Let there be light.........
Discussion
I sourced a H4 bixenon conversion kit from HIDS4U.co.uk Fair price, very helpful/knowledgeable people, and a two year warranty.
Gazzab - I was asking you how to remove a wheel for the first time a couple of days ago
, so they can't be difficult to fit 
Took me about 2 hours to fit the first one making sure everything was just right - I expect the second one will take less than an hour.
Gazzab - I was asking you how to remove a wheel for the first time a couple of days ago
, so they can't be difficult to fit Took me about 2 hours to fit the first one making sure everything was just right - I expect the second one will take less than an hour. That's the one. I went for 6000k after debating the merits of 4300k/5000k options with the HID4U people. I also investigated various cheaper 'ebay advertised' kits but they couldn't answer my detailed questions and their warranty was debatable.
Basically it's a bulb replacement plus ballast and Hi/Lo relay kit. There's load of room to mount the ballast with the bolts provided behind the lamp in the wing area. I drilled a couple of holes in the inner wheel arch, so nothing is showing in the engine bay or externally. All the wires are fool proof - so you can't connect them the wrong way round! You need to check you get the correct relay when ordering - I believe the Cerbera has a negative earth. Perhaps someone could confirm this?
Basically it's a bulb replacement plus ballast and Hi/Lo relay kit. There's load of room to mount the ballast with the bolts provided behind the lamp in the wing area. I drilled a couple of holes in the inner wheel arch, so nothing is showing in the engine bay or externally. All the wires are fool proof - so you can't connect them the wrong way round! You need to check you get the correct relay when ordering - I believe the Cerbera has a negative earth. Perhaps someone could confirm this?
Ireland said:
What are they like at night compared to the standard ones?
If its anything like my ones, its a transformation. I've gone from rubbish visibility at night to perfect!
I mounted the ballasts inside the front wing, just inside the removable panel. Then as mu Cerb has the later style lights I modified the lights control box so the dips (the HIDs) stay on when the main beams are on.
See separate thread for mod details.
Andy.
Ireland said:
What are they like at night compared to the standard ones?
As Andy says, there is about a 300% improvement in visibility. The real benefit is on dipped - you know when you dip for oncoming traffic and everything disappears! I have a Merc for everyday use with Xenons and they are far safer than halogen lights especially when dipped. I'm even thinking of fitting them to my wife's Honda.
Just to clarify what Andy said above. If you have ‘original’ lights (as mine) then you don’t need to modify the HID4U kit for hi/lo operation. The xenon bulb actually moves slightly to provide the hi/lo function and it's instantaneous switching – so no delay between hi and lo.
www.visionbulbs.com/vb_product.php?id=8&dmv=4010178147#
These guys seem very good. Very helpful when I spoke to them. Think they are v good value too.
These guys seem very good. Very helpful when I spoke to them. Think they are v good value too.
Phil - whats the secret of selecting HID lights ?
Clearly you need a conversion kit for H4 and 6000K seems to be a good power.
What about hi/lo? I cant fathom this out. Some seem to offer Halogen and Xenon bulbs to achieve this, others seem to have a motorised dip system.....? There might be other options? What did your research show you?
Clearly you need a conversion kit for H4 and 6000K seems to be a good power.
What about hi/lo? I cant fathom this out. Some seem to offer Halogen and Xenon bulbs to achieve this, others seem to have a motorised dip system.....? There might be other options? What did your research show you?
There seems to be two options for Hi/Lo operation either 'telescopic' or 'dual bulb'. Most of the recommended kits seem to use a 'telescopic' operation where the bulb is mounted on a solenoid that moves the bulb in/out for Hi/Lo operation. The advantage of this is that the Hi/Lo transition is instantaneous. A ‘telescopic’ operation of the bulb is shown here Bulb
The only ‘dual bulb’ kit I could find was on Ebay and he couldn’t advise me its pro/cons versus the ‘telescopic’ single bulb even though he sold both systems. From other research I understand there may be delay switching Hi/Lo with a ‘dual bulb’ system because it takes the second bulb a few seconds to light up.
I think the real issue from reading some HID discussion groups is the quality of the bulb/ballast supplied and the warranty/backup provided by the supplier. Apparently, some of Asia sourced bulbs aren’t recommended due to short term failure rates, whereas the European/USA manufactures are said to be more reliable in the longer term. In the end you ‘pay’s your money……..
The only ‘dual bulb’ kit I could find was on Ebay and he couldn’t advise me its pro/cons versus the ‘telescopic’ single bulb even though he sold both systems. From other research I understand there may be delay switching Hi/Lo with a ‘dual bulb’ system because it takes the second bulb a few seconds to light up.
I think the real issue from reading some HID discussion groups is the quality of the bulb/ballast supplied and the warranty/backup provided by the supplier. Apparently, some of Asia sourced bulbs aren’t recommended due to short term failure rates, whereas the European/USA manufactures are said to be more reliable in the longer term. In the end you ‘pay’s your money……..
Don't think so, mine uses H7s with the new style lights, I think the original one-piece lights are H4s.
And I would think that, with the one-piece lights, the moveable-type HIDs would be better than the two lamp ones.
HID means High Intensity Discharge - basically a spark is struck and maintained within the lamp which is filled with Xenon gas which helps keep the arc going and gives it the distinctive white light. The ballast provides a high voltage to strike the spark and a lower voltage to maintain it.
So HIDs take a few seconds to come up to full brightness, and its bad for the ballasts for them to be flashed or switched on and off often.
So you either have an HID lamp for dip and a standard lamp for main, but then the HID should stay on when main beam is selected, or you just have one HID lamp which physically moves within the lens to switch from dip to main.
The former is the situation now in my Cerb with Speed 12 lights, the latter is factory fitted in my Discovery 3.
A.
And I would think that, with the one-piece lights, the moveable-type HIDs would be better than the two lamp ones.
HID means High Intensity Discharge - basically a spark is struck and maintained within the lamp which is filled with Xenon gas which helps keep the arc going and gives it the distinctive white light. The ballast provides a high voltage to strike the spark and a lower voltage to maintain it.
So HIDs take a few seconds to come up to full brightness, and its bad for the ballasts for them to be flashed or switched on and off often.
So you either have an HID lamp for dip and a standard lamp for main, but then the HID should stay on when main beam is selected, or you just have one HID lamp which physically moves within the lens to switch from dip to main.
The former is the situation now in my Cerb with Speed 12 lights, the latter is factory fitted in my Discovery 3.
A.
Edited by alinton on Thursday 4th January 12:20
These guys are good:
www.lglights.com
and very cheap. $200 canadian (about £88) a pair plus p&p/duty.
They even marked the box cheaper to reduce duty (in fact I never received a bill)
Work great, take a bit longer to warm up than some (about 4 or 5 secs). My friend's Beemer lights up in 1 or 2s.
They're packaged in a moulded foam box and come with all cables for fitting relays if required, mounting plates, screws, ties, tape, the lot. The new style lights are H7 all round. Recommended.
www.lglights.com
and very cheap. $200 canadian (about £88) a pair plus p&p/duty.
They even marked the box cheaper to reduce duty (in fact I never received a bill)
Work great, take a bit longer to warm up than some (about 4 or 5 secs). My friend's Beemer lights up in 1 or 2s.
They're packaged in a moulded foam box and come with all cables for fitting relays if required, mounting plates, screws, ties, tape, the lot. The new style lights are H7 all round. Recommended.
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