Different brands of HID bulbs - Any difference?

[WeatherB]

Hey guys,

Anyone know whether there are major differences between the different brands of HID bulbs? Some examples of the different brands that I've seen are: Prolumen, Xtec, Philips, MTEC, and Apexcone.

Other than warranty, any major difference between them? Which do you guys recommend?

[M3Axela]

my HIDS are from vision bulbs and i have not had anyproblems at all with mine

[S.F.W.]

there's also Ignite, which is made at the same factory as prolumen. I'd go with either Prolumen or Ignite if i was buying today.

[Gizzmo_jr]

I've got Prolumen's. I read (on M3F) that Prolumen provides HID's for other car brands, as stock HID's.

[argos]

i've also heard of MKS...i also heard that somewhere down the manufacturing line they all came from the same place: China...possibility that all products are produced even in the same assembly line. But i would personally still buy the bigger brands just to feel on the "safe side" :chuckle

[majic]

just get the cheaper ones that come with lifetime warranty and get them from a reputable/trustworthy vendor..

you can always get Phillips :)

[WeatherB]

Thanks guys...

Majic, any source for cheap ones from a reputable/trustworthy vendor? I am looking to replace both my D2S and 9006 with 6000K. The cheaper the better of course.

[WLS ZMZM]

SFW is right... prolumens are good and so are the Ignited. I have a set of 6000k ignited HIDS, been in the car for just over a week and no complaints. Kit was really easy to install, and is "technically" a prolumen kit just with an Ignited sticker on them, and they were a little cheaper :D

[JPAV8S4U]

Well I have two sets of prolumen 6K kits (H7/H11) and the H7 kit has been on my car since day 1 (Im not kidding).... Not a problem... The H11 kit ... well... after about 2 weeks, one of bulbs blew.... Luckily warranty covered them and all is well. In hindsight, if I was in the market again (which wont happen as my next car will surely have them OEM), I would get the Philips kits as I have read many articles recently on them and they are clearly the highest quality kit available for aftermarket applications. Besides the reviews, there is a reason why almost every car manufacturer uses them as OEM equipment. As well.... has anyone on this board with them ever had a problem? I havent heard so.

[dentinger]

what about the KWD hid kit devin is selling??
like, he's selling them for $230, i believe, and the shop near my house quoted me $360 for ignited or lumina (i tihnk).....

im just curios what the difference is....

[MattC]

Is that Devin's kit that has the lifetime warranty?

[drey]

I have Phillips kit that came off an Acura car and have not had any problems with it. I too heard they are the highest quality of ballast and bulbs - reason why car manufacturers use them.

[bubba1983]

can't attest on difference, but i anted up the $600 ponies a few years back for my phillips kit....not a single hitch from them since!!

[kenghk]

There are only 2 good HID bulb manufactures, Philips and Osram. They don't make any bulbs for OEM over 5000k and the 5k ones are to match a old 4k bulb that has well colorchifted.

HID kits are not sold in stores because they are illegal, most kits are imported from asia and are garbage. You can't get them from Jegs or Pepboys or Canadian Tire because they shouldn't be on the road.

Come on, kits are for kids! Real men don't plug and play!

[MajesticBlueNTO]

There are only 2 good HID bulb manufactures, Philips and Osram. They don't make any bulbs for OEM over 5000k and the 5k ones are to match a old 4k bulb that has well colorchifted.

HID kits are not sold in stores because they are illegal, most kits are imported from asia and are garbage. You can't get them from Jegs or Pepboys or Canadian Tire because they shouldn't be on the road.

Come on, kits are for kids! Real men don't plug and play!

i guess you're not a real man then (http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=8527&page=4#81)

[kenghk]

I remember Rob, we were talking back and forth and I offered to show him how to install the kit and he got scared all of a sudden and said he called the cops on me...I still have those emails.

The guy that tried to install it sells kits and funny thing is he said mine was broken and sold him one of his own. I sold my kit back on eBay and got a positive out of it.

I hope I was careful how I answered that one. Offer's still on the table Robby.

[mazdathree]

There are only 2 good HID bulb manufactures, Philips and Osram. They don't make any bulbs for OEM over 5000k and the 5k ones are to match a old 4k bulb that has well colorchifted.

HID kits are not sold in stores because they are illegal, most kits are imported from asia and are garbage. You can't get them from Jegs or Pepboys or Canadian Tire because they shouldn't be on the road.

Come on, kits are for kids! Real men don't plug and play!

Im not very well informed about HIDs but I have been reading the forums of late on material related to HID as I wanted to get the luxury car looking lights on my M3 GT.

Im not sure what you mean by HID kits being illegal...can you shade some light on this...maybe I didnt understand the context of your discussion?....

[eqlso]

Basically, H7 bulbs are supposed to be halogen. Having your HIDs in a H7 format wouldn't follow the specs for it and means its not DOT approved. So if your car didn't come with HIDs to begin with, technically it would be illegal to have them.

[midnightfxgt]

Yup, but the odds of getting pulled over, are next to nil. If you have HIDs in a projector housing, the cutoff is great, and no ones cares. However, in a scatter housing, the glare to oncoming drivers is a pain.

I have sold probably 100 HID kits, and it would be probably 60/40 between projector/scatter. None of them have reported any tickets :)

[mazdathree]

Basically, H7 bulbs are supposed to be halogen. Having your HIDs in a H7 format wouldn't follow the specs for it and means its not DOT approved. So if your car didn't come with HIDs to begin with, technically it would be illegal to have them.

ok....how do you like your 6000K/low?....do you also have H7 bulbs?....are the mazda 3 low beam stock bulbs different from H7? If then I would think we cannot use the stock bulbs.....hows the installation? meaning easy or hard/tidious? Im thinking of getting the prolumen 5000K

[mazdathree]

Yup, but the odds of getting pulled over, are next to nil. If you have HIDs in a projector housing, the cutoff is great, and no ones cares. However, in a scatter housing, the glare to oncoming drivers is a pain.

I have sold probably 100 HID kits, and it would be probably 60/40 between projector/scatter. None of them have reported any tickets :)

oh ic....do the mazda 3's have scatter housing or projectors? and just like i told eqlso that Im interested in prolumen 5000K (I heard xenon store is selling them)...how are the reviews if you know of any....Im only going to invest in HIDs when im sure that the chances of getting unual problems are minimal meaning getting pulled over, bulbs burning out often and other electrical problems in the car etc....

[condor888000]

The 3 uses H7 halogen bulbs. You need a kit with a H7 sized HID bulb. You cannot use the 3's OEM HID bulbs, they don't fit our projectors. Yes, this mod will make your headlights illegal. Odds of getting a ticket are very low however.

[condor888000]

oh ic....do the mazda 3's have scatter housing or projectors?

Look at your headlights. See how the low beam has a lens in front of the bulb? If you don't know which is the low beam its the middle one. That is a projector housing.

A "scatter" housing, also called a reflector is what our high beams are. It uses a reflector to direct the light forward without a lens in front of the bulb. Look at the inner housings in the headlights to see what a reflector looks like.

[x_o_k_x]

I thought those "lenses" are magnifying glass to get a wider beam..and cut off shield inside is what makes the beam so straight with minimum glare..

[Mafty]

do our cars require just lo-beam HIDs or are our headlights hi/lo the same bulb. because i was looking at HIDs and i see on xenonstore that they offfer just lo-beam or a hi/lo combo.

[x_o_k_x]

hi/low is for cars that use one bulb..Ours have 2 bulbs one is for low and other for hi

[mazdathree]

Look at your headlights. See how the low beam has a lens in front of the bulb? If you don't know which is the low beam its the middle one. That is a projector housing.

A "scatter" housing, also called a reflector is what our high beams are. It uses a reflector to direct the light forward without a lens in front of the bulb. Look at the inner housings in the headlights to see what a reflector looks like.

ok...i got this one...thanks for your help

[mazdathree]

The 3 uses H7 halogen bulbs. You need a kit with a H7 sized HID bulb. You cannot use the 3's OEM HID bulbs, they don't fit our projectors. Yes, this mod will make your headlights illegal. Odds of getting a ticket are very low however.

What i gather here is that the 3 presently has H7 halogen bulbs installed? and I need to replace them with the H7 HID bulbs that come along with a xenon HID kit?

I thought (when i read on the xenonstore.com) the H7s that come with the H7 HID kit were halogen bulbs as they were under the halogen bulbs hyperlink on the website.

And for the 3's OEM HID bulbs that you mentioned in your text are the ones that mazda is providing in their 2008 Mazda 3's with luxury package?

[eqlso]

If your mz3 didn't come with factory HIDs, then you have H7 halogen bulbs. You will need to buy a H7 HID kit, which includes H7 HID bulbs and ballasts/ignitors.

If your mz3 came with factory HIDs, then you'll need D2S bulbs, and you won't need any ballasts/ignitors (since your car would of come with them).

[condor888000]

I thought those "lenses" are magnifying glass to get a wider beam..and cut off shield inside is what makes the beam so straight with minimum glare..

Basically right.

[mazdathree]

If your mz3 didn't come with factory HIDs, then you have H7 halogen bulbs. You will need to buy a H7 HID kit, which includes H7 HID bulbs and ballasts/ignitors.

If your mz3 came with factory HIDs, then you'll need D2S bulbs, and you won't need any ballasts/ignitors (since your car would of come with them).

ok...i understand....my 3 is a 2006 GT that came with halogen housings and the HID housings that come in the 2008 3's are different from the ones that I have and therefore I'll need to go for H7 HID bulb together with the its Kit and install them in my present projector housing that is made for halogen bulbs....

I didnt understand the first time because I didnt know that the 3's OEM HID housings that come with 2008 3's (luxury package) are different from the 2006 3's headlights which are halogen based.

Thanks for the help

[Fuman]

08+ has HID projector housing.
If it is any early, we have halogen projector housing.

Back on topic. Different brand bulbs at the same specified temp will actually be different. So the amount of glare will be different between bulbs (Whether or not it is noticeable, I'm unsure).

There are reflector houses that can support HIDs properly, (e.g. the old Lexus ES).

[Mafty]

so if i have an 08 mazda3 i need different HID kit? im also looking to repace my stock headlights. i have an 08 though.

[x_o_k_x]

There is 06s with luxury package and hids, so Im guessing every mazda3 that is built after o6 has a different projector designed for HIDs, BUT we have halogens in them only because HID is an option. So if you have an 08 you still need to get HID kit. The only different between 06+ projectors is much sharper cut off. And you don't need to bypass DRLs since its set for High Beams for you.

[Fuman]

so if i have an 08 mazda3 i need different HID kit? im also looking to repace my stock headlights. i have an 08 though.
There are 08s that do not come with HIDs.
If you have such a car,
Whether the projector housings are designed for HIDs or halogens, I am unsure. I'm sure TheBiz can chime in on this.

Either way, all you need for HIDs is an H7 kit. Our sponsors sell them. I got mine from Devin 2 years ago.

[Mafty]

how do you find out if your car has HIDs? i dont think mine does lol.

[b]

Do you have a headlight level switch that you can change? If you have it... you have factory hid's

[visco9]

anyone know of a local place where you can buy Philips HID kits?

[Nextmod]

I've got Prolumen's. I read (on M3F) that Prolumen provides HID's for other car brands, as stock HID's.

yes they do

[Nextmod]

anyone know of a local place where you can buy Philips HID kits?

I dont think many people sell them cause its very expensive

but I do have prolumen instock if you are interested

[Nick]

i just got HID's on my 06 a few weeks ago and i love them! grab a relay as well at the same time to disable your drl's =] they're 6000k Prolumen btw...