C63 Dreamer

Upgraded the fogs to HID's yesterday, went LED on the city lights from AZN Optics, and now, my stock Xenons are killing my OCD. Been doing some research, and it seems like everyone is a big fan of these, including quite a few members on here. Yes, I'll lose about 20% on the light output(6000k), and yes I know they are not supposed to be used in US vehicles(or so they say).

My question is, what is everyones opinion on REBASED Ultinon's? The ebay seller has been referenced in other threads on MBworld, as being reputable. But, it's better to be safe than sorry, so I thought I'd ask.


Also on a side note, since I upgraded the fogs to HID, when I unlock the car, the fogs don't come on, nor does the license plate light up. Did I miss something, or does that not occur anymore once you upgrade them?

draz.amg

Not suppose to happen.. did you use STAR Diagnostic at all?

C63 Dreamer

Haven't touched a thing. Got the DDM HID's with error cancellors, threw them in on Friday, and that was that. Didn't splice anything, touch anything, all plug and play. That's why I'm not sure what the hell happened.

-Markus-

draz.amg

I've never heard of the plate lights getting affected after a HID conversion was done on the fogs. Really strange for that to happen..

Not sure what the consensus on error-cancelers for the fogs is, but I'm running my lows/fogs with HIDs and have xenon set to present with no cancelers; plate lights are fine. Maybe you could try that if you decide to put HIDs on the lows.

OneOfaKindTrini

Go back through the settings on the cluster because that is not suppose to happen.

LILBENZ230

With the lights in "AUTO" mode and the "Surround Lighting" set to on in the IC - the fogs, city lights, side markers, tail lights, and license plate lights should come on when the doors are unlocked by the smartkey in low light conditions.

C63 Dreamer

Fixed. Don't know if it was resetting the cluster, or what, but it's working.

Now what are everyones opinions on rebased xenon ultinons?

fookoo303

ultinons are a good bulb, and the quality of the rebase could be questionable. It just depends on how well they did it. I've seen rebased bulbs that were perfectly set and straight, and I've seen others that were completely crooked.

e1000

So did you drop an aftermarket HID kit in for your low beams? If they're completely stock, you shouldn't need a rebased bulb.

raymond g-

technically speaking, aren't all HID kits (used to upgrade stock halogens) rebased?

C63 Dreamer

I have stock Bi-x on my car, so 4300k and everything is is around 6000k since swapping. Sadly, I'm being one of those guys, and changing for aesthetics. The rebased Ultinon is around $60+ cheaper than the brand new one from HID Concepts on Ebay. If it's not a big deal to get the rebased, then I will run with that. If it could be an issue, I'll just sack up and grab the new ones for peace of mind.

raymond g-

if your car came with HID, then you needn't be buying 'rebased' anything as
your headlight fixture comes designed with a HID bayonet mount sized to
fit D2R, D2S or D1S base.

the term 'rebase' usually refers to taking a HID bulb and retrofitting it to fit
a H7, H3, et al (normally halogen) bayonet fitting.

C63 Dreamer

So now that I've just become one of those members, might as well go for gold now. So what do I need to pick up in order to swap the factory bix bulbs to match the rest of the lights(6000k) on the front of my car. Look for D2S based/sized bulbs?

e1000

Almost. You CAN run a D2S bulb in a H7 housing with an adaptor ring.

Right, if your car has OEM BIX's, just buy original D2S Ultinons. There is no reason to rebase a D2S bulb with another D2S base.

Do NOT get a D2R bulb, this bulb is for a reflector housing, not a projector one like in the OEM BIX.

Do NOT buy a D1S (or D1R for that matter) bulb. These have an integrated ignitor built into the base and will not work with the D2S connector in the OEM BIX housing.

C63 Dreamer

Fantastic. Well I'm EXTREMELY glad I didn't but those last night. That would have been.....embarrassing.

e1000

Right, any D2S bulb will fit in your car. Any bulb from Philips, Osram, Sylvania or GE will be of high quality.

Some problems with cheap HID bulbs are bad optics, improper alignment, poor output and short life of the bulb.

e1000

yeah. I think I found the auction you were looking at, and those are rebased to a 9006 base. It wouldn't have fit in your projector housings.

C63 Dreamer

Now the fun is going to be, tracking down a REAL pair. From reading around, it seems like there can be some fakes out there, especially on ebay.

raymond g-

and when you focus on the OEM bulbs mentioned by E1000, HID bulb
cognoscenti can even tell you the slight hue differences between
models, e.g. Osram may have a warmer 6000º vs Philips, etc.
they're like wine connoisseurs

you may find such gems over at HIDPLANET dot com if you are that picky
....or just want to browse. that's an incredible forum, especially those
populating the retrofit forum.

e1000

There are a lot of fakes, but here's how to identify genuine Ultinons.

This is what the bulb will look like. It should be identical in appearance from the bulbs you pull from your car, save for a few details (more on that below):



#1. Bulb part number should be 85122WX printed at the base of the bulb.
#2. Bulb should have the 4 alignment fingers at the base touching the capsule
#3. The salts within the capsule should be red-ish in color.

#4. There should be absolutely NO tinting on the bulb glass itself.

TemjinX2

real ultinons go for around $150..i would be weary of $60

raymond g-

ditto! also, since you're buying a pair, you can also consider asking for
two bulbs from same lot #(stamped on the base) as they occasionally
can color shift oh-so-barely between lots.

e1000

Some ebay examples:

This listing is a pair of genuine Philips bulbs, but are NOT 6000K Ultinons. They are the normal 85122 4300K bulbs.

I don't even know how these are listed as Ultinons at all. It's not even a rebased bulb. These are simply generic bulbs.

From the pictures, these are the real deal. 100% genuine Philips Ultinon 6000k bulbs.

e1000

Interesting point. Keep in mind the different flavors of Philips bulbs.

Just off the top of my head, here are the types of D2S bulbs:

85122 - 4300K, Original HID bulb, tends to color shift as it ages. Can end up close to 6000K before they finally burn out

85122+ - 4300K, color shifts much less throughout it's life compared to the non+ model

85122CM - 5000K, produced to match color shifted 85122 bulbs when replacing just 1 bulb

85122WX - 6000K, "Ultinon"

C63 Dreamer

Really appreciate all the insight guys, big time.

I guess I should probably do a little research on HIDPlanet and see if the 6000k Ultinon's will match my 6000k DDM fogs, and AZN Optics LED city lights.