aftermarket HID... digital ballast vs analog ballast...auto on headlights...

[rjdmmfl1]

OK, so I've heard some folks say that they have aftermarket HID's and that their auto on feature works sometimes, and doesn't work other times... or only one light comes on, etc

recently, I replaced my wife's Xentec 5000K HID kit and analog ballasts, with DDM tuning's 5000K HID kit with digital ballasts...

with no relay kit, I had the Xentec hooked up on the passenger side and DDM tuning kit hooked up on the driver's side...

when I tested the new light, the Xentec fired up with no problems (auto-on headlight feature on), but the DDM tuning turned on, then went out...

there's a point when the car cranks that the headlights get a burst of power, then the wattage decreases (lights go dim) and then they turn on again. Its that point (when the wattage decreases) that the digital ballasts appear to have an issue powering both headlights on when the auto-on feature is on.

So, the variance we have all experienced may just be due to digital ballasts vs analog ballasts. Almost all new HID kits will come with digital ballasts, so I would think that anyone using the auto-on headlight feature may have these issues if they are using a new kit...

so the long and the short of it is, most new HID kits using the slim, digital ballasts will probably have the same issue, so it may be worth it to just grab an HID relay kit when you purchase your new aftermarket HID kit. If you have a 2.5 base model, then it may not matter because i don't think those come with the auto-on headlight feature... Hope this info folks considering a new HID kit! Happy holidays!

[The_alchemist]

thanks for the heads up, I just finished getting my springs installed yesterday and the lights were my next thing on my list. how much more are the relay kits give or take?

on a side note I got your email about the med school stuff and I just want to say thanks a ton and it means a lot to hear your advice on everything, thanks again

[Hussain]

I HAD (they burnt out on me) the Xentec 5000k slim ballast (i guess digital) and i had that issue. then i got the relay and still had that issue. everyone i talked to with the slim ballast had issues. but those i talked to with the fat ballast, didnt have issues. i guess the big one is analog and the slim one is digital.

[Jose3.5]

I had fat ballast at first and were great. They would always work with my autolights but then they died. Then I got a set of Umnitza slim ballast and were horrible with the autolights and would almost never power on with them. Right now I have the cheap DDM raptor brand slim ballast and work perfectly with the autolights.

[downedzephyr]

that's odd. i have the 5k slim ballast DDM HIDs and mine work perfectly fine with the auto on feature. i guess i'll keep an eye out for that when i get HIDs for my fogs.

[KilaDragN]

actually i have a 2.5 doc, and i have the auto-on lights. But from what i understand, when u turn on the lights, you have the bright flash, then it dims and bit and gets brighter. its the gas in the bulbs being charged up, at least that's what i was told, it just seems normal to me because i see a lot of HIDs that power up like that. I have the apexcones and i don't have an issue with the lights not turning on

[toxik]

i don't think it's a question of analog vs digital but rather of quality. DDM is garbage, pure s***. So many people have problems with DDM it's not even funny. I bought my HID kid from retrosolutions, they got amazing Digitial HID kits, and had them for a long time now. Auto feature always works, both lights always fire, never missfired, never had a problem. Buy a quality ballast, and you won't have any problems with auto features.

[rjdmmfl1]

i don't think it's a question of analog vs digital but rather of quality. DDM is garbage, pure s***. So many people have problems with DDM it's not even funny. I bought my HID kid from retrosolutions, they got amazing Digitial HID kits, and had them for a long time now. Auto feature always works, both lights always fire, never missfired, never had a problem. Buy a quality ballast, and you won't have any problems with auto features.

thanks guys for the responses... yeah, I know they are supposed to fire up, go dim and then fire up again.... even the factory HIDs do that... what I was saying is that if a kit is going to fail with the auto on headlight feature, then its at this point that the kit would fail to turn on...

I think toxik may be right in that it may just be the ballast that a company uses, rather than digital vs analog.... all I know is, I haven't heard of many analog ballasts havin this issue, only digital ones.... so if you're gonna have this issue with the auto on headlights, it looks like its gonna be hit or miss if you have a digital ballast, depending on the quality of the ballast that the particular company uses...

thanks again for the responses guys, the only way to get a clear understanding is if everyone chimes in with their experiences and testimonials (and their setup)... so keep em coming...

[rjdmmfl1]

on a side note I got your email about the med school stuff and I just want to say thanks a ton and it means a lot to hear your advice on everything, thanks again

no problem dude, and please shoot me another email and let me know when you will be applying to med school and if you plan on applying to Hopkins... I know for sure I will be on the admissions committee this fall, but I'm not so sure about the year after. the committee takes up a lot of time, and I'll be applying for residency the following year so I may not decide to do it again.

[DJ_B_Easy]

For those of you with the DDM tuning kit in their HEADLIGHTS...which wattage did you choose? Id like to go 55W if I can.

And anyone go 5K or 6K? I want hyper white, no blue or yellow at all.

Who got what?!?!

[AppleBonker]

Id like to go 55W if I can.

Why?

[DJ_B_Easy]

Why?

They are claiming additional output form 55W, I figure for an extra $10.00 I'll put them to the test. Heck I figure Im rolling the dice with this kit either way, might as well bet the house, ya know.

I did try searching for the Coupe's H11 rated wattage but for some reason couldnt find it.

[Hussain]

I had 5000k xentec HIDs and they were 35 watt. I loved those lights! sucks they burnt out on me. they were super bright! they would light up the whole road and on top of that, with 5000k it was a pure white with only a tiny hint of blue. the 5000k was perfect so I'd assume the 6000k would be a little too blue. and 35 watt is plenty of light.... I dont recommend the slim ballast xentecs though.

as for why not 55 watts? I remember a thread the other day with applebonker saying something about 55 watt blinds on coming traffic more and also it gets much much hotter and could even mess up your headlights. (with applebonker or dangerous said that).

[headhunt3r]

i don't think it's a question of analog vs digital but rather of quality. DDM is garbage, pure s***. So many people have problems with DDM it's not even funny. I bought my HID kid from retrosolutions, they got amazing Digitial HID kits, and had them for a long time now. Auto feature always works, both lights always fire, never missfired, never had a problem. Buy a quality ballast, and you won't have any problems with auto features.

I've been using the DDM Raptor V2 kit for the past 1/2 year or so, and have yet to have any issues with it. Auto-feature works fine and I've never had a misfire. Not trying to discredit your post, but can you post a thread containing the issues that people are having with them? It'd be nice to know what could happen to my kit.

By the way, DDM offers both analog (Raptor Kit) and digital HID's.

actually i have a 2.5 doc, and i have the auto-on lights. But from what i understand, when u turn on the lights, you have the bright flash, then it dims and bit and gets brighter. its the gas in the bulbs being charged up, at least that's what i was told, it just seems normal to me because i see a lot of HIDs that power up like that. I have the apexcones and i don't have an issue with the lights not turning on

I think doc was referring to the base model of the 2.5. I'm assuming you have at least the convenience package?

[rjdmmfl1]

They are claiming additional output form 55W, I figure for an extra $10.00 I'll put them to the test. Heck I figure Im rolling the dice with this kit either way, might as well bet the house, ya know.

I did try searching for the Coupe's H11 rated wattage but for some reason couldnt find it.

The coupe's H11 related wattage is 55 watts... but the 55Watt HID kit is like ridiculously bright... you will most likely have oncoming traffic flashing their high beams at you thinking that you have you high beams on....

[AppleBonker]

The coupe's H11 related wattage is 55 watts... but the 55Watt HID kit is like ridiculously bright... you will most likely have oncoming traffic flashing their high beams at you thinking that you have you high beams on....

Exactly this. And, as Hussain pointed out, the heat could warp the headlight housing. The non-HID stock headlight housing does not have as safe a cutoff as the HID reflectors (I think Darryl mentioned this). If this is the case, you will almost certainly be blinding people on the road. This is not a good idea.

[losenone]

I had 5000k xentec HIDs and they were 35 watt. I loved those lights! sucks they burnt out on me. they were super bright! they would light up the whole road and on top of that, with 5000k it was a pure white with only a tiny hint of blue. the 5000k was perfect so I'd assume the 6000k would be a little too blue. and 35 watt is plenty of light.... I dont recommend the slim ballast xentecs though.

as for why not 55 watts? I remember a thread the other day with applebonker saying something about 55 watt blinds on coming traffic more and also it gets much much hotter and could even mess up your headlights. (with applebonker or dangerous said that).

I have the 6000K xentec set and you dont even notice the hint of blue at all, just cool white.

[DJ_B_Easy]

The coupe's H11 related wattage is 55 watts... but the 55Watt HID kit is like ridiculously bright... you will most likely have oncoming traffic flashing their high beams at you thinking that you have you high beams on....

Yeah I guess I didnt even think of that, very valid points. Guess Ill go extra cheap and buy the analog 35W Raptor set. Just hope that 5K is super white!

Thanks all.

[KilaDragN]

From what i understand, the 5K with DDM has a bit of a yellowish tint, to kinda match with the stock color, but out put more light. the 6K is a good clear white, which is what i have. no hint of blue at all. hope that helps

[DJ_B_Easy]

From what i understand, the 5K with DDM has a bit of a yellowish tint, to kinda match with the stock color, but out put more light. the 6K is a good clear white, which is what i have. no hint of blue at all. hope that helps

Kila you have the actual DDM or the Raptor?

[KilaDragN]

DJ,I got the DDM slim ballast 35w 6K, and 3K for my fogs.

[DJ_B_Easy]

DJ,I got the DDM slim ballast 35w 6K, and 3K for my fogs.

Thanks man, I think Im going that route.

[alifunner]

thanks for sharing the comparion with us here......

i once bought VVME H4 Digital Slim Bi-xenon HID Kit last year from http://www.vvme.com that one of my friend recommend to me ( he bought several sets of VVME HID KITS before)

and it works well until now....

VVME HID KIT is nice and good to use.... vvme website is easy to deal with...

until now the kit still works well... i like them....


it cost $70 shipped to my door within 3 days.. very fast........

[A_Hole]

I need your help guys. This thread made me actually look into HID's, I didn't know they were so cheap. So anyway, I'm about to order a couple sets (headlights, fog lights) but I want to know what I should get. I'm looking into the DDM 6000k for the headlights, but for the fogs, I see people saying 3000k. Should I get both the headlight and fog lights at 6000k so they match? I don't care for the yellow look, but I don't want to blind people with my fogs either.

[victorking]

For those of you with the DDM tuning kit in their HEADLIGHTS...which wattage did you choose? Id like to go 55W if I can.

And anyone go 5K or 6K? I want hyper white, no blue or yellow at all.

Who got what?!?!

i dont think DDM digital ballast is good and have good stablity..... i use VVME 5K Digital slim hid kit for almost one year and still work well now...

if you want hyper white color , VVME 4300K or 5K is better....

VVME 55w HID kits are 40% brighter than the standard 35w kits, so i guss 55w, 5k is nice to your car.... what do you think......

[victorking]

I need your help guys. This thread made me actually look into HID's, I didn't know they were so cheap. So anyway, I'm about to order a couple sets (headlights, fog lights) but I want to know what I should get. I'm looking into the DDM 6000k for the headlights, but for the fogs, I see people saying 3000k. Should I get both the headlight and fog lights at 6000k so they match? I don't care for the yellow look, but I don't want to blind people with my fogs either.

you can order single beam hid kit from VVME with warranty, but be careful ,you do need choose right hid kit for your car otherwise it will bring you trouble for installation even though it is easy to install.....

you'd better not choose 3k cos the color is a little sharp and not so bright as 4300k or 5k,6k....

[DJ_B_Easy]

For those of you with the DDM tuning kit in their HEADLIGHTS...which wattage did you choose? Id like to go 55W if I can.

And anyone go 5K or 6K? I want hyper white, no blue or yellow at all.

Who got what?!?!

i dont think DDM digital ballast is good and have good stablity..... i use VVME 5K Digital slim hid kit for almost one year and still work well now...

if you want hyper white color , VVME 4300K or 5K is better....

VVME 55w HID kits are 40% brighter than the standard 35w kits, so i guss 55w, 5k is nice to your car.... what do you think......

Well, being that this thread is 5 months old, I have had the 35W 6K DDM kits in both my heads and fogs since that post and I couldnt be happier with them. No problems at all, straight white color, and inexpensive. Win, win, win.

[A_Hole]

Thanks for the information Victorking. I think I'm going to make the headlights and fog lights the same. I'll go with 6000K for both.

Hey DJBeasy, do you have pictures of your headlights and fogs on?

Thanks guys.

[nig1]

I just ordered the Philips 4300K HID's. I know there's lots of cheaper kits out there and some will say u get the same quality for a lower price. I wanna stay close to OEM as possible, will let u know how they go.

[headhunt3r]

Is it not obvious that victorking and alifunner are both the same person, and most likely affiliated with their brand of HID's that they're pumping big time. I think it's okay to say "hey check this out" but to put down DDM just to try and boost sales of your own is pretty low.

I've had a set of DDM's running in my headlights for a while now and have not had any issues what so ever. Lifetime warranty, cheap cost, and no auto-headlight issues is nothing but wins.