Thread: HID conversion

anyone upgrade their D2 with the aftermarket Xenon? Issues?

Originally Posted by jf1056

Interesting.......I got some 35w HID H4 conversions for my D2 about 18 months ago. They use a small electro magnet to slide a cover back and forth for low / high beam. On low beam they are excellent compared to original. I did reajust the beam to get a better spread, but I have not had anyone "flash" me for being too bright on low beam. High beam is brilliant, pardon pun. These came as quite a white light with just a hint of blue, maybe thats the trick.
Anyway, they were cheap $80 fully delivered from China, work under water and mud. Are corrogation proof so far and have not had an issue with rego, so far! These were so good got a set of H1's from the same company and converted the Night Stalkers. Melts skippies retinas at 100 metres on high beam, bloody brilliant!
That my 2 bobs worth for those interested.

That's pretty similar to what I have found with the 35w HID H4 conversions kits that I've been running in my D2 for more than three years now without any problems at all. The only difference with mine is that the small electro magnet slides the light source (glass tube) back and forth, and not the "cover" that you refer to - that remains stationary in mine. The action of sliding the light source back and forth simulates the way that a conventional haolgen H4 globe works, where different filaments are excited (one above the cover for low beam, and one clear of the cover for high beam).

Provided that these lights are correctly adjusted, and that you have not gone for excessive "kelvin" rating (blue light), you will not have any problems based on my experience. I drive regularly between Kalgoorlie and Perth with a lot of night time travel, and have driven the same vehicle from Kal to Tasmania and spent about a month over there, also with plenty of night time driving. Have been stopped by the police for random breath tests and other reasons from time to time, with never even a comment about the lights.

The improvement over standard halogen globes is such that I would never consider anything else, especially as I also run a pair of Hella Predators on the front. "Dipping" from high beam with Predators to conventional halogen low beam, especially with the early D2's pathetic headlights, is nothing short of painful once you have experienced something better.

And to dispel an old wives tale - provided that the actual light source is in the same position relevant to the reflector - it is physically impossible for the light "pattern" spread by the reflector to be any different. ALL light travels in a straight line, and when it strikes a reflective surface - the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence - simple basic law of physics. The ONLY way that a reflector can give off different light patterns is when the light source is in different positions relative to the reflector.

Where there may be a possibility of the light spread being slightly different from different light sources is through the "DIFFRACTION" of light at different wavelengths through the lens - the quality and cleanliness of lens and possibly any added lens protectors may have some bearing on this. Remember the old experiments from high school days where you could split light into its component colours by shining a beam through a prism .............

However, my experience so far is that any such effect is negligible.

Poorly adjusted HID low beam headlighs are an absolute nuisance to oncoming traffic. But then again, so are poorly adjusted halogen low beam headlights - and there's nothing worse than the dickhead who persistently drives with only one working headlight - this is far less likely to occur with HID given the life cycle of these globes.