Ok, has anybody put in an aftermarket HID kit without blinding oncoming traffic??

I just had mine put in. It has a 8000k bulb. They guy putting it in asked if I wanted a pure white light or slight bluish. I went for slight bluish (8000k). Am I going to make people mad at me? Should I go back and get the whiter light?

The kit is in. Can't do anything about it now. How can I make it less offensive?

Gotta go back anyway cause I have a bulb out symbol.

When I was driving home it seemed wayyyy brighter but I'm coming from stock. I didn't get any flashes but I wasn't out for long.

Help me help you.

 

pure white is brighter than the blueish color. (6000k) that is the brightest, as you go up higher it turns more blue, and down turns more yellow

 

care to share the kit you got?

 

8000K is distinctly blue. The OEM xenons are 4300K. Anything more blue than OEM is for color styling, not function. Bluish light doesn't illuminate as well for the human eye, which is less sensitive to blue. Also, bluish light is more harsh and glaring.



As far as blinding oncoming traffic, does your kit have a vertical cutoff for the beam or projector lens to focus the light? If it's a kit that simply swaps the bulbs for HID, the effect would be similar to using high beams.

 

I'm running a DDM HID kit with the QC22 (4500-5500k) bulbs, DDM bulb out cancelers, and ebay resistors. The setup gives a white light with only a slightly blue tint. It looks really close to oem HIDs.

I don't have any high beams anymore, only low beams since it's not a bi-xenon setup. I had the headlights aimed after I installed the kit and I've never gotten a flash or complaint from other drivers on the road.

I've had them about 6 months, you can see a pic of the light pattern in my gallery if you want.

 

Nothing can really be done to "make it less offensive" other than removing them. HIDs in a headlight housing not made for them is a mistake. I would just see if you can get your money back, IMO anything over 4300K is too bright and 8000K is too blue...even 6000K is too blue. I would say if you are serious about wanting HIDs, look into a retrofit kit, not some drop-in kit.

 

Low beams only...no Highbeams huh?! Does your state have a yearly safety inspection? Or plan on moving to a state that has one? Could be an issue.....

 

Agreed. Jamming HID into a halogen housing is always obnoxious. It's something teenagers do on 90's Civics, not appropriate for a classy ride like a MINI.

 

No yearly inspection. If there was, swapping back to the stock halogens takes as long as it takes to change out a headlight bulb, so less than 5min per side.

I made it plug and play so the whole harness slides into the headlight housing and simply connects to the stock headlight plug. To reverse it I just pull it out and put the stock halogen bulb.

I live in the city so I rarely need high beams. If someone uses high beams a lot they shouldn't get this setup.

 

If you want HID's do it the right way with a proper retrofit.

It's a fun project, your light will be more evenly distributed and you won't blind anyone.

 

I'd go with this kit if I was to do it properly:

http://blackflamecustoms.com/product...adlights-p-109

The blackflame kit gives a stock looking setup with bi-xenon projectors and no bulb out warnings. A little pricey but worth it if you want to do it right.

 

Why would you pay $1000 for what is just a retrofit anyway? The headlight you posted uses the exact same projectors I linked to, nothing special about it.

May as well get oem xenon a if money is no object.

 

"money no object" meaning about $3000 in parts for the full, official OEM retrofit.

 

I was assuming that anyone willing to spend $1000 for what could be done for $250 and very basic tools is not someone particularly concerned with money.

 

I wouldn't spend $1000, nor do I have the time to retrofit projectors into stock housings. I'm perfectly happy with my kit, and the visibility I get is fine as well.

My setup costs less than $100 and the visibility is the same as my E46 that came with stock xenons. For my uses, 90% driving in the city, it's perfect.

I mentioned that blackflame kit so the original poster and others can have an idea of what's out there if they want something ready made, that is all.

 

Barnoun,

How much did you aim the headlights down?

 

I wish you lived in Michigan. My guy is very good at messing with electrical wiring. He is gonna install my projectors from ebay I bought in the spring when it gets warmer. Once he does it, I should probably post step by step for everyone to make it work properly since some people who bought them had issues making them distribute light correctly from the housing.

If you stay with the HID kit, go with 5K.

 

When I first installed them I actually had to aim the headlights higher (some R56 minis came with the halogen headlights aimed too low, I've read threads on here about this).

About a month after installing them I was involved in an incident that resulted in my front bumper and hood being replaced. The body shop that repaired the car re-aimed the headlights as well. I'm not sure if they raised them or lowered them, but the visibility was better after they re-aimed them.