Ok I want to buy a HID kit, but I don't know which one to get.
I want to be able to see really good at night.
Price is not a factor well maybe.. just not over around $350
I don't care what color just not yellow. I just want to see really well at night.
I want to know what kits people have used and have worked well with there Mini without problems.
Could someone help me?

 

factory HID is 4300k temp its best to stay around that for best light output, i would say no more than 6k and thats pushing it, try to stay as close to 4300k as you can cause that is the optimal light temp to get the best output for seeing. The easiest and best thing to do is to try and find some OEM HID lights and swap them for yours but it will cost more than $350. With the reflector style housings you have your not going to get good light output without alot of glare or light scatter, that could blind other people on the road unless you use a projector based housing cause it can channel the light so it does blind people.

 

Does anyone search anymore...

All kits are the same. Same crappy Chinese quality, so get the cheapest one you can find.

They will have crappy results in halogen housing. The only way to get descent output is to get 4300k-5000k bulbs (D2S) and put them in projectors, so you dont blind people...

Search my friend, search..

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...php?do=process

 

If color is no worry and you just want to see well....your best bet is to stick with halogen bulbs and stay FAR away from HID kits. Putting an HID kit inside your halogen headlights will provide LESS light than you have now. They are not meant to be used in that style headlight (even if they say otherwise). It will put out very little usable light. Getting a good set of halogen bulbs will provide you with better lighting, and it will save you A LOT of money.

 

I agree stick with your halogens and get some Sylvania SilverStar bulbs and you will get that much better light output and a temp color close to 4000k.

 

i have a pilot 6k kit in my stock halogen headlights. i like the look and the cutoff isnt as bad as most cars i have seen without projectors. if you want to see better either go with a set of sylvania silverstars or do a retrofit. i think my halogens were just a wee bit better, thats why i am wanting to do a retrofit when i come across another set of housings.

and i dont get why people always say put them in a projector housing to keep from blinding people. I have mine set at what the halogens were and havnt had anyone flash me yet. like i said, i think the stock halogens are a little bit better.

 

Just cause they didnt flash you doesnt mean it didnt bug them, or that doesnt mean you dont have lots of glare. Its still dangerous when its not in a housing designed for the bulb.

 

I took both pics, which are from my cooper. I think you can see which might blind people less... Output is about 50% better anyways, which is another incentive...

reflector w/ xenons (before retro)


projector (after retro)

 

i have a question for you burley. since i am wanting to retrofit a set of projectors into my lights, can i still use my bulbs and just mount the lense or do i have to get say the whole setup out of a tsx with the ballast, bulb, and lense and mount it all?

 

Not sure if I understand your question. Are you going from halogen? Every projector uses a D2S bulb, and you dont have to use a TSX projector. You can use any "single xenon" projector. Some are better than others. Your output is mostly determined by which projector you use, not so much you bulb. Most 4300k D2S bulbs are 3200 lumens.

What I did was put a TSX projector into my OEM 03 xenon housing, which already had ballasts.

 

say if i get a set of projectors that are from a tsx, it takes a d2s bulb, is there a way to fit my h7 bulbs into it or or will i have to get a new buld and ballast kit to fit them and also rewire the factory plug to fit the new ballast?

 

Getting HID projectors and putting halogens inside is like getting a Porsche and driving the speed limit...

The hard part of retrofitting is mounting the projectors. Getting the ballasts to work is the easy part. You can buy prewired harnesses so they are plug and play. Just get an HID kit and a decent harness (www.izntrbl.com) and its plug and play. I bought a set from that site and they work great. He even warranties them out (which is usually a joke because you'll usually never hear from the seller again), but he actually replaced a bulb for me.

If you wanted to put H7s in the TSX, you'd have to get a rebased bulb (which I dont think they make, so you'd have to make it yourself). Even then, any projector is meant to reflect the light from a D2S, and wouldn't focus light correctly w/ an H7. It would work to some extent, but even worse than your stock halogen reflectors.

 

He's not saying halogen....he's got an HID drop-in kit that he wants to use

 

Ohhhh, H7 HID bulbs. I forgot they existed.

Same results as w/ an H7 halogen. The bowl of an HID projector are shaped for D2S, and if you put a different bulb in there, the focal point will be off, and there will be hot spots and uneven lighting.

If you already have an H7 HID kit, then you can just buy new plug adapter cables for D2S. Most kits have the same connections, and should be easy to find the adapter. Post a pic, and I can tell you for sure.

In a nutshell, you can use the ballasts from your kit, but need new bulbs / adapter cables.

 

i found the adapter you speak off. seems as tho i have it all sorted out now as to what all i need now.

i remember seeing on here somewhere about an hid site that talked about retrofitting, do you happen to know the site. Also, are infiniti projectors any good to use?

 

HIDPLANET.com

There are a few NAMers on there too. It depends which infinity you're talking about.
Read up at HIDPLANET (go to the "HIDPlanet University" section) and http://faqlight.carpassion.info/car-oem-hid.htm (read the FAQ section).

The best projectors seem to be Stanley-Kioto, which are in Infinity / nissan / honda. You need a "single xenon" (instead of bi-xenon).

- S2000 (by far the best)
- TSX
- LS430

Best bang for the buck are TSX ($100-120) vs S2000 ($250-275)