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Hi there, I have the below pictured headlight style.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...L/IMG_2826.jpg
I would like to upgrade to HID "look" headlight bulbs if possible.
I know this might have been mentioned previously on the forum but I couldnt see it.
Does anyone have any information as to which bulbs would be the best idea?
Vehicle details
2000 "W"
Audi Quattro 1.8 T Sport
Petrol
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I got some Xenon look bulbs for my A6, that don't require any fiddling with ballasts etc as they run on the standard halogen bulb wattages etc. I got them from ace-parts on e-bay I think. I am soon to fit a full HID kit to my A6. The bulbs I fitted are a white light rather than yellow, so that was a plus point. The thing is though they are not quite as bright as the halogen ones. Headlights in A6s are useless anyway though. I reccommend the sidelight 501 bulbs though, they do a good job.
Paul
The purple look of the projector lens means you have '00-01' 1 piece Valeo halogen's, and require H7 type bulbs.
I would just go for an HID kit, they can be had for around £40 nowadays, and will look really good in your halogen projectors (beam cutoff will fade into ultraviolet).
The halogen bulbs painted blue are a waste of money & space.
If the HID Kits are going at that price I would be as well going for them. Some of the retailers up here in Scotland are selling bulbs for £40!
A few questions
Ini, is it difficult fitting this kit? Do you need to play around with wiring? Does the kit look tidy once installed? Any links? Are my style of headlights particularly suited to HID?
How good are the lights, I have heard some good reports.
I am pretty keen on fitting this upgrade :D
Paul B, what are the advantages of the sidelight upgrade? Does it compliment the hid look?
Yes, totally. I see cars going around with dipped beam Xenons yet the sidelights are dirty, yellow halogens. The 501 sidelights definitely compliment a HID kit.
Paul
Are you allowed to say the manufacturer? If not a wee pm would be good. Are these 501 a direct replacement? I have notice that they come in white and blue, I would imagine blue is illegal, so the white would be the one to go for. Would you agree.......I take that you have these.
I'm not sure of the manufacturer of the bulbs themselves. I (think) I bought them from ace-parts on ebay. The 501 bulbs are a direct replacement to your original sidelight bulbs, no messing about with them. Mine are blue, 100% legal, they don't shine really blue on the road, just the yellow is filtered out and it becomes a white light with a slight tint of blue. If I get a chance later on I'll take a picture of them in the dark so you can see for yourself.
Paul
Aye that would be good Paul, I think I know what type you mean, but a pic would confirm it. Cheers
What is the sidelight type? Is it W5W fitment? I have seen these on e-bay
Fitting is a 10 minute job.
Make sure you get a kit that includes a relayed harness, so that the ballasts can draw directly from the battery (most kits include them).
Cheers Ini, I will have a look for a kit, I have noticed different Kelvin rated kits, Is it best to go for the higher rated kit for the ultimate upgrade or is there a risk with headlamp construction materials? Ie Plastic lights melting etc?
Cheers fior the help.
Sorry to hi-jack but I'm thinking of fitting 6000k Xenons to mine. The more the Kelvin the bluer the light becomes, anything over 8000k becomes a bit silly. From stock, cars are usually fitted with 6000k or 8000k HID kits.
Paul
Cheers Paul, i have seen 8000K kits retailing at around £95.
As i am new on here, do any of the sponsors do these kits? :D
I think there are sponsors on here who might do you a deal. Maybe drop one of the moderators, RickT, mk5golfgttdi, mycarsavw, onzarob, stuart (sorry If I've missed anybody out :D) a line, I'm sure they'll put you in touch with somebody.
Paul
Thanks I will look into it and see if I can get a kit from a sponsor :D
I assume to much. I assume you know how to PM one of the moderators...
Paul
Yeah I know how to Pm, I am a Mod on another forum ( Not a car related one though )
Dont go too high on the Kelvin scale, 4300 - 6000 is ideal.
The bluer the colour, the less light they output.
Your halogen projector lens will help to create the blue 'of axis' beam colour anyway.
Cheers Ini, good tips here!
I havent yet contacted anyone but can I ask, is there any good and bad manufacturers of these Kits? Just so I know what to look out for.
As promised:
Sidelights
Attachment 2045
Dipped Beam
Attachment 2046
Main Beam
Attachment 2047
As you can probably see, the sidelights on there own look naff. But pair them with some decent dipped beam bulbs (like a Xenon kit) and they look good.
Paul
Hi Paul
Your lights do look cool and very bright!
Ive changed my A4 headlamp to Angel Eyes. I believe they use the H7 bulbs and give the Xenon look but arent xenon, if you know what i mean.
Im after some replacement bulbs but ive noticed that main beam isnt really that bright, can i get brighter H7 Bulbs?
Sorry if i sound dumb ...
Hi again, thanks for posting up the pics. Looks smart , I will go about getting a kit, should be good. :D
Exactly the same for me. Soon I will fit a HID kit though. Have you tried some of the uprated Osram stuff? They might be worth a try. If they are still not bright enough then a HID kit is probably the only way to go. Main beam is pretty naff though, but all A6s are like that, even the stock halogens.Quote:
Originally Posted by karachi_kops
Paul
I have now ordered a 50W 6K HID Kit and some M-Tec sidelights to match. Cheers for the contacts Rick, I even got 10% Discount.
hi, i bought a cheep hid kit from china £55 for h4 (hi-lo) bulbs. best mod ive ever done to a car. the install will look as good as the installer. you cant tell ive fitted mine:D. i went for 6k . it does give a cool tinge of blue, you dont notice it when driving but you can deffo see it in reflections etc.
ive had mine for about 6 months with no problems so go for it mate!!
aye I will get them installed early next week, Should be good :D
My HID Kit arrived today :D Looks very well made and appears to be very simple to fit, I also got my sidelight upgrades. I will fit at weekend and try and get some before and after pics.
The kit came with a bulb alarm canceller to stop dash warnings, very hand tool I think.
im still kinda wondering how HIDs work but im sure one i see the before and after images i will realise how lol
just wondering if these only work on factory fitted headlights or will they also work on angel eyes ??
They work well with any low beam 'projector' enclosure.
They are not suited for a 'single element bulb' low beam 'reflector' application, as they are too dazzling (you can see the bulb).
Ideal for high beam reflectors though.
AS long as you have a projector syle housung then go for it. Normal style lights do not work properly with HIDs and dazzle.
I wired my HID ballasts into the light and mounted them in the OE space under the unit itself so i now have a self contained HID light/ballast assembly.Also means the wiring hole is on the underside sealed up,and the headlight looks EOM from under the bonnet, no extra wiring and such
Hi there audi-mad, can you elaborate on your method as I will be fitting my 50W HID Kit at the weekend and will be looking for a tidy installation. I have Valeo projector style headlights and my kit is a supervision from HIDs direct.
Also did you fit the warning canceller between on the "IN" side of the ballast?
(maybe a daft question as it looks to be the only place it can go! ) thought I would ask anyway.
ha ha, audimad, i have hunted you down on this forum.:D
derek - when you've fitted your kit can you give some opinions of brightness of the 50w kit. i was looking at getting this kit, but worried about being too bright, as normal hid kits are 35w.
thanks
Hi Simon, Yeah I will let you know how it looks and the brightness factor :D
Hi there, I installed the HIDs and sidelights today and they look the part! Very impressed indeed. I ended up snipping a square out of the back covers at the side and retaining the seal in one piece to ensure a tight fit, I have hidden the ballasts and cancellers and zipp tied cables up to ensure safe installation. Its quite bright outside and they still look crisp!
I will post up pics later on when I get a nightime shot of the new lights.
Big thanks to everyone who helped out and big thanks to Martin at HIDS Direct
Hi again, I havent yet got a decent snap for my HID comparison, might manage to sort that out this weekend( camera out of batteries!) , but I do have a before and after of the MTEC Sidelight bulbs that I got to go with the xenons.
Before with Standard sidelights.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...OULL/003-7.jpg
After with MTEC Sidelights fitted
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...OULL/001-8.jpg
I am pretty happy with the kit, I will post up the HIDs comparison later on this week.
Here are some pics of the LED sidelights & HID's on my old banger.
Did have some before shots, but cant find them.
1 piece Valeo's installed, still has a little too much gap at the top of the enclosure, but i will sort that out. (phone camera pic)
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o99/inisj/Valeos.jpg
LED sidelights in, 4xled forward facing type.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...j/DSC00244.jpg
HID kit installed.
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...j/DSC00240.jpg
Dodgy 'Barry' mod on map lights, lol
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...arryLights.jpg
Hi again, thats some colourful map lights there Ini!
I will post up a few snaps of my HID conversion, I actually changed my installation, the pics will tell the story.
The 50W Supervision kit 6000K
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...OULL/010-1.jpg
I originally cut out small holes at the corner of the valeo rear covers to allow the wiring through.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...OULL/013-2.jpg
I was not happy with this though as I thought it could strain the wiring. I decided to drill 25mm hole in rear valeo covers. The gromit fits like a glove and the rear cover seals perfect. Job done!
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...Reargromit.jpg
I had originally tried to hide the ballast bahind the brake fluid but it didnt look stable. So I used the provided bracket and mounted the ballast on the plastic cover. Solid,works a treat and no need to drill any metal work.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...NSBallast2.jpg
Another Snap of nearside ballast
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f.../NSBallast.jpg
Offside ballast Hidden behind the airbox. This ballast is actually cable tied into place, but will not move! Well hidden too.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f.../OSBallast.jpg
This snap was taken as a comparison, the offside still stock and the nearside HID is so bright that you can see it in the daylight. Big difference.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/f...OULL/015-1.jpg
I will post some pics of the HIDS at night when I get a picture. I am very impressed with the Kit. :D
I have recently noticed that if I switch on my headlights when the car is stationary i get a brake warning up, but if i put the headlights on when the car is moving, the warning doesnt come up? Strange, must be some form of alarm?
That will be the bulb out warning, its a voltage thing, some kits do it, some dont.You need the resistor thingy that stops it or a relay loom direct to the battery,both of these methods have been seen to work.
Pucs as requested, sorry a bit late car blew up and it kinda took my focus off a bit.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...d/100_1095.jpg
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...d/100_1094.jpg
It is advisable to use a relayed harness to feed the ballasts directly from the battery, with a local earth.
This prevents any electronics/EMF wierdness caused by a big HID 'startup' voltage drop over the factory loom.