Fuzzo

Hi All,
planning on doing some lighting upgrades on my classic. want to go with a bi-xenon kit

Been trying to find out what my headlight bulb is. My research says it's H4/9003.

is this correct?

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Classics are H4, yes. The lights will be brighter, just don't expect wonders, since the reflectors are CRAP! They scatter light everywhere, so you'll just scatter more

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

You'll need a Bi-H4.

We sell loads of these to Impreza owners and the feedback is great. I also have them fitted to my own classic and it improves the lighting no end.

AZTEC PERFORMANCE ONLINE STORE - WHOLESALE PRICES DIRECT TO THE PUBLIC

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Fuzzo: I've helped someone fit one of BOB's kits to a classic: the beam pattern is crap. The lights ARE brighter, but the cutoff and pattern are gone.

Also, the kits are FAR, IMHO, from plug-and-play, for a classic, and any driving lights you have fitted will no longer work without further modding to THEIR wiring

Sorry, BOB, mate, that's the whole truth. Remains to be seen if the car in question passes an MoT, it's not for a while

darms

iTrader: (5)

^^^Agree with ^^^

Go down the projector retrofit route mate

beef-on-the-bone

iTrader: (5)

start selling them then darms!!!!!

darms

iTrader: (5)

mag6/4 2

mine passed mot with hids fitted passenger side was a little low but still with in the limit for beam patern

VTR steve

iTrader: (1)

I have tryed all differant options for classic light upgrades and come to the conclusion that a retro fit using bixenons from another car is the only way to go. It's not the easiest job to do but the results are far better and far safer than just replacing the bulbs with aftermarket hid items. Mine passed the mot with a H4 hid kit in but i had to set the beam really low to avoid dazzling people. Darms you are a genius

seddomyster

iTrader: (9)

so is it worth not gettin a hid kit an maybe buying angel lights. my dad has angels on his an hell of a difference compared to my standards

ozzreid1964

iTrader: (32)

when i had my classic i put crystal headlights on and then h i d s a fantastic difference

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

Ive got the Bi-H4 and to be honest, they are $hit.
Nice bright white lights and thats all. The scatter shows up even more.

Replace your front fogs with driving lamps is a cheaper and a far better upgrade.

seddomyster

iTrader: (9)

wot is the bi-h4. is that different to the hid or exactly the same. i want feedback from people before i try hid conversion. ive got fog covers on mate so cant do that lol

slipstream_uk

iTrader: (1)

dipped & main beam

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

The answer isn't as simple as it's made out to be.
You need to understand that,
a) the Subaru lights are crap, badly designed, and scatter light everywhere.
b) H4 bulbs use a twin filament, which is NOT available in HID
c) so the people making HID aftermarket kits cobbled together something that will do BOTH main and dip like an H4.

Unfortunately, the fliaments on an H4 lamp are optically aligned so that they produce the correct beam pattern and little scatter provided that the lens/refelctor is properly designed too. The HID twin setup CANNOT do this, it's physically impossible to get the light source in BOTH correct places.

So...........we have poorly designed lights, and with HID's inside, a poorly designed bulb too

The net result is that, yes, you will get FAR more light, since an HID produces the equivalent of 300W halogen, but unfortunately you ARE likely to suffer more scatter too, and your lamps may not produce the beam pattern you are used to............the ones I helped fit certainly don't

Have a look at the thread in General technical, https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...-facelift.html and read the comments about flashing people, blinding people, and one user's dad having to drive with his hand on the stalk, he gets flashed so much.

Says it all, really..........and says a lot more than those selling the kits

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Has a specific law been introduced recently then??

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Nope, just the one about headlamp washers and auto-height adjustment.

There are now so many people running about with these things fitted that a clamp down will come sooner rather than later.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Those are requirements of European type approval at the point of manufacture? so how can they be imposed retrospectively?

That maybe, or indeed it may be a case of wishful thinking, but you'd think plod would have enough on their plate stopping those with misaligned lights or leaving main beam on (which i see far more often then HID kits)

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Not according to DfT



Just going on a) comments on the thread in GenTech, and b), the amount I now see running around here.

Not gonna argue any more, DfT says they are illegal, that's enough for me. YOU know and I know that if it came to a crunch, the courts of THIS land would support a government department over your, or my freedoms.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

From this?:

Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps

A few interesting points regarding the above article ...

Firstly i like the way they use the word 'view' ... & It's also for the RTA 88/ 89 to decide what's legal or not, not the DfT

With regard to the RTA, I & probably quite a lot of others aren't strictly complying with it even before installing HID's as neither my OEM headlights/Bulbs or my (& yours?) Morettes dont carry the relevant 'E' mark or BS symbols ...this also means that darm's & other's retro HID aren't legal either

The above statement was published almost 4 years ago & yet still the RTA hasn't been ammended to outlaw HID kits?

The above statement from the DfT also appears to obsolete regarding auto levelling & washers ...unless BMiniW have paid the EU a large back-hander?

No idea as to the above, but if HID's are really that much of a problem then you'd have thought that someone out there would have been prosecuted by now??? ...google doesn't throw up much?

Ill agree that fitting a HID kit is a bit of a bodge to an already flawed design ( most JDM halogen lights seem to be the same?) & that it does indeed scatter far more than an OEM system, mainly because HID's aren't meant to use a reflector ...instead (& it really isn't rocket science) they use a simple metal shield sat infront of a parabolic lens.

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

I know what you mean about it being their "view", but I still reckon that if push came to shove, you'd be hard pressed to convince magistrates that DfT are wrong. You MIGHT get it overturned in Crown court, but by that time would have spent a LOT of money. No thanks.

BTW: my Morettes are the quad optic ones on a classic, and as such, use Cibie light units, all of which are "E" marked.

My driving lights are Hella HID 1000FF, also "E" marked.

DazW

iTrader: (1)

It's not just the optics/bulbs that are supposed to be 'E' marked ...in the strictest sense

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

What else is there? The units use the same connectors as the stock car, plus the inners are on Morette wiring, (well, upgraded by me), plus all bulbs ARE e-marked, since they are either standard H2's or Osram Nightbreakers, which are legal to use, being still only 60W?

Stevo210

iTrader: (4)

RETROFIT

DazW

iTrader: (1)

It's the housing/chassis, I too raised an eyebrow when i found it in the RTA?(might even of been on the VOSA site) somewhere ...something along the lines of it being an integral part of the headlight i.e adjustment (both manual & electric) ...ill try & dig out the relevent info.

I contacted Morette about it asking for clarification ...& I'm still waiting

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

Same old, same old

HIDs are the BEST option bar none on a classic without going to lengths of changing the actual headlamps. Been there and tried the alternatives and still have OEM crystal headlamps with one of our HID kits fitted on my own car

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

Aye, that's what I helped fit, the beam patterns were non-existant, the cutoff all over the place and scatter was awful.

They were brighter though, so no problems eh?

Aztec Performance Ltd

iTrader: (234)

We've never had a classic kit back

tanyatriangles

iTrader: (2)

This one isn't going back, but it's STILL crap, BOB, whatever you say

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Not to get in to an argument with anyone as I am too busy at the present time but the following is an honest account of my experience with HIDs fitted to my STi 3 Wagon on Friday.
Because of everyone raving about how good HID lights were I decided, with Winter just round the corner, to give them a try. I considered that with advances in technology these lights might actually have something to offer. I am looking for lights that will allow brisk cross country driving and I am not interested in colour or what they are like to drive around town.
Bearing in mind that I drive numerous Subarus in the course of a month and already have quite a lot of experience of HIDs on customer cars I did a fair bit of research and on the basis that you only get what you pay for I ordered a set of 55 watt H4 from Knight Racer/Just HID, Milton Keynes. They advertise HID kits from £69.99 and I spent a lot of time determining exactly what I wanted hence the payment of almost twice their cheapest kit.
The first thing I noticed while setting them up was that they had well defined pattern on dipped beam. In the early hours of the morning I drove out of town and was impressed with the dipped pattern and there were no issues switching from dipped to full beam and so on. This is something that is often a problem with some of the HIDs with very poor switching. At this point I was very optomistic and driving to the outskirts of town I considered I had probably made a good buy. Out of town I was initially a little concerned because there was an apparent lack of range in places, however, driving down a country road with hedges on either side the hedges and verges were very well lit but as soon as long range vision was required, the lights were lacking. Clearly these lights work well on dipped and they are good where the range of vision is restricted by a corner but as soon as you need long range vision my previous lights were literally streets ahead.
The HIDs will come off the car at the earliest opportunity, workload permitting. They cost me £129.98 and anyone that wants them can have them for £90 posted inclusive of Paypal. They have probably been used for less than an hour.