I understand there is a lighting section but there's just too much "fluff" with discussion about the other bmw models, so I thought it may be a good idea to start this one here.

I recently was thinking of getting an HID conversion kit for my 8 after a few clube31.net members suggested to do so rather than purchasing Sylvania Ultras. I am paranoid of the issues involved afterwards: getting pulled over, terrible light pattern and dispersion, oncoming traffic getting annoyed, etc. I know the HID topic has been completely exhausted, but I wanted to see if it would just be safer and easier to go the boring route of Sylvania Ultras.

Having said that, can the 8ers post their experiences with HID conversion kits, especially those of you in the US? Specifically:

1 - which kit did you go with... big name or no name brand?
2 - how is the light pattern? (pictures would be great)
3 - do you also use an HID kit for the fog lamps and if so, does using both make the light just way too intense? (i drive with the fog lights on because it looks cool, it provides extra light making the range wider.)
4 - do you often get flashed by oncoming traffic? ticketed? I don't want to make it dangerous for oncoming traffic.

Please do share your experiences. Thanks!

Hiya Cel,

I'm going for HIR lamps. I picked up a complete set for all the lights from Chromeowner last winter. I am waiting to have my wiring harnesses rebuilt prior to install. The wiring is in terrible condition. In fact, I urge every 8 owner to rebuild the harnesses or face the potential for a serious electrical fire! You'll understand what I mean once you open up those headlight buckets. Your jaw will drop in horror when you see all the wiring insulation that has peeled/broken off!

Anyhow, I went for the HIR's as they stay real cool, use little power, have the same intensity & color temp range choices as HID, and they don't mess with the OBC. They are essentially plug and play, too (the connectors need to have a tiny slot cut into the side--easy). Plug and play is good news since you don't have to mess with adjusting the aim all over again.

Cheers

1 - which kit did you go with... big name or no name brand?

Bought the kit on Ebay.
2 - how is the light pattern? (pictures would be great)

Light pattern is excellent
3 - do you also use an HID kit for the fog lamps and if so, does using both make the light just way too intense? (i drive with the fog lights on because it looks cool, it provides extra light making the range wider.)

Use Xenon HID for low beams and Foglights - Light is not "too" intense
4 - do you often get flashed by oncoming traffic? ticketed? I don't want to make it dangerous for oncoming traffic.

Don't get flashed by oncoming traffic, but when I do, it is helpful to have a EURO LKM on board - Mega Light!.
Have not been ticketed for these lights, even when stopped by Police .

Please do share your experiences. Thanks!..

Side by side comparison in Florida with Roger's HIR's and my HID's-
HID's blew him away. No knock on Chrome's but there is a difference.
And by the way- HID's run cooler.

search the forum for HID conversion or not... personally I can't imagine going HID-less now that I have them.

Side by side comparison in Florida with Roger's HIR's and my HID's-
HID's blew him away. No knock on Chrome's but there is a difference.
And by the way- HID's run cooler.

+1

Also, I have tested almost all kind of lighting for the E31. The information is in the RF Archives.

HID > HIR

Anyhow, I went for the HIR's as they stay real cool, use little power, have the same intensity & color temp range choices as HID

Not Correct.

they don't mess with the OBC.

Correct on some counts. It depends on the HID Kit. Also a set of ressistor packs (for the E39 M5) takes care of that issue as well.

...Anyhow, I went for the HIR's as they stay real cool, use little power, have the same intensity & color temp range choices as HID, and they don't mess with the OBC.

Be very careful, I have personally seen headlight assemblies with the bulb holders melted off from using heavy duty lightbulbs. The HIR's do NOT run cooler like the HID's do, and we all know what a fire under the hood looks like, don't we??

The 8 is a great car to install the HID lights, it has the correct lenses for the application.

I have had mine on for over 2 years and would never go back to stock.

I figured this would spawn a debate.

Can anyone post info about their definitive HID setup? What exact unit, where to source it, and installation info?

I bought the kits from: http://stores.ebay.com/wholesale-hid_W0QQsspagenameZL2QQtZkm

initially I purchased it with 9006 bulbs, but when I got my EURO headlights, I only had to get H1 replacement bulbs - still using the same ballasts. Since I have fog and lowbeam setup, I have to mount 2 ballasts per side. This is easily accomplished by locating the ballasts on each side to the brake cooling duct immediately below the headlight pod (one inboard, one outboard). All the connectors are specific - you can't hook this up worng, and there is NO splicing required, so you can alsways go back to the dingy yellow stock set-up.

Go into the electronics> lighting section of the E31faq.com. My install procedure is there for the US System.

I have used several kits. All I look at is the brand of the ballasts and the bulbs (misnomer) of good quality. I have recently installed one for a friend on his 1995 840Ci that came from the same E-Bay source of SSC (greg) and I did not even need the ressistor pack and did not throw any codes.

HIRs are great! They are the best filament based bulb in the market but by no means a comparison to HID. You should compare:

Lumen output:

HID-4500K: 3500
HID-5000K: 3200
HIR-9011(High Beam): 1840~2500 (Max)
HIR-9012(Low Beam): 1355~1875 (Max)

The Color range:

HID is 4300K~12000K+. The K or Kelvin denotes the color of the light. The Higher the number, the more blue/purple the light is. HIR is 3600K

Power Consumption:

HID: 35 Watts (Standard and not dependant on Battery Voltage).
HIR 9011: 60~73 Watts (Based on the Battery Voltage)
HIR 9012: 52~63 Watts (Based on the Battery Voltage)


The only thing I did not appreciate of the HIR is the Life of the bulbs. Slightly higher than 235 hours of light for the 9011 was not very well received by me. Even the 1000 hours of light for the 9012 is less than standard.

Here is the datasheet for the HIR:

http://www.finemotoring.com/Bulbs%20Images/ProductInfo730x623.jpg

Steffen, Faisal: Thanks for the info & your time :D

:beermugdr

Cheers

..anytime

You are welcome.

Wow, I didn't know this thread would have so much response. :)

So what I am gathering here is just so I am not mistaken:

1 - HID conversion kits are very ideal for the 8 versus other cars due to the existing housing and lenses
2 - HID is brighter and runs cooler than HIR
3 - it is possible to use two sets of HID kits, one for lows and one for fogs, without trouble
4 - not legal yet there shouldn't be too much to worry about

Thanks for the link to the ebay product you used TxGR8White... I stumbled across this product: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/9006-HB4-6000K-HID-CONVERSION-KIT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742Q2em153Q2el1262 QQcategoryZ36476QQihZ013QQitemZ230250045220 but I cannot tell if this will work without the OBC warnings?

Lastly, where would you get replacement ballasts or bulbs? Would you have to go back to the original eBay source specific to the kit you bought or are they interchangeable? Or would you have to buy a completely new kit?

Thanks all!

bulbs are generally interchangeable. I have a set of Xenons on my 1200 Triumph and the ballast plugs are identical to the ones in my 8, even though they are from different manufacturers.
As far as replacement bulbs, I just order them from the same guy - they take about 4 days to get here and cost $25 shipped per pair. A set of SYLVANIA SilevrStar bulbs cost $40 - HID has definately become alot cheaper.

Very good to know... I may pull the trigger soon... but any thoughts between the one you purchased versus the one I provided a link for? How can I tell which kits work without causing the OBC warnings?

Lastly, would you happen to have any pictures of the light your car now produces, perhaps one with just the lows and one with both the lows and the fogs? :)

don't know about the one you posted, I DO know the ones I bought have no OBC issues at all.

See my avatar for HID pic

Great info Faisal, thx for posting. cel0202- ALL of the questions have been answered by the most experienced who have been thru all the $$ and trials. As far as any other source you're looking at, who knows, and why keep asking if the link for a known reliable source has been posted? You're looking at a mere $150. to do both fog and low beams, how tight do you want to squeeze it?! Now back to technical- be sure to go with 4300k bulbs. Notice the stats on lumen output decreases as temp goes up and the light is more blue. All of us have tried the 6k bulbs and immediately swapped them for 4300k. Pull the trigger, you'll like it. And stop being cheap!!!

edit- and imo, the 6k are what get you pulled over.

Yikes, no I wasn't being cheap.. the one I posted a link to is approximately $50 each plus $25 s/h as well. :)

The only reason why I was asking about the other one was because it was suggested by someone in a different post for one of my other cars.

I definitely appreciate everyone's thoughts and information. This thread has been very helpful and educational.

Great info Faisal, thx for posting. cel0202- ALL of the questions have been answered by the most experienced who have been thru all the $$ and trials. As far as any other source you're looking at, who knows, and why keep asking if the link for a known reliable source has been posted? You're looking at a mere $150. to do both fog and low beams, how tight do you want to squeeze it?! Now back to technical- be sure to go with 4300k bulbs. Notice the stats on lumen output decreases as temp goes up and the light is more blue. All of us have tried the 6k bulbs and immediately swapped them for 4300k. Pull the trigger, you'll like it. And stop being cheap!!!

edit- and imo, the 6k are what get you pulled over.

I would probably recommend the 4500K. BMW oem used to be 4300K and was changed to 4500K in 2006 (IIRC). However 4300K has better throw distance in rainy weather than the higher color range.

cel0202- I was just giving you a hard time for fun! Don't ever take me seriously. I was the one who originally found and researched these. There is probably 8 to 10 of us running them now from this source. No MID issues, completely plug&play, good seller to deal with. I WAS serious about the results- you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!
Here is a post of mine from Dec07--
I just installed these in the white and glacier cars. I did low beam as well as fogs. I am so impressed with the performance for safety, and the looks update the car, I wanted to post what I used and install procedure. This is a great kit that is completely plug & play and reversable (you can still carry a stock bulb if needed on a trip to get home on). The price is thrifty too. I gave US$71./set of 2. 4x71=284. for both cars.
I pulled the bucket assemblies and installed the ballasts with the connectors facing up. They are stuck with 2-sided tape and wire-tied on each side of the brake air duct directly below the bucket. Install bulbs/harness in bucket and thread wires thru same bottom hole as oem wires. Plug in the ballasts and leads to bulbs and install bucket. Pay attention to polarity from oem bulb connector to ballast. Brown is ground, yellow and black for low beam/fog are +. I chose the 4300k/9006 bulbs. Anything higher is too blue and not as effective or as true-colored imo. I tried the 6k and did not care for them. Hope this is of some value to all. I used to think of them as bling until I saw the difference. http://wuffer.net/forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif another grin from the 8!

i have installed 8k hids on my 8, but only on my low beams..

My ballasts buzz a bit and i get Headlight Errors on my display.


I like the Light output, i dislike the Headlight Errors on my display!

I will soon replace the ballasts and go 10k Violet colored HIDs for my fogs....

the higher the bulb temp (8,000K and 10,000K), the LOWER the light output. If you want quality light you need to stay UNDER 6,000K

SSC, no harm no foul. I know you were just trying to wish me words of encouragement to just take the plunge and move forward with the kit! :)

I have so many things on my plate at the moment that I think I will wait on the HID kit for maybe a couple of months. I just bought a road cycling bike and that hurt my wallet a ton.

So many toys, so little time.

I once had a bumper sticker that said "The one who dies with the most toys wins"!

Okay...

I am about to purchase the HID's from eBay that TxGR8White has had success with. I've just been so busy with work and such, and I am in the middle of getting my steering wheel and headliner replaced too.

One last question... what is the best way to keep the balasts safely secure? I was looking for the write-up in E31faq.com but it has since merged and I cannot find it in the new site.

I have the ballasts attached to the brake cooling duct (each side of each duct - I have 4 ballasts to take care of), attached with double-sided 3M mounting tape and then secured with 2 large electrical zip-ties.

I had 6K HID's on my 8 and loved them. I think 6K's are the perfect color.

I had 6K HID's on my 8 and loved them. I think 6K's are the perfect color.

I had 6000k on mine, and have since switched to 4300K. Conclusion: for lighting the road, 4300K is definitely the way to go, highest and whitest light output. 6000K has the "bling" blue tinge, but it definitely doesn't perform as well in my experience.

Which probably explains why OEM HIDs are all 4300K.

I currently have 3 sets of HID's on my 850 (low, high, and fog) all 8k. They work and look great.