lhoang

hey guys,

will the bulbs and ballast that are from a a set of factory xenons fit in the housing of my stock halogen?

or do i have to use the xenon housing?

are they the same housing?

if somehow it works , will it melt the stock halogen housing?

xenon housing is cracked, but xenon bulb and ballast are still good. wanting to put them in stock halogen housing.

thanks in advance.

peet

don't know about the bulbs, but the ballast will attach to the underside of the lamp housing. No it won't melt the housing.

Many of us have the aftermarket kits and they are identical to benz except for the bulb mounts.

Peet

lhoang

can someone take a pic of the bulb mount on the factory xenon housing? i'll take one with the factory halogen mount and post it to compare.

but wait... if its an h7 (hid)bulb than shouldn't mount the same as a regular bulb (halogen)?

antonio

two things to worry about. #1: standard halogen assemblies are not meant for xenons therefore will not distribute light evenly. i don't know the degree of how severe it will be, but it definately makes a differnece. from what i know, the xenon headlamp assemblies reflector are different than halogen. #2: i read that a wiring harness should be used when upgrading to xenon because the stock halogen wiring will eventually deteriorate due to the extra amperage passing through it. a harness is supposed to eliminate this and keep your wiring in perfect condition. my only question to someone who knows is: is the harness REALLY necessary or will the vehicle die before the wiring system starts to deteriorate?? i am converting really soon and need to know asap. thanks all.

lhoang

antonio, r u planning to buy an aftermarket hid kit? if so, that no different the factory xenon , right?

if i have all the wires to the bulbs and ballast, don't i just replace the halogen wiring or is that impossible?

i dunno cuz i have never seen the factory xenon.

antonio

no, i have a set of factory xenons on order. i currently have halogen headlamps, but after much research its not simply plug, play and forget about it. i am really concerned with this whole wiring harness thing that prevents the wiring from getting fried. the halogen wiring is not made to handle the higher currents that a xenon bulb uses to ignite (start up/turn on). thats why i think someone whose experienced should help us all out with the existing electrical wiring dilemma. btw, ive never directly looked and compared at the halogen lens and xenon lens, but from what ive read the lines on each are different. this is to shine the light in different ways, maximizing the output.

lhoang

mounting the factory xenon bulb will fit in the halogen housing , correct?

need to find a wiring harness replacement.

antonio

to be honest i believe you will need to modify the socket where the xenon bulb will fit. i don't know 100%, but remember reading in a post that a member had to do some small modifications (filing or sanding or something). as regards to the harness, not quite sure if oem assembly has it included?

CHATMANR

Send a p.m. to jorel; I think he's done a similar conversion already.

peet

The wiring harness will be just fine - because the wire feeding the bulb from the ballast is included with the ballast or bulb - NOT the one that is stock.

The stock one supplies standard 12v to the ballast - wheras it used to come to the bulb. Original draw 55W new draw ~30W... so in effect you're reducing the amperage across the supply wire.

As far as beam pattern, I too was worried about it - but said the hell with it and went for it. Guess what? the beam pattern with xenons in the halogen housings is almost as good as that which was on my factory xenons on my former BMW.

Nice clean cutoff, larger right flood and higher level to light up the right side of the road - in other words - perfect. As far as backscatter I don' think there's much because I never get flashed from oncoming drivers.

P

antonio

you are right about the lower amperage. however, when the xenons are ignited, it requires double the amount of power used to ignite halogens. that is why there is the need of the harness.

Lynn

No. The only wire that sees that increased power is the one from the ballast/igniter to the bulb. The stock harness will not experience it.

antonio

im confused. does the oem xenon assembly include a harness of its own or just the ballasts?

peet

There is a very special plug type that is used between the igniter/ballast and the bulb. This must come with your kit - whether or not OEM includes that or not - who knows!? You are buying just the guts so there's no way to tell. In a whole lamp assembly it is already wired and done so you just plug in your halogen cable.

And yes that voltage boost only occurs between igniter/ballast and bulb. The voltage increase is handled through capacitors and circuitry internal to the ballast - no additional voltage is seen in the feed wire.

lhoang

so far my situation, it'll work! right?

check the first post

antonio

what kind of kit are you looking into? exact name would help.

lhoang

mb factory xenon bulbs and ballast, wiring whatever comes with it , but no housing though, will use my stock halogen housing.

it seems the factory xenon housing has been damaged an dth guy want to sell me everything else.

peet

well, as we all said, the only issue may be the bulb mount.

P

lhoang

sorry, i have never seen an hid bulb,

what is the difference if they are both h7? doesn't that mean they are same size and make, meaning they should mount the same.

sorry, no idea.