Morimoto HID ballast placement .

[AWGD8]

I finally upgraded my cheap DDM low beam HID to a better HID kit.
I still retain the foglights 3000k DDM. Anyway, I went ahead and bought an H11 Morimoto 3Five HID kit with XB35 bulb 5000k for the low beam.





I believe this is the best place to install the ballast.









The bolt and nut are provided in the HID kit. I removed the original bolt and use the provided one that tightly fits into the hole.

BTW, I did not use the provided relay harness since our stock harness gives enough juice to the ballast. (No flickers) My DDM HID that were replaced hooked up the same way and never had a problem. I had more problem using the DDM relay harness on my original installation 4 years ago.

[NJGuy]

Nice, thanks for sharing.

Have you noticed any difference in performance between the DDM and Morimoto kits?

[AWGD8]

Nice, thanks for sharing.

Have you noticed any difference in performance between the DDM and Morimoto kits?

I think the Morimoto XB35 is a bit better with true 5000K color with no hint of blue from start up and gets whiter.
The DDM 5000K starts with a hint of blue then turns out white after 2 to 3 minutes.

The width of the beam is the same bec. I am still using the stock Projector bulb. Cut off is a bit better, but still an obvious squirrel finder are present. (To light up signs higher than the main beam cut off of line).

So far I like it. It is also very easy to adjust the lower headlight and the fog light beam height. Our 2008 fogs are setup up too low. I have an HiD 3000k installed in the foglight and I could hardly see the yellow light in front . So I adjusted it at the bottom of my low headlight beam pattern. It is much better now.

[XIS]

looks good! I love mine, but I wanted 4300k. I really like them.

Here is where I mounted my ballasts.

[jamesstock]

I too have been thinking to put in aftermkt HID replacing the factory Halogen. But wondering if any of you during the installation had to drill holes (how big if so?) through the headlamp housing in order to fit the bulb w/ the new wires?

Any pictures would be very much appreciated.

[AWGD8]

I too have been thinking to put in aftermkt HID replacing the factory Halogen. But wondering if any of you during the installation had to drill holes (how big if so?) through the headlamp housing in order to fit the bulb w/ the new wires?

Any pictures would be very much appreciated.

This is not mine, just got it online. The hole is too big if you are getting the Morimoto. I would start with a hole the size of a quarter coin.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Here is the assembled HID kit (DDM electronic Slim ballast KIT 35W) same as the MORIMOTO connection.



From Retrofit store :
Halogen bulb is hidden by a plastic cap. A 7/8” hole must be drilled in this cap to allow for the HID wires to pass through and the rubber grommet would then keep the housing weather-resistant.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pdf/tr ... ID_AMP.pdf



I highly recommend this kit (below) with option of H11 XB35 BULB 5000K instead of the regular H11.
http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=3955

The XB35 Bulb has that rod place below to main glass housing to prevent shadowing on the beam pattern.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4rLhCHhCtY

Retrofit store has an A+ costumer service and the kit has 5 year warranty too!

[jamesstock]

Thx very much for the responses.

The Retrofit source is also a website I've been looking into. Does anyone have picture(s) of the retrofitted HID bulb in halogen housing ...from the driver's point of view shot at night? I like to see the beam pattern, the width and the length / distance.

[AWGD8]

Thx very much for the responses.

The Retrofit source is also a website I've been looking into. Does anyone have picture(s) of the retrofitted HID bulb in halogen housing ...from the driver's point of view shot at night? I like to see the beam pattern, the width and the length / distance.

Nothing beats a retrofit D2S. If Retrofit source is local, I would go retrofit. That means opening the headlight and change the projector to a better one.

If this is not the option, Morimoto and stock projector bulb is the better option. Here is my cut off using a DDM tuning kit. The beam is not wide enough, but I is enough for city driving and hyw driving.

hid-pics-on-stock-projector-low-beam-ex ... 92969.html

[NJGuy]

Thx very much for the responses.

The Retrofit source is also a website I've been looking into. Does anyone have picture(s) of the retrofitted HID bulb in halogen housing ...from the driver's point of view shot at night? I like to see the beam pattern, the width and the length / distance.

Here's set of photo of the EX's beam pattern at night with the morimoto kit. I believe the pictures are from one of the EX owners on this site.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthr ... EX35/page2

[AWGD8]

Thx very much for the responses.

The Retrofit source is also a website I've been looking into. Does anyone have picture(s) of the retrofitted HID bulb in halogen housing ...from the driver's point of view shot at night? I like to see the beam pattern, the width and the length / distance.

Here's set of photo of the EX's beam pattern at night with the morimoto kit. I believe the pictures are from one of the EX owners on this site.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthr ... EX35/page2

Great NJGuy! But I would like to clarify that from that link, if you noticed the wall shot from approx. 25 feet, the only glare coming from the projector bulb are the 2 squirrel finder just about 5-6 " above the main cut off beam. The Spider web looking light way above the squirrel finder are all coming from the High beam headlight housing when the parking light is on.

And also, from his last picture, there is a big large flat glare above the cut off beam. I do not have that on my Morimoto setup. Maybe it was just a camera or ground reflection. I will try to take pictures this weekend with my setup and the 3000k fog.

[AWGD8]

Just 2 feet from the wall (Inside the garage) I still do not have time to take better pic outside. Obviously, you can see the squirrel finder right on top of the low headlight beam above. (5000k)
Picture only shows one side of the headlight. Buttom is fog lights. I adjusted the fog right below the main low beam headlight cut off. The stock setting for the EX35 fog light is way too low to see from the driver point of view.








To those who wants the best retrofit. This is how you do it!
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthr ... initi-EX35

[NJGuy]

AWGD8,

I was wondering where you placed the ballasts for the HIDs of the fog lights. (BTW, no need to tear into your car to take pictures, unless you're in the mood to).

[AWGD8]

AWGD8,

I was wondering where you placed the ballasts for the HIDs of the fog lights. (BTW, no need to tear into your car to take pictures, unless you're in the mood to).

Driver side fog lights ballast is zipped tied underneath the intake resonator below the main Driver side air intake element assembly or Air filter box.

Left side fog lights is zipped tied to the lower tubing of the windshield washer main resevoir. It wont melt the tubing since a don' t use foglights all the time. The plastic used seem to have a very high melting point

[rangemaster01]

I have the same Morimoro HID kit and actually put all wiring and ballasts inside headlight assembly. This way cap drilling was not required. Works well for me so far!

[AWGD8]

How did you fit the ballast inside the headlight housing assembly? There is just no room for that? Does your car has stock HID assembly or just projector bulb?

[ppan76]

I know this is an old thread. But I just installed the Morimoto HID and I am having a problem.

AWGD8: Do you use the automatic headlights?

I haven't had a lot of time to test this. But I believe if I manually turn the lights on/off. All the bulbs fire up. However when using automatic headlights. Only one of them work.

Thanks.

[AWGD8]

I know this is an old thread. But I just installed the Morimoto HID and I am having a problem.

AWGD8: Do you use the automatic headlights?

I haven't had a lot of time to test this. But I believe if I manually turn the lights on/off. All the bulbs fire up. However when using automatic headlights. Only one of them work.

Thanks.

Hmmm, I really never tried the auto headlight feature. I also forgot to update that I decided to install the retrofitsource.com provided wire harness. Once in a while, I only get one side to fire up! So I went and installed the harness and works like a charm!


If you want me to take pictures how I reroute the wire harness , let me know. I will post it here. I believe this is a better route. It is not a good idea to route the harness in front of the car (radiator etc.). This area is always exposed to the element. (Salt, moisture , rain etc.)

[ppan76]

If you want me to take pictures how I reroute the wire harness , let me know. I will post it here. I believe this is a better route. It is not a good idea to route the harness in front of the car (radiator etc.). This area is always exposed to the element. (Salt, moisture , rain etc.)

Please please take the pictures.

I basically followed your pictures to install my HID. :-) So if you have the pictures with the relay, my setup will be exactly like yours.

[AWGD8]

If you want me to take pictures how I reroute the wire harness , let me know. I will post it here. I believe this is a better route. It is not a good idea to route the harness in front of the car (radiator etc.). This area is always exposed to the element. (Salt, moisture , rain etc.)

Please please take the pictures.

I basically followed your pictures to install my HID. :-) So if you have the pictures with the relay, my setup will be exactly like yours.

I"ll take pictures tomorrow after work. Just to give you an idea how I route the harness. I basically placed the relay switch inside the battery compartment together with the fuse. Then the shortest wire goes to the passenger side ballast. That is also the same side where I hooked up the OEM headlight harness. One black ground wire need to be connected to a better ground. (A lot of options)

The longest wire coming from the battery compartment needs to be routed near the fire wall then crosses the other side where the brake master cylinder is located. (The length of the longer wire is just enough to reach the other side) So these wires connect the driver side ballast and ground. There is another wire connector for the OEM headlight harness, but this one you leave it disconnected--> If you have an extra connector (you can use it as a dummy cover to prevent water or moisture to get into the wire.

Then fire it up!

[AWGD8]

If you want me to take pictures how I reroute the wire harness , let me know. I will post it here. I believe this is a better route. It is not a good idea to route the harness in front of the car (radiator etc.). This area is always exposed to the element. (Salt, moisture , rain etc.)

Please please take the pictures.

I basically followed your pictures to install my HID. :-) So if you have the pictures with the relay, my setup will be exactly like yours.

As promised...

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