Whats up guys. Im looking to get an HID kit for my 04 Rs. Since now a days there are millions of kits which one is really good? What are you guys using and have had success with? I was looking into 2 kits. The 55w kit they offer on lightwerkz and the other is by Kaixen. The difference in both of them is about $140.

I have used the DDM Apexcone hid kit for my legacy gt and was extremely happy with them. They have a sale on kits too check them out.

http://www.xenonexpert.com/ddm_kit_sale.html

Ive also heard good things about that kit^ Thinline ballasts, free relay, lifetime warranty, and it's cheap. It looks good too.

Save your money and don't get a ricer HID kit. Your lighting will actually be worse with a kit, especially with the 04-05 style reflector headlights. Please read the HID FAQ to get some more info on this. And don't say you already read it, because if you did you wouldn't be posting a question about which "kit" to buy :)

I have an MKS kit 8,000 K , in my 02 Bugeye wagon - in the stock headlights, no high beams, great lighting, only get flash about once a month

Ive seen pictures with the Kaixen in an 04 and it looks 100 times better then stock... So thumbs down if you "think" it looks worse.

Please read this first-
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664361

Save your money and don't get a ricer HID kit. Your lighting will actually be worse with a kit, especially with the 04-05 style reflector headlights. Please read the HID FAQ to get some more info on this. And don't say you already read it, because if you did you wouldn't be posting a question about which "kit" to buy :)

Steve is right, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Best bet would be to see if you can find some used STi reflector housings for like 700. and thats even more PnP than these kits. Also, I wouldn't reccommend any higher burn temp than 5000 kelvin.

If you do have an understanding... I have a 5000k 55w lighwerkz kit and it its boss. If I were you though I'd go for the 35w kit because at any wattage, High Intensity Discharge is BRIGHT. Lightwerkz ftw.

Thanks for the help guys. So you would only reccommend the 55w if I had projectors correct?

Thanks for the help guys. So you would only reccommend the 55w if I had projectors correct?


Lightwerkz offers an 04 HID projector retrofit, do they not? That will allow you to run projectors designed for HID bulbs, plus you will be able to use bulbs that are easy to get. Your other option is to find some STi headlights, which are designed to use HID's.


Projectors aren't magic, if they werent designed for HID's they still won't work. It isn't quite as bad, but it's still not right.

Thanks for the help guys. So you would only reccommend the 55w if I had projectors correct?


I would. 55w is BRIGHT, and 35w is close behind. Without the proper hardware/knowledge, we all know its very easy to blind the F out of a lot of oncomers w typical output from all HIDs. That said, I do have lightwerkz' 5000k 55w in stock oem housings so it is possible, but yes I would strongly reccommend the 35w kit if you're not willing to shell out for a proper setup.
GL

Well I mean yeah the retrofit for a 04 RS from Lightwerkz is nice but im also not forking out 600 bucks to get it. Thats insane.

Steve is right, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. Best bet would be to see if you can find some used STi reflector housings for like 700. and thats even more PnP than these kits. Also, I wouldn't reccommend any higher burn temp than 5000 kelvin.

If you do have an understanding... I have a 5000k 55w lighwerkz kit and it its boss. If I were you though I'd go for the 35w kit because at any wattage, High Intensity Discharge is BRIGHT. Lightwerkz ftw.

Uh, the Lightwerks kit IS a ricer kit. :rolleyes:

wow there's some bad info in this thread

hids belong in hid projectors, that's it.. not halogens, not halogen projectors.. just straight up hid projectors

wow there's some bad info in this thread

hids belong in hid projectors, that's it.. not halogens, not halogen projectors.. just straight up hid projectors

Or HID reflectors, as long as they are D2R bulbs. :o

You want good brands? Stick with Hella ballasts and Philips bulbs.

i stand corrected.. plus those ^^^

Well I mean yeah the retrofit for a 04 RS from Lightwerkz is nice but im also not forking out 600 bucks to get it. Thats insane.


Pretty damn good deal, actually, IMHO.


You gotta pay to play, man.

^^^ Correct. And unfortunately a lot of people don't want to "pay", so they cheap out for the ricer HID kits. And yes, even though I am a huge supporter of Caesar (Lightwerkz) and his retrofits, the kits he sells are indeed still ricer kits, even if they are nice quality.

Well Xigent or whoever else would like to answer this, whats a good bulb that Philips makes???

I currently have Philips #85122 D2Ss.

The Philips 85122+ D2S bulbs won't colorshift (not supposed to)...that's what I've been using in my s2k projectors and they're perfect. Haven't noticed any colorshifting yet either and I've had them for about a year.

^^^ Correct. And unfortunately a lot of people don't want to "pay", so they cheap out for the ricer HID kits. And yes, even though I am a huge supporter of Caesar (Lightwerkz) and his retrofits, the kits he sells are indeed still ricer kits, even if they are nice quality.

What do you mean, Ricer kits? Sorry just dont see any connection.

What do you mean, Ricer kits? Sorry just dont see any connection.

Oh come on man...the plug and play kits are all the craze with ricers, and it's just getting worse. PnP kits just look like pure garbage in halogen headlights, and are usually so blue or purple that I can spot them a mile away. Pure rice. That's the connection.

I think it's great that you DO, however, sell D2S and D2R kits since these would be perfect for retrofits and using them to replace faulty OEM HID parts. The kits you sell for halogen headlights, that's another story. But that's just my opinion. You know we all love your retrofits :D It just sucks getting blinded by more and more cars with drop in kits, that's all.

Thanks guys.

Those D2S bulbs are nice if you have an HID set up but I dont.. I meant just regular bulbs???

even my stock cutoff is so bad and glare. I can imagine that with HID kit it will be definately worse and bilind you all people.

Those D2S bulbs are nice if you have an HID set up but I dont.. I meant just regular bulbs???

Then stick with some nice halogen Osrams.

Unless you have projectors or a conversion like the one lightwerkz offers you will probably be disappointed and at worst be blinded by backscatter in bad conditions-fog,snow,etc. Anything worth doing is worth doing right-just my 2 cents. I am running the 4300 kelvin kit from omnixautosports.com. Nice upgrade and very little increase in glare. I have adjusted them and gotten a few friends to drive at me with positive feedback. I also have noticed that the kelvin temperatures higher than 4-5000k seem to put out more glare though this is my own opinion. What I can tell you is that more than one person I have talked to that have a 6 or 8000k kit are saving up to get 4300k bulbs or a new kit becuase they say the same thing-that the light "disappears" in the rain. Hope this helps.

Unless you have projectors or a conversion like the one lightwerkz offers you will probably be disappointed and at worst be blinded by backscatter in bad conditions-fog,snow,etc. Anything worth doing is worth doing right-just my 2 cents. I am running the 4300 kelvin kit from omnixautosports.com. Nice upgrade and very little increase in glare. I have adjusted them and gotten a few friends to drive at me with positive feedback. I also have noticed that the kelvin temperatures higher than 4-5000k seem to put out more glare though this is my own opinion. What I can tell you is that more than one person I have talked to that have a 6 or 8000k kit are saving up to get 4300k bulbs or a new kit becuase they say the same thing-that the light "disappears" in the rain. Hope this helps.

Your post confuses me. The first part you are talking about how bad you think HID kits are and giving legitimate reasons for why not to buy one, and then the next thing you say is that you have one. It just makes you look like a hypocrite.

Your post confuses me. The first part you are talking about how bad you think HID kits are and giving legitimate reasons for why not to buy one, and then the next thing you say is that you have one. It just makes you look like a hypocrite.
Ok. I did also mention that a conversion to projectors would give the best results if you were to convert to HID. I was trying to give as much information as I could based on my own experiences. Much of the info on this and most other forums is subjective and I thought I qualified that with saying my post was just that-my 2 cents. Infer what you will and good luck if you do decide to go with an HID conversion.

the ricer HID kit i bought is pretty decent. Although I do want to try lightwerkz apexcone 55watt soon but in my 07 wrx wagon, the cut off's fine, no glares that I noticed, Never been flashed by anyone before....

Only issue is 6000k is a little blue and not very illuminating, wanna "upgrade" to 5000k and hope it's as white as the sti stock hids.

And the issue i have with lightwerkz system is i cannot take my headlights and send it to him, wait a weekor two , then get it back. I dont mind the $600, i just can't part with not driving the car.

Yeah I mean that makes sense unless you had another car to use.

the ricer HID kit i bought is pretty decent. Although I do want to try lightwerkz apexcone 55watt soon but in my 07 wrx wagon, the cut off's fine, no glares that I noticed, Never been flashed by anyone before....

Only issue is 6000k is a little blue and not very illuminating, wanna "upgrade" to 5000k and hope it's as white as the sti stock hids.

And the issue i have with lightwerkz system is i cannot take my headlights and send it to him, wait a weekor two , then get it back. I dont mind the $600, i just can't part with not driving the car.
I'm pretty much in the same boat. It'd be nice if there were an exchange program of some sort but I do realize what a PITA that'd be for lightwerkz. My kit is 4300k and I'm happy with the output and vision quality but having seen conversions done right I am also convinced that is the direction I'm going towards. Time to start saving for a pair of halogen headlights to retrofit myself or have Caesar work his magic on.

More info to help your decision on HID conversion:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878084

I could be wrong, correct me if I am, constructively please; based on extensive research, I think if you have an 06 or later Impreza or any of Subaru's halogen projectors where the lenses are freznel'd (to reduce blinding glares when u drive over uneven road and your HID system lacks an automatic leveling motor), a high quality retrofit kit 'may' be suffice IF it comes with Phillips D2S bulbs or similiar type quality, a nice digital ballast and you're running only 4300K or 5000K max color temperature bulbs. :sadbanana:

More info to help your decision on HID conversion:

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=878084

I could be wrong, correct me if I am, constructively please; based on extensive research, I think if you have an 06 or later Impreza or any of Subaru's halogen projectors where the lenses are freznel'd (to reduce blinding glares when u drive over uneven road and your HID system lacks an automatic leveling motor), a high quality retrofit kit 'may' be suffice IF it comes with Phillips D2S bulbs or similiar type quality, a nice digital ballast and you're running only 4300K or 5000K max color temperature bulbs. :sadbanana:

You actually get more glare with fresnel style projector lenses than clear lenses. The reason is that the cutoff is razor sharp with clear lense projectors, where as the cutoff is more blurred with a fresnel style lense. If you are driving against a car at night with clear lenses, you will see a lot more flicker, and some motorists mistake this as the other car flashing their high beams at them. This is one reason some cars are switching over to fresnel style lenses as opposed to clear ones (i.e. the 06+ Honda S2000's)

But again, the bottom line is that halogen projectors will only work correctly with halogen bulbs. You would need to swap out the stock halogen projector assemblies with HID projectors to properly use a D2S HID setup. You're right on about the color temps though.

I personally just setup my 2009 with the 55w Digital HID 5000k kit that LightWerkz sells. It actually looks nice. The projectors are aimed almost perfect, think I might lower them a tiny bit. They do have a nice line and the proper "step" from left to right. The 5000k is an almost crystal white.

Keep in mind, I personally hate people who throw 8000k or 12000K HIDs into a reflector housing.:diaf:

I personally just setup my 2009 with the 55w Digital HID 5000k kit that LightWerkz sells. It actually looks nice. The projectors are aimed almost perfect, think I might lower them a tiny bit. They do have a nice line and the proper "step" from left to right. The 5000k is an almost crystal white.

Keep in mind, I personally hate people who throw 8000k or 12000K HIDs into a reflector housing.:diaf:

Got any pictures? The 06-08 Impreza halogen projectors I have seen with kits still have tons of glare.

Got any pictures? The 06-08 Impreza halogen projectors I have seen with kits still have tons of glare.

I will post some when I get home, need to find myself a nice wall to take a picture of.

You actually get more glare with fresnel style projector lenses than clear lenses. The reason is that the cutoff is razor sharp with clear lense projectors, where as the cutoff is more blurred with a fresnel style lense. If you are driving against a car at night with clear lenses, you will see a lot more flicker, and some motorists mistake this as the other car flashing their high beams at them. This is one reason some cars are switching over to fresnel style lenses as opposed to clear ones (i.e. the 06+ Honda S2000's)

But again, the bottom line is that halogen projectors will only work correctly with halogen bulbs. You would need to swap out the stock halogen projector assemblies with HID projectors to properly use a D2S HID setup. You're right on about the color temps though.


I'd bet that the actual reason they are switching to fresnel lenses is because they're cheaper. You need a lot less glass if you use a fresnel lense, and with todays automation abilities, the actual shape of the lense won't make much difference (if i were machining that lense, the runtime of either setup would be nearly identical).

A fresnel lense produces *almost* as good a beam. There is of course a little scatter from light hitting the ridges and bouncing before exiting the lense, but it's not bad. The image a fresnel lense produces is terrible, but that's not important for a headlight.

I'd bet that the actual reason they are switching to fresnel lenses is because they're cheaper. You need a lot less glass if you use a fresnel lense, and with todays automation abilities, the actual shape of the lense won't make much difference (if i were machining that lense, the runtime of either setup would be nearly identical).

A fresnel lense produces *almost* as good a beam. There is of course a little scatter from light hitting the ridges and bouncing before exiting the lense, but it's not bad. The image a fresnel lense produces is terrible, but that's not important for a headlight.

Very true..I'm sure there are plenty of reasons. I just love the output of clear projector lenses, although the two are very close. It seems easier to get more color out of the clear ones.

And I'm still waiting for pictures TuningIsLife. You're the THIRD person I've asked for pictures from to show the results of their drop in kit. The previous two times resulted in nothing. Let's see some pictures!!!!

Cmon TuningIsLife, show us you're new HID. I am considering to get one aswell. I hope it turns out nice and sharp.

Cmon TuningIsLife, show us you're new HID. I am considering to get one aswell. I hope it turns out nice and sharp.

Don't get your hopes up.

i have the apexcone 6000K HID conversion kit from xenonexpert.com. either that site or i think lightwerkz also sells them. either way, they are a great kit for the money. i have reflector headlights and there is no reall issue with bad lighting.reflection. they really light up the road at night. i have had them in for a year and have had only 4-5 flashes from people. i would recommend these to anyone.

i have the apexcone 6000K HID conversion kit from xenonexpert.com. either that site or i think lightwerkz also sells them. either way, they are a great kit for the money. i have reflector headlights and there is no reall issue with bad lighting.reflection. they really light up the road at night. i have had them in for a year and have had only 4-5 flashes from people. i would recommend these to anyone.


Nobody reads anymore, do they?


Yes, there IS a very real issue with bad lighting. They are NOT a great kit for the money. They are terrible, and shouldn't be used. It is physically impossible for those to work well.

i have had them in for a year and have had only 4-5 flashes from people. i would recommend these to anyone.

You just contradicted yourself. I remember you spamming a bunch of HID threads a while back with the place you bought your ricer kit. Info like yours makes this place suck and confused the crap out of people who are trying to UPGRADE to better lighting, not DOWNGRADE.

i have the apexcone 6000K HID conversion kit from xenonexpert.com. either that site or i think lightwerkz also sells them. either way, they are a great kit for the money. i have reflector headlights and there is no reall issue with bad lighting.reflection. they really light up the road at night. i have had them in for a year and have had only 4-5 flashes from people. i would recommend these to anyone.

you just made your lighting worse, dude=(

i have the apexcone 6000K HID conversion kit from xenonexpert.com. either that site or i think lightwerkz also sells them. either way, they are a great kit for the money. i have reflector headlights and there is no reall issue with bad lighting.reflection. they really light up the road at night. i have had them in for a year and have had only 4-5 flashes from people. i would recommend these to anyone.

Pic please :)

sniper1rfa... have u had actual experience with my HID kit?

steverx05... my friend who has an HID kit in his maxima always gets flashed, where i rarely get flashed. i could have my headlights aimed lower than some people that reduces the occurance of the flashes. i just can't say w/o reaiming the lights. i am not going to since they are where i want them.

eudoxuz... what pics do u want? lights on a wall? down the street at night?

On a wall if possible. I want to see how "bad" is the glare is. Because everyone around here makes it sound as if it looks disastrous.

sniper1rfa... have u had actual experience with my HID kit?


No, i haven't. I don't need to, because how your HID kit is built is totally irrelevant to how well it works, unless it replaces the reflector dish and projector lense (if applicable).

the fact that you get flashed at all tells me it's wrong, even though i knew it was wrong before i read that bit.



Listen, it is *not possible* to make a kit that puts a HID bulb into a halogen housing and have it work. Unless you can find me a HID bulb where the element emits light in the exact same spot, in the exact same pattern, and over the exact same length as a filament type bulb (hint: you won't).

It's physics. Unless they've changed how light works recently, your kit still sucks - even if i've never used it.



eudoxuz: If he's being flashed at all the glare is too much.

Please guys, some of us are a lot more sensitive to light (and blue light specifically) than others. Blue LED's hurt my eyes. Poorly aimed headlights make it impossible for me to see. This is really common, as our eyes react very poorly to blue light, and react slowly to bright lights.

I can't stand HID kits. However, i really LIKE OEM HID lights, because the OEM lights are aimed very well - much better, in fact, than many halogens. HID kits blind me.

On a wall if possible. I want to see how "bad" is the glare is. Because everyone around here makes it sound as if it looks disastrous.

The glare will be terrible, no need to see pics. And everyone on here that makes drop in kits sound like they are complete garbage and are unsafe for other drivers, is absolutely correct. Sell your car and buy a Civic if you are trying to convince yourself that a kit is a good idea.