Thread: Let there be light:-

I have just upgraded the driving lights bolted to the front of my Disco.
I can’t help myself.

The original lights I created consisted of a pair of Narva Ultima 175s. They were a pencil and a broad beam. i.e. a combination kit.
I had replaced the supplied H3 100W globes with a Chinese import 35Watt HID kit.
It wasn’t too difficult. I had to cut a hole in the plastic cover at the back of the lights so the new HID globe would fit, and the supplied plastic wiring grommet plugged the hole.
I put the ballasts up high behind the grill.
Nice and bright, but I recon I could do better.

I thought of investing in some tailor made HID driving lights, but I believe the costs are excessive. And they would still be in the order 35Watt or about 3200 lumens.

So, ignoring the legalities, I got hold of a 100watt HID kit (with H1 5000k globes) from an eBay store eBay Australia Shop - HID-lightsdownunder: 70W xenon kit hid, 35W HID, 50W xenon. The guy that runs it lives in Cranbourne, not China, and the kit cost me just over $200.
I then obtained a pair of new Narva Ultima 225s off eBay for under $300.
Fitting the HID kit to the Ultima 225s is dead easy because they are the same casing as the Ultima HID lights, except they didn’t cost me over $1000.
Old globe, wiring (with grommet) from globe to plugs comes out.
HID H1 globe goes in with wires attached. New plugs go through existing hole and grommet seals it up.
The 100Watt ballasts won’t fit in the lights (smaller ballasts might). So I put them in back behind the grill where the old 35watt ballasts were. The new Ultimas came with a high spec wiring harness, so I replaced the old one.

These 100Watt HIDs theoretically put out 7000 lumens. They seem to turn night into day.
All up, just over $500. Don’t tell the wife.

I just finished putting my set it. Had a few problems but in the end went for slimline ballasts. The big ones were a pain.

All the HID hardware is concealed neatly in the lamp body now

I'll use the old fat ballasts to power my reverse lights