HID lighting

mallyg · Post by **mallyg** » 02 Feb 2008, 20:00

Please excuse my ignorance but could someone tell me what HID lighting is. I have seen a HID lighting kit advertised on Eurocarpart web site. At the moment the lighting on my 1995 XANTIA is quite poor and i would like to improve it by having a more intense light from my headlights.

Post by **CitroJim** » 02 Feb 2008, 20:34

HID is High Intensity Discharge. A type of bulb which is in effect, a miniture arc-lamp. The bulb contains two electrodes. A high voltage strikes an arc aross them which sets up an ionised discharge path across the electrode gap. The bulb is filled with a certain gas which gives it its distinctive bluish-white colour. How they work in theroy is not too dissimilar to a household flourescent light.

They are very bright and personally I hate them with avengence

I'd be so happy to see them banned and every car so fitted crushed to the size of a peanut.

Did I say I did not like them much?

Having said that, having a MK I Xantia myself on which the lights are like candles even compared to my MK II Xantia which arn't brilliant, I have a lot of sympathy.

Rather than go for HIDs, go for high-quality bulbs such as the Osram Silver Stars or Philips Vision Plus and look through old posts on this subject to improve the wiring to the headlamps.

One problem with doing a HID retrofit is the light-source position within the bulb is a little different than the Halogen bulb it replaces and thus the reflector dowes not work correctly, leading to distorted beams and dazzle for oncoming vehicles.

Finally, it is illegal to retrofit them to a car not sprcifically designed for them...

mallyg · Post by **mallyg** » 02 Feb 2008, 20:41

Thanks for the prompt replycitrojim. I will indeed look at the lamps you suggested. Many thanks

Malcolm

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 03 Feb 2008, 02:02

Hi all,
I have fitted HID lighting to replace the dipped beam bulbs on my mkII xantia. Really easy to fit and the bulbs do not contact any shields within the headlight itself.
The improvement is massive. I did take my car round to the local MOT station andhad them check the allignment for me. It was ok.
It is legal to retro fit HID lighting, I asked, and it is more economical too because it uses less electric to produce better, brighter lighting.

Paul

wheeler · Post by **wheeler** » 03 Feb 2008, 11:37

any car that cones with HID lighting must by law have headlamp washers & automatic leveling, dont know if this applies to retro fit though

Toby_HDi · Post by **Toby_HDi** » 03 Feb 2008, 17:22

From factory - as above needs the levelling and washers

Retrofit - it's illegal if used without projector lenses. Thats to say if you put them in a standard reflector unit.

I'm with Jim partly, I hate the bloody things when they are not aligned/in a reflector lense (It scatters the beam). In these situations they are a menace. However, if fitted in the correct lenses and properly aligned then I don't mind them. I retrofitted them onto my V6 Vectra I had, I just made sure I had the correct lenses and that they were aligned. I was going to go all the way and fit the levelling and washers before I went and sold it. The blue ones really get me too. Whats the point because the bluer the bulbs the less light ouput there is anyway. Again they are a menace.

It's something I would want to do on my Xantia but you won't catch me bunging a HID kit into reflector lenses so it's not going to happen unless I can find projector lenses, which I believe is unlikely as Xantias never came with HID from factory.

wrinklet1 · Post by **wrinklet1** » 06 Feb 2008, 12:34

After fitting my HID bulbs into my car I took it to the local MOT station, they told me that they are legal, however, I did adjust them slightly lower than normal, the extra light makes up for the lower beam. Of course you can gey different strengths of bulb, mine are 6000k, you can get them upto 10000k, which are more purple than white.
Any citroen with self leveling suspension is legal because the car rides on the level.