SLK/R170: 55W HID Success!!
02-14-2013, 11:16 AM
#1
55W HID Success!!
Hey fellow SLK enthusiasts,
Well, a few weeks back I posted a thread enquiring if someone had installed 55W HID's in the aftermarket Sonar Projector Head Lamps, eventually I found out that nobody had, so I went ahead and took the bold step to get myself an Aftermarket H1 HID kit for the low beam (fits inside the projector) , after a lot of R&D I went for the 6000K colour temperature since in effect with 55W power output, the temperature mostly runs to a much brighter and more OEM Quality looking colour between 5000K and 5500K.
These kits are made in Korea and come with a 2 year warranty. So I didn’t have to worry about the fancy and cheap Chinese made kits, which also I learnt are pretty good at what they’re intended to do. Anyhow, The kits come with two 55W Ballasts (not the slim type), two H1 55W 6000K bulbs, a pair of 6000K white LED parking lamps, two holders to secure the ballasts, a well written and printed Instruction manual & Installation guide, all necessary screws, zip ties and 3M double side tapes. The Ballasts look of real good quality and the bulbs also look great.
THE RESULT:
Well guess what! The results are nothing but Phenomenal, I personally always feel that the 35W HID Kits lack the brightness of the Halogen bulbs despite all the statistical claims. The 55W have the same cut-off and beam pattern as the 35W HID's but the main difference is the brightness, THEY ARE ASTONISHINGLY BRIGHT and I am not exaggerating.
Well now come the major question about HOW ARE THE AFTERMARKET LIGHTS HANDLING THE EXTRA HEAT?? They are doing exactly the same as before cause the heat generated by the 55W bulbs is hardly a few degrees more than the 35W bulbs. I've been using the cabriolet for the past few days and till now there have been no signs of heat damage or melting or hairline cracks or any such related problems. The headlight lense is comparatively cooler to when I was running the Halogen bulbs. The difference in temperature between the 55W and the 35W bulbs are hardly noticeable atop the lense.
Apart from these I also installed Philips that's right ORIGINAL PHILIPS HID KIT for the fog lamps. Philips HID kits are banned in the western part of the world cause of the strict regulations and all that, this also I figured during my R&D for the best kits out there. These kits come with 2 years warranty too. I got 4300K 35W for the fogs. BTW I have a projector fog lamp set up. The lights are very bright, so bright to a point that it can be passed off for a 55W kit. The kit comes with slim fit ballasts, HB4 Bulbs, Instruction manual and the regulars. The build quality is simply uncompromised. They go straight in without a single mod. The beam pattern is absolutely wonderful, they have a sharp cut off, Oval-ish somehow, and the beam pattern is wide and evenly lit, a bit better than the pattern of the headlights I can say. Somehow they have a very very light pink hue at the projector cut-offs. still have to figure that out, but these fog lights are real good quality, almost OEM like, and they don't have any warning like "NO HID" or anything similar printed on the back either, so I don’t have to worry about any heat damage here, plus the outer cover is thick glass and not plexi-glass. They are height adjustable but they don't have the L-R adjustments like the head lights.
There is less glare from the low beams all thanks to the projector set-up. This ensures that nobody is being blinded by the glare.
I am going to also install a H1 35W HID kit for the high beams. I use the SLK only for the city and mostly only on weekends and occasions. So I won’t need the high beam much. Thus, I’m going for the 35W kit. Plus since the bulb doesn’t fit inside the projector set-up and is unhindered, according to my research it is going to be brighter than when used inside the projector, common sense I guess. Well I’ll post back on that when I complete that set-up.
For now those who are hesitating to upgrade their headlamps to be brighter, this is the way to go, at least for the low beams!
Well, a few weeks back I posted a thread enquiring if someone had installed 55W HID's in the aftermarket Sonar Projector Head Lamps, eventually I found out that nobody had, so I went ahead and took the bold step to get myself an Aftermarket H1 HID kit for the low beam (fits inside the projector) , after a lot of R&D I went for the 6000K colour temperature since in effect with 55W power output, the temperature mostly runs to a much brighter and more OEM Quality looking colour between 5000K and 5500K.
These kits are made in Korea and come with a 2 year warranty. So I didn’t have to worry about the fancy and cheap Chinese made kits, which also I learnt are pretty good at what they’re intended to do. Anyhow, The kits come with two 55W Ballasts (not the slim type), two H1 55W 6000K bulbs, a pair of 6000K white LED parking lamps, two holders to secure the ballasts, a well written and printed Instruction manual & Installation guide, all necessary screws, zip ties and 3M double side tapes. The Ballasts look of real good quality and the bulbs also look great.
THE RESULT:
Well guess what! The results are nothing but Phenomenal, I personally always feel that the 35W HID Kits lack the brightness of the Halogen bulbs despite all the statistical claims. The 55W have the same cut-off and beam pattern as the 35W HID's but the main difference is the brightness, THEY ARE ASTONISHINGLY BRIGHT and I am not exaggerating.
Well now come the major question about HOW ARE THE AFTERMARKET LIGHTS HANDLING THE EXTRA HEAT?? They are doing exactly the same as before cause the heat generated by the 55W bulbs is hardly a few degrees more than the 35W bulbs. I've been using the cabriolet for the past few days and till now there have been no signs of heat damage or melting or hairline cracks or any such related problems. The headlight lense is comparatively cooler to when I was running the Halogen bulbs. The difference in temperature between the 55W and the 35W bulbs are hardly noticeable atop the lense.
Apart from these I also installed Philips that's right ORIGINAL PHILIPS HID KIT for the fog lamps. Philips HID kits are banned in the western part of the world cause of the strict regulations and all that, this also I figured during my R&D for the best kits out there. These kits come with 2 years warranty too. I got 4300K 35W for the fogs. BTW I have a projector fog lamp set up. The lights are very bright, so bright to a point that it can be passed off for a 55W kit. The kit comes with slim fit ballasts, HB4 Bulbs, Instruction manual and the regulars. The build quality is simply uncompromised. They go straight in without a single mod. The beam pattern is absolutely wonderful, they have a sharp cut off, Oval-ish somehow, and the beam pattern is wide and evenly lit, a bit better than the pattern of the headlights I can say. Somehow they have a very very light pink hue at the projector cut-offs. still have to figure that out, but these fog lights are real good quality, almost OEM like, and they don't have any warning like "NO HID" or anything similar printed on the back either, so I don’t have to worry about any heat damage here, plus the outer cover is thick glass and not plexi-glass. They are height adjustable but they don't have the L-R adjustments like the head lights.
There is less glare from the low beams all thanks to the projector set-up. This ensures that nobody is being blinded by the glare.
I am going to also install a H1 35W HID kit for the high beams. I use the SLK only for the city and mostly only on weekends and occasions. So I won’t need the high beam much. Thus, I’m going for the 35W kit. Plus since the bulb doesn’t fit inside the projector set-up and is unhindered, according to my research it is going to be brighter than when used inside the projector, common sense I guess. Well I’ll post back on that when I complete that set-up.
For now those who are hesitating to upgrade their headlamps to be brighter, this is the way to go, at least for the low beams!
