when i get home im gonna try to switch the ballasts and see if that works. now the plug that goes to the ballasts, if i switch that is there anything it can ruin?

 

If you're reversing polarity the computer can sense that and provide no signal to power the bulb/kit. But on the other hand it can make the kit work by providing the right voltage. I could be wrong. In the worst case it can fry a fuse. But the mini is adavnced enough to protect against that. Again I can be wrong. If you don't want to try it, I can try it later when I get home.

 

I've plugged it in both ways many times and nothing went wrong. It actually fixed the problem for me.

 

I am going to try again tonight. I have an idea. I have daytime running lights turned on. SO right when the car starts the lights are on (during cranking). Just maybe the voltage is too low to fire 2 lights on at once. If I disable daytime running lights then the car starts and is at full regulated voltage before I turn the lights on and that might do it.

Do any of you run daytime running lights with HID H13?

now if I could just figure out how to get to that menu setting again!

 

I have drl turned off.

 

OK I turned off the daytime running lights. I put the HID kit back in. Started the car. Without even turning the lights on I got a bulbout warning. I turn the lights on, both sides are DOA. I swapped ballasts, same result. Both sides are buzzing pretty loud. So I think this particular kit has a quality problem.

I just noticed today that these ballasts are 55 watt instead of 35. Did they give me the wrong ballasts?

Funny story: I live about 5 miles from the coast in Los Angeles. I had my garage door open while doing the swap, front of the car is at the garage opening. I was bummed about the kit not working and had just finished putting the last stock bulb back in. I turned around to see what I thought was smoke everywhere. Just as I was starting to curse at the world thinking that somehow my car was now on fire, I realized I was so engulfed in the project that I didn't notice that peasoup fog had rolled in while I had my back turned!

 

I am running 55 w ballasts right now without an issue. I am not sure what the problem could be with your kit maybe the bulbs?

 

i have 55w ballasts too
Tried reversing the polarity and fried a ballast. Put in 35watt ballasts from my previous kit and i have to use a bulb out eliminator, otherwise still works.
this is getting frustrating.

when you guys switch from highs to lows does your bulb turn off for a split second before going into lows?

when i reversed the polarity on one of the ballasts i heard a buzz and turned it off. i plugged it back in the right way and the bulb went into high and low without turning off for a split second.

these minis seriously have some issues with hids

 

well i was going to switch the connector going to the ballasts but im afraid ill fry it. i checked my ballasts and they are 35 watts. so if i understand this correctly, we all ordered the "same" kit from the same ebay seller but almost all of us received something different? so since i have 35 watt ballasts and you guys have 55 watt ballasts, will your lights be brighter than mine or does the bulb wattage only determine that?
since i have 3 watt ballasts could this be why i still have a bulb out warning? it seems that the 55 watt ballasts dont trigger a code.

 

I don't think it matters in regards to the bulb out warning. I've had it working fine with 35w ballasts also. I put the 55w because one of the 35 seemed weaker than the other. They do seem brighter now but lost a hint of the bluish color now.

 

I thought you guys said they sent you kits until it worked? I just got an Uncle message from them. At least they will give me a refund. I think I am going to go back to the relay system. It was a Japanese system and the quality of the bulb was quite a bit better (the bulbs weigh about a lb each). I guess I will have to live with the bulbout warning and all those extra wires. . . I think I will figure out which wire does what and just add my own load resistor and be done with it. WHen I get this in I will document the install so we can all compare results.

On the systems you guys have. I heard a complaint about a flicker when you switch to high beam. If you have daytime running lights on the low beam stays on when you flash high beams so that may stop the flicker. Of course it may also wipe out your ballasts! . . probably not. Mine blew before I even touched the high beam. who will be the guinea pig?

One more item, the ballast controls the brightness so the 55 watt ballast should be a little brighter than the 35 watt ballast using the same bulb. I had 55's in my M3 and liked them. I remember the kit saying it was a 35W kit onthe box and I knew the auction was 55w so I was pleasantly surprised to find 55w ballasts inside. Although just seat of the pants observation in this set up, I cant say that I could really tell any difference. If they survived the first day it is likely you have a good kit and it should be OK.

On a positive note my plate LEDs came in today and work with no bulbout warning. $17.98 shipped is the cheapeast I have seen for something that works. www.ledautomotive.com and they are the 6 LED version for BMW.

 

Where did you put the LED's?

 

wow sorry to hear that smoke. im guessing they are having a lot of trouble with the mini cooper setups. that and they seem to have trouble sending the right kit.
keep us updated on your new setup please.
i too get the flicker frm high to low beams. its not a big deal to me as the flicker is maybe .01 seconds, but nonetheless there is a flicker.

 

Jcarlos, I have been posting in the plate led thread just below this one. I have been experimenting with License plate LED's. I stumbled across some that fit really well, no bulbout warning and they do not flicker when the system is off (I double checked this evening at 3K rpm or full voltage, no flicker). These work like magic and do not have resistors so there are no heat issues. They are also the least expensive. I don't think I ran across a single post on Nam where there was a 100% trouble free platelight LED so this is a first. Jump on it before they run out!

I have another set going to my parking lights that are ebay specials. These are huge and may also draw enough current to not trip the bulbout circuit. They are only $2.00 and change a set. I got 2 sets for under 8.00 shipped.

I'm doing my Nissan Armada at the same time. HID low beams, LED plates, puddle lights and interior, I found some 9005 LED highbeams that I may try too (like 23.00).

I am bummed about the kit not working for me. I think you are right CaMiniMe It could be a lot of NAM users ordered at the same time. Because every kit was different kind of tells you it is still in the developement stage. My harness looked a bit more refined than Jcarlos. It may be a new supplier who doesn't quite have al the bugs worked out yet. If all you are getting is a little flicker, count your blessings! I got a little frustrated because 3 days went by without a peep out of them. I gave them an out to give me a refund. It's going to cost me $27.00 to ship back (ouch). But the refund will equal that original kit with the relay so it's not a total loss. I may even be able to get some extra connectors from this guy to take care of the bulbout I know I am going to get.

 

last night i noticed something, im ot sure why it does it or what it means, but i can manually get rid of my bulb out warning. every time i start my car i get the bulb out warning but if i switch to my high beams for about a minute then back to my low beams the warning goes away...until i start my car again. i find it strange that it turns off the bulb out warning. you would think it would always be on or always be off.

 

CaMiniMe this will get rid of your bulbout warning

http://www.urban-neon-car-lights.com...sistorkit.html

Dont get this one because those resistors are about 2.00 at radio shack and those connectors can be bought at any autozone for about a dollar. Also Since you have the kit with the harness it is already drawing close to the right current, you need just a little more to move it into the good zone. A lightbulb looks like a resistor to the computer. That is why you only need resistors between hot and ground on the high and low beams to get around the problem.
I think I would go maybe double that resistance for your kit (maybe 12-18 ohms since you already have canbus ballasts drawing some extra current). You would need 4 resistors. And we need to figure out which wire in the factory 3 wire connector is hot-low beam, hot-high beam and which is ground. I may make a run to the electronic surplus store to get the good looking gold Aluminum heatsink wrapped resistors. If they have them I'll get extras for you.

This is what I am going to do when my relay kit comes in to beat the system (probably in about 2 weeks). I will take a bunch of pictures and test it if you feel uncomfortable with this mod.

 

thanks for the info smoke. i think i'll have to try that out. i have another question for you guys. i know a lot of motorcycle guys will retrofit a bmw e46 projector setup into their bike since its bi-xenon. i was thinking of possiblr doing this aftewr my warranty expires since theres no real way of reversing it when it goes tot he dealer. a seller on ebay sells the projector setup but wouldnt you know, it accepts just about every bulb except H13. so if i got it with a diff bulb, i would have to buy a different relay kit right? one for that particular bulb type?

 

i have retrofitted tsx projectors into sentra headlights and it wasnt an easy task. took some time but at the end it was marvelous. the cut off was sharp and the road was illuminated very well..i have bought an extra mini headlight which ill be experimenting with.

Camini, as long as that bulb has kit connectors with the 3rd plug for the hi/lo controller, you can buy a different bulb. otherwise youre stuck with that incompatable h13.

 

i came across this site theretrofitsource.com they sell the whole kits there. ballasts, wiring, projectors, bulbs shrouds for 380. but seeing as im already 130 into my current kit i dont want to drop another 380. maybe much later on ill experiment with the retrofit. if you dont mind me asking where did you buy the extra headlight assembly and how much? id like to experiment with one as well before i open mine up.

 

I bought a left side for 50$ shipped off eBay. Winning bid :-). Check out hidplanet.com, they have a lot of useful info.

 

I have high/low 8000k HID's and fogs also.

 

Got any pics?

I am in the middle of installing my kit. Does your 8K kit give you a bulbout warning? Does it have a relay harness that connects to the battery or is it powered from the factory H13 sockets?

 

OK guys most of the parts for my kit finally made it. I went back to the kit with the extra relay wiring. I am using 55 watt ballasts and 6000K bulbs. The extra power makes the bulbs closer to 5000K which is exactly what I was after. It is really bright. The difference I notice is the length of time for warm up. 35 watt ballasts seem to warm up in about 8 seconds. These take about 2 times as long but the brightness is the same coming up so it seems like you are going into overdrive (hope the bulb lasts). When I go to the high beam the lowbeam stays on with this kit so the pattern is pretty wide. The uniformity rivals the 05 factory projector HID's. There are two hot spots but it's not any worse than the hotspots in the projectors on the 05.

Now the bad news, I knew I was signing up for a bulbout warning with this kit. What I am going to try first is some turn signal load resistors 6 ohm 50 watt. I have some on order but it could take weeks shipping from China so bear with me.

 

so smoke is the kit you are running now purchased fromt he same ebay user we've all been buying from? or is your current kit entirelt different from someone different?

 

It is a different one. That ebay kit is a source of aggrevation for me now. I am not sure if it made it through customs so no refund yet after a month and a half now. I went back to that original kit with the relay and bulb warning. I am confident I can cancel the bulb warning by installing resistors on both H13 connectors. I just learned HID's direct may have a plug in kit that does the job for our H13 connectors. Short of this ebay is full of 6 ohm 50 watt load resistor kits just for this kind of problem and I have a couple of kits on order.