Watch_This

Has anybody seen those headlights that have the neon ring in them like the BMW lights? I saw a few sets on Ebay, just wondering what you guys thought, if anybvody has them, where to get them, etc. Thanks.


- RJ

onepointone

http://students.washington.edu/ashis...gel%20Eyes.htm

it actually looks really easy to make them. my friend is trying on his 85 bmw 325e. ill post pictures if they come out good. hes already bought the ****.. its a matter of time

Hyper4mance2k

iTrader: (40)

nice

onepointone

i would do it.. but i dont think it would be cool with the pop up lights. i do like the way it looks on that crx though.

speaking of lights.. can you change the bulbs in our cars? or is the the whole lamp you need?

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Its a sealed beam, you have to change the whole thing. Or do what I did and buy one of those H4 sealed beam conversion kits that are up on ebay all the time. Its got those fake HID look a like bulbs in it. I think the whole thing was $45 and now you can change just bulbs. Its not the best setup but its better than the stock pos bulbs.

pillage6

It is worth is, I have H4s in my car and everybody makes positive remarks.

rx7 Nut

Here they are in a magazine add. On a miat to so that almost exaclty what it would look like in our cars. I think they look really good and not "ricey". Plus you can change bulbs with these to I think.

Manntis

thing is, you only really see the halo with the lights off, and why in the world would you have your light buckets up if your headlights are off?

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

For show Manntis, come on . I would do it at dusk when I use just my driving lights if I had yellow rings up there (no tickets for wrong colors please ). I think it would look kinda cool .

~T.J.

EDIT: After seeing them on that Miata, Im not too sure...I think its one of those things where I would have to see them in person to decide...

Manntis

might look better on 'running light' inserts in a new bumper or something...

680RWHP12A

i think the halo thing is gay!

i think you should buy the real HID lighting kit !i bought a set of HELLA H4 bulbs then bought a HID kit.... looks like the real thing because it is!!! on the BMW's you see the halo ( actually a diffuser) when the lights are on low beam, when you switch to high beam the diffuser lifts giving you the total beam....buing the HID kit was the best investment i ever made,,, i can see so far ahead and everybody asks about the lights!!!the only problem is i need to buy 5 more sets for my other rx7's and the are NOT cheap! if you spend another $300.00 you can get a self leveling kit! it adjusts the lights as you go uphill, downhill , accelerate or decellerate!!!WTF?? !!


just my 2 cents

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Where did you get the HID kit youre using? I was actually thinking of self adjusting lights on the way home tonight too. I was noticing that my drivers side light must have vibrated a little out of alignment, and it would bee cool if they had a way to self adjust . Anyway, back on topic, whered you get your kit?

~T.J.

Maguire

iTrader: (1)

680, i would also like to know where you got your kit from. I was looking my my VB catalog last night and the head Hella replaceable bulb hallogens. I want to say they were $49ea. But i cant remember for sure. How much was the whole set up all together and where did you get it! I NEED!

Maguire

iTrader: (1)

Oh yeah. one more thing a friend of a friend of mine just got a new mini cooper S. It has something similar to the self adjusting headlights. Sounds pretty cool. They adjust to see further ahead when your driving fast and going up hills.

inittab

HID kits are still big bucks

http://www.racerwheel.com/lighting-h-i-d-.html

rx7gslse

basically;

1) you buy a sealed beam conversion that accepts the H4 bulbs. (cheap)

2) you buy an aftermarket conversion for H4 bulbs to HID. Most of the time you will NOT have high beams with this sort of conversion (~400)

3) buy one of the High dollar HID H4 conversions, that actually has the lights aimed right (just a replacement HID bulb is HID, but will blind oncoming traffic due to the pattern) and will also do both high and low beams (~1000)

error402

I have no clue on which kit to get for a FB. There are too many. Which one is better then the other? They all look the same to me. *scratches head*

-Error402

MarkPerez

heres one for you all. I've bought all the hardware and just need to install it, to turn my round headlights to the squares. all pieces are from a 2ed gen light buckets but the 2ed gens use those larger lamps(to big) so all i need is the smaller lamp rings. i'm going to have to come up with something because the lids will rise to high
i need to limit the travel to about 3/4..almost sleepy-eye
with squares

error402

I like my circle lamb bulb.

I personally want two smaller ones, but I haven't had time to look into making custom brackets for a mod like that. I think the square bulbs look funny.

Just my .02

-Error402

Manntis

These kits should NOT be used - they are illegal, and they are crap.

Halogen headlamps and HID headlamps require very different optics to produce a safe and effective -- not to mention legal -- beam pattern. The kits that put an 'HID' bulb where a halogen bulb belongs give a deceptive and illusory "improvement" in the performance of the headlamp. It's perceived to be "better" because of the much higher level of foreground lighting (on the road immediately in front of the car). However, examining isoscans of the beam patterns produced by this kind of "conversion" reveals *less* distance light, and often an alarming relative minimum where there's meant to be a relative maximum in light intensity. When you *think* you can see better than you can, you're *not* safe.

The problem is that not only is foreground lighting of decidedly secondary importance when travelling much above 30 mph, but having a very strong pool of light close to the car causes your pupils to close down, *worsening* your distance vision...all the while giving you this false sense of security. This is to say nothing of the massive amounts of glare to other road users and backdazzle to you, the driver, that results from these "retrofits".

HID headlamps also require careful weatherproofing and electrical shielding because of the high voltages involved. These unsafe "retrofits" make it physically possible to insert an HID bulb where a halogen bulb belongs, but this practice is illegal and dangerous, regardless of claims by these marketers that their systems are "beam pattern corrected". A reflector designed for Halogen takes into account the orientation of the filament, which will be completely different for an HID bulb and therefore render the reflector useless.

Some types of halogen headlamp bulbs (9004, 9007, H3) use a transverse (side-to-side) and/or offset (not directly in line with the central axis of the headlamp reflector) filament, the position and orientation of which is physically impossible to match with a "retrofit" HID capsule. Even those halogen headlamps that use axial-filament (9005, 9006, H1, H7) bulbs are not safely or legitimately "convertible".

The only safe and legitimate HID retrofit is one that replaces the *entire* headlamp -- that is lens, reflector, bulb... most 'kits' replace just the bulb... with optics designed for HID usage.

There are many unsafe, illegal and noncompliant products on the market, mainly consisting of an HID ballast and bulb for "retrofitting" into a halogen headlamp. Often, these products are advertised using the name of a reputable lighting company ("Real Philips kit! Real Osram kit!") to try to give the potential buyer the illusion of security. While some of the components in these kits are sometimes made by the companies mentioned, reputable companies like Philips, Osram, Hella, etc. NEVER endorse this kind of "retrofit" usage of their products.

It IS possible to get clever with available products, such as Hella's modular projectors available in HID or
halogen, and fabricate your own brackets and bezels. But just putting an HID bulb where a halogen one belongs is bad news all around. *REGARDLESS* of the so-called "color temperature" of the bulb!

Maguire

iTrader: (1)

why not just buy these?



Yes, these are REAL Hella Bulbs. Off of the hella web page. Now if i just knew where to buy them from.

Will someone fill me in on the whole "H4" "HID" coding language?

Manntis

H4 are a type of Halogen bulb. unlike older sealed-beam units, H4 (and H3s, which don't fit 1st gen harnesses) use a relatively flat lens mated to a reflector, then the bulb goes in through the back. When a bulb burns out you replace it, not the whole unit. Main advantage is with non-sealed beams you can do weird lens shapes squinty minivan headlights, f'rinstance) not possible with sealed beams. On our cars the main advantage is longer bulb life and, if the lens cracks, the headlight will still work because the gas is contained by the bulb not the lens.

Often people plug in 'superwhite' or 'ultrablue' or - the worst - 'Xenon BRAND' (as opposed to true Xenon) halogen bulbs to get that annoying fake HID look - IMHO it's right up there with fake BOVs; more rice than a Sumo's pantry.

HID is High Intensity Discharge lighting. Often used in large gyms, it takes a while to turn on but is super bright. Now used in high-end automotive applications. It's a higher voltage system (you need special ballasts, etc as opposed to the 12V plug-and-play of halogen bulbs)

The Hella bulb you pictured above has H4 stamped right on it. It accepts H4 bulbs. If you put the pseudo-HID bulbs in there (not the coloured halogens, but the cheapie 'HID conversion kits') the filament alignment will be all wrong for the reflector and the lens sealing may be inadequate, allowing moisture in and potentially causing very nasty stuff to happen.

Maguire

iTrader: (1)

thanks manntis. Do you know anywhere besdies VB that sells hella bulbs? You forgot one though. There is something else more rice than a sumo's pantry. The guys that wrap there headlights in blue saran wrap to make them look like Xenon bulbs.

Manntis

Ick.

As to the Hella bulbs, any decent automotive parts store should stock H4 bulbs(9004 type, I believe, though it's been 8 months sine I bought mine)

I got the Bosch H4 conversion that replaced the sealed beams with H4 bulbs and high-quality lens/reflector. Including the bulbs (which came with) the kit cost $80 CDN (about $55 USD) retail. I picked it up at a store called Canadian Tire which, obviously, is a Canada only chain.

A lot of the 'crystal' lens/reflector sets on eBay are complete crap that are good only if you need glowing things on the front of your car so cops won't hassle you. If you ever leave well-lit streets (highways, back roads, etc) you're screwed.

rx7gslse

I dunno about legality, but they do suck... I wouldn't reccomment it. I just said you *could*

I won't.