xenon lights street legal?

[andrew84tran]

i just want to make sure before buying, are xenon headlights street legal?

[PhatMirage]

Only if they are either OEM equipment, or an approved replacment. The kits which only replace the bulb and not the reflector are not legal.

[A'PEXi]

replacement bulbs which claim they are xenon-like headlights, such as phillips, are legal, as they have certified them as being legal... as for aftermarket hid kits, no, i dont think they are legal unless they were from the factory, ie. s2k.

[PhatMirage]

replacement bulbs which claim they are xenon-like headlights, such as phillips, are legal, as they have certified them as being legal... as for aftermarket hid kits, no, i dont think they are legal unless they were from the factory, ie. s2k.

Sorry yeah I wasn't taking about the 'xeon' H4 bulbs. I meant the kits that mount a HID tube in the origonal reflector. These setups are illegal and very dangerous to other motorists, since the OEM reflectors were not designed for HID tubes. HID tubes contain a diffrent shaped light source to a normal halogen globe (lengthwise tube instead of a transverse fillament), which means that the light will be reflected in the wrong direction.

[alan]

wot if they are mounted on projector style headlights wif da ball fingy lens on it?

[PhatMirage]

wot if they are mounted on projector style headlights wif da ball fingy lens on it?

You'd probably find that those projector headlights are not approved, and therefore technically not leagal. But so long as they are well designed (reflectors and lenses designed for the HID light source) then they shouldn't be unsafe. One thing to keep in mind though is that even if they work fine, if its not legal then your insurance company may use it as a basis to refuse a claim. To find out for sure, always ring up your local transport authority.

[alan]

btw, how can i kill 2 ballasts already
wot am i doing wrong?

[Jim80y]

What brand of HID are you using? I've been using Phillips for 3 years with no problems whatsoever.

[eknine]

a rule i always apply for almost anything i doubts its Legality,

"its legal until you get caught" :lol: :lol: :lol:

[alan]

the ballast is philips and yumcha branded bulbs
bought it from motorware...

[Tonkotsu Flavour]

if you run the HID in the projector its probably better than running it in the reflector style headlight, because they omit too much glare for oncoming.

If you use the projector bulb, you can totally control the beam of the brighter HID, eg the cutoff level, and the horizontal shape, to angle it away from the oncoming traffic.

[alan]

i took out dat metal deflector place inside once and de light coming out was amazing...lit ur from in front of de car to de ceiling of my garage, but it would blind all ppl in front though

[JDM-derek]

anyone got caught with HID's and whats the fine?

[EK1.6LCIV]

Im waiting patiently to see a mate try and get one mod plated by DOT

most cars need a water spray system to clean the lens of the headlight as road grime can cause the beam to suffer somewhat

[kiet88]

i had an aftermarket hid kit... got busted by cops one night...

I had to remove it and then go to vic roads for them to check my car...

same thing happened to my mate... but he got a fine as he had aftermarket exhaust as well... but at the end of the day... it's just depends on how the popo's are feeling on the day

[SHU-ES1]

^^ same, got defected about 5 months ago for having hids. no fine, just a canary.

[hectic_filo]

any more peps get pulled over for having these? i am planning to get 6000k

any body?

atm i hav the mtec 4750k hid bulbs and not yet.. hopefully not in the future how bout the 6000k's??

[trentd]

i know in melbourne there not legal at all. the only way you can drive with them is to have them standard in your car, they have dipping abilities when on hills.
whereas when you install them on anycar, you blind people coming the opposite direction.

[hectic_filo]

any one from NSW?? had legal issues having them on on stock head lights especially on the EG??

[xclusive_eg8]

iv got my 4000k HID kit working in a reflector eg housing, no problems yet, probably due to the kit i bought having a in built metal reflector around the bulb - pointing light down to the road, but they help me at night so dam much, especially through mt mee..

driven past many popo in last 6 months, no one has said anything yet - touch wood

[Phased]

The official regulations are:
- The Projector housing must be certified (OEM/Engineer) to use a HID Bulb producing below xxx amount of glare above a certain level/beyond certain distance. (Can't remember the exact figures).
- The Headlight housing must have a washer jet (Clean dirt to prevent increased glare)
- The Projector must have AFS (Adaptive Front-Lighting System) which adjusts the levels of the HID's according to car angle/direction

My Advice: Although what people think, putting HID's in reflector housings DOES NOT increase usable light. It just glares and works similar to a poor quality High Beam. Blinding other drivers. Although some good Halogen Projectors can work satisfactorily with HID's they don't offer much of an improvement over good halogen globes and have a poor beam pattern and glare.

I did a HID Retrofit in my old DC2, took a lot of effort but was worth it. I used Lexus RX330 Projectors (There is still a thread on this forum somewhere in my old account "sp00ny"). To be honest I would of been very annoyed if a cop got me for them, lol.

Tip: If you are going to use HID's in incorrect housings and be a sheep/ricer... then use ones with a low Kalvin rating. (Under 5000K) I had 4300K in my retrofit and besides the Blue/Purple cutoff a cop would think they were just good quality halogens. Also due to the similar colour temperature hence wavelength as Halogens (Standard Halogens hover between 3000-3500K)... the Beam Pattern doesn't glare as much as higher Kalvin HID's.

EDIT:
Also note that the higher the kalvin rating, the worse the performance in wet conditions. I've been in a friends car with 8000K and it is completely useless in wet conditions, especially out in the mountains/country.

[trentd]

i got a mate who has 12000k hid's, they produce a purplish colour and they light up the whole street.
you drive opposite way from him, you literally need to pull over and wait.

[Phased]

i got a mate who has 12000k hid's, they produce a purplish colour and they light up the whole street.
you drive opposite way from him, you literally need to pull over and wait.

That's odd, as although the glare would increase theoretically the higher the Kalvin rating... The higher the colour temperature the lower the Lumen output... 12000K almost have the same lumen output as an average Halogen Bulb. 12000K would like up signs and white lines very well though in dry conditions.

NOTE: I am referring to your average 35w HID (Gas-Discharge) bulbs.

[kccord]

As suggested, buy it:

1. Re-align your headlights - aim it lower
2. If you can, get stanley's headlight housing with projectors - reflectors aren't good with HID's as they scatter the beams at unwanted area at greater extend than standard. + They don't look as flash as projectors.
3. Don't be a dick and just get 6000k which is white, great at night, ok on rain and not much of popo bait.