Went in to get some winter blades for my TSX, ended up in a discussion with the salesmen about the parts availability on the TSX. He made some chilling comments that I didn't know how to answer.

He stated that Hid's don't last much longer than normal halogen headlights, say 50% longer, but they cost 10 times as much. He thought the cost of replacement bulbs would be around $150 apiece (OUCH!).

So, quick search on the 'net found one place that listed them for $123 apiece (ouch!) here http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...rddisplay.jsp. Any ideas on longevity compared to halogens? (I've got a 1999 4Runner with 130K miles, on the same set of headlights). Also, any ideas if the replacement would be a do-it-yourself?

 

Some halogen light bulbs will go after 300 hours. Some will last close to 1000 hours. So its hard to say exactly how much longer a HID will last. Its most certainly more than 50% though. I think they can last up to 3000 hours. So compared to a halogen light bulb that dies after 300 hours, thats 10 times as much.

 

I have been told that HIDs can last the life of the car, of course, that depends on how much you drive at night I'm sure.

The cost is extremely higher... I believe replacement from Acura directly is like $169... but I have found it for about $135 from Acura. The ignitor is about $185 if it goes and the control unit is $197 if it should go.

HIDs are expensive, but they should be atleast a 10x improvement over halogens.

 

Went looking on the net after I posted, I saw figures any where from 3000 hours to 10000 hours (I suspect that's advertising hype as the site I found that on sold HID kits), so hopefully they will last a long time.....

 

HIDs are supposted to last the life of the car.

 

There is a warning about working on the HID's that reads as if they are as dangerous as messing with your airbags.

Be careful and get some advice before tinkering I'd say.

 

I saw that same warning. I believe it is b/c of the balast, you have to make sure the system is discharged otherwise you can get shocked. The same is true for pretty much any lighting system that uses a balast. Its not just an on/off like halogen.

 

before my new tsx, i had a 92 subaru legacy L, it's got 140,000 miles and i've had it for 12 years now. The headlights have never died on me, and even now, they are freakin' bright. so who knows how long lamps last, i guess it all depends

 

HIDs tend to last longer than standard halogens because they contain only two nodes and gas. The light is created when an arc is formed between the two nodes. HIDs work much like the flash in your camera and are pretty much impervious to temperature and vibration effects. A short-lived HID bulb is most likely a manufacturing defect in the bulb seal.

Regular halogens have filaments in them which wear down over time due to high temperature and constant vibration. I have yet to have a headlight of any type go out on me.

 

the HID set on my dads e class is still going strong after 4 years now. you can get oem sets of bulbs on ebay or hidforums for around 60 a pair.

 

yeah i hope it won't be that expensive, but i wonder how long the light on the foglights will last?

 

HIDs are sensitive to cycling, not "on time".... as long as you make a habit of turning them on and leaving them on when you need them, rather than off and on sporadically, you will lengthen the life of your bulbs (and perhaps ballasts as well)

 

the most horrible experience i had with HID lights is from the 02 3.2 TL.

The left side blew out twice and the right side blew out three times. they were all fixed by warranty, but still were annoying as hell.

 

Does anyone notice that the HIDs come on when you flash your high beams? Does anyone know why?

 

Ya, I noticed that. I'm not sure why it does this but given the previous statement that "cycling" is bad...highbeams seem like a bad idea.

 

For the very same reason actually (though I could think of a better solution... perhaps the DOT disagrees with me).... that is to say if your headlights were *already* on, you wouldnt want them turning *off* if you turned on (or flashed) the high beams.

IMO there should be a secondary condition such that if your headlights are *not* on the high beam flash shouldnt trigger the low. Perhaps this would involve an overly-complicated relay switch... personally I think it's a DOT thing (but I honestly dont know).

 

Hmm...on some cars I've seen both high beams and low beams on at the same time...others shut the low beams off when high beams are on. When I flashed my high beams on my 2000 Accord the low beams stayed off, unless they were already turned on, but the fogs went out (obviously). I do know the reason for the fogs going out is because light output exceeds DOT limitations. I think that may be the only limitation...the light output allowed on regular streets.