Alright, I'm a couple days late on 'tomorrow' from the last post, but better late than never!
First off, I'm using DDM Tuning's Hi/Lo H4 HID Kit, available on their website: DDM Tuning. They have a lifetime warranty on their kits and they're cheap as can be!
Also, I would like to put out a little bit of information most people are only half straight on:
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4300K is considered "Pure White". It's what OEM manufacturers use, and it's 100% pure white, with no blue to it. Stock projectors that LOOK blue, are in reality using 4300K bulbs, with a HID projector lens (HID lenses are prisms designed to output a different wavelength than halogen projectors). From the extreme side, the lights appear purple, turning to blue, and finally pure white at the center. I personally don't like any blue in a HID kit.
Here is the reason I don't like blue HIDs... When talking about any sort of energy wave, the shorter the wavelength is, the higher the energy output is. In the visible portion of the wave spectrum, Violet sits at 400nm, and Red sits at 800nm. Since Violet has a lower wavelength, it's got a higher energy output. What's this all mean in layman's terms? It means that the further you go into the blue and violet portions of the color spectrum, the more fatigued your eyes will be from the light.
If you want to test this, get a blue LED, and a red LED, and look at them both (from a distance, and do NOT point them directly in your eyes). The blue one will leave your eyes more fatigued than the red one will. Red is as easy on the eyes as you can get in the visible spectrum.
Here's a rundown of the HID kit colors...
4300K-5000K - Stock OEM pure white.
6000K - Mostly white with a hint of blue.
8000K - 50/50 mix of white and blue.
10000K - Pure blue with very little white visible.
12000K - Violet with a tinge of blue.
As you go up in temperature, you lose total light output (lumens). 8000K HID bulbs are, in all reality, EQUAL to 55w Halogen bulbs in lumens produced. The 8000K HID only SEEMS to have better output due to the wavelength of the light produced (remember above how blue light fatigues the eyes more than red?). Since blue fatigues your eyes more than red (or mostly white with a hint of red in the case of a Halogen bulb), you perceive the 8000K HID to be brighter. The truth of the matter is that the (35w) 8000K HID system produces right around 1180 lumens, and a 55w Halogen bulb produces right around 1100 lumens. A 35w OEM HID system running 4300K to 5000K will produce between 3000 and 4000 lumens of total output.
Anything over 8000K is actually WORSE for visibility than the stock Halogen system.
(by the way, yes I wrote all of this myself)
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Now, back to the install!
I personally chose 4500K temperature for my HID kit as it's true pure white, however you are free to pick a color of your own preference.
Disclaimer: NEVER TOUCH THE BULB WITH BARE HANDS! THE OIL ON YOUR SKIN CAN CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE BULBS!
Required Tools:
1. Snips of some sort...
2. Needle-nose Pliers
3. Phillips Screwdriver
4. 10mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (headlight assembly)
5. 8mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (fascia assembly)
6. ~12mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (headlight assembly)
7. Zip Ties (various sizes)
8. Patience!
Part 1: Remove the headlights! I didn't do a tutorial for this as I didn't have my camera handy for pictures, however I can explain how I did it.
There are a total of four bolts and two plastic tabs that need to be removed, then you will need to do a bit of tweaking to the front fascia to remove the lights. The first two bolts on the headlight are 10mm, and are located on the top of the headlight closest to the front of the car where the headlight joins the body, and on the back of the headlight about midway. The third bolt that needs to be removed is on the top of the headlight nearest the windshield, and is somewhere around 12mm (I used pliers to remove since I didn't have a fitting driver). With the three bolts removed, the only thing holding the headlight in place is the clip. To remove the headlight without breaking the clip, you will need to remove the two plastic screw tabs and the 8mm bolt from the front fascia corners and gently pull them loose. You should get enough room to pull the headlights out. You will need to do this with each of the headlights.
Part 2: Fitting the bulbs!
You will need to remove a bit of material i order to get the bulb wires run. To do this I used a pair of snips and angled needle-nose pliers, as seen in the pictures.
Step 1: Uncap the bulb housing.
Driver's side headlight assembly...
Cap removed...
Step 2: Remove the current 9003 (H4) bulb.
Unhook the connector...
Unlock the clip and remove the bulb...
Step 3: Prepare the HID bulb.
Full bulb assembly...
Bulb housing (what we want for now), place the bulbs in a safe place until the next step...
Step 4: Place the HID housing and bulb in the headlight assembly.
HID bulb housing set in place and secured using the clip mechanism...
Slide the HID bulb into the bulb housing and lock it in place...
Step 5: Remove the stock power connector.
Unlock the power connector...
Push the power connector to the side inside the headlight assembly...
Step 6: Remove some plastic material from the headlight assembly.
Using some snips, cut down the side of the stock power connector housing...
Snipped and ready to be removed...
Removing the material with angled needle-nose pliers...
Material removed...
With the side cut down, you can now proceed to the base of the stock power connector housing...
Continued...
First off, I'm using DDM Tuning's Hi/Lo H4 HID Kit, available on their website: DDM Tuning. They have a lifetime warranty on their kits and they're cheap as can be!
Also, I would like to put out a little bit of information most people are only half straight on:
-----------------------------------------------
4300K is considered "Pure White". It's what OEM manufacturers use, and it's 100% pure white, with no blue to it. Stock projectors that LOOK blue, are in reality using 4300K bulbs, with a HID projector lens (HID lenses are prisms designed to output a different wavelength than halogen projectors). From the extreme side, the lights appear purple, turning to blue, and finally pure white at the center. I personally don't like any blue in a HID kit.
Here is the reason I don't like blue HIDs... When talking about any sort of energy wave, the shorter the wavelength is, the higher the energy output is. In the visible portion of the wave spectrum, Violet sits at 400nm, and Red sits at 800nm. Since Violet has a lower wavelength, it's got a higher energy output. What's this all mean in layman's terms? It means that the further you go into the blue and violet portions of the color spectrum, the more fatigued your eyes will be from the light.
If you want to test this, get a blue LED, and a red LED, and look at them both (from a distance, and do NOT point them directly in your eyes). The blue one will leave your eyes more fatigued than the red one will. Red is as easy on the eyes as you can get in the visible spectrum.
Here's a rundown of the HID kit colors...
4300K-5000K - Stock OEM pure white.
6000K - Mostly white with a hint of blue.
8000K - 50/50 mix of white and blue.
10000K - Pure blue with very little white visible.
12000K - Violet with a tinge of blue.
As you go up in temperature, you lose total light output (lumens). 8000K HID bulbs are, in all reality, EQUAL to 55w Halogen bulbs in lumens produced. The 8000K HID only SEEMS to have better output due to the wavelength of the light produced (remember above how blue light fatigues the eyes more than red?). Since blue fatigues your eyes more than red (or mostly white with a hint of red in the case of a Halogen bulb), you perceive the 8000K HID to be brighter. The truth of the matter is that the (35w) 8000K HID system produces right around 1180 lumens, and a 55w Halogen bulb produces right around 1100 lumens. A 35w OEM HID system running 4300K to 5000K will produce between 3000 and 4000 lumens of total output.
Anything over 8000K is actually WORSE for visibility than the stock Halogen system.
(by the way, yes I wrote all of this myself)
-----------------------------------------------
Now, back to the install!
I personally chose 4500K temperature for my HID kit as it's true pure white, however you are free to pick a color of your own preference.
Disclaimer: NEVER TOUCH THE BULB WITH BARE HANDS! THE OIL ON YOUR SKIN CAN CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE BULBS!
Required Tools:
1. Snips of some sort...
2. Needle-nose Pliers
3. Phillips Screwdriver
4. 10mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (headlight assembly)
5. 8mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (fascia assembly)
6. ~12mm Socket / Wrench / Driver (headlight assembly)
7. Zip Ties (various sizes)
8. Patience!
Part 1: Remove the headlights! I didn't do a tutorial for this as I didn't have my camera handy for pictures, however I can explain how I did it.
There are a total of four bolts and two plastic tabs that need to be removed, then you will need to do a bit of tweaking to the front fascia to remove the lights. The first two bolts on the headlight are 10mm, and are located on the top of the headlight closest to the front of the car where the headlight joins the body, and on the back of the headlight about midway. The third bolt that needs to be removed is on the top of the headlight nearest the windshield, and is somewhere around 12mm (I used pliers to remove since I didn't have a fitting driver). With the three bolts removed, the only thing holding the headlight in place is the clip. To remove the headlight without breaking the clip, you will need to remove the two plastic screw tabs and the 8mm bolt from the front fascia corners and gently pull them loose. You should get enough room to pull the headlights out. You will need to do this with each of the headlights.
Part 2: Fitting the bulbs!
You will need to remove a bit of material i order to get the bulb wires run. To do this I used a pair of snips and angled needle-nose pliers, as seen in the pictures.
Step 1: Uncap the bulb housing.
Driver's side headlight assembly...
Cap removed...
Step 2: Remove the current 9003 (H4) bulb.
Unhook the connector...
Unlock the clip and remove the bulb...
Step 3: Prepare the HID bulb.
Full bulb assembly...
Bulb housing (what we want for now), place the bulbs in a safe place until the next step...
Step 4: Place the HID housing and bulb in the headlight assembly.
HID bulb housing set in place and secured using the clip mechanism...
Slide the HID bulb into the bulb housing and lock it in place...
Step 5: Remove the stock power connector.
Unlock the power connector...
Push the power connector to the side inside the headlight assembly...
Step 6: Remove some plastic material from the headlight assembly.
Using some snips, cut down the side of the stock power connector housing...
Snipped and ready to be removed...
Removing the material with angled needle-nose pliers...
Material removed...
With the side cut down, you can now proceed to the base of the stock power connector housing...
Continued...