Hello all, im a newbie to the site and a new (to me) Seat Leon owner. Ive got a '06 55 2.0 TSFI Sport in Dark Grey Met. i sold my previous car, Mini Cooper S, to get this one. The problem i have is the headlights. Coming from the Mini with xenon headlights to the Seat without, im finding i miss the difference. So the question is, Which upgrade can anyone suggest ? Do i find a crashed Seat with xenons on it ? or Buy a something from a company who do a package kit as seen on Ebay ? ................. Any help would be great??? Some lovely cars on here BTW
Depends if you want the projection lens or not,
You could go with a simple HID upgrade like the majority of us, they give a much brighter beam of light or you could change for the Leon bi-xenon unit, from the dealer for everything you are talking about £600 i believe, plus they have to be coded into the car for the difference in AC/DC current.
An HID kit will set you back around £80 from the likes of HIDSdirect, this is a definite improvement but if its not good enough, you'll have to try the OEM lamps
Danny.
Hi Danny, thanks alot for the advice, sounds like i should at least try the HID kit. I hope to do other stuff to the car as time goes on, nothing major, just an induction kit and exhaust. but all in good time. I see you are from GY, just up the road from me, im from Louth. But dont hold that against me !
Yeah, not too far mate
yeah, try HIDS, you can choose different colours of the xenon gas, I currently have 8000k in mine which is quite blue but the best I had was the 6000k so might be worth a shot I suppose if you want to see mine before you buy we could always meet up somewhere and you have have a look and see what you think buddy
Danny.
I started with 6000K HIDs but subsequently found them a bit too blue. They look nice, but they definitely look "aftermarket" (which they are of course, to be fair!).
If you go for 4300/5000K, they look much more like original equipment. You still get the extra brightness, of course... it's just that 5000K looks more pure-white rather than blueish-white.
It's a personal taste thing, so I would suggest seeing them in real life before taking the plunge.
As far as I know, all of the OEM xenon projection headlights use 4300K capsules... it's the projection lenses which cause the blue tinge you see when they're coming towards you. Fitting a 'HID kit' in a reflective headlight unit means you don't get this effect, so people sometimes choose higher colour temps such as 6000K or even 8000K like Danny, to simulate the effect.
Although I liked my 6000K HIDs at first, I've recently changed the bulbs for some 4300K H7Rs (from eBay) and IMHO they look more natural.
You should also know that you'll need to drill 25mm holes in the back cover of each headlight, as part of fitting the kit. It's not difficult but you'll need to borrow a drill and 25mm hole-cutting bit, if you don't have them. (You can buy replacement covers for about £9+vat each from the stealers if you mess it up - so it's no problem!)
Oh, and there's been a lot of noise around the legality of aftermarket HID kits. Officially, only factory-fitted xenons are allowed. If that worries you, a HID kit probably isn't the right option. (To be 100% legal, you'd have to fit OEM xenons complete with all the auto-levelling hardware etc and the headlight washers in the bumper, too.)
If you go for 4300/5000K, they look much more like original equipment. You still get the extra brightness, of course... it's just that 5000K looks more pure-white rather than blueish-white.
It's a personal taste thing, so I would suggest seeing them in real life before taking the plunge.
As far as I know, all of the OEM xenon projection headlights use 4300K capsules... it's the projection lenses which cause the blue tinge you see when they're coming towards you. Fitting a 'HID kit' in a reflective headlight unit means you don't get this effect, so people sometimes choose higher colour temps such as 6000K or even 8000K like Danny, to simulate the effect.
Although I liked my 6000K HIDs at first, I've recently changed the bulbs for some 4300K H7Rs (from eBay) and IMHO they look more natural.
You should also know that you'll need to drill 25mm holes in the back cover of each headlight, as part of fitting the kit. It's not difficult but you'll need to borrow a drill and 25mm hole-cutting bit, if you don't have them. (You can buy replacement covers for about £9+vat each from the stealers if you mess it up - so it's no problem!)
Oh, and there's been a lot of noise around the legality of aftermarket HID kits. Officially, only factory-fitted xenons are allowed. If that worries you, a HID kit probably isn't the right option. (To be 100% legal, you'd have to fit OEM xenons complete with all the auto-levelling hardware etc and the headlight washers in the bumper, too.)
Hello, thanks for the advice fella, just for the record you said "I've recently changed the bulbs for some 4300K H7Rs (from eBay) "
To clarify, are these just the bulbs youve changed as part of an already fitted HID kit or is this a complete new HID kit with ballast boxes and cabling ? Sorry for the dumb question just want to try to get it correct thats all.
To clarify, are these just the bulbs youve changed as part of an already fitted HID kit or is this a complete new HID kit with ballast boxes and cabling ? Sorry for the dumb question just want to try to get it correct thats all.
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You can buy different bulbs that will work with an existing HID kit, they all use the same connector
I tried H7Rs though and the blanking strip made the 5000ks have a slight green tint to them? :S any ideas, could you post a picture of your 4300k please?
Thanks,
Danny.
tomg1988
Guest
Depends if you want the projection lens or not,
You could go with a simple HID upgrade like the majority of us, they give a much brighter beam of light or you could change for the Leon bi-xenon unit, from the dealer for everything you are talking about £600 i believe, plus they have to be coded into the car for the difference in AC/DC current.
An HID kit will set you back around £80 from the likes of HIDSdirect, this is a definite improvement but if its not good enough, you'll have to try the OEM lamps
Danny.
hi mate, im thinkin of getin the hids on my seat leon fr tdi, just thinkin about the computer on the car, have you had any problems on yours
sniperftw
Guest
Really?10000k Just go the whole mile mate!
10000K will look very blue (anything >6000K looks pretty darn blue). Also, the light output is significantly reduced as you increase the colour temperature. As a double-whammy, blue light doesn't help you see like yellow light does, and it won't penetrate fog or whatever as effectively.
If you do decide to go with an aftermarket HID kit, I would stick with 4300K or 5000K colour temp as you'll get the brightest output and the closest to 'pure white' colour.
Having blue lights screams "I have an aftermarket kit of dubious quality, please pull me over" and also makes (usually yellow) number plates appear green...
HIDS FTW, 10000k Just go the whole mile mate!
i agree it would look "cool" but its not so cool when you pulled over...I'll stick to half at 5k.. thank you lol
sniperftw
Guest
Pulled over? i drive past cops all the time and never been asked about them. Im a special constable also!
Also i have been pulled over for what they said was " Ambitious driving" and they said nothing about my lights!
In my own opinion, i think it's closer to 8k cause i've seen a lot bluer than mine!
Also i have been pulled over for what they said was " Ambitious driving" and they said nothing about my lights!
In my own opinion, i think it's closer to 8k cause i've seen a lot bluer than mine!
Really?
10000K will look very blue (anything >6000K looks pretty darn blue). Also, the light output is significantly reduced as you increase the colour temperature. As a double-whammy, blue light doesn't help you see like yellow light does, and it won't penetrate fog or whatever as effectively.
If you do decide to go with an aftermarket HID kit, I would stick with 4300K or 5000K colour temp as you'll get the brightest output and the closest to 'pure white' colour.
Having blue lights screams "I have an aftermarket kit of dubious quality, please pull me over" and also makes (usually yellow) number plates appear green...
10000 have to be neon blue. IF they are not that colour then the kits been badged up wrong.
4300, 5000 are pretty much the ones to go for
6000 is bluey, 8000 is even bluer, 10 + is verging on full on neon blue.
I started out with 5000k hids4u kit but changed to a OEM bi xenon set up, again i am running 5000k bulbs as i find this gives a better output than the 4300s ever so slightly.
PS: Check the MOT rules for next year, they are planing on failing cars with aftermarket hid set ups buddy.
I got 8000k on mine, yep they are blue
Wait till MOT time if the change comes into effect.
i got both 4300k and 5000k Bulbs for my OEM's and after a trial of both, the 5000 appeared to light up the road ever so slightly better. The 4300's were pretty yellow and the 5000 are spot on bright white.
Wait till MOT time if the change comes into effect.
Yeah I know, I was thinking about getting dayline headlights but not that convinced. I've been quite lucky on my last mot as they haven't checked a lot of things, I would probably fail then
Wait till MOT time if the change comes into effect.
Now, i want to hear peoples opinions on this. I have a friend who has OEM HID/Xenons on his 53plate Fiat Punto. It has neither auto levelling or washers on the bumper. Does this mean that come MOT time his car will then fail?
Theres nothing to suggest they are OEM or aftermarket, so how will the MOT tester know they are original?
Therefore unless the MOT testers are going to prod around in the engine bay (something i'm pretty sure they are not allowed to do. They can look but not touch things) I think we can safely say that retro-fit will be ok??
Thoughts/comments.........................?
Wasnt aware Xenons were even an option on a punto?!
I converted mine to Bi-Xenons, no auto levelling or washer jets. It has been through an MOT and passsed at the end of last year.
I'd believe, if u have done like myself above and everything looks original and not ballasts hangin out everyhwere with wires popping in through the backs of your headlamps (like the hid conversion kits) then you should be fine.
If anyone popped my bonnet, they wouldnt be able to tell what was changed as it all looks like it came out the factory.
I'd believe they are mainly targetting the guys fitting the aftermarket hid kits .
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