US or euro Ellips

[smonkbmw]

i just received a 55watt 6k kit from them last week. its in my eta with us elips. the beam pattern is amazing, the focused light is perfect. the 6k is mostly white with a tinge of blue to it. i had a 35watt 5k kit in prior that was very white, the DDMs hardly APPEAR different in color but i noticed a increase in performance i.e. distance, clarity etc.

[e30e]

For the price of the ddm kit and life time warranty buy two pairs and keep the extra set in the trunk if a set were to go bad. I have the 4500 bulbs now, I hated the blue tint my 6k bulbs had.

[nmlss2006]

I prefer the US ellipsoids with the HIR (not HID..) bulbs from http://hirheadlights.com/ . The lumen output is vastly greater than any 9005 or 9006 - or H1 - and it's all technically DOT legal, not to mention cheap.

[tjts1]

9006 = 1000 lumen
9005 = 1700 lumen
HIR = 1870 lumen
H1 = 1550 lumen
HID = 3200 lumen

At $25/bulb, HIR is more expensive than HID.

[tecks2k]

For the price of the ddm kit and life time warranty buy two pairs and keep the extra set in the trunk if a set were to go bad. I have the 4500 bulbs now, I hated the blue tint my 6k bulbs had.

You hit it right on the head, DDM is selling them so cheap that it's possible to have spares and with a life time warranty that can't be beat. And keep an eye on them, b/c they are going to drop there prices again. Jim's end goal is $17 a pair for a full HID system (bulb, ballast, igniter) and still with a life time warranty.

[gearheadE30]

The only thing that is keeping me from going HID is that I have the hella H1/H4s right now. Great lights, but a 100% cutoff would be quite nice.

[salvine]

Why couldn't the US lights run a city light. Then it would be a no brainer....

[ciz28]

Aren't the housings still being overlooked here? Since I assume the OP is coming from sealed beams, he will need to buy new buckets to house the HIDs. Used ellipsoids (US or Euro) will have potentially questionable quality reflectors and lenses. This seems to be a very common theme scattered across many threads here. Are there affordable aftermarket alternatives that are reasonably comparable in quality to the OE ellipsoids?

[gearheadE30]

The only alternative would be buying the DEPO lights off of ebay, which I have heard varied reports on. Some say that the quality is okay and the beam pattern isn't too bad. Others say the cutoff sucks and the plastic is flimsy and cheap. Almost all say that they leak slightly, and have a service life of around 3 years before they get pitted and have a bunch of crap inside of them. Take this as you will, though, because I have no personal experience with them.

I also saw the discrepency with worn housings, so I bought new H4s. You can put cuty lights in them, the beam pattern is very good, all of the optics are new, and they aren't that expensive. The only issue is that it isn't a good idea to run HIDs. If you want smoked ones, put crosshairs in all 4 lights.

[tjts1]

Aren't the housings still being overlooked here? Since I assume the OP is coming from sealed beams, he will need to buy new buckets to house the HIDs. Used ellipsoids (US or Euro) will have potentially questionable quality reflectors and lenses. This seems to be a very common theme scattered across many threads here. Are there affordable aftermarket alternatives that are reasonably comparable in quality to the OE ellipsoids?

I've taken apart 2 sets of US ellipsoids. One with 250k miles, the other with 190k. Spray a little orange based degreaser into the reflectors, then rinse with distilled water. The reflectors come out good as new. Whatever you do, don't rub or touch the reflector. US reflectors are made of plastic. They don't stand up to the heat of 100w bulbs but they they don't suffer from the same rust, dents, and chrome fading as the metal based ecode reflectors. Also go on HIDplanet forum and search for E30 lenses. US spec E30 ellipsoid projector lenses are being swapped into brand new TSX and S2000 projectors because this is one of the best lenses you can buy even by modern standards.

[reelizmpro]

Interesting some of you prefer the DOT ellipsoids. I've had them brand new and old, with high wattage bulbs and xenon filled bulbs and they weren't even close to my used Bosch euro ellipsoids. I guess it all comes down to the condition of the reflectors on the euro's. Condition being equal the E code's should be better. Why would you spend $40 for bulbs that offer less lumens and will burn out sooner than bonafied HID's that offer 2-3x the output with less wattage and easily 2-3 times the lifespan???