HID kits

[16v Nova Kev]

I'm wanting a set for my mk4 astra Van. What do you buy 35w or 55w and 5k for just bright white?

Pic of van Incase that helps lol

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg8/16vnovakev/32F9C594-85A2-41E5-8D28-761D501B6A21-593-00000052C222B6DF.jpg

Pic whoring really

[staggy_gsi]

Think you want 55w. But yeah, the lower the number the brighter the light, so 5000k will be bright white. I have 8000k in my mk4 and they are so much better than the original efforts but a bit on the bluey side. Hope this helps.

Oh, and get some lows on that van!!!! Lol

[16v Nova Kev]

Cheers rep'ed. I'm going to be towing my boat with the van so can't lower it

[chris gsi]

Just one thing on the hids the mot regs coming in say for it to pass they need to have head light wash fitted so keep your old light set up for mot time

[bazzap8389]

^ unless you know a dodgy mot tester :)

[chrisd1986]

Cheers rep'ed. I'm going to be towing my boat with the van so can't lower it

I was about to say save your money and buy some lowering springs lol, you could still lower it and use spring assistors on the back

[Hobbit]

Having used I my lowered Omega to tow I wouldn't recomend it to anyone...

[bainyboy sr]

i would get 6k ive put them in ten cars love them lol

[raf24]

Nice van,if you get hid's you will probably have to modify the original bulb holder as the h7 bulb sits into a plastic holder,the holder then twists into the headlamp.
If it was me i would get a couple of old bulb holders from the scrappy and butcher them,that way if you make a **** of it you can still put the normal bulbs back in and wont be left with no headlights.

[16v Nova Kev]

The kit I was looking at comes with holders. I'm just not sure on the 35/50w and what to get

[staggy_gsi]

You can buy the proper bulb holders for them on ebay, but i jut do what raf24 says lol

With regards to the MOT regs, they keep changing their minds about this, and other stuff. I have been told by our vosa guy that the headlamp wash/wipe etc is only a requirement if it was fitted from the factory. But this has changed so it may change again lol. In the mean time, HIDs are still MOT friendly!!

[raf24]

The kit I was looking at comes with holders. I'm just not sure on the 35/50w and what to get

35w will be ok,i've sold hid's at work for years now.i would go for 4300k as the cops down my way are getting good at handing out fixed penalties for them so be careful.

[16v Nova Kev]

4600 or 5000 k was the ones I was looking at

[raf24]

4600 or 5000 k was the ones I was looking at

Aye stick with the whiter ones & dont get 6000 or 8000k as they get more blue/purple the higher the kelvins go up.

[16v Nova Kev]

Awesome rep left

[raf24]

Awesome rep left

No probs mate,happy to help.

[Jack]

Last time I checked, the washer and levellers for MOT have to work if they're present - if they're not there, they don't get tested. So long as the headlight beam pattern and colour is Ok, they'll be fine.

55w kits were originally for cars that got fruity about having lower wattage headlights in. Yes they do produce a bit more light, but if you think 35w HIDs are 'too dark' it means either a) you've got too high a colour temperature, or b) your lamps aren't distributing the light pattern properly, in which case adding a brighter bulb is a bad idea. Also 55w HIDs have a much shorter lifespan than 35w.

4300-5000K is a decent temperature if you're looking for something usable. 6000K is good IF you avoid cheap chinese kits, as the colour temp from them is generally crap lol

In terms of regulations though (not MOT), it all depends on whether or not you think retrofit kit needs to comply with modern regulations. You could argue that no they don't, as if I fitted an aftermarket exhaust to my 1988 Nova, it still wouldn't need a cat. Either way, those regulations state you need washers due to the lumens of the bulb, but I'm sure they actually said levellers are only required on AFS headlights, assuming your standard beam pattern is under a certain height.

[16v Nova Kev]

Cheers for that. That is the kind of answer I was looking for.
So the kits on eBay for 40 quid are crap then ?

[Jack]

In my experience, yes. Mainly in terms of colour though, so you might find something like a 4300K kit may well be Ok. Or maybe get a chinese kit and try replacing the bulbs with better quality ones.

I have a few pics that give a good indication of the colour differences:

Here's the 6000K kit I have on the Celica - put on around 2006 I think. Its an (expensive!) kit I bought back then and carried a made in UK mark. It might not have been, but it came with properly English instructions, not badly translated Chinglish stuff lol Unfortunately as this was the first HID kit I bought, I didn't think to keep the packaging for reference against other kits
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/CCUK/HIDs/IMAG0339.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/CCUK/2008_03030066.jpg

And here's the cheapy chinese H4s I tried on the cav, again supposedly 6000K:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/Cars/Cav/IMAG0468.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426927_10150696412868885_1250363358_n.jpg
^ that second pic has had the colour adjusted to try and show an accurate representation of the light colour. You can see its still pretty green compared to the celica though.

For comparison, here's what the Celica lamps look like - HID on offside, halogen on nearside (inners are 8000K, outers are 6000K, hence the difference in colour)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/CCUK/2008_03030072.jpg

And these are the 6000K chinese ones on the cav
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a266/razorjack/Cars/Cav/IMAG0367.jpg

You can see they look a lot more green!

[16v Nova Kev]

Cool cheers for that