Best HID ballasts?

[stamar]

oh nice.

Ok but Im not upgrading to smileys now because you just told me mine are better for hids.

I wish I had the city light too.

you might have just told me that I can remove the smiley part and put it on my bulbs but thats not happening.

[Turf1600]

He pretty much said that he removed the stock projector and installed a bi-xenon fx-r projector in it's place while retaining the city light. IMO the city lights are useless.

[e30trooper]

He pretty much said that he removed the stock projector and installed a bi-xenon fx-r projector in it's place while retaining the city light. IMO the city lights are useless.

This! AnD there are useless. However i put them to use and now their my parking/turning signals since the PO used the rear bumper trim on the from and it saves my ass from tickets.

[Turf1600]

However a 2nd option without "hacking" your lights to much would find a set of mini h1 projectors off the trs site. They are basicly bolt in bi-xenon projects and are fairly cheap.

You mean to tell me that these will replace my stock projectors without any cutting?

[e30trooper]

You mean to tell me that these will replace my stock projectors without any cutting?

I think you just cut off the metal part hold the stock projector lens. They are installed by pulling them threw the stock bulb socket. Still takes some work but no where near the time and cutting i had todo.



it would be something similar to this. As you can see, it just slips in. You will still need to take apart your ellipsoid and test fit. I have yet to see a retro done with this but i have had a talk with a e30 buddy and think this would work easy.

[Turf1600]

Maybe I'll try it. I only paid $100 for my US ellips so I don't have too much to lose.

[jrobie79]

e30trooper, if i send you my smileys, can you make them like yours? haha how much?

I would love to tackle this myself, but I don't have the time.

[der affe]

If you really wanted city lights, you could put led "bulbs" in. they "should" never need replacing.

[nando]

My projectors are NOT 20 years old, thanks ;)

My cutoff is plenty sharp. I'm not blinding people, my light output is far better than stock, and I'm not about to cut up a set of $500 hella ellipsoids (which are now NLA) for a slightly better cutoff. What a modern projector gets you is more efficient use of the hid's output, anyway, but the difference isn't big enough for me to worry about.

If you read TRS, they say even most of the OEM hid projectors, including BMW, are not very good. So just because it's newer, doesn't mean it's better.

[DaveSmed]

My projectors are NOT 20 years old, thanks ;)

This makes an absolutely MASSIVE difference in output. Old housings are pretty much shiate.

...and I'm not about to cut up a set of $500 hella ellipsoids (which are now NLA)

NLA? Which ones? I have the colorlines. Thought they still made them.

[bmwguy325is]

I do not understand you.....

I am guessing people helped you get my point. I have ran HIDs in my euro lights. They were bright as all could be 10 feet in front of the car. But when I started not seeing things at night I switched back to halogen bulbs.

whats hes saying is be a cool guy like me ,Go big or go home.
theres a few of us on r3v running a true HID set up, using a projector MADE for HID's. Your 20+ year old projectors are not designed for hid's.

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

Some may argue that this is a biased report cause the guy sells light. But the science is there. Best analogy is square peg round hole. ANY stock E30 light is designed to take light from a filament that is l-r coiled not length wise like HID.
And again old argument just my If you want to look cool do it.

[DaveSmed]

ANY stock E30 light is designed to take light from a filament that is l-r coiled not length wise like HID.

Nitpicky point, but MOST stock E30 lights are designed for longitudinal filaments. H4, H1, 9005, 9006.....

[Turf1600]

And again old argument just my If you want to look cool do it.

So, regarding looking cool....

Are you suggesting that rebased 4300k HID bulbs in US ellipsoids are not an improvement over my stock sealed beams? Because let me tell you what....when both of my bulbs actually fired with the shitty ballasts I had the light output was pretty impressive. Reflective signs would light up hundreds of yards away. However, my sealed beams put out about as much light as an oil lantern on a windy day.

With that said - what do you mean by "looking cool"? Does it look cool to have improved vision? I don't get your point.

[e30trooper]

e30trooper, if i send you my smileys, can you make them like yours? haha how much?

I would love to tackle this myself, but I don't have the time.

I could but it wouldnt be cheap. I looked today the mini h1 projectors cost 130 shipped. Thats not to bad. I might make a set and see how fitment is. The fxr is a much better projector but fitting them is hard. Anyway ill do some work soon and see how it goes.

[stamar]

Would the cost leader be finding them in a junkyard?

ps if that last video was the easy way to do it Ive got these projects way on the back burner.

drawing out lines on plastic with a sharpie and carving them with a dremel tool is very advanced level to me.

Im glad I know about them though thanks.