The majority of us have HID lights in our projector dipped or low beam and mostly these are white in the range of 4300 - 6000k colour.

 

The main or high beam is another matter as a H1 HID light kits can be fit for sure but full lumens is not instant, so flashing is going to look weary and even on and off the main beam on an unlit road could lead to issues.

 

Many months ago i bought these bad boys and here is a pic along side a standard filament 55w H1.

 

 

I'm sure you can see there is a big difference with the led one being a massive 18mm in diameter, this will not fit in the stock opening so out with the dremel and open it up, it's aluminium so this isn't a chore. I have maintained the top right hand corner notch and one of the seating holes which still stops you putting the H1 bulb holder in incorrectly.

 

 

A big gaping hole you might say but it doesn't really affect anything as the bulb holder locks in place exactly the same way, i have tried the standard bulb back in and it's no different to what it was before. The only thing i have done is because the led bulb is so long i have put some flexible heat resistant silicone where the bulb meets the holder and you can possibly see this on the first pic, just to help stiffen things up a little as i don't want visible shaking when i'm on the road.

 

This new bulb will get warm, if that but no where near as baking hot as the filament one gets even after just a few seconds, so another plus.

 

Here is a pic in the main beam housing

 

 

Now some comparison pics to finish off with, clearly i have put in on the left a standard 55w bulb, one of those so called 'ice', 'xenon', blue tipped ones and you can see the colour difference, the led one is a colour now to match the HID lights, very bright and the light given off is bang there in an instant.

 

 

This pic below tells it all i think against my garage door showing the given off colour difference.

 

I will update when the time comes as i'm going for a new 99 insert headlight build but as i type these are untested in the car but all my bench trials have all led me to believe that these will be what i've been searching for :yes:.

 

Looking really good mate! Much whiter, well done

Much whiter, but will it light up the road as well as a H1 bulb? interesting to see the results :thumbup1:

I always understood it that LED bulbs required a special lens to produce the required light output. Simply putting one in a halogen or projector housing wouldn't necessarily have the desired results.

 

I'm always open to be being proven wrong, but that's what I understood.

yeah you're right, same goes for putting an HID kit in but everyone seems to put them in ;) even with a realignment there not technically legal. im working on putting HID's in my main beams :P

Looking at the bulbs side by side, the focal points are completely different between the two types (Halogen and LED).

The LED may produce more 'light' but it will not be focused in the reflector in the way it was designed for a halogen lamp.

 

HIDs in main beam are what I've got on the green zed. And if you give them a quick flash when you set off it control box stores enough to be able to flash them without the srtart up pause

 

Incidentally, I've had HIDs in the fog lights as well and they work really well

 

When i use dipped and main it looks really good and with the fogs on as well it's astounding, Nearly as good a patch of daylight !

how you fitted HID's in main beam? not 100% on uk/jdm headlights. iv got jdm so got the stupid adapter thing holding the h1 bulb, but though the only difference between uk and jdm was the dip beam?

Jeff Fitted them for me

 

The came with an adapter for fitting to the ZX

 

They were about £50 (but that was after a set we got had a failed power supply) Ebay Item http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281080321560?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D281080321560%26_rdc%3D1

 

I think the Fogs have got an adapter as well

 

The adapter if I remember correctly is a piece of Heat Resistant plastic that connects the bulb and mounting on the headlight and the different power supply

 

I think the original cheapo set had them as well

 

It might worth bunging Jeff a PM to see if he can get them or where they came from ?

Edited February 16, 201510 yr by TonyB

HIDs in main beam are what I've got on the green zed. Incidentally, I've had HIDs in the fog lights as well and they work really well

 

When i use dipped and main it looks really good and with the fogs on as well it's astounding, Nearly as good a patch of daylight !

 

Blimey you have a lot of ballasts :biggrin:.

 

I too have the H3 HID kit in the fogs and yes they work extremely well, one of the best mods i have done, i didn't use or need an adapter although i did have to cut and then bung up a 20mm opening iirc.

 

The reason i have used big chunky 80w H1 bulbs is because anything smaller/less powerful would be a waste of time, 7.5w and the such like, i notice a lot of H1 smd bulbs on ebay but these are still too large in diameter to fit into the housing and would require 'butchering' to fit also - if you're going to do it might as well go the whole hog !!

 

Taken on board what's been said and i shall get fit asap, flashing will be great fingers crossed, immediate, bright and so so white this is my main goal, more so than using for that extra vision on unlit roads, but if i get that as well and i do expect i will i'll be a very happy bunny :).

Only 3 each side lol !

 

Yes fogs are really good I got slagged off first time I put up a post about HIDs in foglights but they cut through fog at a low level and reflect off the white lines so they're actually better than bog standard. And with HID Headlights just give them a flash when you start off and the Ballast will hold the charge for an hour two so it will flash immediately and then be recharged from that flash

 

I must have a look at my window switches when I get the zed back and see if there is a bulb holder there !

Cool - nice upgrade Andy...:bow:

Correct, regarding the focal points. I've seen guys try to stick LED bulbs into the Z32 project and it just doesn't work well at all in regards to focal points.

 

Further many LED headlamps require the use of fans or heating film/lines (similar to the rear windshield) to work properly. Traditional headlamps, throw heat forward and away as infra-red radiation, LEDs need to loose heat by conduction from their rear by semiconductor-style heatsinking. With no heat at the front, LED headlamps can freeze over in icy weather. The solution is to use a fan, allowing a smaller heatsink, and get it to blow heat over the front glass.

Having given these a good testing on an incredibly rare drive between midnight and 2am, I can conclude they are no brighter than my H3c hid's, fitted with 99 headlight inserts, in fact all I see when I flick to main beam is a pointless hardly noticeable light at each side.

In fact on the journey I didn't need the mains at all (just as well!!) as the dipped were more than adequate, I also have hid lights in the fogs and these are amazing and complement the dips incredibly well, when on occasions I hit the pod button.

 

When I had stock 55w filament bulbs fitted the beam did project further than my previous set of H3 hid's, fitted with 89 inserts.

 

Please note and it's not a typo, that I have now H3c HID bulbs fitted, previously it was H3 bulbs, both with the same 55w ballasts. I have no conclusive proof that the H3c bulbs are better but you would expect so being stock length.

 

Also note I have adapted my lights with the diode modification - meaning when i switch to mains the dips do not extinguish as they would unmodified or in stock form.

 

Therefore, as I don't require the mains for distance and until something else comes along I am keeping the led H1 bulbs in there, they're very white, immediate, bright enough for flashing and I expect will satisfy a tester.

 

See the pic below, not the best I know as straight on would of been better but you get the idea, they basically look like I have another dipped beam :biggrin:.

 

Thanks for the update Andy - nothing better than true experience to answer such questions mate....:thumbup:

For the record as I mentioned in my last post, H3c HID light bulb is on the left, H3 on the right :thumbup1:.