Well i finally took the plunge and bought myself a Xenon Upgrade kit from Hids4u.co.uk

The kit came today and i only ordered it the day before so 10/10 for Delivery Speed

As im an eager beaver:D or is that impatient:rolleyes: i installed them this afternoon

Took me about 20 mins from start to finish but thats only cos i was being really careful. Good thing about the Octavia headlights is that big daft plastic cover on the back of the headlight unit. I assume this normally houses the ballast etc for OEM Xenons so i thought it would be best to put the ballasts etc from this kit in there. No need for drilling etc then and watertight.

Had them all sorted and on and tried them. Got a warning light on the dash but thats only cos i forgot to plug the drivers side back in. Anyway quickly sorted out my mistake tried again and hey presto no warning light.

First impressions are good light looks crisp and clean and i sat in a mates car from varying distances and had no glare etc. Will wait till it gets dark to make full judgement but its looking good.

If anyone is thinking of doing this then i fully recommend it. Yes i know you dont get trick Self levelling suspension and Headlight washers (ill strap a mate to the front with a sponge for that:rofl:) and i know about the legal implications (as Cathy Tate would say Bovvered:D)

The kit you need is the H7 Ultimate Kit. Costs £249.99 however search on google for "Hids4U Voucher" and youll find loads of Codes that you can put in to get you 10% off so all in all with Delivery came to £229.99

Will take some pics either tonight or tomorrow if i get chance

Laters

Carl:thumbup:

No bulb failure warning then? That's good going Sounds like the makers are savvy to that and have (hopefully) incorporated the appropriate circuitry to counter the problem

What K rating did you go for?

Went for the Standard 6000k anything more than that attracts unwanted attention from the law

Kit is available in 6000k and 8000k

Hid's draw about 35W as opposed to 55W for a Halogen. Bulb failure device is not that sensitive to detect the difference, and would only register if a lamp was out completely.

Mater, do you still have control over the height of the lamps from the knurled wheel on the dash?

I have used HIDS4U before and found them excellent, aftersales/warranty very good.

I had their kit in an X-trail and then moved it to a Navara. As they were normal reflector lenses I found that there was too much scatter so eventually binned them.

I was going to buy them for the octy but as the nightbreakers are almost as good and I dont really drive that much at night now I will stick with them for the time being.

Would be good to get some pics up, especially of the beam pattern, against a wall at several distances etc.

Steve

I have the same kit on my Leon.

Fantastic upgrade & a quality piece of kit.

Mater, do you still have control over the height of the lamps from the knurled wheel on the dash?

Yes you do

As for the power draw. If you dont get a special type of ballast that fools the ECU into thinking its still drawing 55w you get the bulb failure light one of my mates tried 3 different kits before getting a Hids4U one and they all gave bulb failure light

Maybe you could take some pictures of the new lights for us, please?

Maybe you could take some pictures of the new lights for us, please?

I second that, I've been looking at these for a while, but wanted one where the ballasts could be hidden in the main lamp unit, so they were water tight & also wanted to be sure that it didn't trip the warning light!

So well done! Might be going down the same route, now I know where to go!!

Yes you do

As for the power draw. If you dont get a special type of ballast that fools the ECU into thinking its still drawing 55w you get the bulb failure light one of my mates tried 3 different kits before getting a Hids4U one and they all gave bulb failure light

Tis true, I know of several people who have had bulb failure issues thanks to the xenon control gear on some of the cheaper kits. The cheaper units can also be over sensitive to low intake voltage where the lamp tries to strike 3 or 4 times and then fails if swithced on with the engine off. Beware of the cheap (usually Chinese) tat.

Good choice on the 6000k

Tis true, I know of several people who have had bulb failure issues thanks to the xenon control gear on some of the cheaper kits. The cheaper units can also be over sensitive to low intake voltage where the lamp tries to strike 3 or 4 times and then fails if swithced on with the engine off. Beware of the cheap (usually Chinese) tat.

Good choice on the 6000k

The biggest problem in these newer cars is the bulb saving feature know as PWM (pulse width modulation) where they pulse the voltage to the lamp thus extending the lamp life.

The problem arises when you use a cheapo kit, usually in these the ballast is very sensitive to voltage fluctuations and the outcome is a nice strobo driving lights.

With more quality kits it's not a problem as the ballasts are usually rated for a very wide range of input voltages, usually something like 8 - 16 volts. This is halogen lamp feature only by the way, xenons don't have the PWM circuitry.

And the Octavias bulb sensing circuitry IS that sensitive, it will see the difference of 55w and 35watts.

There are long coding options for xenon lamps in VAG-COM so presumably PWM can be disabled when OEM xenons are fitted.

Just as an aside but could you install these for main beam instead of the H1's?

What happens about washers? Can you only install the aftermarket xenons if you alreadt have headlight washers or do you have to fit them yourself? Just curious!

A few people have installed HID's for main beams. Not sure about the results though, especially when it comes to flashing people although i have seen a few beemers that flash with the xenons.

No one bothers with washers or self levelling, that is only a requirement with factory fitted xenons.

I'll say no more or this thread will go in the same direction as most of the other HID related threads :argue:

What happens about washers? Can you only install the aftermarket xenons if you alreadt have headlight washers or do you have to fit them yourself? Just curious!

If your asking this in regards to the legal stance then its all very confusing:

New cars need washers and auto level for xenons...........

As a retrofit, thechnically under the same regs they dont.

But, under different regs I beleive the retrofits kits they are not legal as they headlight unit isnt designed for that sort of bulb, its designed for a halogen bulb.

Having said that, no one is likely to know when behind a projector housing.

If the beam pattern is not gonna affect other road users then its all good.

Steve

Just as an aside but could you install these for main beam instead of the H1's?

Yes you can as Hids4U do almost any type of bulb. They are even specially done so that you can flash with them. However i dont see the point of it myself. i was toying with the idea but i just opted for Phillips Xtreme 80% bulbs instead. You can even get them for the foglights but thats just going too far in my opinion

As for Beam pattern Etc. ive just been out now its dark and the beam pattern is no different. I drove past loads of ppl and no one flashed at me so im assuming they are ok either that or ppl are driving round blind now:rofl:

With regards to washers etc i know about the legal stance but as i said earlier in the thread..... Bovvered:rofl: i wash my car a lot anyway:D

Didnt get chance to take pics but i will take some over the weekend if i get chance.

Ill just finish on this last point. Its the Best £229.99 ive ever spent and i would recommend them without hesitation

Carl:thumbup:

A few people have installed HID's for main beams. Not sure about the results though, especially when it comes to flashing people although i have seen a few beemers that flash with the xenons.

I've had H1 HID kit on my main beams for a little over a year now. They've worked perfectly even though I use them just like normal halogen beams. Flash with them, turn them on for a short periods of time etc. The car even passed with them the MOT yesterday with flying colors.

I have used HIDS4U before and found them excellent, aftersales/warranty very good.

I had their kit in an X-trail and then moved it to a Navara. As they were normal reflector lenses I found that there was too much scatter so eventually binned them.

I was going to buy them for the octy but as the nightbreakers are almost as good and I dont really drive that much at night now I will stick with them for the time being.

Would be good to get some pics up, especially of the beam pattern, against a wall at several distances etc.

Steve

Same here with regard to the nightbreakers. Theyre just too good to upgrade!

If your asking this in regards to the legal stance then its all very confusing:

New cars need washers and auto level for xenons...........

As a retrofit, thechnically under the same regs they dont.

But, under different regs I beleive the retrofits kits they are not legal as they headlight unit isnt designed for that sort of bulb, its designed for a halogen bulb.

Having said that, no one is likely to know when behind a projector housing.

If the beam pattern is not gonna affect other road users then its all good.

Steve

This should clear things up...

Department for Transport - Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps

"2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam."

Just as an aside but could you install these for main beam instead of the H1's?

Yes you can! Done it (as you can see in my signature ). It's priceless...

One little tip though, is to go for a good quality kit. HIDs need a warming up-period, and the poorer quality, the longer warm-up. Long warm-up doesn't work well with main beams for apparent reasons... I bought the cheap ones for a start, and it takes about 15-20 sec to reach full beam strength. Irritating, but when there’s light, light there is. Wish I could bring a photo, but the evenings are too bright and littlesonwakesearlysodaddyfallsasleepearly.. As they say. But believe me, the difference is fenomenal!

Another thing: 6000K and 8000K has a colder (more blue) color than the manufacturers use in OEM HIDs. OEM is 4300K, and it’s possible to buy these now, although 6- and 8000K are more popular. If you go for light intensity, 4300K is best.

So: H1 4300K – go for it!!

As promised pics of the upgrade

as you can see from the pics the light output is fantastic and the beam pattern is no different to normal halogens

Carl:thumbup:

A nice clean beam cutoff there. No stray light above it which is good.

One slight observation, I think the cutoff kick angles aren't quite as steep on OEM xenons.

My beams are obviosuly much closer to the wall but there does seem to be a noticeable difference

The kick angle could be something to do with me playing with the continental lever will try and get closer to a wall and see what its like then. ill also have a play with the Lever and see if it makes a difference. Still i was more than chuffed with the outcome as i wasnt expecting them to be as good as they are

How did you get the pic to appear in your post like that. I get thumbnails in mine

Carl