As my X-Type is experiencing the infamously common issue of the melted headlight wiring harness, and after reading on the forum that upgrading to HID headlights would eliminate such problems, I'm looking to upgrade both my high and low beam headlights (possibly fog lights as well) to HIDs.


That said, I have a few questions:


1) Does anyone have suggestions as to quality (but hopefully not extremely expensive) HID kits I should consider? Seeing the wide range on ebay and the web, and considering the labor expense, I'd like to get HID kits that won't have issues requiring additional labor/cost or replacement. I'd like to keep costs down, but also don't want to buy a kit that will stop working soon after instal. Also, are there any kits I should avoid?

2) I've seen mention of both HID and LED options for fog lights, are there benefits to choosing one over the other? Any thoughts?

3) How much labor is involved in installing the HID conversion kits? It seems most auto shops won't even try to do this and others want to charge several hours of labor (at $100/hr), etc. I attempted replacing the headlight bulbs myself and soon realized that I wasn't going to be successful. (Anyone know of an auto shop in Tampa Bay, Florida, that will do the installation?)

4) Since I'm wanting to replace both high and low beams, do I just purchase two of the same H1 kits? Forgive my ignorance, but will the HID high beams appear brighter than low beams, as usual, or will they appear similar? (I ask because I've read mixed information on the web)

5) In addition to the standard HID Conversion Kit (H1), are there any extra parts that I'll need to purchase? I've noticed on some sites and eBay listings, they mention a variety of extra wiring or parts that may be needed, but am unsure exactly what I need to purchase.

6) A repair shop informed me that converting to HID headlights almost always results in a melted headlight lens or rear within a few months due to increased heat. Is there any truth to this? Do I need to change the headlight assembly or will my standard headlight assembly suffice?


I sincerely appreciate all guidance!

 

DBlair, if you lived closer to me, I would tell you to come on over and I would install these for you.

As for your questions:
1) price you pay and the quality of the HID tend to go hand in hand. Some guys have gotten the cheapo HID kits and they have worked great. Others have spent the money and had nothing but problems. It is very much a hit and miss thing. I can't say that I can recommend any company over another.

2) Right now, LED lighting is in its infancy and a true LED lighting is going to cost you an extreme amount of money. If you are talking about just installing some LEDs to make the housing light up, then that is a different story. Skip the LEDs and go with HIDs.

3) Doing the lights is going to be fairly easy. With our cars, due to how the lights are set up, you do not need any extra harnesses or the like. Wire up the ballasts to the factory wiring and go from there. Now, this does assume you are using 35W HIDs (see below). If you are planning on using 50W HIDs, then upgrading to a separate relay harness is going to be needed. When doing the fog lights, you will need to modify the old bulb base to make the HID bulb be able to mount into the old base. If you have questions on this, either look around the forums or talk to me (I have done a few of these).

4) Yes, you can order 3 of the same kits to work for your car (low, high, and fogs). I will tell you that you should be looking at the 35W kits, not 50W kits. 35W kits will output tons more light than any conventional halogen bulb. Besides, 35W HID bulbs are the only ones that are DOT approved (read as street legal). Then you have to decide on what color HID bulbs you are going to want. If you are after maximum light, then you are wanting 4300K bulbs. If you are after a specific look, then let me know what you are after and I can make recommendations. But, keep in mind, the farther from 4300K you get, the less light you are going to get too.

5) As for extra parts, like I mentioned in #3, you won't need any extra harnesses or the like for the Jag. You start looking at other vehicles and the need for the harnesses will almost be mandatory. But, this is dependent on the vehicle. If you are doing the fog lights, you will need some RTV to seal the modified bulb base to the HID bulb. You will also need some butt splices or what I would really recommend is getting some "Raychem WCSF-070 heat shrink". This is heat shrink on steroids and will be something that once you use it, will forever use it. I use it at work to survive a nuclear reactor accident. This will survive the environment under the hood of your car. Just remember to cut a piece that is 2" longer than you joint (so you can put the extra 1" on either side of what you are sealing as the Raychem has a special glue on the inside that will seal the heat shrink to the wiring, making it as if the wire has never been cut).

6) Converting to HIDs if anything results in less heat being generated by the HIDs. The only exception to this is when you start getting into the high temp HIDs (10000K or more). You can also see some problems if you are using the 50W HIDs

Hopefully I have not given you information overload. I know a thing or two about HID bulbs as you can see. If you are looking for some major light for your high beams, then I would tell you to upgrade your high beams (only the high beams) to 50W HIDs. Keep your low beams and fog lights at 35W HIDs. If you need some help in selecting colors, let me know. There are a few thoughts on this and I will let you decide what you want.

 

What thermo said
As for what kit to get, I just bought a generic kit off of ebay and its been great so far and ive had it about a year. I have 8K which look really cool but dont give off the best light. 6K would be the best of both worlds. Light and color

 

Driver side is pretty easy to do. Just remove battery and battery case and you´ll have plenty of room to work with. Passenger side is pretty cramped, but not impossible. You´ll need some sort of hook to open and close the metal clamp of the plastic lamp cover. I´ve had cheap and expensive HID kits and all of them have worked as well as others.

Here in Finland I have to change regular H1 bulbs for the MOT once a year so I´ve learned to do it in about 20 mins.

 

Remember that any color hotter than “white” is illegal in the US! Also, it is illegal to modify a vehicle that was not manufactured with HIDs to HIDs---for Street use. But wait, yes, everyone is using them?

 

You might want to read this. The Truth You Must Know (About AC VS. DC HID KIT) : Mydepots Online, Tattoo Kit, Xenon HID Kit, DVR Surveillance System & Projector

 

Great post. Informative

 

I have a question re point 3. I want to convert high beam AND dip. Do conversion packages typically have a high and a dip for each side or do they have 2 high beam bulbs (one left and one right) and two dips (one left and one right). I'm assuming that high and dip require separate bulbs. I need to ensure that I am ordering correctly. Any recommendation as far as brand or supplier?

 

Brian, From when this topic started and now, things have come a long ways. They now make hi/low beam HIDs in a single enclosure (see D3S bulbs). The X-TYpe was only meant to use D2S bulbs (ie, hi or low, not both). Atleast in the X-Type (other cars, this varies), the shape of the housing is what says if the bulb is high or low beam. So, trying to put a D3S bulb into the X-Type is not going to net you what you think (as I best understand the optics). So, you are most likely looking at having to buy 3 HID kits (1 for low beam, 1 for high beam, 1 for fogs). This is where you can then play some to get the best benefits for what you desire. For example, you can use a 35W HID for the low beams with a 5000K rating to get a nice white light that everyone likes. Then you get say a 3000K 35W HID kit for the fogs to get a yellow light that is going to cut through the fog when needed, and then go with a 4300K 50W HID kit for the high beams to get maximum light (while an illegal mod, you should never have your high beams on while passing someone). Then you have others that want all the lights to shine the same color, so, you would order say 3 kits of 5000K to get a white light that is consistent across the whole car. You may want to consider 6000K and upgrade the small bulbs in the high beam housing at the same time to keep a white light as the small bulbs are going to be around 6500K.

If you are looking at only the 35W HIDs, no wiring mods are needed other than making sure you have a very good ground and I would say to run your own, new ground to ensure this. You look at the 50W HIDs, getting a relay kit with dual 30 amp relays or a single 40 amp relay is going to be needed. If you have questions about this, let me know.

 

Thank you. Very helpful. You answered a question that I didn't ask in my post. I was considering 35W for dip and 50W for high beam. I don't need fogs upgraded as I've never needed to use them but I appreciate the advice just the same.
.bLw