Woot - got my HID Kit installed tonight!

[Fenixgoon]

My headlights were crap before, so I decided to replace them with an HID kit (projector housings included. No ricer action here).

Anyway, the difference is nothing short of incredible. I can actually *see* at night now. In addition, the light is white as opposed to yellow, which makes a huge difference. And the car just looks good.


Ecode Headlight Housings - $280

DDM Tuning HID Kit (55W, 5000K, H7) - $75 on sale

Installation labor was free

******** 56K Warning (links because I don't like embedded pictures. Also my pictures are large)**********

My car is a VW Passat. I know the wheels are Audi wheels (they came with the car, but they actually look better than any OEM VW wheels, IMO. never liked the OEM VW wheels)

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car12.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car07.jpg
It was cold outside, but my breath made a cool smoke effect in the picture
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car09.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car10.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car11.jpg

 

[brblx]

noice.

i was going to come in here and mock you for installing one of those stupid bulb kits, but you did it right by switching to a proper housing (though i'm sure those projectors are still originally intended for regular halogen H7's?).

$75 seems awfully cheap, though. with factory HID's, bulbs can cost that much, and the ballast is often more. i would have my doubts about the performance and longevity of a sub-$100 HID kit.

oh, and your pics are both large and blurry. so there. :awe:

 

[Capt Caveman]

Dude, you riced a VW Passat? Oh, the huge manatee.

fwiw - they do like nice.

 

[alfa147x]

nvm...

 

[CRXican]

too bad about the rest of the car

 

[zerocool84]

At least you did it the right way and changed to the correct housing.

 

[Fenixgoon]

But if it was an cosmetic upgrade...

can't say i've heard of that being a problem, and my brother has had a similar kit (or even the same one) for a number of years

too bad about the rest of the car

care to explain? aside from the unfortunate run in with a concrete barrier (not my fault) that isn't even shown, the car IMO is a great combination of sporty and classy.

 

[krunchykrome]

you did it the right way, and it looks nice

I can't stand those cheap ricey blue and purple lights on the road

 

[shabby]

At least you did it the right way and changed to the correct housing.

It's still partially half assed since its a halogen projector, the right way would be using an oem hid projector. But at least he seems to have a cutoff in one of the pics.

 

[amdhunter]

I'm usually not a fan of self-installed kits but yours came out pretty nice. Looks aligned properly too, usually people who do this don't care about blinding people.

 

[vshah]

cutoff looks pretty decent for <200 bux

 

[SpatiallyAware]

The HID's are nice but imo not having the VW logo combined with the audi wheels is extremely trashy in my opinion..


I'm hoping you still have the VW and passat emblems on the back? Please not an audi logo..

 

[Fenixgoon]

The HID's are nice but imo not having the VW logo combined with the audi wheels is extremely trashy in my opinion..


I'm hoping you still have the VW and passat emblems on the back? Please not an audi logo..

yes, VW emblem is on the back. no passat or 1.8T lettering. i'm not trying to make my car an imitation audi, despite the fact that it practically is an A4. all the modifications were done by the PO, actually, including the front grille mod, audi wheels, badge removal, etc.

i have considered grinding off the audi rings on the wheels though. unless you're up relatively close, it's hard to notice that the audi rings are on the wheels.

here's the car in the daylight (pictures w/ old headlights):

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car3.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car2.jpg
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/leet_haxxor/car1.jpg

 

[coxmaster]

Looks pretty good. Im hoping to do the same to my 08' Jetta Wolfsburg.

 

[thomsbrain]

Halogens > HIDs. I have both, so I speak from experience. You'll think HIDs are great until you try to hussle down a mountain or canyon road at night and you realize you can't see SHIT if the road isn't perfectly level or straight. They're nothing more than bling for cruising around urban environments. When you really need to count on your headlights and don't have streetlights to fill in the gaps, they flat-out suck. And from what I understand, the HIDs I have are supposed to be some of the "best" out there.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Halogens > HIDs. I have both, so I speak from experience. You'll think HIDs are great until you try to hussle down a mountain or canyon road at night and you realize you can't see SHIT if the road isn't perfectly level or straight. They're nothing more than bling for cruising around urban environments. When you really need to count on your headlights and don't have streetlights to fill in the gaps, they flat-out suck. And from what I understand, the HIDs I have are supposed to be some of the "best" out there.

I dont know what you're smoking. My GTIs HIDs kick ass, I can't drive with halogens at night now. I've used them in the canyons and mountains at night too.

 

[brblx]

Halogens > HIDs. I have both, so I speak from experience. You'll think HIDs are great until you try to hussle down a mountain or canyon road at night and you realize you can't see SHIT if the road isn't perfectly level or straight. They're nothing more than bling for cruising around urban environments. When you really need to count on your headlights and don't have streetlights to fill in the gaps, they flat-out suck. And from what I understand, the HIDs I have are supposed to be some of the "best" out there.

are your HID's factory?

all the cars with factory HID's that i've driven have been pretty great. lots of white light and no problems with the cutoff levels. the upper cutoff is pretty clean but is plenty high enough.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

very nice setup, similar to mine

DDM tuning HIDs are EXCELLENT in quality.

I got AnzoUSA projectors for my accord + 5000K lightwerkz HIDs for my '05 accord. they've been working a year through two winters and no water has leaked into it and the hid's are going strong. my cutoffs are about 90&#37; as good as OEM's i'd say.

 

[angry hampster]

That is a lot of money for headlights. I just put a set of Philips Crystal Vision headlights in my GTI and that made a good bit of difference. Only cost me $40.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Halogens > HIDs. I have both, so I speak from experience. You'll think HIDs are great until you try to hussle down a mountain or canyon road at night and you realize you can't see SHIT if the road isn't perfectly level or straight. They're nothing more than bling for cruising around urban environments. When you really need to count on your headlights and don't have streetlights to fill in the gaps, they flat-out suck. And from what I understand, the HIDs I have are supposed to be some of the "best" out there.

Is this a joke? The factory HIDs in my Infiniti are awesome. When I visit my friends in Maine who live on top of a mountain, they light the road up at night like it's daytime. Allows me to see the eyes of deer far ahead and much better than my friend's vehicle and his halogens.

 

[casiotech wants a new accord]

^
this

all the new cars with factory HID are nice and very bright and also very small dots.. that's the one thing i notice is how small and high intensitythe infiniti/GTI/etc HID lights actually are

these diy halogens with the big blue light look circa 1999

I'd like to get some for my g/f mk5 jetta.. any good websites/prices??

and maybe some LEDs for the back..?

 

[Fenixgoon]

^
this

all the new cars with factory HID are nice and very bright and also very small dots.. that's the one thing i notice is how small and high intensitythe infiniti/GTI/etc HID lights actually are

these diy halogens with the big blue light look circa 1999

I'd like to get some for my g/f mk5 jetta.. any good websites/prices??

and maybe some LEDs for the back..?

since you're looking for jetta stuff, i'd actually recommend the sites in my OP. they should have some things. there's also:

world impex
ECS tuning
FCP groton

and a whole bunch of others that i can't remember. vwvortex, audizine, audiworld, passatworld, and quattroworld will all have links somewhere or another to online vendors specializing in german auto parts. there's probably jetta specific forums, too.

 

[coxmaster]

since you're looking for jetta stuff, i'd actually recommend the sites in my OP. they should have some things. there's also:

world impex
ECS tuning
FCP groton

and a whole bunch of others that i can't remember. vwvortex, audizine, audiworld, passatworld, and quattroworld will all have links somewhere or another to online vendors specializing in german auto parts. there's probably jetta specific forums, too.

VWVortex and JettaJunkie have been a huge help to me.. I just got an Mk5

 

[angry hampster]

VWvortex is full of retards and idiots, especially the MKiv section, which sucks considering I just bought an '03 Jetta. However, there isa LOT of great info on there as well. You just have to weed out all the stupid stuff.


Seconding ECS tuning though. Very solid business.

 

[brblx]

That is a lot of money for headlights. I just put a set of Philips Crystal Vision headlights in my GTI and that made a good bit of difference. Only cost me $40.

those housings are relatively cheap, even the factory ones might be a bit pricer. and as i mentioned, that is dirt dirt cheap for two HID bulbs with ballast.

and yes, vwvortex is awful. there are a lot of people there, so sometimes it can be good for general knowledge on common problems, or simply for finding parts (either used from a member or new from one the many small vendors that are active there). but take everything that's said with a grain of salt, as a lot of the people there are simply shitty wrenches and often lack basic automotive understandings.

the mk3 forum used to be the worst, i thought. but as the cars have aged, mk4 has probably become the new cheap used teenager car, so maybe the mk3 forum will eventually become somewhat civilized like the mk1/2 forums.