klam

It seems like everybody has the standard H4 HID retrofit kit, which means no high-beam. I don't know if I can deal with no high-beams.

Has anybody tried the Autolamps-Online.com H4 retrofit kit with low and high beams? Take a look at their Web site for info and a video (can't upload since it exceeds size limit here). Their kit uses Philips parts, comes in 4100K and 6000K, and costs $600. Take a look.

ShadyMilkMan

iTrader: (2)

In stock housing hid will look like crap... get projectors they will look very nice and will have a nice focused beam

slammed2k2

iTrader: (1)

why would it look like crap in stock housing?

Hefe

iTrader: (1)

you just have to modify a better glare shield for the stock reflectors and they will look fine

Erichyung

i have hid's in stock housing, and it's not that bad. and I don't have high-beams anymore

klam

But does anyone have the H4 retrofit kit that has high and low beams?

Erichyung

I haven't seen any car w/ dual beams on a single hid bulb yet, I'm guessing it exists but it's still rare.
Normally people have hid's and seperate lamp for high-beams

Bartkat

Near as I can tell, some people think projectors look good, but you can't see as good with them. HID in stock housings is much better. I've got CATZ system, not HID, and the high beams are fantastic. Only time I can use them though is on a deserted road, like late at night. I figure with HID, low beams may be all you need, and a heck of a lot cheaper than $600.

Lotsamula

I have had both a regular H4 single beam HID kit as well as an H4 dual-beam kit. The dual-beam kit is worthless! All "dual-beam" H4 kits with the exception of one (Bellof) does virtually NOTHING to further illuminate the road when the high beams are activated. In order to simulate a high beam, these kits just retract the beam correction shield away from the bulb. All that happens is that your beam pattern becomes less focused when you hit the highs, but the road is not illuminated any more. The Bellof kit actually pulls the HID bulbs into the socket further via a motorized servo, thereby simulating the exact position of the high-beam filament as compared to its halogen counterpart.

If you want a Bellof kit, there is only one place in North America that you can buy them from, Hi-Tech Import Lighting. However, be aware that this kit runs in the neighborhood of $1100-$1200.

What I did was I bought a projector headlight housing with an integrated high beam and installed HIDs in the projector housing. That way, I have HID low beams with a truly usable high beam. However, the light output with the stock headlight housing and the HID kits was far superior to the HIDs within the projectors. Perhaps they are just poorly designed projectors, but the light output to the ground is not anywhere near the same. Here is a link to the pics:

HID Projector Lights

BTW, if any of you are wondering, YES, that is a hybrid in the photo. I bought the car for my daily commutes and I get around 48 MPG! Also, the projectors are actually the halo variants, however one of the angel eyes was defective. Therefore I have chrome projectors with no working angel eyes. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/IMG] But I bought these because I just wanted some chrome projectors and the TYC units don't exist yet.

Jim

klam

Lotsamula: Sorry, can't access your pictures from the Yahoo! Group... would you mind posting them to this site as attachments possibly? Would really like to check out your HIDs. Thanks.

Bartkat

Document Not Found
Sorry, the document you requested is not available.

Please click here to visit the Yahoo! Groups home page.

[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

FurBall

Check out the boys at Philips Auto Lighting forum... Someone bought the hidkits.com Bi-Xenon kit, very similar to that kit, but it looks more homemade [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

No matter what, you're looking at custom wiring unless you remove your DRL relay..... Plus, you would no longer be able to flash people... Those things take some time to warm up, especially for Bi-Xenon, the mechanical part also has to take time to move... the hidkits one takes 2 seconds to re-arm....

Bartkat

Here's a Hella kit for H4 lights with hi-low beam. Looks like a bulb cover that flips out of the way.

Only $500 for the kit.

Hella HID Kit Dual Beam

klam

Do you know anybody who has gotten these? They're about $100 cheaper than the Autolamps-Online version.

Bartkat

I can only say that Hella makes good stuff. They are a leader in automotive lighting and their parts are German made.

Lotsamula

Sorry about the non-working link. Here is a working link to the pics. Enjoy!

BTW, I purchased my HID kit off of Ebay. The person I purchased the kit from personally puts all his kits together using only top quality parts (hella ballasts, ISO 9002 bulbs, etc.), packages them without alot of flare and sells them on Ebay for a discount. Here is one of his latest auctions that just ended:

H4 7000k Purple Hella HID Conversion Kit

Lotsamula

klam -

This is one of the kits that I have personally used and tested. The HID Plus kit is completely worthless as far as having a usable high beam! It is true that they use Hella ballasts, but the bulbs, which have retractable beam correction shields to simulate a high beam, are absolute Taiwan-made crap.

If you really want high beams, save your money up for the Bellof kit or go the projection headlight route with HIDs. Otherwise you might as well just buy a single beam HID kit. Not everything is as advertised. Just remember that most of the time, you get what you pay for.

Bartkat

Are you saying the kit on Ebay is ok?

Lotsamula

Bartkat -

The HID kit that referenced on Ebay is a single beam kit that uses ONLY quality parts and that can be had for less than $400 shipped. If you go with the HID Plus kit, even though it is advertised as a dual beam kit, you will end up with only a usable low beam. Therefore, I would recommend purchasing the kit on Ebay from the person that I mentioned. And if anyone is wondering, no, I am in no way affiliated to this person whatsoever. I am just a very happy customer who is very impressed with the quality of the parts, the price and the customer service that I received.

dacivic

iTrader: (22)

So you mean the kit you recommend will work with stock housing w/o giving too much glare?

Lotsamula

Yes, the kit will work fine in the stock housing. I have tried this kit in the stock housing and the glare is minimal because of the length of the beam correction shield on the HID bulb. This shield is crucial to minimizing the amount of excess glare coming from the headlights. Just remember that you might have to aim your lights down a tad after the install. Also, this kit will eliminate your high beams. If you don't need/use your high beams much, then this kit will be the difference between night and day, literally!

voltron622

lotsamula, what color HID Kit do you have? Based on the pictures...i think they are the blue/white ones. Have you tested out the various colors that are out on the market for HID kits? I've seen someone in my neighborhood with the purple hella Kit and they look awful. They are noticebly VERY purple...a good cop attracter. What color do you recommend?

Lotsamula

When I do mods to my vehicles, my goal is to look as OEM as possible. The color of hid kits comes in the form of color temperatures (i.e. 6000K, 7000K, 7500K, etc., K=Kelvin). Most new BMWs from the factory come with HIDs that are around 6000K. That is the same for the Lexus and Mercedes OEM HIDs. Porsches and Audis tends to use HIDs closer in color temp to 6500K. However, they also use projector lights that make the light output seem more blue than it really is. They also use projectors developed specifically for HIDs.

I opted for the 6000K kit. The result was the color temperature of the Lexus HIDs with the look of the Audis. With the aftermarket projectors that I have, light output was severly diminished because of the projectors. The higher the Kelven rating of the color temperature, the more blue/purple the light would be. IMO, anything above 6000K looks like crap because all usable light (white light) is filtered out and all you are left with is blue light, which does very little for road illumination. Remember, bluer is not better. The higher the Kelvin, the less usable light there is to illuminate the road with.

If you are just going for the blue look and don't care much for road illumination, go with the 7500K or 8000K kits. If you want purple, there are 9000K kits out there. If you want a pure white with a slight tint of blue (i.e. lexus, mercedes), go with a 6000K kit. Just keep in mind that HIDs exist to simulate the actual color of sunlight. Sunlight is only 5800K!

Bartkat

From what I gather then, if I want a nice wite light and the best road illumination, I should go with the 6000 K temp range. It appears there is an added benefit of lower price than the higher K temps too. I need the best illumination since I am old and my eyeballs aren't as good as they used to be. I think I'd get the kit from the guy on Ebay who assembles kits from Hella parts then. Am I correct in that?

Thanks for all the good info, guys.

MangoEX

iTrader: (2)

4100K will provide best illumination. Where the hell are peopl egetting the 6k idea from?

Killer Kabob

I know this is an old post...but I'm curious about this topic. I'm actually looking into these same projection lights Lotsamula posted of in this thread. They look pretty cool in the pictures, but from what he said, the quality of light that comes out of them is inferior to HIDs in standard stock housings. I currently have a hi-low HID 6000k system in my car with stock housings, but did notice the beam patterns are a bit higher and not as defined as cars built with HID kits (my brother and mother have Infiniti G35 and QX4s respectively) which look a LOT nicer and brighter.

The quality of my HID kit isn't bad, I just think that since Civics weren't built for HID kits, when installed, the kits don't look as good as other cars like BMW, Infiniti, Lexus etc. Now, my question is...is a projection kit like this really worth the purchase if I already have an HID kit installed? I would like to get a cleaner, more definite beam pattern without sacrificing too much visibility. Also...I currently have an H4 kit installed in the stock headlights...I assume I'll have to sell them or modify them to fit projection headlamps. Anyone messed with fitting HIDs in projection headlights? I don't think lotsamula comes to this forum anymore...so anyone else who knows anything about this topic, please let me know!

BTW, the hi-low kit is pretty useless. My beam pattern must be screwed up, because when I put my lights on high beam, the pattern shoots up a bit too high. I don't know how to alter the pattern too much without supremely ghetto rigging the lights somehow with a lot of electrical tape and/or some cable ties. I'm going to research beam patterns some more now, but if any of you have any sure-fire solutions to adjusting headlight beams and or H4 HID kits, let me know!

here's a link to the kit I have, btw...not the best quality lights, but they definitely get the job done:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2424987451

klam

When I used installed me Catz high/low HID kit, I had to re-aim the headlights lower. Do so by following instructions in your Civic manual. You just have to adjust a screw behind the housing to raise or lower.

speedracersong

iTrader: (10)

i got my hids from www.xenondepot.com
5k high/low pretty happy with it

dragoon

iTrader: (2)

how did the beam pattern turn out?

klam