knew his stuff to bust you...especially if they are done correctly or you have a retrofit. He most likely wouldn't be able to tell.

On topic: I have mine wired into the side marker lights since I have the Euro trim and no side markers. I can barely see them since my Xenons hide them when they are on.

[davem]

How do city lights work on euro cars? I have daytime running lights so my switch is:

off - daytime running lights (low beams)
first setting - side markers on only, daytime running lights off
second setting - low beams, side markers, brake lights

[AlphaE]

Not arragant twat. Just sayin. I only used them when no one else around. Think what u will. Good info by the way.

[nando]

Even though smilies of any sort are of a projector design they are far from being the same as, or designed for HID use. Ever driven at night and been freakin blinded by some ricer racer with purple xenons in his civic? Thats a drop in HID kit in a housing designed for a halogen, and your smilies will be the same way. .

that theory is nice (read it many times), but in reality, HID conversions with E30 smileys just work fine, and definitely don't blind anyone.

[mikeedler]

actually, BMW ran HIDs in the E34/E32s from the factory. the first Xenon BMW cars actually, and they were in euro ellip lights.
a few years later, europe made it a req. to have self leveling lights and washers for the lights- not sure about the states though.

[davem]

Can anybody answer my question? In what situations are the smiley city lights used in europe? Pretty curious about this. I've heard that they are left in the "second" switch position so that when you leave the car they are illuminated allowing other cars to see your parked car on narrow streets...

[bernzpeed]

It is only illegal if you use the 55W ballast and using the 35w is just fine. Also, cops will not flag you down just because of this. It is too petty compared to other major traffic violation to look out for aside from preventing crimes. (Coming from a cop customer who bought HIDs from us for his BMW).

[bernzpeed]

Can anybody answer my question? In what situations are the smiley city lights used in europe? Pretty curious about this. I've heard that they are left in the "second" switch position so that when you leave the car they are illuminated allowing other cars to see your parked car on narrow streets...

I think there's your answer right there. In the city where it's properly lit at night, you don't need to blind other motorists with the low beams since roads are tight, thus the city lights.

Also HIDs with 55w ballast are the most likely set up the cops will pull you over not the 35W.

[mikeedler]

Can anybody answer my question? In what situations are the smiley city lights used in europe? Pretty curious about this. I've heard that they are left in the "second" switch position so that when you leave the car they are illuminated allowing other cars to see your parked car on narrow streets...

you are right. since the streets are narrow here, you can turn them on (2nd pos.), and put on the turn signal to the street side and just that side lights up. I personally never do, but a lot of people here do if they for ex. go to a restaurant to eat for a few hours.
It is also thought of as a safety for moped/motorcycles. If your main beam burns out, there is still a light on that side, so you won't be mistaken as a motorcycle.

[mikeedler]

I think there's your answer right there. In the city where it's properly lit at night, you don't need to blind other motorists with the low beams since roads are tight, thus the city lights.
.

this is very wrong. you are just asking to get pulled over and fined for just running (city lights) at anytime of the day or night. the German translation of them is parkinglights (standlicht)

[e30trooper]

OR Ditch the HIDs which are illegal and dont function well with real bulbs and be safe and get better light.

As for wiring up the city lights I spliced into the corner marker lights its was pretty easy.

I bet my lights are better and brighter than yours. And its not some cheap HID set up.

bi-xenon retro , using OEM Phillips D2S bulbs , cant get any better than that.

[DaveSmed]

It is also thought of as a safety for moped/motorcycles. If your main beam burns out, there is still a light on that side, so you won't be mistaken as a motorcycle.

Man knows his automotive lighting! The US changed the lighting regs for 1968, and that was one of the things they did was to keep the front parking lamps on with the headlights.

With a headlamp out it really helps you figure out where the other half of the car is at night.