Hi all,

Greetings from Australia :-) Please be gentle, I'm new to the forum

I've just converted my low beams (H11) and foglights (9006) to 6000K HIDs on my IS250. I'll also be changing out the stock OEM brights/High Beams (9005) to 6000K HIDs.

Has anyone experienced any issues with running their High Beams on HIDs? Any issues with blown fuses? I've heard that it's not ideal to have HIDs for brights, since it takes time for the bulb to warm up and the flashing of high beams (eg, to warn other road users) would be quite detrimental to the ballast.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

PS - here's a photo of my HID low beams and foglights, both rated at 6000K

 

I'm going to advise you to leave your high beams alone. There is a reason why HID equipped vehicles use projectors; to focus the output instead of blinding oncoming traffic. It's not plug and play either since your high beam bulb is used as your DRLs at 50% brightness.

 

I actually use hi-powered LED in my high beams. Instant on for flashing, and the output is 6000K too

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161527711279?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=460549370488&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

+1 for the high power CREE LED. I have them installed as high beam and fog lights, never had an issue with using them for quick flashing or extended use

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies and recommendations, much appreciated. I wish I had asked this question earlier, as I already have a 9005 HID conversion set on the way to Australia :-(

Apart from the obvious strain on the ballast/HID bulb from flashing (which I don't do often anyway), would retrofitting HIDs for the high beam cause any damage to the electrical system / wiring of the car?

Cheers

 

Tell me if I am incorrect that the high beams are also functioned as DRL which is only running at 1/2 the voltage? Won't the OP have problem with any HiD retrofit kit?

 

As far as I know you could use a relay kit in order to power HIDs in the high beams. However the shroud that the High beam bulbs are situated is not intended for HID use. You would blind oncoming traffic. If you really want HIDs for extra lighting, you should really consider doing a bixenon quad projector retrofit. You get more light output, a nice cutoff and high beam functionality. However this is definitely not cheap if you bring it to an aftermarket place to do.

 

Thanks for all the input guys.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to change out my halogen brights to HID. Changed one side and powered it up with no issues. The bulb achieved full brightness within a couple of seconds using a 55w ballast. Flashing also didn't cause any issues at all.

I then proceeded to change out the other side. Immediately when I turned the high beams on, my HID low beams and HID fog lights started to flicker and look yellow (both kits have 6000k bulbs). The high beam bulbs were also flickering. My guess it's that the high beams were probably overloading the circuit and affecting the low beams and fogs.

I ended up replacing the high beams with their OEM halogens and the flickering issue was gone.

I'll be ordering a 2 x HD relay harnesses from The Retrofit Guys to power the HB and LB. This is probably the safest way to retrofit HIDs without frying the car's stock harness.

Cheers