Let me preface this by saying the only vehicle I can refrence this is my own ('05 MCSC)

Over the weekend I did a change and upgrade to my lighting, I have the factory projectors and ended up with a blown bulb so decided to go ahead and make a change and thanks to http://www.ddmtuning.com/ it was suprisingly easy, inexpensive and painless.

This is what I bought:
2 pair of D2s 8000k bulbs (I wanted something slightly blue're than stock and also
figured @ $12.50 a pr. why not have a spare pair around.)

Fog Light Upgrade:
1 35w slim ballast H11 kit 8000k to match (I decided on this kit for both current draw
and overall size for mounting purposes)
1pr of Error Code Eliminator kit (again $15.00 so why not do it upfront)
**EDIT** the Error Eliminator Kit is not needed, no codes with the HID Kit alone.

I ordered everything @ 3am on a wed. got 2-Day priority shipping and sure enough everything was waiting for me on Fri. afternoon. Only $96.37 complete.

Headlights are pretty self explanatory.

Fogs were another thing, where to mount the ballasts and eliminators?
First the parts from ddm don't come with any instructions but everything is plug-n-play and so simple to figure out. Everything else is super easy.

All you have to do is turn your wheels as far as you can to the outside of the side your.
working on. (working on the right side, turn the wheels all the way to the right.)
Pull 3 or 4 of the inner fenderwell plugs out.(4 makes it a little easier but not ness.)
Simply unplug & remove the old bulbs.
Plug all the components from ddm together (bulb-ballast-eliminator)
Insert the new bulb into the fog light housing.
Now for a nice suprise. Everything tucks neatly into the space behind the fog light. (a
little touch of silicone helps to hold the ballast and eliminator in place but it's
probably not ness.)
Plug the factory connector into the new receptical.
Put all your fenderwell plugs back in, and your done.
It's that simple.

The whole project took 45min. start to finish including the headlights.

Hope this helps someone who was thinking about this upgrade.

(Remember 55w's are too hot for your factory fog light housings and 4500k match's your factory HID bulb temp for just a fog light upgrade.)

 

are you using the factory ballast for the headlights? i got my fogs from DDMtuning love ddm, but I did not buy the eliminators and haven't had any issues.

 

Yes, all I did was a bulb change so that everything would match up (the look I was going for) as far as the eliminators thats good to know.
My next step is a rally light setup with a change or two.

 

Oh, I just rembered this and thought I'd mention it.

For anyone who has never had reason to disconnect their igniter's before here's something you might not be aware of, (I of course learned the hard way). When twisting the igniter to remove it from the bulb you will notice that the connector for the wiring seems to just fall out of the igniter (if you didn't disconnect it prior) the igniter is designed to do this. The reason I mention this is so that you know not to try to re-attach the igniter with the connector already plugged into it, attach the igniter first then re-connect the wire. It will not work the other way.

Just an F.Y.I.

 

I just love how other sites are charging over $100 for a pair and these guys sell em for 12.5.

 

they are quality too. i have had a set in my truck going on 3 years now with no problems.

 

Another thumbs up for DDM from me. I bought their 5K 35w kit and I'm very pleased.

 

I have a pair of 55w HID's for my fogs on my eclipse. These guys are great. The ballast feels top notch. For the price and warranty, you can't beat them. They actually have two locations, 1. San Diego, 2. Fountain Valley. Both are in driving distance and since they offer "will call" it gives their kits even better pricing!

 

i order a set of bulbs for the headlights Friday got them on Tuesday, now my heads and fogs finally match. 6ks

 

one of my sets arrived DOA...and i already put those annoying pop it screws back in the other side. I'll tell you guys about their return service soon...

 

What color would match the xenons on an 06??

 

Something like 5.4k but I don't think you can buy those after market, so I went 6k with my fogs and bought new 6k bulbs for my headlights.

 

So I'm very interested in doing this. I was checking out the 35w slim kit. I was just wondering if I would need the HID harness? You didn't mention anything about it.

 

The factory are in the 4500 range, but honestly at the price they have for bulbs, just pick a temp. range (color) you like and buy a matching set.

You won't need anything else, it's all plug-n-play with all your existing conectors. The slims are the best way to go, take less current and stay cooler than their older raptor ballasts.

Also as an update, you don't need the error code eliminators for fog light conversion.

 

so basically all i gotta buy is
DDM HID Kit Slim Ballast????? no harness no adaptor cables???

another question can i just buy the bulb for the headlight?? and switch it without any problems because i would love to go 8k

 

Yes, and yes.
Just re-read post #1 & #4, it should tell you everything you need, only changes are no error code eleminators & the prices.

 

awesome thanks bro

 

So I picked up my set. DDM was fast and care free. No extra cost once I got it. (Canada) will deal with them again. Then install was super easy. Took all of 30 minutes.
Here is a pic

 

I may have to do this to my Mini. What bulbs did you use the H1 or others? And what is with the Dual in-Dual out HID Harness?

 

I've read this article before, but I forgot about it. I sent DDM Tuning two e-mails on advice as to what I need, but they never wrote me back. After I reread this info, I went to their site and was about to buy the kit. But... they don't do 2-day shipping anymore! I wanted to get the kit in time for MOTD next week, and the normal delivery schedule was 7-10 days.

So, I did some more research, and I also rebrowsed the various kits/options on E-Bay. I settled on an EFX HID 35W 4300K kit for $117. Now, this one is more expensive because it comes with CAN-BUS ballasts. They are specially designed for BMWs and any other manufacturer that uses this bus. These ballasts are supposed to have the appropriate resistance built in, which eliminates the need for the error code eliminators.

My kit should be in this weekend. I will repost and let you know how they turn out.

 

Well, finally finished my last lighting project, first of course it was this hid upgrade, then it was the change to projector fog's:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...og-lights.html

Then the led's in my projector surrounds:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...eadlights.html

Now I've modded a pair of Black Magic driving lights to accept hid bulbs, I had to heavily mod the lenses due to the hid bulbs being longer than the standard h3's. I purchased a 55w hid kit w/ 8000k bulbs to match all of my other lights.



Since I had factory driving lights I already had a switch in the panel under the steering wheel, but of course this switch is hooked in with the high beams and I really wanted to be able to use them anytime, not just with the high beams, so I decided to go old school:



Relayed it in to the ignition so I couldn't accidentally leave them on.

These things are really bright, they'll be great for this week on the dragon.

 

Very cool, BlwnAway.

I got my kit installed tonight. Was well worth the extra $$$. The ballasts are rated to handle 9-16V, with nominal 13.2V. They're thick and meaty, too. The Xenon bulbs don't match 100% to the factory color, but they are definitely brighter. The 3rd picture is supposed to compare factory (left) vs. HID (right) facing the MINI. The last picture is just where I turned on my driving lights. They are 100W blue Xenon look-alikes.

 

ok so the d2s are for your stock headlights i get that...

but when you say the h11 kit for the fogs you are referring to the bulb type, yes? or would i want to get the d2s for the bulb on the fogs as well?

I'm not quite sure I understand what that is sorry im a bit slow. Is the d2s and h11 just reffering to the bulb size and shape?

if that is the case it technically wouldnt matter which you get for the fog because you are getting the matching housing as well. correct?

also you said to remove the fender all screws but do you have to remove the whole fender wall like jumpingjackflash?

 

Yes, H11 is the bulb used in the fog housing. I did the same, but used 5k for a pure white/ OEM look.

 

To help clarify things, the different designations in bulbs, d2, h11 and so on, have to do with their size & shape of the mounting base more than anything, the different sizes/designations do not mean that they have different light output, it's only a designation for fitment.

Therefore d2's "fit" in the headlight housings, h11's "fit" in the fog light housings.

As far as hid's go, many of the bulbs themselves (glass portion) are actually physically the same, there just mounted on different bases, again for fit. And unlike halogens, where the bulb itself has different power outputs (35w, 55w, etc.) hid bulbs are all the same, and the amount of light ommited, "the power output" is controlled by the output of the ballast. The real difference as far as hid bulbs go, is on the inside of the glass tube, basiclly the tubes are filled with xenon gas (hence the name...lol) the differences in this gas is what gives you your difference in color (5000k, 8000k, etc) the "k" stands for Kelvin, kelvin is a temperature scale that measures light refraction (this is why some people refer to hid's asking what temp. they are, it doesn't have to do with physical temperature) and different measures of light refraction change the color you perceive the light to be.

So when you buy an hid kit, you buy the appropriate bulb for fitment & ballast for power output and k scale for your desired color.

Thanks to the introduction of hid bulbs & their different temps, some halogen bulbs also come with a k scale rating, but most of those are actually all the same light color with an actual tinted coating to mimic a certain color in the k scale, and because of this there actual light output tends to be more dimished and the coatings will also help to create more physical heat in the bulb & they normally won't last as long as a non coated halogen bulb.