geraintthomas Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Very true! That said, I've seen a few Honda Civics (not the new one, the one before) with 4300K HID's in reflector housing, and they looked absolutely fantastic. They were probably designed to have them from the start, so the reflector would work well with it. If you're getting HID's for your 4x4, I'd get 4300k's - it's what I have and trust me they're not yellow at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 The other danger as with any mod is if it's not declared on your insurance you risk not getting paid but especially if it ain't legal.................................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraintthomas Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 It is legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harv_j Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 The other danger as with any mod is if it's not declared on your insurance you risk not getting paid but especially if it ain't legal.................................. Depends on your insurance policy as well. Most insurance companies dont insure cars with ANY modifications & the ones that do (like the specialist ones on here) dont want to know about little things like HID's, aftermarket sidelight bulbs etc. They are concerned about body mods, suspension, brakes, wheels & engine mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiluxSurf Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Very true! That said, I've seen a few Honda Civics (not the new one, the one before) with 4300K HID's in reflector housing, and they looked absolutely fantastic. They were probably designed to have them from the start, so the reflector would work well with it. If you're getting HID's for your 4x4, I'd get 4300k's - it's what I have and trust me they're not yellow at all! HI its all ready got them in and yep thy are 4300k and yep it looks great with LED sidelights as well. with the front end stance on the thing along with the Massive bull bar (Ilegal for newer vehicles then) its got a lovelly look with the lights on. Having just had my quote for next monthand talking to Neil from Greenlight any mod is ok as long as i dont gain 180bhp, i am sure he will come along and correct me but all teh stuff i have on the truck and the celica is covered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Seems ok if you do it right, but you can get caught out. I've been hit by a driver whose policy was avoided. Would have crippled me finacially if Ihadn't been fully comp with ncd protected. Just say play it safe guys insurers wriggle like eels to not pay out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cravo Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 The 06-12 Civics have HID's as standard, our lass had one but had self levelling and light washers also.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraintthomas Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Yeah it's what I've said all along really. As long as it's put into a projector headlight and is an OEM colour (4300k or 5000k) then they look like they're in there from the start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cretin Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Just say play it safe guys insurers wriggle like eels to not pay out. ^ This. Although I've gone over the give-a-fcuk line now as the standard lights are crap. But it's still a worrying thought. Those bastards will do anything not to pay out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 Too true. I once worked for a firm that were agents for GA so I got a bit of a discount and thought I would be looked after when my lovely gold opel manta 2 ltr GTE got nicked oooo 20 odd years ago. Like feck!! We even had a row over the meaning of the word "value". I was dealing with a Cretin (a different one;o).) who absolutely insisted value meant what the figure in her little book said. I disagreed and provided a definition "Oh nooooo that's not what it means at all.Sir" "Really, I just read you the Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word. Please pass me to your supervisor" THEN they said the car was a mess, wrong doors, injection ripped out carbs put in "Can you prove it was immaculate when it was stolen?" Fortunately YES becasuse I had a new clutch fitted the day before it was nicked at one of your approved garages! Case closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mole2704 Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 There's not likely to be a single police officer who will take the time to look for it and even if he does they'll never find it purely because they don't know what they're looking for I have a few mates who are coppers, when asked about HID they all have said it's one of the first things they check if there is any doubt. Just because they're coppers doesn't mean they know nothing about cars and what to look for. One of them has even pulled a car in the past and when the driver was able to provide evidence for everything else, the HIDs were declared "improperly fitted" as they were not self levelling or cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 It's not paranoia. They ARE out to getcha! Iffy cars are a great pull for improving their statistics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harv_j Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 I have a few mates who are coppers, when asked about HID they all have said it's one of the first things they check if there is any doubt. Just because they're coppers doesn't mean they know nothing about cars and what to look for. One of them has even pulled a car in the past and when the driver was able to provide evidence for everything else, the HIDs were declared "improperly fitted" as they were not self levelling or cleaning. That only applies to manufacturing standards & if the MOT is carried out on a car that has them fitted from the factory, not if they are retrofitted. Its been covered on here literally 1000s of times, read through Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razorjack Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 I've had HIDs in my ST205 - with standard non-projector type lenses - for about 6 years now iirc. Never had a problem with glare, never had a problem with MOTs, even had comments from testers saying how good the beam pattern is. I didn't go for a cheap chinese ebay £30 kit though, and have a 6000K kit which actually gives out a good crisp white light unlike the cheap ebay jobs which (also at 6000K) seem to be quite green/blue in comparison. I've posted pics on here before of the beam pattern and how they look on the road. I also run HIDs in the Nova, which uses BMW E30 euro smiley lamps which are fine. However in the cav, the beam pattern went all over the shop despite various combinations of lenses and reflectors (including the later spec reflectors with the builtin lamp shields). So they got taken out of there in favour of some filament bulbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MR JDM Posted February 22, 2013 Report Share Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) I have a few mates who are coppers, when asked about HID they all have said it's one of the first things they check if there is any doubt. Just because they're coppers doesn't mean they know nothing about cars and what to look for. One of them has even pulled a car in the past and when the driver was able to provide evidence for everything else, the HIDs were declared "improperly fitted" as they were not self levelling or cleaning. I'm not disputing that they don't know about cars what I'm saying is that they wouldn't know where to find the self levelling motors underneath. I understand that police are petrolheads too lol after all they're just like us but in a daft looking hi vis jacket normally (tongue in cheek comment) I've had no issues with the police whatsoever concerning any of my sets of HID's and also tha was on a Saxo so a police car magnet anyways before I started tweaking Edited February 22, 2013 by MR JDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ambermile Posted February 23, 2013 Report Share Posted February 23, 2013 I will fit the 4300k into the 7 but what really pisses me is those drl's on when other lights are on? As far as I am aware they have to go off when other lights come on so what's the story there? I paid for an extra control box so mine go off when the sides as a minimum come on, and flash with the indicators as the law states (other lights on or off) - how are these new cars getting approval? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Boy 1 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Hmm, interesting conversation with my local MOT tester today. I asked him about the legality of the HID bulbs in a normal reflector headlight and he said that the light pattern will be the same as with a normal bulb, the only issue that you may have is will the reflector part of the headlight withstand the heat of the HID bulb ? He added that there shouldn't be a problem with it. so long as the bulbs are fitted correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraintthomas Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 Unfortunately that's not right. Put your car against a wall and turn your lights on. Make note of the pattern, swap for HID's and do the same thing and see for yourself. The bulbs are a different shape and are longer, so the reflector doesn't work well with them. That and the fact that they're far more powerful - the beam pattern definitely won't be the same. It'll be similar, but a lot more blurry and more glare. It's weird that he didn't know that, unless he doesn't know much about the type of bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Boy 1 Posted March 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 I asked the question about the light pattern, and he said that it should be the dame 'if' the bulb has the correct fitment. If you say that the bulbs are longer, then it may be that the light pattern is altered because of this. Are all the HID bulbs the same length ? I certainly don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikca01 Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 had hids in my ss-11 for 3 mots and never had a prob with them fitted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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