HID Conversions?

[MikeVistaBlue06]

Not sure where this belongs, but with all the activity here, I thought it would be a good place to put it. (mods, pls move it where it is appropriate and assign me asshole points for putting into the wrong section! ).

Reference thread: http://forums.bradbarnett.net/showpo...&postcount=192

I am thinking about doing this to my '06 using the bi-xenon kit from stangmods.

http://www.stangmods.com/2005-Mustan...it-p/00909.htm

As for glare, what I find annoying/distracting is the really blue/purple ones that change color as you approach them. This has been my observations since they introduced these things, and yes, I have dog cussed these things on many an occasion. However, after having them in my new Lincoln MKz, I really like them and am a beliver in them.

The MKz's HIDs has lenses instead of reflectors. Since a lens is a refractive optical unit meaning that it bends the light, I see a band of purple and blue on the wall even though the temp of these lights are around 4100K. This is just like a prism bending white light in to a rainbow. It is that band of colored light that annoys the hell out of me when I have a car approaching me with similar lens setups.

Now for the ones that use reflectors, like our stock units have, I don't see that rainbow effect as the reflectors use a parabolic mirror to reflect the light and not a lens to bend it. That's a big difference from a physics standpoint.

That is why I've not been bothered by the ones like used in the Saleen or like I have seen in Mini Coopers.

Using the stock reflectors, even though there may be some unwanted scatter, it shoudn't matter as long as the low beam part of the bulb is not at what is called the "focus" of the parabolic reflector. The high beam part of the bulb should be at the focus to throw the light as far out as possible. Also, my '06 has the shield in place to prevent direct scatter from the front of the bulb.

If you look at old sealed beam headlights from yesteryears, you will see that one filament is at the focus of the parabola and the other is above it. It is the one that is above it that directs the light downward for low-beams. So if the bi-xenon kits have a similar arrangement, or mimic the stock bulb filament placement, they should not be that big of an issue.

I think the big difference in HIDs is the refractive units versus the reflective units and the glare caused by refractive units bending the light into its primary colors making you wonder what kind of UFO is that coming at you!

I want to do the foglights at the same time and am contemplating either rewiring them to stay on all the time regardless of hi/low beam, but I am concerned they don't have a shield in the front and will be annoying.

Any ideas on how to mod the foglight bulb so it will have a shield on it? Can you paint it black like the halogen bulbs?

Thx,

Mike

I didn't find anything on here about HIDs, which is why I posted on msf.

I am thinking about doing HID conversions on my 2006 and was thinking:

1. Do headlights with 4300K kit from stangmods, and do foglights with 4300K kit from stangmods.

http://www.stangmods.com/2005-Mustan...it-p/00909.htm

http://www.stangmods.com/2005-Mustan...it-p/00901.htm

2. Wire foglights to stay on with either lo/highbeams on. Pretty easy from what I have learned

3. Wire foglights to come on with highbeams only. Will require a total rewiring job (but I am an EE so that ain't an issue!).

The only thing that worries me is that the HID foglights will piss people off. Do you think I can paint the end of the HID bulb black so that the glare is lessened?

Thx,

Mike

 

[GIG4FUN]

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=503

I have three kits from the company hawg got his from. (one spare) and love them.

 

[94tbird]

i went wit hthe VVME kit from china. i did both the headlights and the fogs for like 150 or 200 bucks. they have been worknig great.

 

[MikeVistaBlue06]

I opted for the stangmods.com HID kit.

I ordered the stangmods.com HID conversion kits in 6000K for the main lights as well as the foglights. I got the bi-xenon so I will retain hi-beam mode. If the 6000K are too blue, I will send them back and get 4300K bulbs.

I have done a lot of looking, reading, studying, and observing before I made this decision.

I am now convinced that the projection method with an aspherical lens is the worst by far for glare due to the refraction of the spectral components in the generated light; i.e. the bending of the light into intense blue, violet, and purple components.

The light generated by these type of lights is broken into discrete wavelengths or spectral lines due to the elements that are used in the light bulb (the metal halides). Example: Mercury gives strong purple and green spectral lines because of the shell structure of the mercury atom. Sodium would give off intense yellow and red spectral lines (streetlamps) for the same reason

Blue light scatters more so it is prone to glare. This is why even a 4100K to 4300K in a projector system is more prone to glare from the refraction of the light due to an optical distortion known as chromatic abberation. You can coat lenses to get rid of this, but from what I have seen, there are no coatings on these aspherical lenses to stop this, even on the fancy BMWs and Lexuses. This is evident due to the blue/purple light they throw to cause the glare. Issac Newton had the same problems with optical telescopes which is why he chose a parabolic mirror as a light collector when he invented the "Newtonian Reflector" telescope!

I can tell a car with optical projection HIDs on it from a mile away! They are first purple, then they turn blue, then they become white the closer they get to you. From way off you are seeing that edge refraction of the blue and purple and that blue/purple scatters more leading to glare and distraction/annoyance.

Tonight, I confirmed my thinking when I saw an Acura with the projection system and a Mini Cooper with simple reflectors side by side. Both had HIDs. The Mini Cooper did not have any glare at all while the Acura's glare was quite noticeable with the scattered blue/purple light from the refraction.

I also saw a Prius this morning with reflector based HIDs and there was no appreciable glare either.

IMHO reflection is better than refraction for glare , and this is said by a 46 year old that can truthfully say it is harder now to drive at night than it was when I was a young pup!

With the bulb properly placed in the current housing, it should work just fine.

I will try to take some good pictures before and after, and also put my Mustang beside my Lincoln (which has projectors) and try to take a picture of them from a distance as a measure of glare.

Thx,

Mike

 

[PenguinGT]

Having done 3 different HID projector conversions on various vehicles, I HIGHLY advise retrofitting the shroud and projectors from BMW, Mercedes, Acura, etc...

The clearly definted cutoff is not only a nice appearance, but is a safety issue IMO. My biggest pet peeve is HID plug and play kits in stock NON-projector housings. They look cheap, ghetto, and they blind anyone coming at you.

It's not very difficult to cut the back of the stock housings to fit the shrouds/projector housings in. You just need to seal everything up nicely when finished.

 

[MikeVistaBlue06]

I am going to check it carefully before I drive it on the road.

If the light generating part of the HID bulb is in teh exact same place as the filaments in the halogen bulb, the light pattern should not change. The reflector is a parabolic design so it should work the same way as long as the light is in the exact same spot. I also have the shroud over my bulbs since it a 2006.

From what I understand, stangmods ensures the bulbs fit precisely like the halogen bulb does.

thx,

Mike