Holy smokes-97 Q45 HID retrofit!!

[bullittandy]

Man, what a difference! Just converted to a 6000K HID retrofit off ebay, $85 shipped and am very pleased with the results. They are much much brighter than stock and are not blinding to other drivers. The headlight looks bright if your on coming but it does not shine into your eyes.

I did some research on HID before this purchase and it appears that some retrofits work better than others. Seems that if the stock halogen lens is "ribbed" ie, not completely smooth and clear than the light gets sprayed everywhere. However, my 97 has smooth covers and works well.

Now the only question is-how long will this cheap kit last?

[elwesso]

PICS.

[Woot!]

PICS.

x2

Pics or ban JK

I want to do something like that on my Q because the lights are so very dim, I have to drive with high beams to even see where I am going. Looking forward to the pics

[Romeo5k]

mine doesnt blind either... actually it seems, mine are possibly facing 5degrees more down to the ground than regular, so u dont get blinded. And where is ur pics? And u paid 89$?? Well, i went to this shop by me and asked them to install mine. And mine cost 200$ i think. That was i think 2 mos ago, if that! So u got a great deal. But if you dont mind me asking, how many hours are said t be on your bulbs??

[elwesso]

Heres the pics.

[BadQ45t]

so was this just a straight bulb replacement or an entire unit???????

[bullittandy]

This was a "retrofit kit" which consists of a bulb, ballast and wiring. The stock wiring is the input on the ballast which then runs to the new bulb. Its made for a H4 bulb and fits well.

Two downsides:1. You lose your high beams but I might try a Bi-xenon kit next on my 99.2. You lose the foglights as they are wired through the stock headlight wiring. I'm going to investigate this and I think it can be improved.

The above pics do not do it justice, the daylight pics make it appear that the light is shining incorrectly but its really just the camera. Head on they just appear very bright. At night the brightness is amazing.

Again, this was a $80 kit off Ebay Xenonautohaus was the company I think.

[vtund777]

If you can...get some close up pics of the headlamps and also of the kit. Looks good though!

[elwesso]

Honestly do you think you need the high beams with these lights?

[Qproject]

what do u mean 'retrofit" ? this is simply a aftermarket HID kit.

and I hope u got the bulb with the built in casper shield, because the q45 h4 housing with aftermarket NON casper shield bulbs will BLIND other cars.

This was a "retrofit kit" which consists of a bulb, ballast and wiring. The stock wiring is the input on the ballast which then runs to the new bulb. Its made for a H4 bulb and fits well.

Two downsides:1. You lose your high beams but I might try a Bi-xenon kit next on my 99.2. You lose the foglights as they are wired through the stock headlight wiring. I'm going to investigate this and I think it can be improved.

The above pics do not do it justice, the daylight pics make it appear that the light is shining incorrectly but its really just the camera. Head on they just appear very bright. At night the brightness is amazing.

Again, this was a $80 kit off Ebay Xenonautohaus was the company I think.

[Qproject]

u should get the bi-xenon version.

Honestly do you think you need the high beams with these lights?

[NightRiderQ45]

those pics are great. I was looking into getting an aftermarket hid kit. I'm still searching for the hid with the casper shields. If not, local shops here will aim them downwards so they won't blind. I think that's your situation Romeo.

[NightRiderQ45]

Honestly, I'm looking for a true retrofit where they use projector lenses, so it helps with the cut off.

[Qproject]

go for the bi-xenon capsule type, they have good coverage just like a casper shield.

those pics are great. I was looking into getting an aftermarket hid kit. I'm still searching for the hid with the casper shields. If not, local shops here will aim them downwards so they won't blind. I think that's your situation Romeo.

[burgy240]

Nice, I am going to be doing this with my fogs. I also have to replace the bulbs in my stock HIDS (2000 Q A.E.) and I wonder what bulbs fit the stock ones?

[Solini]

This was a "retrofit kit" which consists of a bulb, ballast and wiring. The stock wiring is the input on the ballast which then runs to the new bulb. Its made for a H4 bulb and fits well.

Two downsides:1. You lose your high beams but I might try a Bi-xenon kit next on my 99.2. You lose the foglights as they are wired through the stock headlight wiring. I'm going to investigate this and I think it can be improved.

.

I don't get why your fogs aren't working. I'm on my 3rd xenon kit all from different companies and my fogs never went out. I have a 97

[NightRiderQ45]

I don't get why your fogs aren't working. I'm on my 3rd xenon kit all from different companies and my fogs never went out. I have a 97

3rd kit!? What happened? Did the pervious bulb go bad or just kept changing different lighting (k temp)? I'm going to purchase the bi-xenon, do yours have the shields on them?

[NightRiderQ45]

go for the bi-xenon capsule type, they have good coverage just like a casper shield.

.

thanks, will do!

[bullittandy]

I don't get why your fogs aren't working. I'm on my 3rd xenon kit all from different companies and my fogs never went out. I have a 97

Who installed them? The wiring is strange on the headlight harness, the ground wire is energized when the headlights are turned on.

The headlight wiring confused me for a bit. The headlight harness has three wires (labled on harness):1. "drive" (low beam)2. "pass" (high)3. "ground" (ground?)

Initially I wired intuitively, the red positive sire to the "drive" wire and the black negative on the "ground" wire but it didn't work. The only way I could get it to work was to wire the positive wire of HID kit to the "ground" wire and then ground the HID kit to the frame.

Anybody else have any experience? I can't understand the FSM electrical section-can somebody shed some light?

[NightRiderQ45]

Hey buddy. Does your lights have shields on them? Also, what K temp are your lights. I think that I'm going to go ahead and purchase some bi-xenon 5000k for my car.

[Romeo5k]

My fogs dont work either, I dont know why.. but i know it has something to do with the HID conversion... and im not gonna try to ix it for other reasons.!