Nuckingfut

I had the morning free so I decided to install the Xenondepot Volt HID headlight (H11) kit in my 250 which came stocked with Halo bulbs. For the record I purchased the 4300K's.

Installation notes:
For the most part the install was straight forward but these bulbs do not properly lock into place as is. The stock bulbs rotate 15-20 degrees when locking them into the housing where as these bulbs don't want to rotate but 2-3 degrees. I put enough torque on them to know that I was beyond forcing them. I decided to leave them as is and just monitor to see if they begin to wiggle free. My assessment is that the distance between the flange and the 3 locking wings is about 2mm less than on the stock bulb which means you're left with shaving the flange and/or going with no gasket.

Performance notes:
At first glance, which was early afternoon, the color seemed pleasing to the eye when compared to halogens. But, as night fell I could really see the true color temperature(s) of these bulbs. One is actually NOTICEABLY warmer then the other when at full operating temperature, so much so that it looks like I have one halogen and one HID. Not good!
I know that there is a burn in time in which these bulbs are expected to gain some degree of blue hue but I'm left to wonder if this fact will only compound the color delta.
Here's a quick shot with the phone which somewhat captures what the eye sees.

Thoughts?

reset2k

woah, being that those are both the same manufacturer and color temp, those look completely different... I wouldn't be happy with it either

Did you try and contact XenonDepot / KBcarstuff.com about the situation?

istarzan

iTrader: (8)

Contact them. I got 5000k HIDs to replace my stock ones. Light output matches and is good.

FYI: I waited 1 month for the bulbs. Searched online and see other people waiting for months too. Finally got a replacement set after I threatened a charge back. Never gonna order from them again. In all fairness, Canadian post lost the package, but I don't know why they would send it the cheap way with no tracking. Tho shipping was free, I'd rather pay and not wait a month. 2nd time was UPS and got it in 4 days. Just letting ppl know.

ddhleigh

It's not just a possibility that Canada Post lost the package, but instead someone stole it. My order came by Canada Post and the delivery guy just left it wedged between my storm door and regular door. So anyone seeing it or opening my storm door would see it.

I was quite annoyed but it wasn't really XD's fault. I did call them to tell them that's what happened incase they got future Canadian orders

istarzan

iTrader: (8)

I live in an Apt. Complex and all my packages that are shipped via Canadian/USPS, get sent to the office and they hold it for me. Therefore, it's impossible for someone to steal it. If Canadian post didn't lose it, then it means XD didn't ship it out.

I noticed that you're in Canada too, so maybe they ship it faster to you. I don't know but waiting a week after week and them telling me to wait another week and then another, I could have ordered from Russia and gotten it faster. /Rant.

Nuckingfut

Here's another shot looking into the lights. I intentionally turned on the stock fog halo lights so you can see how the HID's compare. Driver side HID almost matches the fogs
I'll be giving XD a ring in the a.m.

chi123

iTrader: (12)

You should really contact them about this. I could never spend about $100 on HIDs but will in the future after seeing how nice my friend's Volt kit turned out. I've had three different HID kits on my car before. One from HIDeXtra was perfect. One from eBay, I had the same issue as you do now. I waited months with it and one side is still greenish/white while the other is peach/white. They were 5000k too. I ordered new bulbs from Mod-Express. a vendor here. They didn't match at first but began to match after using them but then they randomly blew out. For $100 or more, you should be able to get better quality then that.

jbounnoi

iTrader: (7)

ya.. you should contact them.. the difference would annoy the hell outta me !

BamaIS

iTrader: (3)

Definitely contact them regarding the color difference. As for getting the bulbs to rotate all the way....In the past on another car, I have had to take the gasket off of the factory bulb and put it on the aftermarket bulb to get it to turn all the way like it should.

brociouz

iTrader: (65)

Like the others said, those are way off and you should get it fixed. Mislabeling HID bulbs seems to be an awfully common occurence, or maybe it's just me.

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

It was good speaking with you Josh. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Steve

Nuckingfut

Spoke to Steve at XD this morning, new bulbs are in route.

sick

iTrader: (1)

Did you figure out if it was a bad bulb or ballast? or did they just replace both?

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

Definitely not a ballast issue. We are sending out a new set of bulbs just to be on the safe side.

Steve

istarzan

iTrader: (8)

That's what I had to do with my HID fog bulbs from vleds. I took off my fog assembly and unscrewed the gasket platic bulb holding thing in order to stick the aftermarket bulbs in.