HID installed on my new EX

[bokingwen]

I finally have time to post the pics of the installation of the HID on my EX. I did the install about a week ago, it was a lot easier than I have expected. I don't need to take off the front wheel. I have installed a Digital (Digital is the brand) HID and harness on my EX. The only modification I have to make to is to drill a hole on the plastic ligh cap.

1. This is a set of Digital HID and harness I got from Ebay for $150 shipped.



*I don't have to take off the wheels I just take the side cover off



2. The way I have the harness\relay install. I just took the cover and the plastic borders off (6 screws around the battary cover) and have it sit under the battery compartment.





3. The harness/relay



4. The HID wires to the factory wires



5. I drill a hole on the plastic cap to fit the bulb.



6. The HID bulb fits perfectly on the hold. Due to the design of the light cap there is no way to fit the HID without any modification. The options I have are either tag into the factory wires which I do not want to do, or drill a hole on the plastic cap which is easily replaceable.





7. This is where I have my left ballast the ballast sits perfectly in this spot I don't event need to put a cable tight on it.



8. The right ballast



9. Finsih product



Right side

[EXceptional]

Decent thread...

Do you feel that the HID's are better then the Xenon ones we get in our EX35 ?

Did yours come with the Xenon Head-lights ?

[bokingwen]

My EX didn't come with the Xenon light and this why I have to install the aftermarket one. I was angry that the factory Xenon light come with another package and I wasn't aware of it until I drove the car home.

I only have the regular Halogen headlight by upgrading it to my current setup is much better. I am glad I did the upgrade because I was driving up to WI from Chicago over the weekend at night and most of the time I was the only car on the road and there were no light. The HID just light up everything.

Since my fog light is still halogen I can tell tell the difference between the factory light and the aftermarket HID. I will post a picture of the light later.

[AWGD8]

bokingwen:

Thank you for the nice installation procedure...

I really don`t know how you did it, but I did try removing that black side

cover under the hood and there is no way for my hand to fit in there. Just

removing that round plastic cover that you drilled is a pain in the ***.. how

much more getting access to the stock bulb and removing it....

All I can say is, you probably have a very small hand?

BTW: I also travel 2x a month on weekend from WI to IL. I know what

you mean when travelling down the intersate (I-94)with that stock non

HID light.

[bokingwen]

If you take the side panel the second picture off you can reach the cap from behind. Once you take the cap off you have to just use your sense to take the factory bulb out kind of like working on an aircraft where you can can't really see most of the parts.

I am Asian so my hand is not that big actually you can see the size of my buddy's hand on the "cap" photo. He is a 200lb guy and he is able to reach into the light housing and install the bulb. It is going to be a bit tricky but I am sure you can do it.

[Obsidian EX]

Thanks for the great thread and tutorial. Mine too only comes with halogen (wasn't aware of this at first, but not a big deal), so I'm thinking of doing the same upgrade.

Question: I have the Journey package, so this includes auto on/off headlights. Will this auto on/off still work if you install aftermarket HIDs?

Thanks again for the great tutorial and pictures.

[bokingwen]

My EX have the auto on off headlights and it works fine with the aftermaket HID.

[rnadom]

i installed after market HIDs as well, was 60 bucks :P and its working perfectly... only thing is that sometimes 1 of the lights won't turn on at the moment of ignition, probably because of the cheap ballast, but if i turn it on afterwards, then works everytime... i pretty much did the same thing, except i had to modify the cables a bit to fit the origrinal plugs, also i took off the manufacture's "glued on wana-be metal plate" off the thing that shows all the information about the vechicle and taped my ballast over its spot... lol
Modified by rnadom at 1:41 PM 12/14/2008

[AWGD8]

i installed after market HIDs as well, was 60 bucks :P and its working perfectly... only thing is that sometimes 1 of the lights won't turn on at the moment of ignition, probably because of the cheap ballast, but if i turn it on afterwards, then works everytime... i pretty much did the same thing, except i had to modify the cables a bit to fit the origrinal plugs, also i took off the manufacture's "glued on wana-be metal plate" off the thing that shows all the information about the vechicle and taped my ballast over its spot... lol

Modified by rnadom at 1:41 PM 12/14/2008

HID

$60 HID? Did you buy it from DDMTUNING.COM?

I ordered mine for $55 and that is a digital ballast w/ lifetime warranty.

Check this out:

http://ddmtuning.com/hidkihidbuhi.html

Their forum support :

http://forums.bimmerforums.com...f=286

The only problem with DDM is that due to sales volume, their shipping is

slow, but worth it...

[AWGD8]

Do you really have to drill hole on the back cover in order for the HID bulb

to fit in? I noticed a big hole under the bulb housing where the stock

headlight wires coming under. If you access it from the wheel well, you

could have just run the wires and hid bulb under it. I still have to verify it

when I install mine. All I did is observe where and how the stock wires

runs and check for spaces..

[rnadom]

HID$60 HID? Did you buy it from DDMTUNING.COM?I ordered mine for $55 and that is a digital ballast w/ lifetime warranty.Check this out:http://ddmtuning.com/hidkihidbuhi.htmlTheir forum support :http://forums.bimmerforums.com...f=286The only problem with DDM is that due to sales volume, their shipping is slow, but worth it...

i got it through my sis' bf... he is a tech at audi... but not sure where he got it... hehe ...

Do you really have to drill hole on the back cover in order for the HID bulb to fit in? I noticed a big hole under the bulb housing where the stock headlight wires coming under. If you access it from the wheel well, you could have just run the wires and hid bulb under it. I still have to verify it when I install mine. All I did is observe where and how the stock wires runs and check for spaces..

not sure, i didn't want to bother with taking off the bumper or other things... drilling the hole was quick and easy

[dividedhighw]

A big Canadian welcome to you, rnadom!!

Thanks for your contribution and sorry I missed you on your first post!

Cheers,David