adimitrea

Hi, this is my first post as I just bought a 07 SE. It was in an accident and the RH headlight assembly needs to be replaced. Didn't realize that HID lights are sooo expensive and was wondering if I can install halogen lights in place of the HIDs? any thoughts are appreciated, thank you

Was thinking about replacing the LH with a halogen and then make the RH a haloge as well.
Adrian

Terrentius

Yes, make them both halogens, and then put aftermarket HID kit in them.

Terrentius

By selling the good factory HID housing, you should be close to paying for the HID kit and 1 halogen headlight unit or possibly 2 halogen headlight units if you buy them used.

hero782

iTrader: (2)

The plugs aren't the same, so it's not plug n play. You're also downgrading you can not compare oem hid to putting a pnp kit on a halogen projector. What's broken on your headlight? Is it just the housing lens?

adimitrea

the entire headlight assembly is damaged, not reusable at all. Not sure if the ballast is functional but no signs of physical damage.

a comment was made above about the swap not being plug and play; are the connectors different ?

hero782

iTrader: (2)

The oem plus has a wire to provide power to the ballast while the halogen doesn't. As long the balast and projector are fine, you can buy a halogen headlight and switch them over.

adimitrea

I am almost embarrassed to ask but is the ballast and projector needed if the halogen light is installed ?

joecurr

I would advise against the HID kit in the halogens, while some parts may seem brighter the overall output is degraded. If you want to swap to halogens, then just use halogens.

If the halogen headlights come with the wiring harnesses, they should be plug and play. The car harness is the same while the headlight harness is different between HID and halogen. The only connector on the headlight harness that should change is the ballast connector, which changes to a 9012 bulb connector.

The ballast isn't needed for halogen lights and the projector is different for halogen and HID bulbs. The two headlights are mostly the same, the only differences are the HID headlight has a hole in the bottom for the ballast, a smaller projector, and a connector for the ballast.

po8pimp

I have an HID kit installed in my non hid oem lights. works fine for me. If you go that route, make sure you are getting a 55w kit not the 35w kit. Big difference even with HID. I currently have 35w kit and they are noticeably dimmer than the stock halogen. 55w would be much better.

Terrentius

Yeah, as with po8pimp, I also have an HID kit in my halogen units, and she's flawless. I roll down a road, or the highway, and I can see everything.

I am not sure what all the gripes are about with regard to using HID kits in halogen headlight units. The setup produces excellent results for me.

Everyone has opinions, but to tell you the truth, I am pleasantly surprised with my setup, and it is far superior to running regular halogen bulbs, which is why I changed them out. If it was worse, then I would have re-installed the halogen bulb.

joecurr

People have different levels of acceptance, I suppose I have higher expectations for light output. My gripes with HID kits in halogens are from my experience with them and physics. I used to run them because it was cheap, and for the dollar I felt it was good enough. But when I started researching HID's, I learned a great deal about the differences between halogen and HID lights. Take our car for example. Here is the halogen and HID projector used, HID on the left and HID on the right.



Notice the size difference. Now you are taking a bulb designed for the smaller HID projector and sticking it in a differently shaped larger projector. These projectors are specifically designed for certain bulbs, which brings us to another point. Look at how differently the two bulbs light up, halogen on the left and HID on the right.



The halogen filament has a centered brightness while the xenon arc is brighter at the ends. These are two completely different light sources and the projectors are specifically designed for each one. So that's the physics part of why I don't suggest it, now here's my experience with them. OEM HID on top, HID kit in halogen on the bottom.



Both are driver side headlights, same distance away. Enough talk, time to leave work lol.

incubus0111

Joecurr, good info but you will never win. HID kits in none HID housing is never right. However you can never convince people who are running them that it's a waste of money.

As for the OP's question. here is my advise. Stick with HID housing. From what i can tell the HID assembly is only $30 more new. Your ballast is probably still good. If not look here. $70 - $80 is what they go for each used. I see them on HID planet all the time. As for bulbs. Philips 85122+ i think are the OEM maxima bulbs. pricy, yes but way better than halogen. Brighter and they last give or take 8+ years.

smplyamzng

+1

Terrentius

I hear ya, Joe. I've read the info you provided and understand the concepts/theory, but I gotta tell ya, my headlights, with a HID kit, look like the top of the picture, not the bottom.

Maybe it has to do with the kit itself. Mine were quite expensive when I got them. I've had them now for as long as I've owned the car, which is 7 years. I also agree that the bottom of the pic looks like complete crap.

Maybe, if the weather is right, I'll be able to upload a pic tonight.

incubus0111

Remember it's not just cut off.