HID conversion kits

[splodge]

help please anybody:( after a really good re-map 212bhp, a stainless zorst and k+n panel filter:D:D giving tons of smiles per gallon in the 2001 octy i thought i might treat meself to a hid xenon conversion kit seeing as it is now officially dark all day, i trawled the net doing me homework due to being a lot of a novice then a mate mentioned the legalities of kits. i have been told i need an H4 bi-xenon 6000k kit but after reading threads today i am even more confused:confused: some say"ace" some say"poo" some say "illegal" does anyone have experience or a definitive answer cos if i dont spend the money soon the missus will take the money and spend it on make up and things!

[vRS Carl]

Legally your not supposed to do it.

search on here its been brought up in a thread before. although if you are going to then i recommend Hids4u.co.uk they seem to be quite knowledgable and will be able to help you further

Carl

[Fezboy]

I was quoted £200 all in fitted local to me and in the leaflet about the kits it even said they were not legal

I just went to Halfords and got some super bright bulbs £14.99 each but BOGOF

They lights are twice as bright across the road at night and you can see so much more along the little lanes

[KLM]

130 watt rallye bulbs. £20 from Halfrauds. Fitted mine 3 weeks ago.

All the light you will ever need.

Mark

[mattbeef]

There is a massive thread about these on the seatcupra.net forum.

the top and bottom of it is this.

1) they are illegal as they aren't E marked

2) they will give you bad light depending on the design of the head lamp glass and the reflector (Octy's should be ok)

3) as long as they pass on the MOT then no one will ever know that they are illegal

4) if they are OEM then they have to have head lamp washers. The part about self leveling is a bit of a grey area as you can get round it by using the adjuster in the car.

Now if anyone else knows something else then feel free to chip in

[storm monkey]

EU law states that if HID's are fitted, they must be in CE marked housings, which have been approved for use with HID bulbs, have to have headlamp washers, and must be automatically adjusted by a system linked to the rear suspension of the vehicle. The twiddly adjuster **** on the dash is not an acceptable alternative.

But no-one will ever know!

Still not sure of the legal implication of fitting HID main bulbs to an Octy 2 that has factory Xenon dip beams!

Phil

[KenONeill]

My understanding of the E-mark situation seems to differ slightly here. AIUI the lack of an E-mark means that it is illegal for the motor trade to fit HIDs for you, but you can do it yourself without actually breaking the law.

[kynastonp]

130 watt rallye bulbs. £20 from Halfrauds. Fitted mine 3 weeks ago.

All the light you will ever need.

Mark

are these lamps e marked ?

[woodenspatulas]

ive had some in my vectra for ages, even went through the mot with them in. properly adjusted and bulbs which arent mega mega power or blue shoudl be fine.

in fact i found using the rally type high output bulbs got me flashed by people most nights. now with the hids in i dont get flashed at all

[woodenspatulas]

EU law states that if HID's are fitted, they must be in CE marked housings, which have been approved for use with HID bulbs, have to have headlamp washers, and must be automatically adjusted by a system linked to the rear suspension of the vehicle. The twiddly adjuster **** on the dash is not an acceptable alternative.

But no-one will ever know!

Still not sure of the legal implication of fitting HID main bulbs to an Octy 2 that has factory Xenon dip beams!

Phil

actually thats only if your car was FACTORY FITTED with HIDs. if they are retro fitted you do not need auto adjustment. as long as your beam patterns are good then you wont have a issue. but as with most mods, some setups are better than others and some MOT testers are different to others too.

[KLM]

are these lamps e marked ?

[vindaloo]

One question worth posing is this. I import a car from Japan or OZ. It has installed RHD factory HIDs. But that model of car is not sold in the UK.

Would they pass it through SVA? Assuming model report and other bolox exists.

For an EU or UK car. Could you SVA the car with a HID retro-fit or complete custom styling, including be-spoke headlight outer lenses?

The DETR "Official statement" letter thing that's been circulating seems overly authoritarian and beaurocratic. And maybe not entirely based in proven case law.

I think that even with a H4 conversion on an older car. Should you stick with "halogenesque" colour temperatures, and there's not too much glare, no one will bat an eyelid. It'll likely pass an MOT.

J.

[dstev2000]

I think most HID kits will be OK as long as you don't go mad with the K rating of the lamps, keep it below 8000K or you'll stick out like a sore thumb, one die hard traffic officer could make your life pretty difficult otherwise. I found the rear reflector in the Octavia I wasn't well suited to a HID lamp and it fired a lot of the light upwards. If you have the ellipsoidal projector lenses you will achieve better results with the beam output.

With regards to the higher rating rally bulbs, bear in mind they are typically DOUBLE the wattage of standard lamps and therefore draw around twice the current putting your wiring loom under great strain. There is also the issue of the heat generated by the uprated bulbs and it's effects on the reflectors and plastic lenses.

[juicey]

Illegal, best not to fit them. I fitted upgraded xenons and was very impressed search threads for NightBreaker to see my comments if interested.

[dstev2000]

Also, there is a world of difference and confusion with bulbs advertised as 'Xenon'.

Proper Xenon HID bulbs are "High Intensity Discharge" and involve using an electrical arc and xenon gas to achieve the enhanced light output.

A lot of the advertised 'Xenon' bulbs are in fact normal incandescent bulbs with a small quantity of Xenon gas to alter the light output colur by a small quantity but will never come close to the output of Xenon HID's.

Incandescent halogens are pretty good these days but have more or lesss reached the limits that the technology can offer. LED's will provide the lighting of the future and will also make HID obsolete.

[V5-Steve]

I have a Bosch HID setup in my Fabia, I must say the light output is fantastic but they do seem to throw a lot of light away from the road. This is on standard lights so I need to find some that will stop the light going up and outwards away from the road. Anyone got ideas on these lenses, sorry to hijack the thread. But get them as they make such a difference

[green beard]

I was quoted £200 all in fitted local to me and in the leaflet about the kits it even said they were not legal

I just went to Halfords and got some super bright bulbs £14.99 each but BOGOF

They lights are twice as bright across the road at night and you can see so much more along the little lanes

Was looking at these the other day and thinking do they really???

So thanks for the vote of confidence

How on earth do they get their Halfrauds reputation I'll never know

[fatbob]

deleted

[dstev2000]

[quote=fatbob;1070073

Oooh ah like a good flash

Dirty bugger!

There are laws against that sort of thing

[Mike B]

Retrofit HiD's

Yes you can fit them to any car But they'll be illegal! In time the car will fail it's MOT or worst case you could be served with a roadside prohibition notice.

If factory fit HiD's are fitted you can retrofit the mainbeam. Legislation centres on dipped beam.

Legal requirements are: Projector/Pre focused headlamp unit as fitted to Octy 2, Headlamp wash or wash/wipe & Automatic self levelling in lamp, Rear suspension is an acceptable alternative.

If you do fit a set, Enjoy them while you can.

As for colour temp the rule of thumb is the lower the better, The lower the temp the more light the capsules emit.

OEM are 4100K-4300K aim for 5000K/6000k, 8000k and above will only draw attention (The wrong type)

[woodenspatulas]

Retrofit HiD's

Yes you can fit them to any car But they'll be illegal! In time the car will fail it's MOT or worst case you could be served with a roadside prohibition notice.

If factory fit HiD's are fitted you can retrofit the mainbeam. Legislation centres on dipped beam.

Legal requirements are: Projector/Pre focused headlamp unit as fitted to Octy 2, Headlamp wash or wash/wipe & Automatic self levelling in lamp, Rear suspension is an acceptable alternative.

If you do fit a set, Enjoy them while you can.

As for colour temp the rule of thumb is the lower the better, The lower the temp the more light the capsules emit.

OEM are 4100K-4300K aim for 5000K/6000k, 8000k and above will only draw attention (The wrong type)

but both mine and my missus's cars passed MOTs with HIDs in. ive never been pulled over with them or find myself being flashed by oncoming motorists ( and lets face it if you get flashed all the time eventually you will be flashed by a copper too!)

with retro fitting there is no concrete legislation. as long as you have a beam pattern that accptable by a mot station theres nothing wrong. my light output is much better now, and therefore i have better vision at night. thats the main reason behind me putting them in. i think the real issue is with the older type lamps which have the pattern lens at the front of the light (ie where the glass is) these seem to suffer with bad pattern when combined with HIDs.

i think the whole issue with HIDs is the same as tints on the front side windows. its hit and miss to weather anyones going to get pulled. act like a moron or drive a overly loud or cavvy car and prepared to be pulled and scrutinised! also there will always be camps of people for and against them, but then thats what makes the world a interesting place!

[Mike B]

I personally think HiD's are best thing since sliced bread, It was the ability to specify them on the Fabia that helped in my decision to buy one. I just don't want to see anyone fall foul of the law after retrofitting a set. But again there's always an inherent risk in one form or another in any changes you make to your car away from standard.

[woodenspatulas]

I personally think HiD's are best thing since sliced bread, It was the ability to specify them on the Fabia that helped in my decision to buy one. I just don't want to see anyone fall foul of the law after retrofitting a set. But again there's always an inherent risk in one form or another in any changes you make to your car away from standard.

spot on. i even declared mine on insurance and they said it dosnt matter of count as a mod! (bit disapointed at that as i now have so many mods from stanard i felt like they were taking something away! lol!)

as you say its down the the individual to choose and justify the risks. i personally keep the bulbs boxes and some spare normal bulbs in the boot. IF i was stopped i would simply swap them over there and then to apease the copper.

[ultra_joel88]

Retro fitting them to PROJECTOR style lights such as on your roomster is fine.

Technically, they ARE illegal. But its pretty unlikely you'd get caught unless they were incorrectly aligned.

HOWEVER fitting them to the Dual Epsilloid style lights such as on the standard FABIA 1 lights is VERY DANGEROUS as it will scatter the beam pattern not concentrate it.

[simonsheil]

The isuue on legality is unanswered as there has never been a test case to prove it. It will only fail an MOT if the alignment is out but so can normal bulbs.

The department of transport state they are illegal as mentioned due to no E mark, however, there is a strong argument this only applies to the vehicle manafacturer and not after market accessories (do seat covers need E marks). Until a case goes to court there is no test case either way, hence legality has not been established.