Swapping HID Headlights onto a non-HID Car

[KuroNekko]

SamirD,

You are giving OEM components too much credit and treating aftermarket kits like they are all the same. They are not!
There is a HUGE difference between quality aftermarket kits like Morimotos, Bellof, Phillips (aftermarket parts), etc. vs. the generic ebay junk for $30~50. There is a significant difference in everything from the bulbs, ballasts, to even the connectors.

While I would admit that OEM stuff is usually the best, their components are ridiculously expensive for minimal gain in performance. While they may last longer, getting them from other markets will likely give you no warranty coverage. Compare that with TRS's 5 year warranty on their Morimoto kits.

Also, murcod is correct. The headlight assemblies are different. I noticed this when the guy in Australia got into an accident and totaled his car. One of the photos clearly shows his headlights. The light cluster design is definitely different from the North American headlights. This would make me a little worried about plug and play compatibility.

Lastly, I want to inform you that you can get OEM components in aftermarket kits. In fact, theretrofitsource.com sells Matsushita and Denso ballasts as well as Philips bulbs. These are some of the very component makers for OEM HID components for Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, etc. These bulbs and ballasts cost significantly more than Morimotos (the Denso ballast alone costs more than the entire Morimoto kit) and other aftermarket makers, but should satisfy OEM lovers.

I honestly think seeking out a foreign-market HID headlight will cost a lot more and cause more headaches while not delivering a significant performance advantage over a quality aftermarket HID kit.

Maybe you can ask someone with OEM HIDs to post photos and you can compare them with mine.

[KuroNekko]

In my experience, OEM stuff is always better than aftermarket unless it costs almost as much as OEM. There's no $500 HID kits (that I know of), so it's still a $100 kit being marked up to $200 (or whatever the prices are for the retrofit kits--100% markup, normal aftermarket distribution process, probably made for $10 in China or $50 in Japan, but not $300 factory units).

Aftermarket kits used to cost a lot. It's just that over time, the prices decreased because the competition got fierce and scales of production increased. Basically, no one could still sell kits priced at $300 to $500 when cheaper kits with decent reputations were becoming more popular.
I've mentioned it before, but I've had one of these "high-end" aftermarket HID kits in my Mazda3. I paid over $350 for it about 5 years ago. It's honestly no better than my new Morimotos that were around half the price. In fact, I experienced ballast failure with them and had to use a warranty claim. When I saw that my Kizashi came with HIDs, I did not bother to take them out from my Mazda and kept them in the car when I sold it.
While they were a good kit, I really could not see how they were better than the Morimotos that were half the price. My research on the kit told me the same as well.
That's why I went with Morimotos instead of the same kit again.
This was the kit in case you are curious:
http://www.xtralights.com/xetronicdigit ... epair.aspx

I've also noticed that many of the high-end kits have slashed their prices from several years ago. The Philips and McCullough kits are about half the price they used to be just 5 years ago. I believe this move was necessary since it's barely justifiable to cost a few hundred dollars more than the others.

It could be scales of production plus fierce competition, but to think that quality can only come from spending over $500 on a kit no longer holds today. Companies like Morimoto partnering with reputable distributors like TRS and VLEDs is proof you can get good quality and service without spending over $200.

[SamirD]

While I agree with you about the testing and reliability of aftermarket vs stock parts, I think the gap narrows considerably once you get off the "bottom" of the aftermarket where people are competing on price alone. I was very impressed with the quality of my Morimoto kit from theretrofitsource, but then I paid up for the better XB35 bulbs.

The gap does narrow, but it's rare to find anything that matches OEM reliability within 50% unless the company is also the oem supplier (like VDO for the tpms sensors). And this is from experience of distributing auto parts and knowing how much headlight assemblies differ in cost between oem and aftermarket, even for stock designs (100 to 150% on cost--you can mark up an aftermarket 100% while the OEM will be only 20% and the aftermarket will be cheaper).

I know the aftermarket designs are much better than ever before for HID retrofits, but it still won't match OEM. Hence my quest.

[SamirD]

Here you go SamirD - your quest is over.

kizashi china specs.jpg

Now, you just need someone in China to buy them for you (and work out a way to sort out the self leveling issues!)

Sweet! I'm sure my uncle-in-law can source these. Now the question is to sort out the wiring harness (if it will plug in perfectly), and all the accessories to the lights such as auto-leveling and washers.

[SamirD]

You'll quite likely find you'll need to buy the HID headlight, the HID bulb, then the self leveling motor and the HID ballast. I know when my last car needed a new headlight (from an accident) that was the case - I was expecting to end up with spare HID parts but was left with nothing but a broken headlight shell!

Possibly. I'm betting that because there's a separate harness just for the lights that all the other wiring is already there and live, and that the headlight assembly contains everything needed. If not, then it's a bit too much trouble--it's just like a retrofit.

[SamirD]

Lol here in India people just have their high beams permanently on it gets really annoying since they use it everywhere; in traffic, narrow streets etc. I can't deny doing illegal things and I know it may sound corny but I go by one motto: one man's right to swing his cane, ends where the others' nose begins. So I try not to annoy other drivers with my high beam especially when I'm not on empty poorly lit highways at great speeds. I occasionally flash my lights at someone if their beams are a little glaring (several idiots drop in HID bulbs in their reflectors which is seriously unbearable)

Wow, a lot different than the hyper flashing I always see in Gujarat. It's like they're signals without a directional component (and the other person is supposed to 'know' what to do).

[SamirD]

SamirD,

You are giving OEM components too much credit and treating aftermarket kits like they are all the same. They are not!
There is a HUGE difference between quality aftermarket kits like Morimotos, Bellof, Phillips (aftermarket parts), etc. vs. the generic ebay junk for $30~50. There is a significant difference in everything from the bulbs, ballasts, to even the connectors.

While I would admit that OEM stuff is usually the best, their components are ridiculously expensive for minimal gain in performance. While they may last longer, getting them from other markets will likely give you no warranty coverage. Compare that with TRS's 5 year warranty on their Morimoto kits.

Also, murcod is correct. The headlight assemblies are different. I noticed this when the guy in Australia got into an accident and totaled his car. One of the photos clearly shows his headlights. The light cluster design is definitely different from the North American headlights. This would make me a little worried about plug and play compatibility.

Lastly, I want to inform you that you can get OEM components in aftermarket kits. In fact, theretrofitsource.com sells Matsushita and Denso ballasts as well as Philips bulbs. These are some of the very component makers for OEM HID components for Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, etc. These bulbs and ballasts cost significantly more than Morimotos (the Denso ballast alone costs more than the entire Morimoto kit) and other aftermarket makers, but should satisfy OEM lovers.

I honestly think seeking out a foreign-market HID headlight will cost a lot more and cause more headaches while not delivering a significant performance advantage over a quality aftermarket HID kit.

Maybe you can ask someone with OEM HIDs to post photos and you can compare them with mine.

Oh, I know the differences between aftermarket stuff for sure. But almost as large a gap as there is between junk aftermarket and top end aftermarket, is the gap between top end aftermarket and OEM. OEM is simply built much, much better.

I'm not doing a factory HID conversion for the performance factor as you are correct, a good top end aftermarket kit will have equivalent if not better performance. The reason to go OEM is simply that it's built better. Kinda like why the Kizashi is better than a Cruze, even though the Cruze has a warranty and vast dealer network--you'll need that warranty with the Cruze. OEM parts won't fail even after 10 years, and they have had to be tested much, much more rigorously than aftermarket retrofit kits.

But you do bring up a good point about the headlight in that picture. Would you mind a link to it? I'd really like to see what I'm up against. As long as the housing is the same and the wiring harness plugs up, that's the hardest part to me. Aiming them may be another challenge in itself, but the actual headlight will be working.

I didn't know you could get OEM ballasts and bulbs, so that's good to know. That's one thing of comfort since a retrofit kit with these would only leave the other elements in the kit as the failure points.

[SamirD]

Aftermarket kits used to cost a lot. It's just that over time, the prices decreased because the competition got fierce and scales of production increased. Basically, no one could still sell kits priced at $300 to $500 when cheaper kits with decent reputations were becoming more popular.
I've mentioned it before, but I've had one of these "high-end" aftermarket HID kits in my Mazda3. I paid over $350 for it about 5 years ago. It's honestly no better than my new Morimotos that were around half the price. In fact, I experienced ballast failure with them and had to use a warranty claim. When I saw that my Kizashi came with HIDs, I did not bother to take them out from my Mazda and kept them in the car when I sold it.
While they were a good kit, I really could not see how they were better than the Morimotos that were half the price. My research on the kit told me the same as well.
That's why I went with Morimotos instead of the same kit again.
This was the kit in case you are curious:
http://www.xtralights.com/xetronicdigit ... epair.aspx

I've also noticed that many of the high-end kits have slashed their prices from several years ago. The Philips and McCullough kits are about half the price they used to be just 5 years ago. I believe this move was necessary since it's barely justifiable to cost a few hundred dollars more than the others.

It could be scales of production plus fierce competition, but to think that quality can only come from spending over $500 on a kit no longer holds today. Companies like Morimoto partnering with reputable distributors like TRS and VLEDs is proof you can get good quality and service without spending over $200.

Quality is a relative term. The current crop of retrofit quality is probably fine for the enthusiast crowd that can tolerate a 5% failure rate, but a manufacturer can't--and hence why these type of kits cost so much more. But the demand for such quality falls when people can get two and three kits for the price of one. People are willing to spend the time to swap out the kits if need be. I don't like having to do that. When I replace something with aftermarket/performance, I want it to last longer and give me better performance. This combination usually comes from only the very, very best stuff. And I've found that it's actually worth it to spend the money up front and be 'one and done' with a particular project. It makes enjoying the car so much easier if you don't have to tinker with it all the time.

[SamirD]

So an update to this project is that it looks like Germany has HIDs and is also left hand drive (like China).

And I completely forgot about this when I went to India just a few weeks ago.

Just as our passenger side low-beam (the only working one) burned out.

If I can see some pictures of the harnesses I need, I'm all-in for getting the parts sourced from Japan on my next trip to India.