What's the difference between the two? Can 2k3 HID accept either bulbs?

 

well the 2k2 can use any of the "bulbs" -- really caleld capsules but:

d2s is meant for projectors
and d2r is meant for hid reflectors (like what 2k2/2k3 headlights have)

--the d2s capsule will cause lots of glare, you will need to cover the bottom part of the capsule somehow to defeat this--the d2r has this shield which prevents surplus glare

hope this helps

 

so it doesn't make a difference in light output which bulb is used?

what kind of glare are you talking about?

 

glare coming towards other driver

the difference will be very little (i think like 100 lumens different) but the d2s capsule (bulb) will create hotspots since you are using HID-reflectors and not HID-Projectors

Someone please correct me if i am wrong...i just remember reading this on www.hidforum.com

 

I thought 2k2 - 2k3 OEM HID Headlights were HID Projectors

 

nah we have reflectors (like yours) but ours are HID reflectors (makes a big difference compared to halogen reflectors) -- that is why you see so much glare when someone puts an aftermarket HID kit on their halogen based car

 

I have D2s 7000k and they look great !

 

but i am talking about how well it performs

--it's just stuff i read on www.hidforum.com so I could be wrong but I just rechecked and it makes sense
--ask Hamy on this board, he knows a lot more than I do

 

do you have to do anything special to make them fit in the stock housing. or do they fit perfectly so you dont have to do a thing?

 

They just slip on in....nothing to it...

 

from:

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/hl-hid-bulbs.htm


and i think 5th gens use d2r

 

If you look at any reflector based HID system, the light that is being used is only on the upper half of the housing. This is because the D2R bulbs used have a shield to block stray light and focus it upwards only. Changing to a D2S bulb would result in light being reflected off the whole inside of the housing, which it is not designed for. Excess light would shine everywhere (oncomming traffic). If you use a dimmer bulb (higher k) then it's not too bad, but putting a 4300K D2S would couse more trouble than it's worth.

-James

 

So other HIDs I see on the road (luxury cars), they look blue/purple in certain angles but they also look regular lights in certain angles.

I thought dimmer bulb ment lower K rating not the other way around...

 

Higher K rating does in no way mean a brighter bulb. Most cars , like audis that look purplish have projectors...My 7000k's look like audi lights, but they dont project the same kind of beam.....

 

Does your lights look different colors in different angles like audis?

 

The different colors are due to a prism effect of when the light passes through a projector, and at the cutoff there are blues and purples, but below the cutoff it is usable white light.

The brightest color temp is 4100K, as you go higher, the blue increases, eventualy into purple (10,000K - 12,000K is like a blacklight color). All cars you see on the road with factory hids are 4100K-4300K.

-James

 

This is the reason I like projectors so much. At 4100-4300K they have the highest light output but due to the d2s projectors they will allways appear to be blue/purple at an angle while they are perfectly white head on.

If you use D2s bulbs in the max headlights, its going to work just fine. Absolutley not difference except for the sheild. That sheild as GLE02NJ said is there to prevent glare. Glare is basically light shining in others eyes at dumb angles. Ive seen some cars with a cutoff thats as high as a high-beam. Thats dangerous to other drives. HID's have 2-3x the light output of halogen bulbs and at higher angles it can really blind people for a few sec which obviously isnt the best thing to do to some1 while they are driving especially if they are driving toward you

Check out www.hidforum.com for additional info.

6000K is the most id ever personally go, & thats what I got. I have the 6000K cats D2r bulbs in the headlights & 6000K bulbs in my fogs as well. The beam pattern on the ground looks great!

Here are a few pics

Click 1
Click 2

 

where did you purchase your cats bulbs?

 

scratch that last post.

My last question would be if I was about to go w/ 8000k rating bulb, would I be better off with d2s or d2r bulbs? (ignore the brightness or color; just the fact that I want to be considerate to other drivers on the road; not to blind them)

 

Liteswap.com but I got them be4 HID's were banned on 8/27/2003 I dont think they are even listed on that site anymore. The only place you can find bulbs of good quality now are by getting brands like Phillips/Osram. I belive
http://hidtech.com/ is still selling but I dont how much longer they will sell. 80% of the online hid sits that sell quality brands have pretty much disappeared. You can also give ebay a shot but thats about your only options as far as I know. The bulbs I got were a little over $300.

 

The color is not what bothers them, its the glare. Get D2r, the d2s will work just fine and it will look good but glare will be an issue. The reflector type hids are made to work with d2r bulbs, use them.

 

Now where's a good place to buy D2R bulbs? Price is not important but quality is.

 

Catz bulbs are the best like Hitman said...
here is what my 7000k look like...click away !

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/200767/15

 

it's not bulbs, it's capsules! i say get 4100k-4300k for best light output - isnt that the point of HID?

 

Bulbs, capsules...damnit you know what we mean. Yea the point of hids is for its light output, but even if you go with 6000K you still have more then twice the light output of halogen. Personally, I want projectors with 4100-4300K "capsules" They have the color I like & maintain the light output on the ground like non other. The cutoff of projectos are just

 

Where's a good place to get Catz light bulb?

 

I run Philips Ultinon 6000k D2S bulbs in my 2k2 ... all I had to do was to drill a little bit in order to make them fit since the D2R and D2S have different mounting... as in this picture

There is a NOTICABLE amount of glare, and beam pattern is compromised since there is no shield on the D2S. It looks blue as hell, but usable light is reduced. When I get a chance I'll post my pics of D2S vs. D2R on the 2k2. BIG DIFFERENCE

 

hell yes... The cutoff is very sharp, and you got Much Much more area of light, the ground which it covers is remarkable (OEM Projector HID of course), My friend's M3 has projectors and i can see stuff my maxima wouldnt light up. My uncle's Q45's HID's are great also, they're serious! (once touted as the brightest HID in the world -the Q45)

 

You bought them used so they were already modified....


D2S bulbs need a extra notch put in them to fit a D2R housing... I have D2S and I love them

 

The HIDs on BMW's are amazing, as are the ones on Audi's. They do have a slightly more aggresive glare due to the sharper cutoff but regardless they are best IMO. The Q45 has what? like 7 projectors for each headlight they sure as hell are serious bright. I kinda feel sorry for oncoming traffic when I hit a large dip in the road you know they arnt exactly enjoying that

Honetly, last I heard more all the Catz dealers were to ship their products back. I dont know if your going to find them easily but off the top of my head your going to have to try ebay. Catz capsules are awesome & it give you one of the sickest beam patterned I have ever seen, I mean I get lookes like this all the time.

If your looking for an equal quality capsule, you definetly will not be disappointed by phillips. They are german made HID's and will last just as long as Catz would...basically they should outlast your cars life. Phillips should also be a lot easier to find then Catz would be but ebay would be a good source for both. Phillips you should be able to find from www.hidtech.com

I dont understand what happened with this whole ban thing, I though retrofit kits were to be illegal only. I didnt know they were to stop the production of capsules period. From what I understood if you already had HID's you could still get capsules, just no more retrofits. Now people that want diff bulbs have a hard time getting them in certain brands.

 

If you guys realy want serious light output with that beautiful color, I would suggest sending an e-mail to HIDtech.com. You tell them what you want done (what colors, what kind of cutoff, what projectors you might want etc...) and they will mount them in your headlights for a completely custom look. I'm currently having this done as soon as I get all the necessary parts. I'll post pics as soon as it's done in a week or so.

Write them an e-mail, their communication is amazing.

-James

 

I was thinking about that be4, the valeo's look nice but I dont know how much room its going to take up behind the headlight. I dont what the whole chrome surface are to be gone if I do this, I would just want the projectors lens to show & thats it. As for the fog lights, I dont care how its mounted. The velos arnt too costly IMO and are worth it if you like HIDs. You get Phillips bulbs & I belice hella ballasts which are still of good quality.

 

Now there are bunch of D2S bulbs from eBay that runs $69 a piece (8500K rating). They are no name brand ofcourse. Would they burn off my connectors or damage my ballast? They say they have 1 year warranty/

 

Your OEM capsules are better then those. Personally id try to find some phillips bulbs. They do cost a bit but should outlast the cars life, damn I just searched ebay for the 1st time in weeks, all I could find is junk. If you cant find phillips or something of that quality then just PM the org member Juice and check out what hes got for sale (usually Bohmen), im 100% sure in saying its better then the generic ebay junk, not the best IMO, but definetly not junk. Thats just my .02 though.

 

I've never found anything quality on EBay either. Definitely gonna go for D2R though...preferrably 6K to get that purplish color w/o sacrificing too much output...

 

Bohmen runs $200+ huh

 

Not sure, but I wouldnt really be surprised if they did. When it comes to HIDs more often then not you get what you pay for. They might cost a bit now, but its the last time you'll have to buy them. Its less costly in the long run.

 

The generic capsuls on ebay are usualy korean bulbs, which realy lack quality. The only real top quality bulbs that are over 4300K is the philips ultinon bulbs (which run about 275). There are some good bulbs for over 6000K, but the cheep ones (ebay) will most likely shift color on you within a year, or even months. I had a cheep set of bulbs, and after 15 hours, one shifted to almost green.

-James

 

Im not going to pimp my Eagle eye bulbs as the best, because I know they arent. I have had great feedback from everyone that has seen them. they are truely a purpleish audi-like color. I was able to use them in the rain today, and I was not disappointed at all.... just my .02 cents

 

Hey IGOR , I bought a set of the HID H3's like you have and I still want to know if you have any problems with excessive glare and are you able to use them in town or all the time or do other drivers flash you when you have them on? I hate to spend that kind of cash and not be able to use them.

Thanks, Shawn