High beam 55W HID conversion feasible ?

[danwat1234]

DDM tuning is usually a good bet with their lifetime warranty a decent prices. I mean you could go cheaper with Ebay but I wouldn't, with the risk that the "55w"ballasts could be simply relabeled 35w ones.
The Retrofit Source is another good one, but they are very expensive and only offer an 18 month warranty or so
Stick to 4500K color temp, no hint of blue.

As far as the light pattern versus other companies, it all depends on the shield that comes with the bulb, if any. If no shield then any brand will produce pretty much the same light pattern. Lumens is determined by the output of the ballast.

@jkirkebo It's good to hear that Leaf owners can have decent high beams. Got a youtube video?

 

[KillaWhat]

I installed a 55 watt HID kit in my high beams.

The light is not as focused as I would have liked, due to the difference in configuration and direction of the actual light producing elements in the "bulbs". (Focal Point)

Have NO problem with the 55 Watt part.

One problem is that the HID ballasts are slow to "warm up" in these aftermarket kits.

I paid about $150 for a kit with "rapid start ballasts", and they are still slower than you would like.

The HID conversion kit for my plane was $1300, 1 bulb, and it's damn near instant start.
You get what you pay for I guess.

I also changed the fog lights to LED, and now At least the all the lights in the front are the same ice white LED color (5300 K HID's)

Good Luck

 

[jkirkebo]

I beg to differ. I have 55W xenon HIDs @ 4300K in my highbeams and the difference from the original 65W halogens is literally night and day. With the 55W xenons my throw is equal to my VW Touran with it's factory 35W xenons. The higher lumen output seems to compensate for the crappy reflector.

The only drawback is that it takes a few seconds (4-5 or so) to reach full output on a cold bulb. Reigniting a hot bulb reaches full brighness much faster.

Any chance you can share the particulars and vendor sourcing... ?

Sorry, as I bought it from a Norwegian vendor and it was a quite generic 55W H9 4300k kit with digital ballasts.

 

[OrientExpress]

I have 35W HIDs in the high beams of my LEAF, and they work very well. I think one of the considerations is to make sure the HID bulbs have the same color temp as the LED low beams. I use 6000 Kelvin bulbs and they match very well. Of course the only downside is that they take a few seconds to come up to full strength, but then again they were only $70. I ordered them from Amazon.

 

[Alric]

For those that installed a 35W kit in the high beams; any tips on how to wire this? It is not clear from the instructions and simple direct plugging doesn't work.

Thanks!

 

[camasleaf]

Most kits are designed so you can only plug them correctly. I am aware of two types: one that connects to the battery and the existing bulb connector and the second type that connects only to the existing bulb connector. If that is all you got then you have the second type and you should have one connector that matches the bulb. Find it and plug it where the existing bulb was connected. I would say just plug the bulb connector into the pink connector. The other two connectors seem to be a feed trough for the low beam. But I am just guessing.

 

[OrientExpress]

Using double sided tape, place the transformer on top of the control boxes on each side of the engine compartment.

Make sure that the connectors and pins are lined up properly and that the connectors are fully seated to insure a solid connection.

 

[Alric]

Awesome reply. Thank you very much.

Upon further inspection the plugs just don't match. However, if I hard wire the connection it does work and the bulb lights up!

I think the problem is that I'm using a 35w instead of a 55w kit because I then realized the bulb doesn't match the bulb housing. Might have to get a little creative here.

I'll keep everyone posted.

 

[OrientExpress]

Awesome reply. Thank you very much.

Upon further inspection the plugs just don't match. However, if I hard wire the connection it does work and the bulb lights up!

I think the problem is that I'm using a 35w instead of a 55w kit because I then realized the bulb doesn't match the bulb housing. Might have to get a little creative here.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Which plug does not match? If you mean the connector that plugged into the stock light bulb, that means that you received the wrong kit. The correct connector is called an H9.

 

[Alric]

Awesome reply. Thank you very much.

Upon further inspection the plugs just don't match. However, if I hard wire the connection it does work and the bulb lights up!

I think the problem is that I'm using a 35w instead of a 55w kit because I then realized the bulb doesn't match the bulb housing. Might have to get a little creative here.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Which plug does not match? If you mean the connector that plugged into the stock light bulb, that means that you received the wrong kit. The correct connector is called an H9.

Yep. I messed up and ordered the wrong size. Getting an exchange for an H9.