Halo Headlights

[Ed Doe]

Evening guys and girls,

Summary of my story with Headlights - I purchased the Zed 3 years ago with a pair of Sonar Projectors and non-OEM HIDs already fitted.

Over the 3 years I've owned the car, the drivers headlight has got progressively more full of condensation/water. The issue has been isolated to a perished rubber boot over the hole in the back of the headlight, which I've since fixed, and am now just waiting for some warmer weather to dry it out. The silver reflective areas are covered in water marks and black areas where the silver paint has corroded, so it looks a bit ming which I hate.

Long story short, I'm considering options, and seeing as OE xenons are fapping expensive, I'm considering a new set of Sonar headlights, but sealing them properly before fitting them.

I'm also looking to upgrade the bulbs at the same time - the existing HIDs are utter crap in terms of light output.

I'm sure I'd seen a few on here buy HID kits from autobulbsdirect. My questions are as follows;

1. is this kit (55w) : http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-HIDS4U-Stealth-55W-Xenon-HID-Conversion-Kit.html?bulb_search=car substantially better than the 35W Kit http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/H7-HIDS4U-Stealth-35W-Xenon-HID-Conversion-Kit.html?bulb_search=car

2. Is it possible/easy/usable to convert the main beam to HID? I know they take a while to heat up and emit light when and HID is flicked on - would these work instantly or not? From the looks of it, the main beam is not a projector bulb on the Sonar lights, so would this be sensible/legal?

Thanks in advance guys

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I run a 35 W HID kit and find them perfectly adequate. IMHO 55 W is overkill and I wouldn't put HID in reflectors, lots of glare and slow start up so not ideal for on/off lamps.

Did you get a new rubber boot or just fix the existing?

 

[G600]

2. Is it possible/easy/usable to convert the main beam to HID? I know they take a while to heat up and emit light when and HID is flicked on - would these work instantly or not? From the looks of it, the main beam is not a projector bulb on the Sonar lights, so would this be sensible/legal?

You need a projector style lens, headlight washers and self leveling for the MOT, however I didn't have a problem with them fitted to the high beam of a previous car, and it's not like you have to worry about dazzling other drivers like you might with dipped beam.

 

[Ed Doe]

I run a 35 W HID kit and find them perfectly adequate. IMHO 55 W is overkill and I wouldn't put HID in reflectors, lots of glare and slow start up so not ideal for on/off lamps.
Did you get a new rubber boot or just fix the existing?

Thanks for the feedback Steve. I think for the money I'd be tempted to go for the more powerful ones as whatever I've got in there is pretty dire. I do want to be sure they're better before bothering with the extra outlay though if possible....
I'm leaning toward not bothering with HIDs in the reflectors -

You need a projector style lens, headlight washers and self leveling for the MOT, however I didn't have a problem with them fitted to the high beam of a previous car, and it's not like you have to worry about dazzling other drivers like you might with dipped beam.

Got all that for the dipped beam, just enquiring if anyone has done an HID install main beam I dunno if I fancy the pause between flicking main beam on and the hdi heating - if that is an issue installing HIDs on main beam??? I've not idea!