legality of aftermarket hid converstions

[greenhearts54]

Hi,
I have been thinking of fitting hid's to my ibiza and was wondering if anyone can clear up a couple of points for me.

1 - What are the insurance implications of fitting an aftermarket hid kit if you had an accident by chance?.

2- Can you fit hid bulbs to the main beam filaments as well as dipped?.

3 - Can the police stop you and check the kits you have fitted ?.

 

[andycupra]

most people dont fit then to your main beam, but tend to simply fit better bulbs.
However, yes you can fit them to your main beams. You may be better off sourcing a kit that can handle 'flashing' as some kits dont tend to like this.

insurance implications... tricky, id say if you had a fire as a result, they may not pay out and they could argue that the headlights no longer meet specification so if the headlights were at all a cause in an accident then they could not pay out.
Also, if you are planning on fitting a hid kit to standard reflector type headlights, (rather than projector) then your lights can be blinding to oncoming traffic due to the poorer 'cut off' of the light pattern. You may also have trouble come MOT time with the light pattern.

Regards the police, i am not sure that they can ticket you for having hids, its a grey area, but they can ticket you if they are unfit / unsafe for use or blinding other drivers. Also the light needs to be white, not blue.

 

[beezanick]

1) I spoke to my insures about this, and they said it was not classed as a modification, so I left it there.

2) Yes - Thats what ive done, the only thing to note is that it takes a few seconds for them to warm up, so you wont get instant light like you would with normal bulbs

3) The police could stop you and ticket you if the beam is out of alignment/blinding other drivers/too blue or purple. I have never heard of any one having any problems though.

MOTs have always been fine for me. The only advice id give is go for a decent kit (HIDs4U) which should last longer - but most importantly will have the correct beam pattern. Some of the cheap ebay ones can be a bit dodgy in that respect - although lots of people on here use some from (diane shop I think?) and they seem to be happy with them.

Also, if you dont do anything stupid to attract police attention, you will be fine.

 

[tkjeeves]

same as beezanick but i didnt do 2 as i knew about the warmup period which i dont think will be very good for cases like if you wanted to flash someone with the main beam.

i've followed behind several police cars before with my HID on and they've not stopped me, so touch wood that's all ok. I did have to make some readjustments when i fitted mine as it seemed to make the beam pattern higher than before and with more angle on the slants.

 

[beezanick]

same as beezanick but i didnt do 2 as i knew about the warmup period which i dont think will be very good for cases like if you wanted to flash someone with the main beam.

I was a little woried about this, but have had no problems. The lights are still quite bright when you flash them.

 

[Rory101]

The legality is a grey area. It seems that they're illegal simply because they're not legal!

Lamps on cars are supposed to be filament lamps (like ordinary bulbs). HID, LEDs etc can be factory fitted and be legal because the whole car, as produced out of the factory, is EU Type Approved, and EU Type Approval over-rides local country laws, so you can't be prosecuted.

There's lots of stuff like this - as well as HID and LED lights, hazard lights that flash under braking and fog lights used as cornering lights are all strictly speaking illegal.

If you retrofit HIDs, then you're supposed to fit self leveling and washing as these are required for the Type Approval. Even if you did that then it's still not clear they'd be legal as the Type Approval only applies at production.

 

[Sportrider]

I was a little woried about this, but have had no problems. The lights are still quite bright when you flash them.

is it just a second kit of HIDS (h7's) or is it a different set?

cheers

 

[Guinness]

well my HIDs go through MOT no problem what so ever, 2 years now and never heard a thing about them

 

[beezanick]

is it just a second kit of HIDS (h7's) or is it a different set?

Its a second kit, but with H3 bulbs instead of H7. Fitted in exactly the same way as the dip beam.

 

[jamest87]

i was just wondering if i was to get a HID kit with high and dipped beem what is the best one to get????

 

[beezanick]

Depends on how much money you have. If you have enough, I would recomend HIDs4U. I have had several kits from them and all have been great. If your budget is a bit smaller try ebay, but I dont know how good their kits will be. Have a search on here, theres lots about it.

For your car you would need two kits for high and low beam, an H7 (dip) and an H3 (main).

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h3-55w-pro-max-hid-xenon-conversion-kit-c-14-p-1-pr-72.html
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h7-55w-pro-max-hid-xenon-conversion-kit-c-16-p-1-pr-63.html

these are the kits Ive got and are great. I went for the H7R bulbs as they have less glare and 5000K for both kits (bright white). I ment to get 6000K for the dip, but messes up the ordering! They look very OEM at night, rather than having the blue light that tends to give away aftermarket HIDs (due to most people having 6000K) This will help you avoid attention if that matters to you.

note they are 55W as supposed to the normal 35W, and are twice as bright. From my experience of other kits they are worth the money. If you have a look on google there are loads of discount codes which will get you money off. I think the one I uesd was toyotapro

 

[Ibiza 130 tdi]

MOTs have always been fine for me. The only advice id give is go for a decent kit (HIDs4U) which should last longer - but most importantly will have the correct beam pattern. Some of the cheap ebay ones can be a bit dodgy in that respect - although lots of people on here use some from (diane shop I think?) and they seem to be happy with them.

I paid £15 for mine! Just postage cost £30 from China - they were brand new Bosch kits too!

 

[jamest87]

Depends on how much money you have. If you have enough, I would recomend HIDs4U. I have had several kits from them and all have been great. If your budget is a bit smaller try ebay, but I dont know how good their kits will be. Have a search on here, theres lots about it.

For your car you would need two kits for high and low beam, an H7 (dip) and an H3 (main).

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h3-55w-pro-max-hid-xenon-conversion-kit-c-14-p-1-pr-72.html
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h7-55w-pro-max-hid-xenon-conversion-kit-c-16-p-1-pr-63.html

these are the kits Ive got and are great. I went for the H7R bulbs as they have less glare and 5000K for both kits (bright white). I ment to get 6000K for the dip, but messes up the ordering! They look very OEM at night, rather than having the blue light that tends to give away aftermarket HIDs (due to most people having 6000K) This will help you avoid attention if that matters to you.

note they are 55W as supposed to the normal 35W, and are twice as bright. From my experience of other kits they are worth the money. If you have a look on google there are loads of discount codes which will get you money off. I think the one I uesd was toyotapro[/QUOT




sweet thanks dude money isnt a problem because i would rather pay the extra and know they are good and going to last then spending loads of money on rubbish ones.. thanks for the help..

 

[beezanick]

sweet thanks dude money isnt a problem because i would rather pay the extra and know they are good and going to last then spending loads of money on rubbish ones.. thanks for the help..

Thats what I thought when I got mine. Ive had 5 kits on various cars, all from them. They have all been of excelent quality and their customer service is excelent.

The only thing I would advise is go for the H7R bulbs as they reduce glare to oncoming trafic, and is only an extra few quid. I have also found that the 55W kits are far better than the 35W ones, so would go for those if you can. There is a massive difference in the light output.

 

[MadFaz]

I've just bought the HIDS4U kit for mine, will be fitting soon, hope its not a big job

 

[beezanick]

Its not too bad a job as long as you are fairly diy competent. The hardest part is finding somewhere to fit the ballests. I took the front bumper off and mounted mine behind the crash bar. Its a nice neat place too put them and you cant see them so it all looks OEM. I did find getting the bulbs in a bit fiddley, but a bit of patcience and youll be fine!

 

[jamest87]

Thats what I thought when I got mine. Ive had 5 kits on various cars, all from them. They have all been of excelent quality and their customer service is excelent.

The only thing I would advise is go for the H7R bulbs as they reduce glare to oncoming trafic, and is only an extra few quid. I have also found that the 55W kits are far better than the 35W ones, so would go for those if you can. There is a massive difference in the light output.

il get them when ive got the money.. thanks dude..

 

[ScottHmk4]

iv had them in for over a year, never been fined or stopped for them! infact i had a stop cheack randomly one nite, checking tyres etc...i was told to put on my dipped beam, so i was 5hi11ing myself, turned them on, and it was like blackpool illuminations, the police guys jacket lit up and he was like thats fine, haha and mines are really bright

 

[cupra.al]

ive had 8000k in my car for a longtime now had them in my old car too never been stopped for them and there really blue.

 

[MadFaz]

well got them fitted tonight, took half an hour, the H7R anti-glare bulbs make a big difference! it looks so much better in the flesh and its a pleasure to drive in the night