It would be inefficient. You are using a $300-$500 HID setup to make LESS light than the $20 halogen bulb that came with the lights. I would call that pretty ineffective . I didn't say use-less.....just not effective.

To each their own for sure....but what i don't understand is why not just use xenon-look bulbs? You would get all of the same things but save money

 

Well for starters, the xenon-look bulbs don't quite match perfectly. And idk even with the proof you showed me, I'm stubborn lol. I've had several friends do HID-conversions and not only do they work, they provide more light output than their halogens. At least thats the way it seems to the untrained eye lol. Just stubborn...

 

Which.... the real difference between the two Valeo projectors are the base for the bulb seating-- H7 vs. D2S.

 

Ok, so other than that (which is what I thought was the only difference) are there any other differences between the 2 projectors?

 

not really. Then there are differences between US and Euro projectors (lens).

But you know Hella does offer a HID fog projector in their economy (cheapo) Optilux lineup? Only $600+ for a set.

 

The bulbs shown in this picture are NOT HID bulbs, rather they are simple blue-tinted H3 halogen lamps. One problem with finding small projector HID lamp assemblies is the fact that the ballasts (the electronic high voltage power converters) needed by a true HID bulb are often bigger than the actual lamp assembly, and need to be mounted fairly close to the lamp assemblies themselves.

So many lamp manufacturers play games with the nomenclature to sell you something that's not what it is sold as.

"Xenon" can apply to a true HID lamp or a simple halogen incandescent bulb. It refers to the filling gas inside the bulb itself. Even MINI boasts of 'xenon' interior lighting. Technically, even the standard halogen headlights on MINIs are 'xenon'.

HID can only mean that: High Intensity Discharge. A discharge lamp does not use a filament, instead it uses an ampule of gas that is energized (excited) by a high voltage, high frequency electric current applied to electrodes inside the ampule. Since a car's electric system is 12 volts DC, a complex circuit is needed to convert this into the several thousand volts and many kilohertz needed to fire the gas and maintain the ionization. A mercury vapor outdoor area light is a HID lamp, as are the golden colored sodium lights you see everywhere along the streets at night.

Terms like plasma ion, xenon, HID Blue and the like are marketing terms for blue colored, filtered light from standard halogen bulbs. The sure-fire way to determine if a lamp is truly a HID assembly is the presence of a ballast for each lamp, and an extra zero in the price tag.