I'm thinking of installing an HID kit in my 02 xkr, going with the 6k color temperature (white with slight blue). The price on ebay seems pretty reasonable for aftermarket kits (~$40 shipped), so I'm not planning on retrofitting stock jaguar hid headlights.

- Has anyone installed an HID kit?
- Is there a bulb for lowbeam and bulb for highbeam, or do I need to get a dual low/high beam kit?
- What are the bulb types in our halogen type XK's (so I can order the correct type of HID bulb to fit the stock housing)
- Has anyone installed the HID kit on the fogs also? What is the bulb type for the fogs?

 

Done it many times 6000K is the best
Just a single bulb
The bulb type will be listed as H1 and make sure you get the slim ballast type as they will fit inside the headlight.
Fogs are also H1

 

+1 above on the color. Don't worry about upgrading your high beams to HID, the instant on and intensity of the halogens is what you need, if you want better in the high beam locations, go Silverstars.

And on the fogs, again, its really a no-gainer unless you run them all the time. But keep in mind the housing for the fogs are not meant for HID light pattern/intensity (unlike our projector headlamps, which are), so even if you did upgrade them, the light would spill out and could blind oncoming vehicles...then you'd have to adjust them, making the project not worth it in my opinion.

 

Does the auto headlights feature still work with the HID kits?
The light output decreases with increasing color temp. 5k will output more lumens than 6k.

 

Compared to halogens, especially old ones, 6k will be like night n day!

 

The Auto will still work, but I was advised not to use it, as when you start the car the lights go on, off again as you crank, then on again. With the valtages involved it could shortern the life of the ballest/ lamp.

 

Super-cool advice. I have been wondering how to get the white/blue lighting effect on my 2000 XKR. One quick question though, are these true HID and is the wiring pretty much plug and pray or more involved.

 

Yes they are true HIDs and very easy to fit, the most awkward thing to do is fit the bulb, much easier to fo with the light unit removed, I always have to remove the clip that holds the buld down as it wont fit over the wires to light the new HID bulb.
Wiring is very simple, you literally disconnect the 2 wires from the existing bulb, 1 wire goes to the bulb and one is the earth, both are spade connectors but of different sizes so you cant even get that wrong.
If I was to give one bit of advice, fit them with the headlamps out of the car, you will save yourself a lot of grief.

 

This has inspired me, I've always fancied these but thought it was too much work, would damage the original lenses/fittings and look a bit naff.

One question though, are there any brands etc to go for? I've seen kits on eBay for £30 from UK sellers which have slim ballast, are H1 and 6000k but it all seems a bit cheap to me.

 

I ordered the G4 mini ballast kit, supposedly it's the newest ballast out. I based my decision on reviews like this:

TEST 2..XENTEC Slim Xenon HID Ballast vs G4 Mini HID Ballast .waterproof test 2 product review - YouTube

 

These kits work fine and I have fitted quite a few, in daylight you would never know and at night looks fine as quite a few had them anyway. The only time it would look naff is if you went too blue, then you would just be a chav!

As far as make is concerened 99% come from China, probably the same factory just in different boxes, you can pay £100 or £27 inclusive of delivery from Hong Kong and they look no different, the cheap ones just came in a polystyrene box with no instructions, but trust me you wont need them!



I just checked out that You Tube vid, never seen them before and checked ebay, they are available and cheap too, I would go for a set of those!

 

My biggest fear, I'm a bit of a 'modder' but I'm terrified of ruining my car and making it look cheap and tacky.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the link pomosv.

One more question which may sound a bit silly, the cheaper kits appear to be 35W, and more expensive ones are 55W.

Looking through my manual the standard bulbs are 55W. So do I need the 55W bulbs/ballast or does it not matter as they'll be much brighter anyway?

I don't want to go around dazzling people...

Thanks

 

If you like modified XKs take a look HERE 1 or 2 I did or 20

 

Ah I thought I saw the paragon design link in someone's sig. I've seen that site, they make some great facelift parts for the XK I really really want!

Automotive ****, I really like this: http://www.luxuo.com/wp-content/uplo...den-jaguar.jpg minus the interior, spoiler and I can't make my mind up about the fog lamps. Unfortunately I don't have the budget!

 

The Arden A Type, that was a manual XKR, a one off they did some time back, lots of money, suppose to have a lot of carbon panels,

a bit like my own in some ways, all good stuff

 

That's the one, very nice indeed and your car looks like an absolute animal!

Does anyone know if there's much of a difference between 35W and 55W HID bulbs/ballast?

I really want to get these on order now.

 

I'm not sure that this makes a difference, but I know that the car detects the current flow through the bulb to determine when a bulb is out. I'd be worried that the 35 watt ballast would make the car think that a bulb was out because it wasn't pulling as much current. It might be fine with a 35w, but you know it will be fine with the 55w.

 

I ordered a 35w kit - could someone who has installed an HID kit confirm whether that will work or if I'll have a problem with the car sensing a burned bulb?

 

I have fitted many 35w kits without a problem, all early XKs did not have a headlight bulb out warning system (not in the UK anyway), I should imagine they assumed if you couldnt see you had a light out you shouldn't be driving.

No point going mad with the brightness as techniquely as of sometime 2012 they are not legal in the UK