Hello all,

I am in the midst of thinking about replacing the Hella HID system on my 02' X-type with an aftermarket 55W kit.

Reason being is that my left side has been out for a few days now, and I have replaced the igniter and bulb with no success (this of course after checking fuses). I suspect it is a faulty ballast.

Used Hella ballasts are running about $125 or so and I could get a DDM 55W D2S HID kit for around half that. I currently use a DDM HID 55W H1 style kit for a high-beam upgrade and they work very well.

I am trying to research what would be needed to connect an aftermarket kit up the the factory wiring for it to work. I would need to intercept the signal feed either at the F16 or F17 fuse just after the HID DIP beam relay or right before the Hella ballast in order to ensure a working signal. I do not want to piggyback the OE Hella system, I feel this would just complicate matters.

Has anyone replaced the OE HID system before? Or can anyone assist me with testing the Hella ballast (already looked in JTIS) so I can be sure that it is the culprit?

Thanks!

 

Chas, first things first. The factory system can not handle the power that the 55W system is going to draw upon trying to start the 50W HID bulbs (about 30 amps each, factory relay is only rated at 40 and the wiring at 30 amps). So, at a minimum you would need to run a new wire from a power source (most likely you will chose the battery, don't forget the inline fuse). Then you would need to tap into the low beam wire before the plug for the headlight assembly (green/white wire-pin #5 for the right hand side, the orange/yellow wire-pin #5 for the left side). That will then be used to trigger a 30 amp relay for each HID bulb/ballast. It sounds like you can figure out the rest.

Now, with that being said, running the 50W HIDs in your car, I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be blasting you with their high beams because of the amount of light that you are going to be outputting. Sure, for the high beams, I don't see a problem with running the higher wattage bulbs as you shouldn't be passing anyone with them on. But, in the case of your low beams, I don't see you turning off your headlights when going by someone. I know I would be pissed if someone passed me with that modification. But, your car.

 

Hello Chris,
Thank you for the reply and for the wiring load limitations on the car. I know for the 55W high-beam HID' that I use I did install a separate relay wiring harness from the battery to help sustain the increased amp draw.

Yeah, I think you are right on the 55W kit being too bright even though it is a focused light, they are 40% brighter than 35W HID's. I think I will stick with the 35W kit then.

Any ideas on testing the OE Hella Ballast?

 

Chas, about all that you can do is verify that you have 12 VDC/ground to the ballast and that the bulb is good (ie, replace with a known good bulb). Unless you have a multimeter that can withstand 23,000 volts, there is no test I know of that can be done. This is one of those proving everything else good and therefore the only bad part will be the ballast.

 

I know there is a ground point for the HID system under the left side headlamp area, but I do not know if it is for both right and left sides or a ground just for the left side. I wanted to check that as well. I have had some big problems in past cars due to faulty grounds. I know the bulb in the left side is only 5 months old and it was a Phillips D2S bulb. I have a spare Phillips bulb as well that I aim to try.

 

Chas, the grounds are under both headlights. So, each headlight is ground independently. So, get the headlight assembly out or to the point that you can find a ground point and then do a ground wire check to verify that the ground wire is good. Could be something that simple.