Hey group, just picked up an '01 sr5 and am going to do an HID install on it. I know there already are a ton of threads on here about this but i couldnt find the answer i was looking for so i apologize in advance if i missed the it. I have the sneaking suspicious that my better half is going to be getting my an HID kit for xmas because shes been asking me a lot of questions about them since ive been talking about them. I definately want to do a retrofit but money isnt exactly in its best shape right now so a conversion is all she could really afford.

So my question: Is it possible to get an HID conversion kit (yes, the kind that blind people b/c of the reflective housing) and just use that for a while in the stock housing until i can afford the projectors and lenses and use my HID kit with it?

From what ive seen that should work just as long as i have the right bulbs...?

Thanks in advance. As soon as possible please because the 25th is soon approaching.

 

As you're aware, it is not recommended...but to answer your question, yes it can be done. Thus the reason those kits are often referred to as "plug and play".

 

It's definitely possible to get a kit now and do your retro after. Most of the h4 HID kits are plug and play and can be easily reverted back to stock condition if ever needed. Hope you love your new purchase!

 

Thanks for the responses. Just to make sure i am getting the right responses: I want to use the HID kit that im gonna get for xmas alongside the future projectors. Would i be able to use the same bulbs or have to get different ones? If so what else in the PnP kit that i am getting will i be able to use with the retrofit.

 

Do it right the first time. Do your research about retrofits and save up to actually do it before putting HID's on your car. For now, just stick with stock or get some Silverstars if you want a "whiter" light.

 

Depending on what kind of kit you get, if you get a kit with something like casper shields then you can reuse the bulbs but if you get a kit that has re based plastic bulbs then you might not be able to reuse them, I say might not because i guess you could try to mold the plastic base to fit in the projector housing but it might not sit in the right location.

 

As long as you know you're irresponsible.

 

IMO, if you're planing on doing a complete retrofit in the near future, then you ought to tell your better half to save her money and buy you something else for Christmas.

You're really going to want to piece your retrofit together using quality bulbs, ballasts and so on. Trust me, you will not want to reuse the bulbs and ballasts from a PnP kit in your retrofit.

 

Why is that? As long as i get a quality kit it shouldnt matter should it?

so in theory i could use the HID conversion kit in the new projector housing? correct? I wouldnt want to mold the base at all i would just want to use it like it is meant to be used. If i have to get new bulbs in the future when i get the projectors thats fine.

 

tell your better half to save the money and help you do the complete retro fit down the road. because from what ive read(never actually done it) the "conversion" is just an HID bulb with an H4 Base so it will fit in the stock housing. where as when you do a complete retro with projectors, your not using your stock housing to hold the bulb, the projector holds the bulb. I hope that makes since. and for more information go to hidplanet.com/forums a website dedicated to anything HID.

 

a lot of the people that make PnP HID's have gotten smarter and have put a shielding under the lower part of the bulb in order to block light from hitting the bottom part of your headlight housing and reflecting upward, therefore stopping the glare that lots of people talk about.

 

That's the tricky part though...finding a high quality PnP kit worth buying. Some of these knock off HID kits people buy are just junk.

In headlight applications, I prefer to use oem bulbs and ballasts (ex: BMW, Infiniti, Honda, Lexus). Phillip bulbs and Hella Ballasts are definitely worth their price tag. Granted they are expensive new, but you can always find a good quality used set.

Just remember, you pay for what you get.

 

if you are truely looking at doing a retro in the future save your money and buy oem as suggested. sure you could use an AMP to D2S adapter later when you want to do the rero but the ballasts would be the weak link in a system and would need to be replaced eventualy.

check out http://www.hidplanet.com/forums for more great Hid and led ideas. im also a member and go by the same name here as i do there. http://www.hidplanet.com also sells HID pats that are ALL OEM

ballasts i recomend
Denso slims
HELLA
BOSCH

BULBS
philips 85122+ they resist color changeing and last longer then the 85122

Projectors
well what ever you can make fit that has a sharp cut off and wide spread

/first post

 

The thing is that most of the cheaper rebased H4 kits have no name ballasts and in MOST cases the D2S or D2R (or what ever it was to start with) re based bulbs are connected "for life" to the wire that connects to the ballast, so if you change bulbs you change wires also which is no real big deal but worth noting.

Also even with the casper shields or any shield that is used below the bulb to prevent light from reaching the bottom of the reflector, you will still end up with glare, there is just no way around it, it will be much less than if there were no shield but it will still be there.

If you really can't wait to do the retrofit then go ahead and get the PnP kit, but the bulbs MUST have a shield below the bulb if not then you have to add one or you will be shot/run off road/or busted by a cop, but just be warned that even with the shields you may piss some people off, that mostly depends a lot on where you live, here in cali its just so common to see bright @ss lights that it doesn't faze most people. When it comes time to do the retrofit i really would try to find name brand ballasts or at the very minimal make sure you have good fog lights

 

i didnt say anything about getting a cheap kit just not doing the retro right now.

xenonpros.com/philips4300k.html

that is a philips kit as far as i know. and what about the other kit on there website.

xenonpros.com/mc5000k.html

its a little lower quality or not oem at least but i have heard they last really well.

btw i live in cali too and people could care less about headlights with all the s around here driving around with fogs on anyways.

 

The only thing I see there thats Philips, are the ballast. For the price they want, you can almost do a projector retro.

I just finished my second retro on mine. I originally retro'ed FX35 Bi-xenon projectors with Acura TSX clear lenses and spacer color mod. My lastest are a set of Acura TL bi-xenon projectors with BMW ZKW clear lenses and spacer color mod. I also run 55watt retrosolutions ballasts with Philips 50watt bulbs and Halo Angel Eyes. I'll be posting pics soon....

I first started with a really good PnP kit. I still have the bulbs left from that kit. They had awesome shielding and had very little glare. The shield on it covered most of the bulb. If anyone is interested in the bulbs...let me know. They are TRUE rebased Philips 4300k.

 

so... i decided that im going to go with this kit.

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme_HID...s_p/xt-4kp.htm

what do ya think????

its got ballast from japan which i heard are just the same quality of the ones from germany and its got philips ballasts. im sure i can find some projectors on craigslist or something that will work when im ready to retro. and i read that i can rebase the bulbs to work with the projectors so i can keep the philips. but either way thanks for all the help and i look forward to getting more advise down the road.

thanks again guys and if anyone lives in the sacramento area wants to meet up sometime let me know!

 

post pics when you are done! and dont forget to fab a reflector to put underneath the bulb to reduce upward glare. I've heard some people use parts of a soda can.