i'm planning to do a hid fog conversion, i'm wondering, is it a straight "plug and play" install? or do i require to: ie.) cut some dust cover, shave some plastic?

any help would be appreciated !
thanks, jeremy !

 

unless the kit you buy is specifically designed for the mini, I highly doubt it will be plug and play. HID's consist of more than just bulbs. There are ballasts, ignitors and supporting wiring harnesses involved. If you are talking about getting replacement hid-like bulbs, they should be plug and play as long as they are the H11 55W bulbs. hope this helps

 

NO. None exist. The only Xenon fogs I know of are hellas ... very expensive and inherently not practicaly for fogs ... they are not the right color of light. AND, there is no easy way to mount them.

 

I custom made a set check out my gallery

Also, do a search and you will find my small write up...

 

lets see, how can i put this~?

it's possible for cars to fit HID kits on to headlights, they "plug & play" because it's like changing bulbs, just fit the hid (bulb + the bulb housing) into the headlight assembly like when u swap bulbs. it maybe alittle bit more complicated in real life, but thats the idea of it, isn't it?

so, if it's possible for the fog h11 bulbs to be swap, i'm wondering if i can get a h11 hid kit to fit into the fog housing. cause mostly i'm worry about how more expensive european cars has better seals, and more complicated light assembly.

i'm seeking for help as what i need to do to fit a set of HID kit (ebay "plug and play".

thanks guys !

 

HIDs are a poor choice for real fog lights. Read here and educate yourself about light, glare, light color, light intensity etc.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

jerjer said: "it's possible for cars to fit HID kits on to headlights, they "plug & play" because it's like changing bulbs, just fit the hid (bulb + the bulb housing) into the headlight assembly like when u swap bulbs. it maybe alittle bit more complicated in real life, but thats the idea of it, isn't it?"

When you read the Stern article you will learn why this is a bad idea.

HID = high intensity discharge We are not just talking about a simple bulb change, or a "bulb and housing" change. True HID also requires space for the transformer to power the approximate 22,000 volt bulb. HID bulbs are not "filiment bulbs" but are similar to neon or fluorescent bulbs where a gas "fluoresces" or glows when excited by electric current. Placement of the bulb and the shape of the bulb mean that different types of reflectors are needed to correctly aim the light without causing excessive glare for oncoming traffic.

 

After reading what he's trying to say I dont think he means HID or Xenon anymore but those pretty little purple bulbs from Japan ... FAKE HIDs

That being the case sure, go ahead pick up some PIAA bulbs but before you do ... read Daniel Stern and how you LOSE light not gain light by using them

 

Just get a conversion kit.

Bimman sells an H11 set. You have alot of room inthe from by the fog light to mount a ballast, then all you need to do is tap 2 or 3 wires on either side of the car down in the fromt to get power to the ballast.

Its a really easy job.

 

I had the Piaa H11 Extreme White bulbs for a short while. They looked good (closer match to the factory HID lamps), but offered no real performance advantage. I have since switched to Plasma Ion bulbs (yellow), and they work and look great. I also adjusted my foglights a little to put the light a bit further out front.

 

Before you run out and do that, remember its Illegal in every state. The fact that you can buy something (for example for off-road) doens't mean you not liable.

You pay your money and take your chances.

Read Daniel Stern

 

ok.. i guess i'm not very good at explaining what i'm looking for..haha

not bulbs, don't care if it's illegal (haha), and hid fog is basically for show, i don't really need the extra light

just wanting to ask, HID KITS into Factory Fog light, how is it done?

passat774 is a retro fit of projector xenon into the fog location, but thanks for the image.

thanks guys!

 

didn't see your post, so basically, i should just get whatever kit and just hook it up like any other hid kits out there (usually ppl fit into headlights) ?

 

In terms of daniel stern, does he say anything about foglight housings? I havent read that part yet. It's not like they have cut-offs do they? Certainly does it look like it when you turn them on (since they are aimed somewhat downwards)

www.easterneurotuning.com has some great H11 kits for amazing prices. Check it out.

 

Not sure what your asking. The beam pattern of any light depends upon the lens. Fogs have a strong cutoff. Here is what Stern says about HIDs

"Trying to "convert" halogen headlamps to HID is an unsafe thing to do. There are *NO* legitimate or safe HID retrofits for the headlamps of any car which didn't have HID lamps as a factory option. ... and then read http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...nversions.html
Article is way to long to quote.

What about the law, what does it have to say on the matter? In virtually every first-world country, HID "retrofits" into halogen headlamps are illegal. They're illegal clear across Europe and in all of the many countries that use European ECE headlight regulations. They're illegal in the US and Canada. Some people dismiss this because North American regulations, in particular, are written in such a manner as to reject a great many genuinely good headlamps. Nevertheless, on the particular count of HID "retrofits" into halogen headlamps, the world's regulators and engineers agree: DON'T!

Here is the most current part

Please understand, marketeers will always be coming up with dazzling new pseudoscience, tempting new hype and sneaky new ways of trying to convince you to buy their stuff. It's what they do. This article will never go out of date, because the problems with HID kits are conceptual problems, not problems of implementation. Therefore, they cannot be overcome by additional research and development, any more than someone could develop a way for you to put on somebody else's eyeglasses and see correctly.

Bottom line ... you can buy whatever you want but when you get caught, the seller isn't going to get the ticket ... you are.

 

Why does this have to turn into a debate about a bunch of bull **** that someone gets off of the daniel stern pages every time someone asks about lighting?

I'm SOO effing sick of hearing it dude, just quit it and save it for somewhere else!


Its illegal, who cares! I'm sure there are more than a few of us who arent a bunch of scared little pansys afraid to do anything wrong.

Now, somone needs to go hit up the front licence plate thread and tell these people how illegal it is to not have a front plate on their car.

 

Here's the deal. Installing a typical HID 'conversion kit' into a set of fog lights originally designed around an incandescent bulb will render those lights completely useless as fog lights, and will net you a constant barrage of high beam flashes from oncoming traffic. I have seen far too many cars fitted with this crap creating hazardous conditions wherever these people drive at night. These people are not interested in upgrading their cars for more effective lighting, instead they will run these lights regardless of appropriate weather conditions just to show off. Illumination bling. When i encounter these people in oncoming traffic, I blast them with my high beams. I might even throw in the driving lights just to let them know what it is like for everyone coming their way.

You would not want to use a poorly 'upgraded' fog light in an actual fog, since it will only be the equivalent of using high beams. But that's not the point in most cases, since such 'upgrades' are meant to be seen no matter the weather.

 

I'm not trying to be rude or anything....please dont take this in a bad way...

but, do you have any information to back up what you say about it harming the lighting? Perhaps a test that was done in fog between HID and halogen bulbs in a standard fog light housing? I'm simply curious.

Just wondering also why you would "blast" someone with your high beams for fogs? There is no way the foglights on a MINI could even come close to harming oncoming traffic in the way that your high beams would when you flash them. Fogs are much too low, and are aimed downwards.

Chows- i have read that site thoroughly ( i was one of the first to introduce it to NAM way back when...). I was just wondering if he had any further information regarding the Fog lights and how a HID would work within them since they are different than standard headlight housings. I think it's a great site, i just wish he would provide more information so he didn't just sound like someone making his own opinionated argument.

 

irregardless of efficiency or legality....here are some pics of HID fogs from people running them in stock housings:


From left to right:
1st car: Headlights: 5700k Foglights: 5500k
2nd car: Headlights: 3000k Foglights: 6000k
3rd car: Headlights: 8000k Foglights: 8000k

 

Properly aimed and lamped fogs, especially on the MINI are not the problem. The problem comes from those who have relamped typical fog lights and such turning them into manic floodlights that no longer have the sharp cutoff that keep the beam on the road and instead are even brighter than most high beams and shining into the faces of oncoming motorists. That, combined with adding cheap HID retrofits to the stock headlights make it appear that a field lighting tower from Wrigley Field is in the other lane. It's possible to create a HID foglight, but it has to be designed as a system with the reflector and lens matching the lamp. A typical incandescent bulb has a filament creating a sharply defined source of light that can be focused to do a particular job. A HID light by it's nature does not have that pinpoint source of light, instead it's more of a relatively large, glowing 'cloud'. Think of a clear versus frosted light bulb used in the home. The optics of the lamp assembly need to take into consideration the characteristics of the bulb itself for proper beam pattern generation. Replacing a bulb that has a clearly defined illumination profile with one that has a broad area of light will show up as a misfocused beam. You can sometimes compensate for this by aiming, but some of the lowest cost kits use bulbs that do not fit in the exact position in the reflector. You end up with a whole mess of light going everywhere but where you need it to.

MINIs have very well designed headlights, be they standard halogen or xenons. It's tough to improve on this. Adding HID high beams tends to not be as bad, since the highs are fairly broad to begin with. Fog lights, though, are a whole different game.

 

thanks....i just didnt know if anyone had done the testing or if it was all just intellectual speculations.

 

You have totally missed the point. If you would stop and read, he says they are both dangerous and illegal.

Dangerous effects ALL OF US ...NOT JUST YOU. "cheating" as you talked about before, effects you and your competitors. When your car catches on fire because the illegal modifications were dangerous, then ALL of our rates go up ... not just yours.

As Greatbear has said, and as Stern explains about the halogen bulb filaments vice HID arc, they are not the same. Here is a legal set of Xenon fogs with the proper reflectors http://www.hella.com/produktion/Hell...o_DE_Xenon.jsp
They are not cheap. http://www.danielsternlighting.com/t...fog_lamps.html explains why xenons are not inherently good for fogs. If your only interested in bling, its your $.

But don't be selfish and cause ALL our insurance rates to go up because you decide to just look out after yourself and not the rest of society that you are part of.

 

ok, sorry for bringing up these lighting topics again, i think i will consult a bodyshop instead

thanks for the infos

 

jerjer,

Let me guess. You did not read Stern did you? Gawd some people are so thick. They get something in their mind and will not listen to reason.

If you read almost any states DOT regulations regarding fog lights they usually sspecify somewhere within their regulations under what conditions fogs can be used. Usually only when visibility is below some given distance, such as 100 meters/yards or, more likely, 50 meters/yards.

Under these conditions it is not important to throw a beam way down the road as safe speeds are greatly reduced. It IS important to keep the beam low and low powered to prevent glare to oncoming traffic and reflections from the fog, rain or snow that will blind the driver of the vehicle with the illegally modified lights.

But, some will never learn and will not be able to seperate bling from useful changes. That is why the aftermarket is loaded with so much garbage.

And that is why the rest of us have to put up with so many badly aimed, over wattage, blue tinted, bling lights.

RallyMINI,

Read Stern he covers everything that you question.

JOHO

 

A voice of reason. I guess this gets me so irritated because I drive to work in the DARK most mornings (I guess except for about this time of day). And every day, almost every SUV, mini-van, truck or whatever have their fogs lights on. They funny part is that all they do is throw light directly in front of the car ... not out where it might be useful but they can't use highs or driving lights because there are too many cars.

Its like an entire generation of cars and their drivers think its "cool" to have their fogs on. IMHO, its NOT cool. Its lame. Very lame. And it doesn't look "cool", it looks, well ... LAME

 

And you feel that others should value your opinion and follow along with it? I doubt a single one of them cares what you think about how "cool" they look. It's more lame to think that you can call them 'lame' for having an opinion that is different from yours.

Chill pills would be a good purchase. Fog lights from SUVs and mini vans are a minor annoyance unless you have some super sensitive eyes. There are lots of minor annoyances....car alarms at night, lawn mower noises, people on cell phones in movie theatres, getting splinters, slow drivers in the fast lane. Life is full of them....if something so simple gets you so upset, it really takes away from your ability to enjoy the good parts of your drive in the morning.