hid or no?
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Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2009
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From: Canada, ON
2002 c230 kompressor M111 6spd
hid or no?
Wanna put hid's on my 2002 coupe. Anything i should know? I read some of the posts in "official hid conversion thread".
What are the low beam bulbs in my car? D2R?
They have 2 setting i think, daylight and nightime...would that effect anything if i want to put hid's.
Anyways, I'm really new to this, please help.
What are the low beam bulbs in my car? D2R?
They have 2 setting i think, daylight and nightime...would that effect anything if i want to put hid's.
Anyways, I'm really new to this, please help.
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From: centennial, CO
2003 c240
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
1999 CLK320 (sold), 2007 C230 SS (gone), 2000 Grand Marquis, 2011 CR-Z, stay tuned...
I used a DDM kit with "error eliminators" (capacitors). After a while, I had my Xenon setting set to "present." One of my bulbs went bad and I currently am running my stock halogens again. There is no reason you can't go back if you use a simple plug-and-play kit.
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2002 E430
On my previous C230SS, cheap ebay kit with capacitors lasted almost 2 yrs before one of the ballast went dead. So I bought the same kit, replaced the ballast and still had extra parts for spare. Back then I paid $90 now it costs $37 for the same kit from same seller.
Another option would be to buy Mtec kit, just plug and play but I'm cheap so I chose capacitor method. I did this to my 06 ML350 and it's been great!
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
1999 CLK320 (sold), 2007 C230 SS (gone), 2000 Grand Marquis, 2011 CR-Z, stay tuned...
I meant you don't want to go back to halogens.
On my previous C230SS, cheap ebay kit with capacitors lasted almost 2 yrs before one of the ballast went dead. So I bought the same kit, replaced the ballast and still had extra parts for spare. Back then I paid $90 now it costs $37 for the same kit from same seller.
Another option would be to buy Mtec kit, just plug and play but I'm cheap so I chose capacitor method. I did this to my 06 ML350 and it's been great!
On my previous C230SS, cheap ebay kit with capacitors lasted almost 2 yrs before one of the ballast went dead. So I bought the same kit, replaced the ballast and still had extra parts for spare. Back then I paid $90 now it costs $37 for the same kit from same seller.
Another option would be to buy Mtec kit, just plug and play but I'm cheap so I chose capacitor method. I did this to my 06 ML350 and it's been great!
MBWorld Fanatic!
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Posts: 1,545
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From: Saint Augustine, FL
1999 CLK320 (sold), 2007 C230 SS (gone), 2000 Grand Marquis, 2011 CR-Z, stay tuned...
My car has clears, whereas my old CLK had the foggies.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2009
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From: Canada, ON
2002 c230 kompressor M111 6spd
i have an older (2002) sport coupe, so the lights are foggy....
projectors are a no go for sure: too expensive.
I'm getting pretty bored with the look of my car's headlights lately, so wanted to try hids. So should I do an hid conversion on frosty headlights?
projectors are a no go for sure: too expensive.
I'm getting pretty bored with the look of my car's headlights lately, so wanted to try hids. So should I do an hid conversion on frosty headlights?
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From: centennial, CO
2003 c240
the problem with putting hid into a car that wasnt equipped with it from the factory is the way that the light will get reflected. With a xenon bulb, the light will reflect differently. Each type of car is different in how this will happen but in a worst case scenario the light will end up looking like this
this produces an insane of amount of glare which blinds oncoming traffic and creates hot spots on the ground.
But each car is different in how it reflects so it might not end up being as bad. If you do decide to do it i would recommend you get a D2R bulb and buy the adapters to fit it into an h7 housing. the d2r is made for a reflector type housing and will reduce the glare above the cutoff line
this produces an insane of amount of glare which blinds oncoming traffic and creates hot spots on the ground.
But each car is different in how it reflects so it might not end up being as bad. If you do decide to do it i would recommend you get a D2R bulb and buy the adapters to fit it into an h7 housing. the d2r is made for a reflector type housing and will reduce the glare above the cutoff line
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Saab 900 SE
HIDs in the clear housing look like garbage just an FYI, I have a 55W 6000K kit in my car and the cut off is a joke and they throw light everywhere but where it should be, if you wanna get HIDs, get a projector kit so they can utilize the extra light and focus the beam
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2019 G70 6MT & 2022 Ford Maverick XL
HIDs in the clear housing look like garbage just an FYI, I have a 55W 6000K kit in my car and the cut off is a joke and they throw light everywhere but where it should be, if you wanna get HIDs, get a projector kit so they can utilize the extra light and focus the beam
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Joined: Oct 2009
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From: NYC
2007 C280 4Matic
Do it! With a little ingenuity even the worst cut off can be made to be usable. Grab a kit known to be good with these cars (cough kaixen), first thing you will want to do is point the lights down with the adjuster nut not to blind incoming traffic. After that the sky's the limit, ie casper sheilds, projectors, clear housings. Check HIDplanet for ways to reduce glare (its always possible, you just gotta start somewhere)
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Saab 900 SE
The HIDs that I ran in my reflector clear housings look like factory ones you might see on a early 2000s Acura or late model Avalon. They didn't look bad at all. And the beam pattern was pretty close to factory as far as distribution. Whatever you've done, you're doing it wrong.
But do not kid yourself the MB 05+ headlights where not at all, if they where, then why would MB have wasted the time to made a whole new housing for the HID option instead of simply shoving a ballast and bulb on board the housing they already spent money to make?
Because the reflectors suck, they cant focus 4800 lumens of light properly. Not because I did it wrong, and heres a hat tip to your blindness of the fact that you prob think (if you have a HID kit in your reflectors) that you arent throwing glare every where on the road.
Last edited by AdidasC230; Jun 9, 2010 at 09:19 AM.
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2019 G70 6MT & 2022 Ford Maverick XL
there is no way to do a reflector housing HID kit wrong, you cant place a bulb upside down and you cant do much beyond ajusting up down left and right, which I had done at a dealer, they still scatter light every where, mainly due to the fact most likely that housing is designed for a bulb putting out maybe 1600 lumens of light, where as these HIDs put out a "as sold" 4800 lumens, and the reflector housing just isnt made for that.
There you go. Is there "some" glare? Probably, yes. Is it "all over the place"? Clearly, no. It's WELL focused.
Sure an old acura who had a housing designed for a reflector HID would have a good pattern (prob is still crap IMO) a good hid reflector shouldn't have a pattern like a crows foot and throw light off into space and try to summon aliens
also FYI there is a reason almost any good HID is in a projector housing, because they can handle and focus light infinitely better. Why do people do S2k mod, or range rover, or even MB waste the time to design a whole different headlight for HIDs? because Reflectors cant handle them.
But do not kid yourself the MB 05+ headlights where not at all, if they where, then why would MB have wasted the time to made a whole new housing for the HID option instead of simply shoving a ballast and bulb on board the housing they already spent money to make?
Because the reflectors suck, they cant focus 4800 lumens of light properly. Not because I did it wrong, and heres a hat tip to your blindness of the fact that you prob think (if you have a HID kit in your reflectors) that you arent throwing glare every where on the road.
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From: So Fla
2007 W203 SS
Every time I read one of these HID posts, I get excited that I will learn exactly what I need to convert my HALS to HIDS the proper most economical way.
Then by the time I'm done reading, I'm completely discouraged...
Yet, in the back of my head resides a possible alternative... just install the Sylvania H7SU SilverStar Ultra in the stock HAL housing and be done with it.
Then by the time I'm done reading, I'm completely discouraged...
Yet, in the back of my head resides a possible alternative... just install the Sylvania H7SU SilverStar Ultra in the stock HAL housing and be done with it.
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2002 E430
Reflectors suck but not bad. There will be glare for these even with halogens but hid's magnify the glare a bit. If properly installed hid in reflectors will be bright w/o blinding oncoming traffic. I drove in front of our old C230 in my lowered Z and wasn't bothered by the light behind me. One option for W203's would be to get aftermarket projector headlights and install h7 kit.
This is how it was on our '06 C230SS:
'06 ML350(projectors):
'91 Z(projectors-amazing for 20 yr old car):
All had/have same $37 ebay kit.
This is how it was on our '06 C230SS:
'06 ML350(projectors):
'91 Z(projectors-amazing for 20 yr old car):
All had/have same $37 ebay kit.
Last edited by KA8; Jun 9, 2010 at 10:35 AM.
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Saab 900 SE
You do realize that a 135i has factory projector, adaptive, Bi-Xenons right? I'm well aware of factory patterns and I was able to compare them back to back.
4800 lumens? No. They can say whatever the want but the kit is not pumping 4800 lumens. We all know the reflector housing wasn't MADE for HID. This is obvious. Let me get you a photo of my HID beam pattern:
There you go. Is there "some" glare? Probably, yes. Is it "all over the place"? Clearly, no. It's WELL focused.
It's your opinion that an older Acura with a HID reflector is crap? Based on what? I can assure you, having owned a 2002 Acura TL with factory HID, it was not crap. However, it was also no better than my HID kit in the Benz.
Please point me to where I was arguing against projectors? Reflectors are perfectly capable of handling HID. Projectors handle it better with neater packaging and easier Bi-Xenon implementation.
What?
Like I said, you did it wrong - probably by allowing inept dealer techs to install it. I ran a HID kit in my reflectors successfully for over a year. As you can see from my photograph, I enjoyed a very-near stock beam pattern. I have since reverted back to halogens due to heat issues with the 55w HIDs. I recommend OEM Bi-X, but often that is price prohibitive. As a side note, I've forgotten more about cars than you probably know. I don't need your omg-run-on-sentence-fail lecture.
4800 lumens? No. They can say whatever the want but the kit is not pumping 4800 lumens. We all know the reflector housing wasn't MADE for HID. This is obvious. Let me get you a photo of my HID beam pattern:
There you go. Is there "some" glare? Probably, yes. Is it "all over the place"? Clearly, no. It's WELL focused.
It's your opinion that an older Acura with a HID reflector is crap? Based on what? I can assure you, having owned a 2002 Acura TL with factory HID, it was not crap. However, it was also no better than my HID kit in the Benz.
Please point me to where I was arguing against projectors? Reflectors are perfectly capable of handling HID. Projectors handle it better with neater packaging and easier Bi-Xenon implementation.
What?
Like I said, you did it wrong - probably by allowing inept dealer techs to install it. I ran a HID kit in my reflectors successfully for over a year. As you can see from my photograph, I enjoyed a very-near stock beam pattern. I have since reverted back to halogens due to heat issues with the 55w HIDs. I recommend OEM Bi-X, but often that is price prohibitive. As a side note, I've forgotten more about cars than you probably know. I don't need your omg-run-on-sentence-fail lecture.
You photo shows one big giant blob of light, no cut off no even scattering of light, it doesnt smoothly taper off like projectors do, and being a camera phone pic, it looks like it didnt quite catch all the light.
Since your such an expert ill post pictures of my headlight pattern and you tell me what I did so WRONG, I properly aimed them and they are a 55W 6000K DDM kit. I still stand by the HIDs in our OEM housing look like crap, the photo you posted any my personal experience with it confirms that.
And I didnt even have to insult you 2 times to say that.
Last edited by AdidasC230; Jun 9, 2010 at 10:52 AM.
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2019 G70 6MT & 2022 Ford Maverick XL
The camera phone was not capable of capturing such intense light in any sort of detailed way. However, it's obviously not like the picture in Post 14. I put my bulbs in (also DDM 6000k 55W), turned them on, the pattern was all over the place. I moved the bulb around, tried again. Continued to do this till I had the best possible pattern. The bulbs were not in the standard position.. It's impossible for me to explain how I pulled it off. What I ended up with was a beam pattern so close to stock that it was convincing and light so evenly distributed and intense that I preferred the C230s set-up to the OEM Bi-X in the 135i. You are NOT going to get projector-like light distribution from a reflector housing no matter what you're running, halogen or HID. If you expected it then you should have had more reasonable expectations.
You're entitled to your opinions, and your experience may vary. But just because it sucks for YOU doesn't mean everyone will have the same experience. I also did not need my xenon set to present or any sort of error eliminators to make my HID work fine unlike most on this board.
You're entitled to your opinions, and your experience may vary. But just because it sucks for YOU doesn't mean everyone will have the same experience. I also did not need my xenon set to present or any sort of error eliminators to make my HID work fine unlike most on this board.
