First you can see my link here for what others have said: http://www.gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=39792
Here is my first post on page 1 of that forum:
So i already have 4 glass replacement e code housings on the way to ditch my sealed beams. In my truck i run HID in my Hi-Beams and Fog lights and Run a 9005 Hi Beam Bulb Modified to fit the 9006 socket of my Low-Beams to keep from blinding other drivers.
Now my question is for the buick should i stick with h4 lights in all 4 with bright bulbs like the osrams or the phillips xtremes with an upgraded harness such as:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRM-01-133/
or go with a full HID retrofit kit with Bi-Xenon lows and regular HID bulbs in the Hi-Beams. I know that there is significant glare for other drivers and want to be safe.
now i know the answers i will get are going to be very opinionated, but i still wanted to hear what yall have to say. Please Explain the reasoning behind your vote, as im sure it will help others down the road. Is the HID fad worth it in the end? i know i love HID fogs and Highs but they only get used on back roads with no one else around so not endangering anyone and man can i see, tons of sidelight but no defined beam being in a reflector housing.
Here is another one of my intensely long posts from page 2:
It seems in the halogen market it is hard to beat the Philips Extreme visions or the Osram Nightbreaker Plus's. They run about $42 a pair. Not too bad but not cheap either. Then there are the IPF bulbs but they are averaging $130 for the nicer sets. The one amazing thing about them is they are claiming something like 180/170W out of their bulbs due to the bilux design like the Osrams and Philips bulbs. Anyone have any experience with these bulbs at all.
One thing I like about sticking with a halogen is it doesn't look out of place on the car. Second is your not necessarily blinding other drivers, and in a technicality sense your legal amongst all the other illegal things on these cars like offroad fuel, no cats, etc. The other nice thing would be bulb availability so your not waiting for weeks to get ahold of a company about a warranty on a ballast that they clearly import from China which died.
So it seems like to stick with halogens (say the Philips bulbs) i would need 4 of the of course, along with an upgraded relay harness off of the battery. So one would be looking at roughly $85 in light bulbs and another say $35 for the upgraded harness. This puts you at say $120 total after the purchase of the light housings, which are needed one way or the other so that part is negligible. Now for the HID retrofit from a company like DDM you will get a lot more brightness with a lot more scatter for what most consider less usable light and a rather dangerous condition for around $130, Now for this price you get a supposed lifetime guarantee, but the service and product are considered by many across the internet to be sub par. Then of course you could go with what many consider to be one of the most reliable companies on the internet such as theretrofitsolution.com. You can get their Morimoto kit for around $310. This kit will get you a 5 year warranty and according to most if there is the occurrence of a problem the customer service is undeniably great. That is a very nice thing if there was the off chance you were to suffer from an equipment failure issue. Now with this more expensive kit even though it cost more than the DDM kit the only improvement you are getting is maybe improved quality along with better customer service, yet you are still stuck with so called poor performance of an HID kit being stuffed into a halogen reflector housing.
So we have determined some differences between the 2 HID companies. Some Things I have noted through research today seems to show that the Morimoto has less of an amp draw on the electrical system than the DDM slim Digital kits which is one thing that could be leading to better ballast performance due to less heat. Now both kits appear to be digital, However the Morimoto kit's ignitor is located in the main ballast housing and not inline of the output wire. This makes for a much cleaner install. Another nice thing about the Morimoto is the cable are covered in braided stainless which of course makes them look much sharper and also adds another layer of protection to the high voltage output wires. Another plus that i have noticed with HID bulbs however are exceptional performance in the rain and snow. Additionally I was surprised with how well the perform in the fog. You would think they would suck as you have always been taught to run lows in the fog but i can bur all 6 HIDs in the truck and they seem to cut right through the fog. Interesting IMO
So one would think this long drawn out explanation would help someone make up their mind but it really doesnt. I like the idea of keeping halogens on the simple principle of the housing were designed for them, but it is hard to deny the amount of sheer output of an HID kit. Now Im sure a full retrofit projector setup is possible to get true hid performance yet the amount of money and work to do so are greatly increased. So go with more light and poor beam structure or a high performance halogen with which you can expect HID brightness from but more along the lines of Improved beam quality and reduced scatter and glare.
So as we can assess from this long post I have yet again done what i do best and that is to analyze a situation/decision to the point where i have confused and driven myself up a wall lol. As if it wasnt a hard enough decision before i am truly stumped. Hope I do not you guys as crazy as i have driven myself lol
Here is my first post on page 1 of that forum:
So i already have 4 glass replacement e code housings on the way to ditch my sealed beams. In my truck i run HID in my Hi-Beams and Fog lights and Run a 9005 Hi Beam Bulb Modified to fit the 9006 socket of my Low-Beams to keep from blinding other drivers.
Now my question is for the buick should i stick with h4 lights in all 4 with bright bulbs like the osrams or the phillips xtremes with an upgraded harness such as:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/GRM-01-133/
or go with a full HID retrofit kit with Bi-Xenon lows and regular HID bulbs in the Hi-Beams. I know that there is significant glare for other drivers and want to be safe.
now i know the answers i will get are going to be very opinionated, but i still wanted to hear what yall have to say. Please Explain the reasoning behind your vote, as im sure it will help others down the road. Is the HID fad worth it in the end? i know i love HID fogs and Highs but they only get used on back roads with no one else around so not endangering anyone and man can i see, tons of sidelight but no defined beam being in a reflector housing.
Here is another one of my intensely long posts from page 2:
It seems in the halogen market it is hard to beat the Philips Extreme visions or the Osram Nightbreaker Plus's. They run about $42 a pair. Not too bad but not cheap either. Then there are the IPF bulbs but they are averaging $130 for the nicer sets. The one amazing thing about them is they are claiming something like 180/170W out of their bulbs due to the bilux design like the Osrams and Philips bulbs. Anyone have any experience with these bulbs at all.
One thing I like about sticking with a halogen is it doesn't look out of place on the car. Second is your not necessarily blinding other drivers, and in a technicality sense your legal amongst all the other illegal things on these cars like offroad fuel, no cats, etc. The other nice thing would be bulb availability so your not waiting for weeks to get ahold of a company about a warranty on a ballast that they clearly import from China which died.
So it seems like to stick with halogens (say the Philips bulbs) i would need 4 of the of course, along with an upgraded relay harness off of the battery. So one would be looking at roughly $85 in light bulbs and another say $35 for the upgraded harness. This puts you at say $120 total after the purchase of the light housings, which are needed one way or the other so that part is negligible. Now for the HID retrofit from a company like DDM you will get a lot more brightness with a lot more scatter for what most consider less usable light and a rather dangerous condition for around $130, Now for this price you get a supposed lifetime guarantee, but the service and product are considered by many across the internet to be sub par. Then of course you could go with what many consider to be one of the most reliable companies on the internet such as theretrofitsolution.com. You can get their Morimoto kit for around $310. This kit will get you a 5 year warranty and according to most if there is the occurrence of a problem the customer service is undeniably great. That is a very nice thing if there was the off chance you were to suffer from an equipment failure issue. Now with this more expensive kit even though it cost more than the DDM kit the only improvement you are getting is maybe improved quality along with better customer service, yet you are still stuck with so called poor performance of an HID kit being stuffed into a halogen reflector housing.
So we have determined some differences between the 2 HID companies. Some Things I have noted through research today seems to show that the Morimoto has less of an amp draw on the electrical system than the DDM slim Digital kits which is one thing that could be leading to better ballast performance due to less heat. Now both kits appear to be digital, However the Morimoto kit's ignitor is located in the main ballast housing and not inline of the output wire. This makes for a much cleaner install. Another nice thing about the Morimoto is the cable are covered in braided stainless which of course makes them look much sharper and also adds another layer of protection to the high voltage output wires. Another plus that i have noticed with HID bulbs however are exceptional performance in the rain and snow. Additionally I was surprised with how well the perform in the fog. You would think they would suck as you have always been taught to run lows in the fog but i can bur all 6 HIDs in the truck and they seem to cut right through the fog. Interesting IMO
So one would think this long drawn out explanation would help someone make up their mind but it really doesnt. I like the idea of keeping halogens on the simple principle of the housing were designed for them, but it is hard to deny the amount of sheer output of an HID kit. Now Im sure a full retrofit projector setup is possible to get true hid performance yet the amount of money and work to do so are greatly increased. So go with more light and poor beam structure or a high performance halogen with which you can expect HID brightness from but more along the lines of Improved beam quality and reduced scatter and glare.
So as we can assess from this long post I have yet again done what i do best and that is to analyze a situation/decision to the point where i have confused and driven myself up a wall lol. As if it wasnt a hard enough decision before i am truly stumped. Hope I do not you guys as crazy as i have driven myself lol