Time to change those dim candles on the front of the car...

[WazzaL]

http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/home.php?cat=620

Has anyone used these, or something similar? - Is it worth the money, or better just to put in the brighter Phillips lights.

[Stu R]

Not on a Chim, but I've changed the lights on a few of my previous cars, and current car to HID's. Always been impressed by the kits, absolute doddle to install and half an hour spent setting them up properly pays dividends to getting them at their best so you get maximum illumination without dazzling everyone driving towards you.

One thing to bear in mind, is that they don't have a self levelling feature as OEM HID's would, not a problem in a chim as they're unlikely to be carrying lots of weight in the back.
It's also not strictly legal in some instances, but mine have always passed and MOT with them, and I've never had anything negative as a consequence, i.e pulled by the BiB etc.

Be sure to get a decent quality kit though, there's a hell of a lot out there, I've played around with a few of them and the differences in terms of quality can be quite noticeable. I use kits from HID world (link below for you) and have yet to encounter a problem. Being american it's the ideal time to take advantage of the favourable exchange rates too
Hope this helps.
http://www.hidworld.com/cart.php?target=product&am...

[StreetDragster]

Having fitted a 6000k HID kit to my Chim last month, be aware that getting the power feed to the battery is a royal pain in the backside.
The lights are really really good now though.

Thanks

Matt

[E2DJH]

Because of the faff in getting at the innards of the lights,I had a set fitted by Racing Green last year. Definately not cheap, but well worth the investment.

IIRC the fuse rating needs upgrading due to the surge in turning them on.

They are absolutely fantastic, and allow you to see and be seen. I see you are in S Bucks - my office is at Stokenchurch, i'd be happy to bring the Chinm to work for you to see the results, now that the nights are dark!

[SimonV8ster]

Having just replaced both my reflector units I found the difference to be quite amazing. Fair enough the old reflectors were in pretty poor shape but could this be part of the problem ?? I don't drive the car that much but it now has to get me through the winter and recently having driven it in the night for the first time the lights appeared quite good. I was lighting up the signs as well as the cars in front.

[poorpeet]

This may be a dumb question but how do the HID bulbs dip? All the HID installations I have seen have had separate full & dip units.

[Graham]

before you go as far as hid's I'd checkout what bulbs you have in the car already.

a lot of people stick 100watt bulbs in in the thought that they will give more light... well they do, but only for a short amount of time, after a month or so they will be a lot duller than standard. couple that with dirty or corroded reflectors and your better off eating carrots...

mine had 100 watts bulbs in when i bought it a combo of modern high quality standard wattage bulbs and clean reflectors made a huge difference. !!!!

G

[Al 450]

The trouble is the dip and main beam are in the same bulb on the chim (H4) so if you get an HID kit it normally only does one or the other.

[E2DJH]

Al 450 said:

The trouble is the dip and main beam are in the same bulb on the chim (H4) so if you get an HID kit it normally only does one or the other.

Mine do both

The side lights are still very dull and yellowish though (originals)

[StreetDragster]

Al 450 said:

The trouble is the dip and main beam are in the same bulb on the chim (H4) so if you get an HID kit it normally only does one or the other.

Used to be the case with the first HID kits, but nowadays almost all H4 HID kits are HiLOs with two filaments, so you get HID main and dipped beam.

Make sure you get a set with dual filaments though, and not the type that just physically moves the bulb backwards and forwards with the change between main and dipped beam. They are rubbish.

Thanks

Matt

[StreetDragster]

E2DJH said:

Al 450 said:

The trouble is the dip and main beam are in the same bulb on the chim (H4) so if you get an HID kit it normally only does one or the other.

Mine do both

The side lights are still very dull and yellowish though (originals)

I've changed my side lights to LED bulbs, now a white/blue light to match the HID's. I put a link out on here a while ago i think (or on TVRCC) as i bloke was asking for the bulb code (T4W)

Thanks

Matt

[900T-R]

SimonV8ster said:

Having just replaced both my reflector units I found the difference to be quite amazing. Fair enough the old reflectors were in pretty poor shape but could this be part of the problem ??

This was my experience exactly after swapping out the thirteen year old original reflectors and headlamp glasses (which needed to be done anyway as I live on the continent where people drive on the right side ) for shiny new ones. Before, I found the headlights next to useless - now I don't find them at all worse than most.

[E2DJH]

StreetDragster said:

E2DJH said:

Al 450 said:

The trouble is the dip and main beam are in the same bulb on the chim (H4) so if you get an HID kit it normally only does one or the other.

Mine do both

The side lights are still very dull and yellowish though (originals)

I've changed my side lights to LED bulbs, now a white/blue light to match the HID's. I put a link out on here a while ago i think (or on TVRCC) as i bloke was asking for the bulb code (T4W)

Thanks

Matt

Thanks Matt, i'll look into getting some of those. Presuably Halfrauds will have those T4W bulbs?

[StreetDragster]

My Local one (Blackpool) didn't have LED or white light versions of them, only the standard yellow ish filament bulbs. Got mine from Ebay, from hong kong, about £4.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2pcs-BA9S-T4W-Refractor-5-LE...

Thanks

Matt

[350Matt]

I presume that its still needs a H1 bulb?
For the main bulb that is.

Also is the HIDworld kit a dip / main kit?

Ta

Matt

[StreetDragster]

Not sure if your Chimaera is different to mine, but mine has the 'normal' round headlights (I.e No light conversions) and it uses just a H4 bulb for the main/dipped beam, and a T4W bulb for sidelights.

Can't help on the HID world kit sorry, i got my kit from Xenonshop with a group buy with the Mitsubishi Lancer Register (When i still had my evo that is)

Thanks

Matt

[WazzaL]

Appears to be quite a lot to think about for what I thought would be relatively simple. - Ok looks like this will end up being a winter project...

E2DJH - Would like to have a look at them and maybe a bit of a chin wag. I'm going to be coming along to the London Thunder re-run, so I will look out for you. - If you do have information on where you got your kits, costs or other useful info. I'd be most apreciative.


Thank you Stu R, I'll have a look at that site.

[E2DJH]

[quote=WazzaL]

E2DJH - Would like to have a look at them and maybe a bit of a chin wag. I'm going to be coming along to the London Thunder re-run, so I will look out for you. - If you do have information on where you got your kits, costs or other useful info. I'd be most apreciative.
[quote]


I'll dig the details out and PM you.