Write-Up: HID Conversion

For HID Write-Up, click link: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/exterior-f12/write-up-hid-conversion-t2812-45.htm#31978

Hey people. I recently purchased some blue Xenon 9005 high beams for my riv. I wanted something alot clearer when my DRL's were on and it completes my set because i also ordered 9006 low beam Xenon's. ( which I haven't installed yet) Well, After fighting to get the damn things in ( very tight space on the riv) after an Hour, it tested them out tonight and I am very disapointed. The HIGH beams seem to be less bright then my LOW beams! The only difference i can see is light that is at a different position ( higher) and a different color. other then that , my low beams seem brighter or at least as bright as the new high ones. My low beams currently in there are regular Sylvania cool blue halogens. I ordered these new Xenon' high beams online and took 2 weeks to get here ( bad customer service) i woudl hate to have to take them out and ship them back. Please give me your thoughts an indeas but this is my theory: the blue tinted bulbs need more light to shine though to be as bright. the new bulbs are 100 wattts but the riv only outputs a set 65 watts so i am getting only 65 watts through this bulb that requires 100 to be brighter then stock? Is this correct? This really sucks. I drove home with my high beams on purposly to see if anyoen flashed me and I must of passed 50 cars and not one person flased. My stock high beams used to be overpowering. whats going on??

Thanks guys!!

-Chris

can you take a couple pics of them installed and on so i can see?

did you get real HID xenons or "xenon coated" halogen bulbs (do you have a ballast/ignitor box)

xenon coated bulbs tend to be less bright because they use pretty much that same filament as a standard halogen and some lm of light is lost with raising the color temperature

and just a fyi - don't think of it like your car puts out a prescribed number of watts to the bulb, the bulb draws the 60 watts or whatever from the car so if you put a 100 watt bulb in, it will pull 100 watts

Turtle, My digital cam sucks so I will try and explain the best I can. I got Xenon filled halogen bulbs. They indeed have Xenon gas instead but yes, they are tinted blue, almost too blue for my blood. anyhow, I'm glad they are drawing 100 watts ( which may be a bad thing and melt something) but I'd sure hate to see these bulbs on at 65 watts ( which is the normal wattage for Riv highbeams) Like I said, My standard high beams ( which I believe were the orginal stock ones) lit up the WHOLE road left and right and you could see a mile down the road or however long it was. With these, well, this may sound like a strange statment but the lights appears to blend in with the other ambient light around at night. The only difference is that its a medium blue and its at a higher level then the low beams are pointed at. I drove it front of my parents house to show my dad and he thought my low beams were my high ones. My low beams are just Sylvania cool blues and most of the blue tint has melted off but still looks fine. After doing some research online, I found that i may have gotton one of the so called "ebay knock off xenon's" On a sidebar, when you chnage your bulbs, do you remove the entire asembly? I just try and squeeze my hand in. Thats how I've done it in the past. anyhow, its so hard to get the damn things in there ( was cutting up my hand) that by the time they are in, teh little parts of metal around the bulb get somewhat bent and now my lighst aren't aliged properly. I gues I can try to align them or have someome do it and then see how the high beams look but to tell you the truth, the stock high beams looked perfect at that position. I really want something that gives off a blue tint but I want it as bright if not brighter then what I have now. What a freakin waste of money. Help! lol Thanks man

-Chris

Man these things stink! The effect is a 8000k bulb thats putting out 40 watts!

If you want a lot of light and the blue xenon look, the genuine HID is the only way to go. some of the xenon gas filled halogens look pretty cool but i have yet to see any that give you much more light. I have silverstar ultras for my high beams and they are pretty much a subtle upgrade from stock. definitely not worth the 50 bones they cost tho. i paid 10 and i probably wouldn't even bother with that if I did it again.

If you want to stick with halogen, the high wattage (100) non-xenon filled will give you the most light, although the amount of light you get is hardly proportional to the power they suck.

btw, as a little trick, you can buy high beam bulbs (9005) and file the little tab off the inside of the connector to put them in the low beam lens and then have a 100 watt unregulated low beam which makes it considerably brighter

CeeKay, listen to what Turtle is trying to say. If the new bulbs are rated at 100 watts, they're in fact pulling 100 watts of power, not 65 W. The idea that you're only getting 65 W because that's what the old ones were rated is incorrect. You're using 100 watts per bulb unless the rating is false.

One possibility is that the new bulbs are cheap (how much did you pay, btw?) and inefficient. Even though they use 100 watts, the amount of that power that's produced as light may be small, while the rest is radiated as heat. This is bad in a few ways. Not only are they not as bright as they should be, they will heat up the lens more. Also, their lifespan will be less.

Your statement about bending the mounting area being bend and misaligned is concerning, and could explain your whole problem. If the bulb is aiming the wrong way, even a little, it won't put out the light it's supposed to.

If you can accept your losses and part with another $35, I use these 80 W Xenon bulbs and am very happy: http://eurolamps.com/eurolamps/home.htm

Best of luck!

Thanks guys. Hey I understand about the 100 watts thing. I was just wondering how something that is 100 watts gives off less light then my stock 65 watters but AA explained it. Well, I tried to align my lights up and well, its still low light output. They were inexpensive. Only paid $16 bucks for low and high ( but only because I won the bid with no other bidders) They are the same that go for $19 per set. Still not that expensive but not super cheap ones either. The low beams are from a Califorina company and seem to be of good quality. I installed them today ( I hate having to remove the airbox but guess what, I said I may as well gut it so thats done yay!) So the low beams are having the same effect as the high ones. awesome effect of making my headlamp assembly blue in the daytime which looks clean and awesome but sucky light at night. The light actually looks GREAT when you stand in front of the car; but when you drive, it looks as if you cut your power by 50%. nice blue tone but Very dim. So damn. What I wanted was a blue bulb that mirrors off the headlamps assem. and makes it look blue, but something that gives off a Bright White light with just a hint of blue. Im sorried about my 100 watt high beams and my wire harness and plastic assembly. don't want any melting happening. Hey AA, on thise eurolamps, Is it 80 watts for low or for high? and how would you describe the light color? thanks!!

I really appreciate it everyone. It's just really frustrating when i spent the money, and then took all the time to install, just to have to replace them again. tried to write to one of the companies and tell them how dim they were and asked for a refund or exchange and of course.... no reply. Hey, At least I got some sun today and gutted my airbox

-Chris

I did the lows only. See thread: https://rivperformance.editboard.com/Other-Stuff-c3/Exterior-f12/SilverStars-don-t-last-very-long-t172-15.htm

Yeah I have hi beams in the low beam spot. Its brighter, not extremely brighter tho

K, i got some replacement HID bulbs because i got pulled over a few times for the purple ones and i really dont need to give the police more reasons to get me so heres the sweet pics!




^ this is the vid of the warmup

I love how in the video, the camera keeps trying to adjust as they get brighter

Oh yea, I acquired those accel coils the other day and threw em in so here they are. so much power now, i broke my back when i hit the gas...



not important enough to make a thread on so i just threw it in here

the turtles not lookin so stock anymore codith :> those lights are awesome bro.. do the coil packs make that much of a difference?

10k FTW.

Why were they pulling you over?

Some states' laws reserve colored lamps (other than amber) for emergency vehicles. My cousin got a $50 ticket in Ohio for a blue neon license plate holder.

AA wrote:

Some states' laws reserve colored lamps (other than amber) for emergency vehicles. My cousin got a $50 ticket in Ohio for a blue neon license plate holder.

Here if you have blue or red anything its a $350 ticket. Any other color is $50 I believe.


How much of a difference did those coil packs make? Was there something wrong with them before? Do they come in any color but yellow? :O

I'd think those coil packs add at least 20 hp.

How much did the coil packs cost? Did you have to order them?

AA wrote:

I'd think those coil packs add at least 20 hp.

haha o ya for sure

jax95riv wrote:

How much did the coil packs cost? Did you have to order them?

ya about that... i didn't buy them. I work at a parts store...
they are Accel's high output coil packs (140017 is the part #) yellow is the only color they come in. they are about $50 per coil everywhere i've seen them. MSD and summit racing make them too. but murrays auto has the Accel ones so thats what I have.

There was nothing wrong with mine. I just got them for no other reason than for the hell of it

AA wrote:

10k FTW.

Aaron, this is drivin my nuts - what does FTW mean?

turtleman wrote:

AA wrote:

10k FTW.

Aaron, this is drivin my nuts - what does FTW mean?

Thanks...I thought I was the only one...

jax95riv wrote:

turtleman wrote:

AA wrote:

10k FTW.

Aaron, this is drivin my nuts - what does FTW mean?

Thanks...I thought I was the only one...

FOR THE WIN

im looking to get some hids for my car how are they in this car, or is it just a big waste of time and money

info please