Fully legal HID install in 2.5i

[arrow224]

Considered doing a retrofit? In my last car which used reflectors I mounted a set of proper HID bixenon projectors and used those. While still not legal the light output was aimed perfectly and had a sharp cutoff with lots of colour (modded). While I haven't driven with HIDs in halogen projectors the light output from proper HID projectors is simply amazing!

So I have been browsing http://www.hidplanet.com/forums over the past few days, and I can see the huge amount of light this set up provides.

However, would ordering a kit from the USA be for left hand drive cars?

http://i46.tinypic.com/34qmjk1.png
In this picture, the right hand side is higher, obviously to see stuff on the pavement better. But in Australia, that would glare into oncoming traffic like no tomorrow.

Are the kits from The Retrofit Source going to work 'back to front'? Any way to flip the output so the left hand side has a higher beam level?

[SH30RB]

HID's are HID's.

as for light outputs and what not, the car will take care of all of that
if you were to fit HID's into your low beam, no cop would really notice

as for high beams, have you considered something like PHILLIPS diamond/crystal vision?
i had HID high beams. they were good, but took too long to heat up, and by the time they were at their peak, i had on coming traffic.
the HID's stopped working so i replaced them with PHILLIPS crystal vision and they do the job just as good, if not better

[mynameisdaniel]

Considered doing a retrofit? In my last car which used reflectors I mounted a set of proper HID bixenon projectors and used those. While still not legal the light output was aimed perfectly and had a sharp cutoff with lots of colour (modded). While I haven't driven with HIDs in halogen projectors the light output from proper HID projectors is simply amazing!

So I have been browsing http://www.hidplanet.com/forums over the past few days, and I can see the huge amount of light this set up provides.

However, would ordering a kit from the USA be for left hand drive cars?

http://i46.tinypic.com/34qmjk1.png
In this picture, the right hand side is higher, obviously to see stuff on the pavement better. But in Australia, that would glare into oncoming traffic like no tomorrow.

Are the kits from The Retrofit Source going to work 'back to front'? Any way to flip the output so the left hand side has a higher beam level?

That site is pretty addictive

If you look at their projectors they come in both RHD and LHD versions so it's all good as long as you choose the right ones.

[arrow224]

That site is pretty addictive

If you look at their projectors they come in both RHD and LHD versions so it's all good as long as you choose the right ones.

If I choose the Morimoto Retro-Quik System as mentioned in the LegacyGT thread, that doesn't specify LHD or RHD. Would I have to get say Bi-xenon Morimoto Mini Stage III Kit (D2S), and then get some adapter plates made up somewhere?

[mynameisdaniel]

Send them an email, their customer service is great and they seem to know a lot about retrofits (not just what they sell) so he should be able to help you.

[mincedmeat]

I have fitted Ebay Hids. 8000k lows, purple fogs.
I would not call them proper HID tho. My Low beams are not as blue as a mate with 6000k, they have more of a green tinge to them.
And they are no were near as bright. So if you just want to give the yellow halogen the flick maybe the $50 a pop ebay Hids are the go.

FAQ on the Purple fogs..
No i dont always drive with them on.
they are shittttt in actual fog
I have driven into an RBT with them on.. After finally noticing. Officer, "Its a $$ fine for driving with your fog lights on." "Yes officer, sorry officer."

[zch91]

Throw the bulbs in the bin (where they belong) and get some 4300/5000/6000k bulbs.

[HyRax]

Bit late to this thread, but I thought I'd add my 2c worth.

If I was to change these to HID, I understand that all the conversion kits are technically illegal (washing, self levelling), but there is nothing to stop me from using them.

The levellers are needed to dip the lights when you tow something heavy. If you never tow, no-one will ever notice. The washers are needed to stop refraction of light through the dead bodies of splattered insects. Aside from the ludicrous idea that bug goo would refract enough light to blind an oncoming driver, if you never drive highways, it'll never happen anyway.

That just leaves the globes themselves. As stated already, factory HID's do have different projector housing to prevent any kind of upward light refraction, but luckily the light bleed upwards above the cutoff line in the 2.5i halogen projector housing is absolutely minimal and in my own testing, is simply not noticable next to a car equipped with factory HID's - only you'll notice it when you are lined up behind another car. I would adjust the headlights up such that on a perfectly flat road, your headlights will never go above the headlight/bumper area of an oncoming car (which is higher than the level the factory halogens are setup for anyway).

As already pointed out, it's a Liberty, not a bling-mobile like an Impreza so there is an automatic assumption by most people that these cars already come with factory HID's. No-one will ever notice, and in road-worthy checks, all that matters is that the lights work, not what type of lights they are. As long as you don't go for anything silly like globes above 6000K in temperature, you'll never stand out and will never get pulled over.

For your viewing pleasure, here's the install I did on my own 2.5i using the Jaycar 35w 6000K kit, but this installation process will apply to any HID kit.

Click on each image for its full size image. See list below the photos for an explanation of each pic.

1. Jaycar kit (which includes H4 globes which are not used - I had to buy a pair of H7 globes to suit the Liberty and it was cheaper to buy the globes and H4 kit rather than two ballasts and two H7 globes separately) plus hole drilling tools.
2. Inside the kit.
3. One of the H7 globes. The two shoe connectors connect to the factory headlight globe connector which passes power out of the headlight assembly to the ballast via the long cable connector. The ballast then lights the globe via the small connectors halfway up the cable.
4. The ballast. The long cable is the output to the HID globe and the connector opposite it is the input connector from the factory loom.
5. The H7 HID globe with the plastic shipping protector removed. This one is a 6000K temperature (white with a very light hint of blue). Personally I'd prefer 5000K for pure white, but Jaycar don't sell this.
6. Removing the back cover of the headlight in the engine bay.
7. Removing the factory halogen H7 globe (low beam).
8. Test installing the HID H7 globe in place of the halogen globe. The two shoe connectors would connect to the factory connector immediately next to it.
9. Drilling the access hole on the back of the headlight covers.
10. Before and after drilling the access hole.
11. Pulling the HID globe and cable through the new hole and fitting the rubber grommit.
12. HID globe and back cover installed back into the car. Also visible here is the round silver hex head you can see to the lower right of the rear cover which is the headlight level adjustment. You can use a spanner or socket to adjust the headlight tilt up or down with this by rotating it in the appropriate direction.
13. Finding a hiding place for the ballast on the driver side (sorry, didn't get a pic of the passenger side, but similar fitment), in this case tucked in next to the fluid bottle. The ballast is secured using an included double-sided sticky pad which works well. The cabling on this side is passed underneath the airbox and into the headlight (the airbox was removed in order to get my big western meat hooks in there to remove the back cover of the headlight).
14. Comparison of the factory halogen globe (left driver side) and the HID globe (right passenger side). Also shown is the parker globe replaced with a 6000K LED globe to match.

[mincedmeat]

Nice write up. I however didnt drill a hole in my covers. There is an existing hole in the housing for all the wires.

[HyRax]

An existing hole? Where? Will have to have another look...!

[mincedmeat]

Were the factory loom goes

[HyRax]

Fair enough. I thought you were talking about an additional hole. I did look at that approach and decided it was just easier to drill the hole in the cover.