HID Headlights

Since reading about the benefit of HID lights on here and getting increasingly frustrated with not being able to see in the dark I took the plunge and ordered a set off ebay for £45.

Spent most of yesterday fitting them with the help of LRB's guide but.... what a difference! I can see in the dark

Those inner wheelarches are a nightmare to get out/in though.

A great mod, that I'd recommend to anyone.

Excellent - let me have feedback on the guide, or feel free to update with the bits I got wrong!!

Difference really is day and night!

The guide was great, thanks. I'm glad you mentioned about removing the wheelarches because I would've probably tried to do it from under the bonnet otherwise... I think that might have been tricky!

Do yours take a few seconds to get really bright?

Yup, when you turn them on there is a flash (almost lightening), when the charge hits the bulbs, then the light gets brighter over a few seconds as the gas gets hot.

Normal headlamps emit light from the metal element which heats to produce a light, this process is almost instantaneous when you turn the lights on, when you turn standard headlights off the light dies away as the element cools. A HID bulb is filled with a mixture of gases and salts, when the bulb receives the amplified power from the ballast it charges the gases in the bulb creating a white/blue light output - as its gasses that are being charged the process takes a little longer than standard bulbs - when you turn HID's off the light dies immediately as the gas looses its charge.

Regardless of the 'how' the 'what' is well worth it!!

I had no idea. Guess that'd make them not very suitable as main beam - not so good for flashing!?

No, they are fine - as far as flashing the lights both FMB and DMB come on so drivers going in the other direction will get the idea, and once the gas has heated up it does not take as long to re-heat. If you were driving through country lanes where you would be using FMB frequently but intermittently they would be fine........

I will be replacing my FMB bulbs with HID's at some point but I have a big list of 'to-do's' ahead if them!

Just a reminder of the HID's vs the stock headlamps..........I'll let you figure out which is which!

I can vouch for the above... I saw LRB's lights in action at the ACE. A marked difference! I shall definitely be investing in HID when I have some spare time.

Just washed the B and took a picture of the said lights:

Top job!!

I got my HID Kit today, Planning to fit tommorrow if i can.

While i,m at it would like to change the front badge, do i need to take off the bumper for this.

The HID kit will be on order in a week or so for my B.

KC, no need to take off the bumper to remove the front badge. Just a short 8mm spanner I believe. it's a bit of a bitch and slow going but it can be accessed through the small gap just below the badge. A quick squirt of WD40 or something may be recomended as it's held in with fiats patented "rusty nuts" and mine broke free of the badge at the last few turns.... Oh well it was too faded to consider re using..

BTW... watch out ordering the HID kit from the diane shop in Hong Kong unless you have a paypal account.... It states that they also accept US bank draft etc.... after sening payment via US bank draft and numerous emails back and forth they informed me that it was a mistake and payment is via paypal only...... cheque never did come back as requested.

What a bizarre thing to use this cheque of yours... I thought cheques disappeared in the early 90s Too bad you're not getting it back

PayPal was effortless, though - and I recieved the HIDs from diane shop 1 week after I purchased them - but I have yet to install them.