what a pain in the arse of an HID install

[GryStrm]

got my xentec kit in yesterday ...and decided to install...took the advice of others here to take the face off the car...which wasnt bad...

i used a relay harness in addtion to the kit that came with the lights...the relay gives direct 12v power to the ballast when the lights are switched on..this should eliminate the one light on one off issue some have been experiencing...

im a neat freak on installs so it took me a while to find a nice mount position for the slim ballasts i used ...i drilled and screwed em to the bumper support frame...and zipped all the wires along the existing wire routes...i did the lows and fogs so there were two sets of wire masses on each side. i planned to cut and size the wires but i got too late and decided to leave it for another night!

but wow was the reinstall of the facia a pain...it wouldnt sit right ..you popped the top in the bottom popped off..squeeze the side into the fender clip and the top snapped off...

did anyone else who has taken their nose off say "wow what a peice of S**T)?

i was almost at the point of seeing just how far i can throw the thin flimsey nose when it snapped into place...

made me realize....there is really nothing to the front of our cars....its flimsy and unstable...the plastic toy clips and 8 actual little screws (6 of which i question the material it is made off...metal or plastic) hold the front from flying off the car....considering most of us are challanging the limits of the car's speed govenors....its kinda scary!

as for the xentec kit-- (came to me in ny from cali exactly 4 days after i paid for it)..... i got the 5000k...which does have a very white glow...a hair of blue...but acclaims to the brightness are well verified and deserved.the kit looks well made and did pretty much install easy...it is not the electical wiring which was hard...it was the mounting and physical locating of everything...two ballastts and relay harness wires make the small area under the headlights look like all the wires and fuse boxes in rjdmmfl1's trunk puked!

the initial "ignition" pop of the lights was kinda jarring...a didnt know if i cross wired or did something wrong but they fired up nice with a low flicker at first...up to a hot steady beam of blinding white light...it made the yellowish stock lights bow down in awe...

after reading a few of the posts here i hope that i dont experience the same as others with the system breaking down in a few months..id be very mad to say the least...only time will tell...the only added precaution i did take however, is the additional relay harness..not sure if anyone here did it...as i have read little about here on the forums..

the nose to me still doesnt look like it sits right...as i think the gap between the hood and the grille area looks bigger than before...so ill be popping it off again when i shorten the wires for a neater tidier install...ill post install pics when i do!

the last evolution of my car for now anyway will be when my endlinks come in!....till then happy modding....

added these pic for comparison and finish...the yellow light of course is the stock halo...

after...yeah its rainning AGAIN!!!


Modified by GryStrm at 2:28 PM 5/22/2008

[bina12834]

how did you wire the relay's?

[GryStrm]

realays are hard wired to the battery.....the positive conect to the batter and the neg is grounded to a the frame or chasis of the car...

instead of the ballast pluggin into the cars light switch wire for the stock bulb...it plugs into the connector for the relay...

the power to the ballasts (lights) comes from the relay..not the stock wire as in a "regular" hid install.. the stock wire switch acutally trips the relay to open...allowing a true and full 12v to hit the ballast on power up...(theres a fuse and capicitor bulit into the relay itself)

i asked for and got them from the same guy...hid4u...they are about 15-20 bucks,,u need 1 per ballast

[rjdmmfl1]

realays are hard wired to the battery.....the positive conect to the batter and the neg is grounded to a the frame or chasis of the car...

instead of the ballast pluggin into the cars light switch wire for the stock bulb...it plugs into the connector for the relay...

the power to the ballasts (lights) comes from the relay..not the stock wire as in a "regular" hid install.. the stock wire switch acutally trips the relay to open...allowing a true and full 12v to hit the ballast on power up...(theres a fuse and capicitor bulit into the relay itself)

i asked for and got them from the same guy...hid4u...they are about 15-20 bucks,,u need 1 per ballast

Grey, I r=took my bumper off when i installed my headlight ovrlays... yes it was a b*tch to get back on... when I installed my HID fog lights, I smiply removed the plastic piece underneath the front bumper... very very simple to do that. WHen I put the xenteks in my wife's sedan, I went through the wheel well like generic showed...

As far as longevity, I've had Xenteks in my wife's car since September, so 8-9 months now and still going strong! I've had them in my fogs for 6 months now, and no problems... but these were the larger magnetic ballasts, not the new smaller digital ones!

[GryStrm]

yeah that plastic thing is like glorified paper!....i used bubble gum to make it more stable...

[racingtiger03]

Whats this about one relay per ballast? Im looking at getting this kit soon for sure, and had one of their old magnetic ballast kits in my truck. Of course I had the problem with one occasionally not coming on, but very rarely. Most of the stuff I've looked at for the relays, though, shows that you need only one relay kit per 2 ballasts. The headlight switch plugs into the relays switch so when you hit that it throws the power out to both ballasts from the single relay. Can anyone confirm or reject this for me? lol.

[theoctopussi]

Hey GRY! where did you get the relays??? because if my lights turn off and on from auto now, one of the fogs delays, or the headlights, so I don't think they're gettin all the power they need...

ALSO, where in the connection does the relays go?

just forget what I said LMFAO... I just read all the posts HAHAHAHAHA great info!

[GryStrm]

ok guys..think of it like this...for all the cats who got there system already..remeber the little wire bundle that came with ur lights?....u had to put the connector on it for it to connect to the stock wiring switch in the car?....im sure you do cause like me you were wondering ,,,where does the black go..left or right?...now you remeber!ok..that wire dosent get used in the relay set up...the black connector you get with your lights get connected to the relay...which has two wires with brass tabs just like the wires that came with the lights....now...instead of the ballast getting its power from the switched wire in the car it is getting juiced by the relay..which is home runned to the battery on the positive lug and grounded to the chassis on the neg wire..

what does this do?....ok..well..when ur car's lights turn on ...auto or otherwise...at initial egine start....there is a slight voltage dip with power coming from the car...through the wired light switch to the bulbs...this power dip doesnt effect halogens....but with the hid's...you need a initial blast of 12v to ignite em...any flux in this can cause power dissruptions...which the safty ciircuits in the ballast will read as a short and shut down....this is why shuting the lights off....then on again resets em and both will turn on....the car is running...and the power is at its peak 12v.

the relay doesnt have to wait for a power build up...it only uses the wired switch in the car to allow the relay to open and hit the ballasts with a instant 12v jump from the battery!...

the relay also has a built in fuse..and a capacitor to make sure the ballast is only getting 12v...no power flux....

i will post up pics soon so y'all can see what i am jabbering about...as for where you can get em?i got em from the guy i got my lights from...but just hit ebay...and type hid relay in the box!....its a wire with a two squares on it..(a fuse and capacitor) and several wires comin from it...it ranges from 12 to 20 bucks...

and yes you need 1 per ballast!..just like you need 1 ballast per light!

[D-Roll]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

I need these

[GryStrm]

affirmative....thats what it looks like.....

[blancs3030]

I haven't had any problems with my HIDs firing up, are alot of other people having this problem?