OK that would be great. Its killing me knowing I can't see squat in front of me my FB has better lighting.

 

Just follow me or Rich through the dragon at night, you don't even need your lights on

 

How will that help me? I want to see where I'm going not where I've been.

 

Haha! That was a good one!

Speaking from experience...following Scrub will keep you entertained and yes you can turn off your headlights and play follow the leader

You will love these things in your car! Nite will turn into day quickly once these bad boys are on.

 

1. the_glass_man
2. bb6 -2- fd3s
3. Samjai
4. 93SilverBullet (this time its definite)
5. 7racer
6. faster11
7. fendamonky
8. Porschepilot79


I hope I did this correctly by adding my self as #8? Can't wait to get these. That feather light wight oil cooler set was so well put together that I know these are going to also be a great addition for my FD!

 

I was thinking about how great these are going to be last night while driving around. Can't wait!

 

Yes, and thanks for the kind comments on the oil cooler kit!

I just wanted to remind everyone that for a subsequent group buy on the HID's, our minimum order of housings is 24, meaning that we still have a good number of people to go if we're going to be able to run another GB on them. Also I wanted to re-iterate the increase in price for subsequent GB's ($850) as the housings are now more expensive not to mention we really underestimated the amount of time it takes per light. If we happen to stock any of these on the website (which is doubtful) the price will be $975 or possibly higher.

I'm going to fill out the list to 24 so we have an idea of how much longer we have to go before we can do another round:

1. the_glass_man
2. bb6 -2- fd3s
3. Samjai
4. 93SilverBullet (this time its definite)
5. 7racer
6. faster11
7. fendamonky
8. Porschepilot79
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.



PS the current batch of lights (to finish off the original GB) are moving along. The projectors are in (finally) and we are in the mounting/aiming step. There is still a fair amount of labor to go but we're trying to keep it moving along as fast as possible to get these out in a few weeks.

 

PM's replied. Moving along on the last batch of lights. I'll get some pics up shortly.

 

Lets see dem pics you speak of! SLACKER!

 

How far along are we?

 

So once order is paid in full whats the turn around on a set for the FD?

 

So far its been about 2.5 month turn around... though the last half of the first GB we have had some really extended wait times and bumps in the road.... trying to source housings, waiting for back ordered ballasts, waiting on projectors etc, not to mention less time physically having less time at the moment to work on them. All of those things added to the extended wait on this set, which we are aiming to ship in 2 more weeks. If we can eliminate the wait times we experienced this round, we can lower that turn around time... but as we have experienced, ordering these parts in bulk quantities in a timely manner can come down to luck, and current inventory in the US. We're pre-ordering ballasts now but unfortunately we cant stock every item we need for all of the kits as its a huge up front investment. I don't like hanging onto peoples money while we wait for parts to arive and asking people to wait like we are aging good whiskey but unfortunately for the guys in the last half of the 1st GB that has been the case and I'm genuinely sorry for the wait. We're going to do our best to speed up the process for the next one.

So for those currently paid and waiting, you should have them "somewhat" shortly

 

I'm down for a $850 group buy.

1. the_glass_man
2. bb6 -2- fd3s
3. Samjai
4. 93SilverBullet (this time its definite)
5. 7racer
6. faster11
7. fendamonky
8. Porschepilot79
9. HalfSpec
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

 

Just installed mine and need to find a good place for aiming them! Still, they make a world of a difference from oem and the generic h4 hid kit that I had!

I agree that the wiring is on the short side when routing the behind the bumper reinforcement but it was barely long enough.

quick Q, are they supposed to buzz when they are first turned on and the buzzing goes away as the light output settles down?

 

Yeah, that is normal for ballasts.

 

Interesting. The ballasts I am using for my conversion do not buzz nor do my Range Rover units.

 

David, I guess yours are broken


Yeah, when cold the computer kicks up the voltage to ionize the xenon gas (and what you are hearing is the hum from the increased voltage). That's why it's especially dangerous to start up when licking (or holding) the bulb connectors Not to say its safe to touch them when they are warm, but they are outputting less volts, and less total current after the gas is ionized and the bulbs have "warmed up" . The computer in the ballasts starts out with a higher initial current draw (can be over 60w) but then steps down to 35w as the bulbs warm up. This is one of the reasons you cant plug the lights into the stock headlight sockets (they will blow your fuse at startup) in addition to a couple other reasons which I think ive covered (switching/delay control hi/lo to keep the bulb lit when the power switches from the high to low circuit for a stock h4 2-filament bulb)

Long story short, yes they are supposed to hum/buzz which should decrease in intensity with warmup, but at full warm you will still hear a very slight and high pitched hum. This happens with every OEM and aftermarket ballast I've tested. David, you either cant hear them over the exhaust drone, or you have some mild presbycusis and have lost some upper range of hearing ... You're not crazy, just slightly deaf lol . Has to do w/ years of exposure to ambient modern days sounds (vacuum, coffee grinder, radio, etc). People in rural areas don't experience this particular hearing loss so it's actually simply exposure to modern day living sadly. Anyway, if you can't hear it I assure you it's there. I could always tell when there was a CRT TV on in another room even if the volume was muted... the high pitched sound drives me crazy and I can't wait till I loose some of the higher frequencies so it no longer bothers me.

I just realized how far off topic I went LOL... back to HID's

 

What was that sonny? Speak up Heath!! LOL! I can assure you my hearing is fine but I am taking the car to work tomorrow so I'll check to verify. I'll turn the lights on without the engine so that won't be an issue but I will also check with the engine on too.

Going deaf? Not hardly But I could be wrong about whether they buzz. Was just out over the weekend playing with my setup (check the thread for updates on my shrouds and the light output) so this is something I think I would have noticed but I wasn't focusing on it.

 

....going downstairs to my garage to "listen" to my lights on the 7 series and the FD now...

 

non of my OEM HID cars hum or buzz warm or cold

 

Mine buzzes too for a few seconds when it's cold, then it goes away.

 

I think mine did it for a while also then went away. I wouldn't worry about it either way guys I think my setup has the most mileage on it

 

Not to belabor the point, and I don't want this to turn into a, "yes you're deaf" "no I'm not deaf" argument but the sound is 100% there, and I've experienced it w/ every ballast I've tried out. Just went out to the lexus and turned on the lights... hum. E46, hum. Mitsubishi ballasts, hum. Denso ballasts, hum.... and its all louder and lower pitch at warm up which is consistent with everything I know about how the HID ballast controls voltage/ current/bulb operation. Now lets all get back to the GB thread and let me get back to making headlights

It's all HID ballasts, even flashlights LOL -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-7mhvIFoDs

If you cant hear it, it's beyond your hearing range, and is most likely really bothering your dog

David you crack me up, Heath

 

I stand corrected - sort of. Listened this morning to both the Range Rover HIDs and my Hella HIDs. There is a slight hum to the light bulbs when warming up. No buzz, but slight hum. THe ballasts? No noise at all from them.

I then called Hella and they said the bulbs will hum but the ballasts should not buzz because they are digital units. At least for the Hellas - no idea if this applies to other brands - if the ballasts do buzz, then they are about to go out. I repeat, this is for the Hellas only as they are digital.

 

are there any problems or reduction in the ability to read overhead signs, street signs, freeway signs ect. due to the cut off?