Sorry if this question was asked previously, but I didnt' find the answer anywhere for 2 weeks now.

I've been searching through the forum and didn't see any info about this. Is it required to have a wire harness drawing power directly from the battery to HID ballast? I was told by a friend that on some cars, if you use the original power source (halogen H7 connector) as the main power source for the after market ballast, it may melt the car's wiring system, which leads to disaster.

I bought a set of Japan made H7 HID and hooked up to w203. Connecting the ballast to the original H7 connector as the power source (not battery directly). Used it for 3 nights, each time about 30 min driving. I'd say that I turned the headlights on and off 20 times total. No damages that I can see so far. Then I took the HID off and put the halogen H7 bulbs back in. Everything still working.

If it would of melt the wiring system, it should of melt by now, right?
Should I buy the harness to draw power directly from battery?

Thanks for the info in advance.

 

no need to power it from battery...

 

yeah, not a problem on the W203

 

Thank You very much for the reply.

 

There is no need for a direct connection to the battery for HID lights. They actually use less power than halogen lamps. An H7 is 55 watts, and a D2S is only 35 watts. A HID lamp is an arc inside a gas, so it is brighter than comparable halogen lamps that waste power heating a filament. The arc in an HID lamp requires about 25,000 volts to start it, but then the arc will continue with a much lower voltage (about 85vac). The purpose of the ballast is to ignite the arc, then limit how much power is used by the arc. Some systems use a separate igniter and ballast. If the current is not limited, the arc would quickly consume the electrodes in the capsule.

I do appreciate that a lot of folks would like HID lamps, but their pockets can't support a two thousand dollar nut to do it properly. So they buy a kit to use their existing headlight housings with HID capsules that have been modified to use a base that fits an H7 opening in the housing.

I suggest people not use these type of kits. The ones I have examined claim they are from Japan. They are not. The Japanese government does not allow manufacture of unsafe, unapproved automotive lighting equipment. Perhaps some of the parts are from Japan, but the lamps themselves are counterfeit capsules that have a new base added. These parts are made in China. Genuine lamps will enjoy at least 2,000 hours before performance goes down. The counterfeit lamps start dimming after only 200 hours of use. Keep in mind that the total number of "starts" also has an effect on lamp life. If you have them don't turn them off and on needlessly.

The housings for H7 lamps have a reflector designed for a filament lamp, and the beam pattern is correct for that type of lamp. A totally different reflector is required to make the beam pattern from a HID lamp. You will suffer DECREASED illumination if you use a HID capsule in a H7 housing. You will also dazzle oncoming drivers. It is for each person to think about what would be the consequences of causing an accident because a fellow motorist cannot see.

Recently the aftermarket has seen ballasts being sold that allow 55 watts to flow in a HID lamp. This is to allow cars to be modified without changing the cars programming to XENON = PRESENT. This will cause rapid wear of the the lamp and reflector. I suggest you resist using a higher wattage ballast. There are a few 50 watt HID lamps available with the same base as automotive headlights, but they are intended for portable (battery belt powered) lamps used in film production.

 

While I agree with your above post, I'd like to discuss this part a bit more. First off, I agree that a H7 housing should be utilized with an H7 filament bulb, since the engineers designed the housing and lens for that purpose. I do think though, that certain bulbs can be replaced with HID systems and produce decent light output with a minimum of glare. The difference is the orientation of the original bulb. Some automotive bulbs have filaments that are parallel to the direction of the glass tube. These include H7-H11, 9006 and 9005. These bulbs are all single filament bulbs as well. Using HID upgrade kits usually turn out well on these applications because the filament orientation matches that of the Xenon arc. Other applications however can have some really disasterous results, such as lighting systems created for bulbs that have filaments that are perpendicular to the glass tube or those that require dual filaments. These include H3, H4, 9004.

 

your friends right to be concerned. Its not really the watts thats the concern, its the amps during the initial startup. HID ballasts can take up to 7.5-15amps during initial start up when its liting the crystals, especially the aftermarket ones..after its heated up yeah it'll take up less then your halogens.

In the past most automotive oem halogen harnesses were not rated to take amps that high, so over time during repeated use it can burn out a oem harness.

I use a aftermarket oem harness for mine, but someone else on the forums said that the oem harness can take up to 15amps..not sure if its true or not.

since other people are running hid kits without any problems, it should be ok. But i would just double check just to be sure.

You might want to just double check the amp rating on the ballast and the head light fuse.

 

There is no head light fuse on the W203. There are no fuses for any exterior bulb on the W203.

 

It works go for it, we drilled a small 1/2" hole in the back of the lowbeam headlight cover and wired up from the housing powering the low beam halogen light. Wire the ground and power lead direct to the ballast power connector then run the connectors from the ballast back to the bulb...

after that some black silicone and it works great!!!

Also if you deciced to go with aftermarket headlamps get the ones with the hid version...

 

I really appreciate all of you for the inputs.
I tested the H7 HID for 3 nights and took it off the car b/c I didn't want to blind the oncoming cars. It would of be awesome if the w203 reflectors don't cause much glare from HID.
I plan on purchasing a set of headlights with projectors(d2s), then install the current ballast with new 9006 HID bulbs onto the fog lights. Projectors are better than reflector headlights anyways.
Hopefully the factory wires can really support up to 15amps.
Gonna search the forum more about the factory wires.