ojmcduffie

So I'm going to order HIDs today or tomorrow for the RL. After looking on some BMW forums, I noticed the 55w ballast gives MUCH brighter output. I believe stock ballasts are 35w. Is the conversion as easy as replacing OEM ballast with the new one? How hard is it to remove the ballast compared to removing just the bulb? Check the Link below to see...

35watt vs 55watt HID
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=1637222

DDMTuning link to HIDs:
http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

I appreciate any help asap.

Love you all.

Sniffles

Are you talking about the Fog? I think you need a harness so you don't burn your factory wiring...HID 55 watt is easy enough for Fog...just make sure you buy the harness to protect your car wiring...I don't know about the D2S...Its good enough for me....but I am also getting a retrofit...

ojmcduffie

No...regular lowbeams. Fogs I will stick with 35watt as that is what is recommended as the heat buildup on the 55watt is very high. I just need to know if I can replace my OEM 35w lowbeam ballast with a 55w slim ballast instead. And James...what aren't you getting done!?

Sniffles

Ooo...I am sure you could...but I haven't really checked that out.

I am pretty much doing what everyone else on the forum has done...but more lights!! For example my LED emblems and LED Puddle Lights....can't wait to post some pics next week! Also...I am getting some halos in my headlight...no CCFL since the vibration cause its to break and its very easy to do...might do some LED halo behind the ring so it comes out almost like the CCFL....keep ya posted

ojmcduffie

Your a beast...seriously. Looking forward to it.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

more wattage out means more wattage in.

Just make sure you have to proper wiring and fuses.

ojmcduffie

Thanks Heavy. I'm thinking maybe I should just stick with the OEM ballast and just get the bulbs.

EL19

iTrader: (4)

^^^ Thats what I'd do. You already have projectors so the light is being projected outwards to be pretty bright. I dont think 55w is needed. Plus, I wouldn't fuck around too much with the RL's electrical system unless you know what youre doing.

ojmcduffie

Thx. Im staying with 35w.

Carbon Legend

i would stay away from DDM. go with a quality company like TRS (The Retrofit source)

55w is nice. im rocking 55w x 6 ballast. on my RL

here is a video of it at 55w with 1 projector

ojmcduffie

Holy sh** thats bright. How easy was installation on your RL? Is it plug n play when you remove OEM ballast?

Carbon Legend

yes it was. you do need to route the ballast connector through the headlight and seal off the hole with some butyl rubber rope. TRS also sells this.

99% of HID Ballast with the D2S/R connection use a 9006 Connection. and it does not affect AFS at all. i also did a lens swap on the projector to a old pair of Clear Kia projectors ive had for years.

ojmcduffie

Well Carbon I stuck with what I knew and went with the 35w. Thanks for that website though this is the order I just placed from them.

Products
------------------------------------------------------
1 x D2S: Morimoto 3Five (35w) (3FiveD2S) = $45.00
Kelvin 6000K
1 x H11: Morimoto Elite HID System (MotoEliteH11) = $150.00
Kelvin 6000K
Wire Harness H11
Wire Harness Type Heavy Duty Relay
Ballasts Morimoto 3Five (35w)
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $195.00
USPS Priority Mail: $9.18
Coupon TRSRCFS: -$9.18
Total: $195.00

Carbon Legend

i retrofitted my fogs with projectors too lol.

Matt and the guys over at TRS are great. customer service is beyond amazing.

ojmcduffie

Ah man what an idea. Never even thought of that. Maaaaaaaaaaaan....

Carbon Legend

its a pain in the ass. my first set did not come out perfect or OMG so clean. they are black and it hides the flaws unless you really get down there and look at them. they are H11 as well. i was thinking about selling them when it warms up

all 6 projectors lit up.



Quad retrofit in the headlight

ojmcduffie

I actually found your original post they look GREAT. It's too bad I'm not mechanically inclined... I envy your lights

Carbon Legend

i may offer a core program if people actually wanted to get it done.

ojmcduffie

start up the thread!

Carbon Legend

its still in the teens temperature wise. not exactly my favorite working conditions. in the spring time i will offer headlights and foglights. ill discuss it with a mod first so i don't get crap for not being a vendor

ojmcduffie

Ah i forget that other parts of the country get cold...haha. Yeah I would discuss it with a mod of course. TRS emailed me this morning telling me my ballasts are on backorder till March 5th!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

theNHBRL

Matt is great guy. he will hook you up. which looks like he already did. i like the 6k color but the 5k felt bright for me. and carbons mod of fogs is still in process for me.

i was going to do the 55w route like carbon but didnt want to worry about sealing and what if i didnt. + with the morimoto bulbs i already get flashing lights from on coming traffic. you will love the look.

LowMiles_BlueTL

I'm not quite sure why you say DDM is not quality. I purchased a DDM HID Slim Ballast Kit with 55w, 5000K for my 2000 Accord. I installed it in December 2009. My mom has the car now. Only two notes:
First, the fuse that came in the wiring harness was defective. Replaced it and it was fine.
Second, I flash my high-beams a lot. In the Accords and the TLs, this turns on the low beams. The DDM ballast don't like to be "flashed". The would sometimes not fire after doing this. I had to rewire it so the low beams did not come on when I flashed the high beams.
After correcting this two small things, I have not had any problems with them in the over 5 years I have owned them. I'm about to by some for the fogs on my 2003 Acura TL.
BTW-The 55w, 5000K on the Accord were a bit too bright. If I pulled up behind a shiny car at night, the reflection was intense. If you live in the city, go for the 35w (which equal the factory brightness). I live in the semi-rural area, so I needed the 55w.

Carbon Legend

DDM is garbage to me. too many quality control issues with the ballast. says 35w power and in real life it could be 25 or 40. The bulbs the supply within the HID kit are garbage the poor quality bulbs have alignment issues with the return wire which affects the beam pattern. Also the bulbs put out way to my UV and will damage your reflector bowls.

You cannot expect to get a quality kit for $45 shipped. when the the quality kits cost 3x as much. Also NEVER put HID's in a reflector headlight setup, that reflection that you spoke of is called glare. Glare can cause serious accidents just as the glare from a sunset can disrupt your driving.

So the next time you decide to dig up a 3 year old thread to argue about a product you should know a thing or 2 about what you are talking about. I have been in the Headlight Junkie game since 2002. I know a thing or 2 about headlights, i try my best to share knowledge of the do's and dont's in the headlight world.

oo7spy

From what I have gathered, DDM has become cheaper over the years. To assume that the product from 6 years ago is automatically the same as the product today is foolish. Changes in the market can drive decent companies to go all out cheap in order to save their bottom line.

The "cheapest" HID setups I would ever consider are Morimoto. $40 for bulbs and $110 for ballasts. Even the quality of those is noticably less than top notch products.

NathanJax

I'm glad to see these last two post on this forum.

LowMiles_BlueTL

What institution did you get your Headlight Junkie degree from? I assure you I have more auto electric experience and knowledge than you. Have you measured the wattage with a meter? How about the UV output? Your entire post is 100% opinion with absolutely no facts to back it up. My favorite part is where you judge quality by the price. So if DDM charged three times what they charge, then it would be a quality product?

John 3:30

Hey all... New member here... I am trying to post a new thread but can't see how so I am hoping that I can get replies here.

I have an 03 Acura TL that I need a new ballast for. I am looking at the conversion kit between HIDeXtra and DDM Tuning. Pricing is about identical but HIDeXtra comes with a better warranty.

I also would like some coaching on the splicing of wires. If I should be starting a new thread for this, please explain how.

Thanks!!!

M T L T L

Stay away from DDM tunning. I have bad experience on my 03TLS. Check out also The Retrofit Source.

oo7spy

The place to put 2G TL questions is in the 2G TL section here: Second Generation TL (1999-2003) - AcuraZine Community

Your question isn't really model specific though. I would stay away from any ballasts that cost less than $70 and bulbs that cost less than $40/pair. Follow MTLTL's advice and go to The Retrofit Source. Everything they sell is quality stuff. If you are going to use cheap hardware regardless, I would go with the warranty, because they are going to fail or have a high defect rate.

As for splicing, you should not have to splice any wires. If you do, you likely bought the wrong thing. ebay has all sorts of harness adapters if you can't find a ballast that plugs into your stock harness. For tutorials on splicing, use YouTube, and practice on something other than your car.