Thread: Who's put HID inserts in their Defender?

G'day,

I haveupgraded my bike to HID. Be carefull on brands, try and stick to Hella types. The HID H4 willl most ikely be apiggy back type that will have HID low beamand standard halogen high beam. The ballast needs to be in a reasonably dry are. On my bike my Hellas are sealed but are exposed to the ellements. I know they have come down in price but remember you get what you pay for. Stick with reputable brands. Do a search in Aus. I purchased mine from XexonOz (think thats how its spelt).

Good Luck

Jake

Originally Posted by mark2

Have been looking at the H4 HID kits on ebay for around $200 delivered.
They dont say whether at this price they are low/hi HID but I suspect not as the hi/low kits are a fair bit more. So how it would replace a H4 (hi and low) insert , I'm not sure.
Anyone used one of these kits?
(I already have headlight relays )

As someone who has installed a few of these, remember ADR's ... you NEED lens washers (sprayers) installed to make it any way legal, also for cars it needs to be autoleveling due to the narrow beam.

Being caught out is big $$$$

There is a really good write up on these somewhere on the net.... I'll have to try and find it.

But as touched on above the beam is different with HID and you really need a HID lens to stop the beam "bleeding" and blinding oncoming traffic.

They recommend the best way is to upgrade to an OEM headlight that is HID standard so you get the matched lens and HID globes/Ballast. Not sure what would fit a Defender though.

found it! worth a read before you spend your dollars. Even if you still go ahead there are some points worth considering.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

I have a friend who is heavily in to the audio/visual area and agree's with the science of what is in this article.

Originally Posted by cookiesa

There is a really good write up on these somewhere on the net.... I'll have to try and find it.

found it! worth a read before you spend your dollars. Even if you still go ahead there are some points worth considering.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html

I have a friend who is heavily in to the audio/visual area and agree's with the science of what is in this article.

I have read that article before and there has also been alot of discussion about it some time ago on the OuterLimits forum.
What someone said was it sounds like it was written by someone who cant afford/wife wont let him spend the money to upgrade to HID lights.

My own experience is this. I have 42 watt H1 HID's in a pair of Super Oscar driving lights. The light output is incredible.
I have messed around with H4 HID kits for the headlights. I tried 2 of the moving bulb type kits but decided they were rubbish due to the poor positioning of the bulb compared to the original H4 bulbs and I removed them and tossed them out. No, I would not sell them to anyone else as they were rubbish.
I have since purchased a set of H4 replacement HID's with two bulbs on the one stem from the company that imports those steel intake smoke oil economy improvers. This kit was much more expensive. It works so well that there is NO focus problems and the Super Oscar driving lights were now superfluous with the spread beam lenses. I have since added one long range lens which makes them usefully again. I can say that if you use a quality lens than there is no focus problems and no problems of light affecting oncoming drivers. I have tested this with friends and they all said the original H4 globes (own wiring loom with 80/110 watt ipf globes) were far worse for oncoming traffic.
If you are considering upgrading the headlights to HID then I suggest you do not buy the sliding type but look for the better quality ones. I was looking for someone who sold the kits with 4 ballasts and the two bulbs per stem (so you can have high and low beam on at the same time) but the only place I found that sold them was a US based ebay seller who did not answer my questions I emailed to them.
Hope this helps you decide.

Ian

Originally Posted by amtravic1

I have read that article before and there has also been alot of discussion about it some time ago on the OuterLimits forum.
What someone said was it sounds like it was written by someone who cant afford/wife wont let him spend the money to upgrade to HID lights.

My own experience is this. I have 42 watt H1 HID's in a pair of Oscar driving lights. The light output is incredible.
I have messed around with H4 HID kits for the headlights. I tried 2 of the moving bulb type kits but decided they were rubbish due to the poor positioning of the bulb compared to the original H4 bulbs and I removed them and tossed them out. No, I would not sell them to anyone else as they were rubbish.
I have since purchased a set of H4 replacement HID's with two bulbs on the one stem from the company that imports those steel intake smoke oil economy improvers. This kit was much more expensive. It works so well that there is NO focus problems and the Super Oscar driving lights were now superfluous with the spread beam lenses. I have since added one long range lens which makes them usefully again. I can say that if you use a quality lens than there is no focus problems and no problems of light affecting oncoming drivers. I have tested this with friends and they all said the original H4 globes (own wiring loom with 80/110 watt ipf globes) were far worse for oncoming traffic.
If you are considering upgrading the headlights to HID then I suggest you do not buy the sliding type but look for the better quality ones. I was looking for someone who sold the kits with 4 ballasts and the two bulbs per stem (so you can have high and low beam on at the same time) but the only place I found that sold them was a US based ebay seller who did not answer my questions I emailed to them.
Hope this helps you decide.

Ian

All well and good, but what about the required automatic high pressure wash, and preferably wipe as well?.......and the self levelling that the ADR's require to be legal?

Originally Posted by byron

All well and good, but what about the required automatic high pressure wash, and preferably wipe as well?.......and the self levelling that the ADR's require to be legal?

Well I drive a Rangie, it has headlight washers and self levelling suspension (well at least the device is in place).
I suppose every modification that everyone does to their vehicles meets adr's? I dont think so. I would rather drive towards a car with HID lights than behind a car on a wet day with no mudflaps any day for example.

Ian

Originally Posted by amtravic1

Well I drive a Rangie, it has headlight washers and self levelling suspension (well at least the device is in place).
I suppose every modification that everyone does to their vehicles meets adr's? I dont think so. I would rather drive towards a car with HID lights than behind a car on a wet day with no mudflaps any day for example.

Ian

ops...

you been looking at my cars **** again .. I promise I will get mudflaps soon!!

Not all vehicles have high pressure washers and wipers fitted just because they have HID headlights. Most European Luxury cars have them now and don't.

amtravic1 You agree with what Daniel actually posted on the net. He also did it as that is his profession (lighting) which, as I don't trust much that is written on the net I checked with someone I know as to the claimed technical differences. His write up was supported technically. If you have a look around some of the manufacturers sites you'll find further evidence to back up the write up.

By all means if they work for you great, in fact Daniels site said there is an improvement, his issue was actually with the cheap ebay/rice burner sites type ones, not so much the more expensive kits. He in fact does a test and shows them.

Your friends would have noticed that over your standard H4 there wasn't as much glare etc, You were running much higher wattage globes than standard (ADR calls for 55w Low 60W high) (Most of us do run higher as these are a joke on the highway)

I didn't say don't do it, just worth a read before you make a decision.