HID Headlights, step by step

[Golf Cart]

Yes David,

Please shed some light on your findings !!

[Muzzy]

I'm pretty sure I have the E13 cause they aren't very bright at all. But how can you tell the difference between the E13 and the Depo lights? Is it just the brightness/lens? Or are there actual physical differences? As far as bulbs go for both setups are the High and Low beam bulbs the same, H3's? Or is there a difference in wattages?

[Delicanadabc]

The Depo reads... Depo, on the glass lens.
The other one is not even good enough to have a brand name...

[delicat]

I think the Depo are better because of the lenses. The bulb is not what makes the difference but the actual housing/lenses.

As for the HID, I still really like them. I've had an intermitent problem where sometimes one bulb doesn't "fire" up. At first I used to turn off the engine and start it again hoping it would work. Since, I simply removed the fuse from my DRL so I can turn the lights on and off without stopping the engine. It may happens once every 20 times or so but doesn't bother me anymore since I've dealt with the DRL Fuse.

Not sure what causes this? I took the lights apart and put dialectric grease on all contacts but didn't really change anything.

So YES, I like them. And YES, I will go one or two shade whiter once these bulbs give up. I think 4000 to 5000 would be ideal (I have 6000).

Cheers,
David

[nxski]

I'm looking at going HID. Any recommendations on which of these kits is the correct / best one to get for the Delica? Starting at $70 it's a much better deal than $260!

http://www.autolismo.com/hid.html

[jessef]

With HID's you kind of get what you pay for. At least in terms of warranty.

[nxski]

$70 gets you a 6 month warranty, $80 gets you a year but there are different types of kits. If you click on the link you can see. I'm just not sure which set-up I should be getting!?

[davidwwc]

It seems that the price of the HID has come down a lot. There is a shop in Richmond . It is at the same mall as Disel. ON the ground floor . there are quite a few choices . May be worth to take a look.

Cheers,
DC

[DelicaMark]

I'm wondering if going with a cheaper HID system or any HID system is the best idea for your use. Aren't you going on some big trip in your van? What happens when you have this HID system in place and it stops working, which I remember seeing when I looked into doing this for my old L300. Wouldn't it be easier to deal with a standard lighting system for robustness?

I totally get how bad the L300 list are and why you would want to improve them. Seems like you now have lots of light on that bull bar to make up for the crap main headlights.

My 2 cents worth.

-Mark

[nxski]

If they were to stop working I would just use my spot lights until I get them repaired but at the moment I use my spot lights all the time and it really pisses off the oncoming traffic.

[Growlerbearnz]

And, just for a bit of interesting reading, my friend Daniel has an article on why HID retrofits are a bad idea:

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech ... sions.html

[nxski]

That's a pretty scary article. If the light is just going everywhere I might as well just stick with my spot light's. How about these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-68-SMD-LED-H ... 978wt_1114

[thedjjack]

If you want legal bright lights mount up a pair of snowplow lights on the bull bar...

Then you will be approaching the brightness of my stock 4 beam system (with Hella lens in all four pots)...I love my 1989 front

Man the "hi-top-ghetto" is just getting better an better...

[nxski]

You know I'm not into ghetto though, snow plow lights don't really fit my vision of what the van will become.

[thedjjack]

What good is looking good if you cannot see the road??? or if you get pulled of the road for illegal lights??

100% function first, form way less important:-D