Rep Power: 811

hidplanet is usually alot cheaper than ebay btw. also beware of used bulbs, after about 2 yrs, alot of light output is gone. theyre not like halogen where at the end of their life, theres only a 15% loss in output. its quite a bit more, which is why alot of older cars have such dim hids cause they just drive it til it dies 5-6 yrs later.

 
Rep Power: 291

you had the sonars, right? or TYC? my TYC's don't do that. my cutoff line is solid as the rest of the car, no matter how bad the bumps are. there's also a sheet of ABS and about 2 tubes of JB Weld on them too though!

 
Rep Power: 242

lol i already have the abs sheets waiting for mine. JB weld always turns into a one time use product with me cause I like to make a mess, so I will have to pick up another tube.

 
Rep Power: 291

there are a lot of choices out there for all of these. spend enough time over there and you'll find out exactly what you want. my recommendation based on what i have is Matsushita Gen 3 ballasts and Philips 85122 or 85122+ bulbs. like gearbox said, i'd watch used bulbs. i had a pair of used Osrams and they were noticibly different in intensity. the Mat Gen 3 ballasts are fully sealed, so you don't have to worry about water getting in them. if i remember right, the some of Denso's and other brands are in a case, but it's not waterproof. you can find lots of stories where people's ballasts fried from getting water in them. harness wise, you can get a cheap universal one off ebay, make your own, or get one of the harness makers over there to make you one.

 
Rep Power: 291

you seen any of the older TL's lately (reflectors, not projectors)? I've seen a bunch lately where their HID bulbs are starting to turn pink. you can see a similar color shift in metal halide lights used at gas stations and other places.

 
Rep Power: 811

ive seen the pink and also some bmw projectors that looked pure blue lol and almost no light on the ground. i think people just dont realize or dont know the bulbs get dimmer over time.

 
Rep Power: 811

wow look what i found on ebay fresh from china. this guy just became a member a couple days ago and already sold a bunch of these. its 50w hid kit, seems you can choose the bulb style and color. i emailed him to make sure tho. only 110 shipped! for YOUR HID kits lol. seriously considering this and saving $70. i feel stupid i asked shipping time to usa and it says on their site 3-4 days? lmao thats quick.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12V-5...spagenameZWDVW

 
Rep Power: 343

you get em first, gear. i'll follow haha

 
Rep Power: 811

lmao well as soon as he emails me back, ill prolly order some. if it really takes only a few days to get here, i dont have to wait til i go back home lol. they look nice, prolly sealed, and its really the same as all those other kit. hes just not ripping off anyone

i got my benz shrouds, the chrome is flawless but there are stupid fingerprints all over which sucks cause im gonna end up scratching them trying to wipe it off. im thinking just use water and a soft cloth and hope for the best. cause the fingerprints are very obvious.

 
Rep Power: 321

those look like the kit DONG was selling a while back. i have a set of DONG's hids and they've been going strong for about a year now. the ballasts look similar, and the box layout is the same. i took the lazy way out and just got the plug and play kit with a relay harness . if i tried to retrofit, i'd probably mess up, get pissed off and throw everything in the trash

 
Rep Power: 811

been there, done that lol. thats why im having someone else do it this time

 
Rep Power: 242

Well gearbox I hate how the cutoff on these TYCs are now with the halogens up close. There doesn't seem to be glare, and hotspots might be an issue...i think that might be able to be fixed. I am going to try some adjustments while I have everything apart. Then I'll post pictures of the results and give my opinion about the improvement if any. I am sure that is what most people dropping in to this thread are looking to see. Should be able to do it this weekend.

 
Rep Power: 251

I just ordered the 55w d2s 4300K hid system from retro solutions, so it looks like I'll be running them in my TFX set. I emailed the seller, he said the temperature of the 55W systems are around 350 F which is still less than halogens(450 F). He also said the lumens is around 4100 to 4300...we'll see how everything goes once I try it out.

btw it's around $160 shipped on ebay, which is $20.00 cheaper than the website.

 
Rep Power: 242

I got the Xenith Xenon kit from the honda tech forum because everyone seems happy with them and say the quality is great. When I get the projectors I want I can just get the d2s bulbs and be set. Sure the oem set might be better in the long run but for my first run I don't feel like shelling out tons of cash

 
Rep Power: 251

I've been running aftermarket hid ballast for about 3 years now and haven't had a single issue with them. It's been as good as the oem ones. I wouldn't worry too much whether they're oem or not. They get the job done.

 
Rep Power: 811

should i get the 50w YOUR HID kit? heres the reply.

hello , we have D2S 4300k 50w available , but the price will be 89USD for each kit . the shipping fee to USA is 32USD . SO total amount is 121USD . it will take 3-4 days to delivery in USA .

thanks a lot
Hao

 
Rep Power: 811

okay screw it, ima just buy it and see what happens. thats cheap enough lol and it should work okay. ill post some pic when i get it.

 
Rep Power: 343

make sure to post up the butt dyno, gear.

 
Rep Power: 811

yeah ima get a broken d2s bulb made by philips to compare the size, hopefully it will be the same as the kit bulb or im not gonna be happy.

 
Rep Power: 251

Gearbox, here's a pic of a philips d2s 85122 bulb and an aftermarket d2s bulb.

Philips 85122(left) and aftermarket(right). Notice that aftermarket is slightly shorter.

 
Rep Power: 352

yes, it may be shorter, but the "FLAMENT" area/height size is the same...and thats the important part....

NOTE: yes yes i know HID bulbs dont have flaments... it uses charged xenon gas to emit light...but its too damn late in the night so i dont remember the correct word. bite me

 
Rep Power: 352

btw buck, nice macbook pro.... are u dual screening it or just cloning it?

btw, is that the newer core2duo ones?

i have a core duo macbook that i JUSt gave to my sister. im planning to get the macbook pro soon.


how do u like it?

 
Rep Power: 251

Thanks sleepy. It's the newer core 2 duo(santa rosa) ones and I'm dual screening it on a 20" apple cinema display. My hp laptop just crapped out on me about a month ago...so I figure why not see what all the apple fuss is about. So far I really love it. I really love how I can run vista on it too.

 
Rep Power: 343

maybe i'll just try to find sylvania bulbs new from somewhere.

 
Rep Power: 242

I should have gotten the pro! That is the ONLY thing I regret about my macbook purchase. I like having the smaller screen for the most part as it is pretty portable. What I miss from the pro is the graphics card.

My advice to you if you ever want to upgrade any of the stuff on it, get it from newegg.com. Apple will bend you over and call you Susan if you get upgrades from them.

 
Rep Power: 811

that looks good to me. you want the center of the arc capsule to line up and it does. thats all that matters. only reason the right one is smaller is it doesnt have a glass tube on top.

 
Rep Power: 242

gear you are going to take pictures right?

 
Rep Power: 811

yeah someone is sending me a busted philips d2s bulb for cheap, and as soon as yourhid gets back to me i can order the kit for 120 shipped. if they line up, thats a heck of a deal lol. then im gonna try and find a cheap projector to test them in to make sure they are not getting too hot. last thing i wanna do is ruin the tl projectors lol because the chrome peeled off from the heat. someone had it happen to their fx projectors, but idk maybe those just suck. im trying to figure out why that would happen just from a hotter bulb.

 
Rep Power: 251

I'm looking to upgrade to 4 gb of ram and apple is ridiculously overpriced. You have to be a moron or must be ballin' to pay $1000 for ram. I just checked out newegg.com and it's way cheaper.I'm not going to let apple call me susan and have another shot at me.

 
Rep Power: 291

i love newegg. been building my own computers from there since 2002 or so.