H I D headlight bulbs

[culzean]

If anyone is thinking about fitting HID bulbs to their Jazz just be aware of the radio frequency interference from the ballast and bulbs on these systems.  I work with several people who have fitted HID systems to their vehicles (not Honda Jazzes though) and are having problem with their radio reception.  One bloke has a DAB radio in his car and it gets zapped completely when he turns his HID headlights on.

Apparently the better quality systems (meaning more expensive) have less problems because the ballasts are shielded better, and in the top systems 'digital' ballasts are available.  Some HID equipment can also cause havoc with CANBUS control systems fitted on some cars (The GD jazz doesn't have this system, not sure about the GE - anyone know if it has?) and you have to buy CANBUS rated systems.

Also a lot of HID systems work with very white, almost blue light and it is the bluer light wavelengths that are absorbed most severely by water (be it rain or fog), and although they are brighter in dry weather they do suffer a lot in wet conditions from loss of brightness, I have talked to people who have them on their cars and they confirm this (anyone remember the yellow foglights that used to be fitted to vehicles for this very reason).

Personally I have fitted the '150% brighter' white Xenon 'conventional' bulbs to our Jazzes and find the headlights more than adequate in both wet and dry conditions, being a filament bulb they have a sighly 'yellower' light than HID and don't suffer so much in wet weather.

[Garyman]

That is very informative culzean 

I had HIDs in my EP3 and found them very good but I did have some problem with the alignment and so I couldnt be bothered with the hassle of putting them in my GE6.

I was going to go down this route of using the Philips Xenon type H4 bulbs but havent bothered so far. However, with the darker nights, I may make a move onto this.

Any recommendations for the main and side lights?

Thanks

Gary

[culzean]

There is still a big a question mark about aftermarket HID kits being road legal in UK and Europe, here is a reply to a question that a buyer asked the hidshop.com (http://www.hidshop.co.uk/faqs.html)

Are these HID systems road legal?
Aftermarket HID systems are not road legal due to the fact you cannot 'E' mark a bulb that is of different type to the bulb it is replacing (ie HID for halogen). Therefore we can only sell these as off road use conversions. Although some hid conversion are legal for example a customers has a car that already has projector cones to control the light, a headlamp washing system and also auto leveling system for the headlight commonly found on new on new cars, if he/she upgrades to a xenon kit then the car has all the requirements for xenon headlamps, honestly if you look some cars they don’t have this yet they are legal such as imported vehicles, example Honda s2000 and Mitsubishi EVO’S from Japan, most Japanese imports which have xenon lights don’t have headlight cleaning system as they are not required in Japan but they still pass the SVA test?

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For brightest unquestionably road legal filament bulbs use Phillips X-treme brightness bulbs, 80% more light for same power input (55watt dip/60watt main).

These have won Auto Express auto-bulb test 2 years in a row.  H4 type for GD Jazz are about £23 a pair (don't know what bulb is suitable for GE Jazz).

http://www.powerbulbs.com/product_detail.asp?prod=43

[nowster]

The GE Jazz takes H4 bulbs, and they're considerably easier to get to than the GD Jazz's.

[guest765]

Phillips extreme bulbs are safe and a good light ..........

[culzean]

Just a note for anyone who has fitted HID headlights and is experiencing intereference with their radio reception.  One of the people I work with had a big problem with his HID ballasts and his DAB radio.  We looked in the RS (used to be Radio Spares) catalogue and bought some 'Epcos' inline ferrite cored RF (radio frequency) filters RS part number 213-1819. They cost about £1.70 each and cured the problem completely.

These will carry 10amps DC and block the RF from the ballast from coming back into the car wiring. These should be fitted in the supply line(s) to the ballast as close to it as possible, because the length of cable between the ballast and the filter will act as a transmitter of RF interference. 

Make sure the wiring joints are good because if they fail your headlight will be affected.

If you have a bad case and these prove insufficient on their own, then a 100volt 1microfard capacitor can be fitted between the ballast side of the filter and the negative wire or the body of the car.

[RichardA]

(anyone remember the yellow foglights that used to be fitted to vehicles for this very reason).

My 1998 Hyundai had yellow front foglights. That was unusual even back then.

[olduser1]

I have had the Phillips bulbs in my 2012MY Jazz huge improvement of std ones, but you ned to align with care before refitting the wire holding clips.

[guest1272]

The problem with HIDs that require ballasts (i.e. true HIDs), is that if you install them WITHOUT the corresponding projector lamp system, you do end up with a brighter light, but also light that does not have the correct cutoff or focus and thus glares other road users.
This is because the standard "normal" headlight reflector is designed to scatter the light in a certain way, whereas HID's require focus which the additional projector lens supplies. You can spot a projector lens as they look like one of these sitting inside the headlight assembly:

I'm pretty sure that not having the projector system to "control" the HID light is actually illegal in the UK and therefore, if stopped, and PC Plod notices you have the ballasts but no projectors, you'll be in trouble.
The ONLY way to install HID's correctly is HID's + Ballasts + Projectors ....i.e. a proper retrofit which would involve ovens at 230degC, softening sealant glues, cutting/dremmelling/etc/etc - time consuming and messy.
Alternatively, you could buy "pre-made" projector lamp assemblies for the Jazz on Fleabay but they're VERY expensive and usually look uglier than the stock headlamps.

HID's + ballasts installed into stock headlight housing "as is":


HID's + ballasts installed in stock headlight housings that have been retrofitted with projectors:


So without a proper retrofit, HID's are actually blinding and therefore not useful anyway (more likely to cause an accident than see one coming).....

.....and if you're not prepared to take the whole headlight apart and get jiggy with a hacksaw, I'd second the Philips Xtreme bulbs myself - which are direct drop-ins designed to work in OEM headlights without mods and even though not as bright as properly installed HID's, they're at least noticeably brighter than stock bulbs  .

[culzean]

I do a lot of country 'A' and 'B' road driving all year round and hate people who have fitted HID in normal headlamps because you can tell straight away (why can't plod do the same ?) and they are a nightmare of stray light and glare whether behind you or oncoming.  But the OEM HID are also pretty bad, and on roads that have bumps in them (ie - most UK roads) the oncoming lights can be like a lighthouse, because the cut-off is so sharp they go from full light in your eyes to not much and back again. German cars seem the worst (but then they always are - why don't they put towels over their headlights instead of on the hotel sun-beds ??)  - when they get close to you (especially the Chelsea tractor 4X4's) they light up the inside of the car like daylight - at least the rear Civic spoiler keeps the worst of it out.