Thinking of installing the ddm tuning HID light kit on a S Type.
The original 2003 SR had them but the one I bought has H7 Halogens.
I figure the leveling motors gave out and they replaced with the Halogens.

 

My right hand HID low-beam stopped working couple of days ago. So I swamped the igniters and nothing happened. Then I tried to do the same with the bulbs and nothing again... So not only am I frustrated, but now neither side will work... How do I know if it is the bulb, the igniter or the ballast?

JG

 

ddm tuning has a kit including ballast and H7 bulbs for less than $100
I am trying to find out if they will work.

 

Yes they will work fine. I have DDM HID's in my head and fog lights. I did 600k but if I had to do it again I'd prob go 4300k.

Take care,

George

 

Did you put the dmm HID's in your S type? Was it worthe the trouble? Where did you put the ballast?
I have the H7 5000K 55w set up.
Thanks,
Bob

 

Hey,

Worth the trouble, absolutely, the lighting is night and day compared to the old halogens. I just got done putting another DDM kit in my 500sl, but there is no way to make the foglight hid on that car.

I have the 35w setup, but the 55w is just a bit bigger ballast, that's all. My ballasts are on the ABS controller on the driver side, and by the strut tower on the drivers side. The bulbs clipped right in. You have to drill the back of the headlight cover to get that rubber grommet with the wires in there, but other than that its really easy. there is enough room once you take the plastic piece that covers the headlights off so you don't have to take the headlights off.

George

 

Thanks for the info. I have it on the list for upgrades/repairs.
Too bad the previous owner replaced the stock HID's on the 2003 STR with the halogens, they were probably faced with a $1000 per side repair bill and took the easy way out.

 

Sad part is, brutal posted a fix of sticking a bolt in them that may have cost .50 cents a side at most at any hardware store.

 

Installed the DDM HID's last week. They work great. Had a little trouble with the %$(..ing bulb retaining clip. I needed to take some of the aggressiveness out of it with a pair of vice grips, but I finally got it in and the bulbs are nice and tight and bright. I'm ready to try this to the fogs next. Anyone try upgrading to HID for the fogs?

 

Yeah I did both at the same time. Used another DDM kit. The bulbs SHOULD be H3, but pull one out to check and make sure.

My Jag has 6000k in this pic - both head and fogs. My brother's suburban has 12k headlights, 3k yellow fogs.

George

 

I ordered a pair last week, man DDm takes forever to get the orders shipped out , I should be getting it this week. I ordered the Slim Ballast 8000K 35W for the fog lights for my 03' STR (By the way the original bulbs down in the fog lights are H1 for the STR ). I went with the 8k to get the little more bluish tint to them than the 6k bulbs. I asked DDM customer service many times just to see what they say about the color difference btw 6k and 8K, its exactly the same color they said , we will see once I get them if they are or not . Only thing I might run into is where to place the slim ballast behind the fog lights, I dont want them to get wet and short out, its going to be interesting

 

George where did you place the slim ballast for the S type down behind the fog lights or did you run up from the engine compartment down to the fog lights? I don't want to get the ballast wet so Im debating where to put them in a safe spot. I was thinking putting velcro strips behind the ballast and attaching it somewhere behind the fog lights assembly on the corner walls

By the way I learned the hard way thinking they were H3 bulbs for the fog lights but in fact they are H1 for the STR's

 

I didn't use the slim ballasts, I have the full size ones. I prefer them because the slim ones tend to get a bit hot. SO... That being said, mine are zip tied to the inner bumper supports. Once you have the front of the belly pan off, you'll see two metal bars that the bumper inner structure attaches to. I needed to thread two zip ties together to accomplish this, but they work fine.

It depends on the year R I thought, but as long as you have the right bulbs for your car, there is plenty of room for the ballasts. Oh and don't use velcro. It's not up to the task of keeping them there. Between the heat cold cycles and the vibration from driving over bumps etc, it will come apart. Get some good zip ties and call it a day.

George

 

Thanks George for the advice on the placements of the ballast. Are you talking about the Apexcone Raptor HiD kit? http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Ap...Raptor-HID-Kit
Thats the only full size ballast I see other than the Slim ballast I kinda visualize what you are saying about zip tie the ballast to the two metal bars that the bumper inner structure attaches to(any chance you have a pic of it? ). Only thing confuses me is the part of threading 2 zip ties together?

 

I guess they would be the equivalent. At the time a year ago when I ordered them, there were DDM full size and slim kits.

As far as threading two zip ties together. - Basically I didn't have a zip tie long enough to go around the ballast and the metal bar, so I used an old trick. Take two zip ties, put the male end into the female end of the other. - Instead of looping the zip tie around. Then loop the second one around, and tighten both. Gives you extra length and strength isn't compromised.

George

 

Aahhhhhh, ok I got it now You basically made a bigger size zip tie to go around the metal bar. Also you got me little thinking about the small ballast getting hot, I might cut out a small card board piece putting it between the zip tie and ballast, so that the ballast wont melt or weaken the zip tie but then again there is a possibility of it catching on fire

 

Could be exciting if the cardboard catches fire - extra light!

 

Uh yeah... No need for cardboard. The ballast would burst into flames before it got hot enough to melt or compromise a zip tie.

My reasoning for not feeling the slimmer ballasts is that when you put electronics in a smaller casing heat builds and potentially shortens their life. It wasn't about dangerous heat to the outside. Plus, the "slim' kits have an external igniter box on them, where it's all built in to a regular sized ballast.

George

 

..Plus you have the lifetime warranty DDM gives you if anything goes bad it will be replaced for free. Lets just hope they stay in business for a very long time

 

At this point with HID kits at $25 they have become as disposable as halogen bulbs. I actually usually keep a set or two "in stock" so if I have a failure I can swap it out, and be on my way. Between me and my brother's cars, we have something like 8 sets of hid's in all of them, so I'm not about to wait 2 weeks to ship defective parts back across the country and wait for a replacement and have the car down a headlight. But, if you want to go that route I'm sure Jim will honor the warranty. He's a stand up guy.

George