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V70 HID kit

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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 12:50   #1
RM955I
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Default V70 HID kit

Let's get this one out of the way please...I am not looking for a lecture on the legality of retro fit kits although I am sure someone will be unable to contain themself, ramming their view of legality, construction and use regs, and their view of people who use them, down my throat. I am a big boy and know the ins and outs of this.

Normally I would just opt for some Xtreme Vision or Nightbreaker bulbs but these have a reduced lifespan and can prove costly.

MY V70 seems to have an appetite for H7s, particularly the n/s lamp - all of the connectors seem fine and I can't understand why this is: I'm now on my 3rd bulb in 8 months!

IF I fit a kit it will be an H7R kit, 4300 or 5000k canbus kit specifically designed for reflector lenses.

So, if you fitted a kit:
*where did you buy it;
*was it simple plug and play;
*what colour temp
*and what's your overall view of the kit

Thanks
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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 14:37   #2
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I have a spare H7 HID kit from my V40 and I've considered putting it in my main beam (have Active Bi-Xenon dipped beam) but I cant bear to start cutting holes in the back of the light unit. Looks a little crowded back there as well, not much space to put all the stuff.


Otherwise HIDS4U seem good.
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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 14:52   #3
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I have not fitted HIDs to a Volvo so I will restrict my advice to the colour only. I would not be tempted to fit 5000 deg or 6000 deg blue tinged colour bulbs because they do not actually throw more light than 4000 deg and they penetrate mist and rain less well. The other consideration touches very slightly on your warning about your attitude towards the legalities. If you do get stopped by an officer wanting to find reasons to book you, he is much more likely to recognise the blue white colour as HID but may not realise that the more yellow light is also HID. I do agree with you about the legalities and feel that this is the result of non technical legal drafters placing too much reliance on technical briefing that errs on the side of draconian.
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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 21:22   #4
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I had a HID kit in my S40 and it was sound, actually I fitted it to my 407 first and when that was written off I took it out, bought new H7R bulbs and installed it in the S40. It was an eBay kit, about £30 and worked fine for me with no flicker and I sold the S40 on with the kit installed and it never blew a bulb. My Dad has the same kit on his Alfa 159 and has had it for 3 years with no issues at all. The trick is to get digital slimline ballasts and they then fit in the Volvo light unit without any cutting, or at least it did in the S40 for me.

Colour wise my Dad's is 5000k and it's a very palatable colour, factory is 4300k which I used in the S40 and I found the colour looked a bit green. I hear that's normal with lower cost HID's.

Have you considered LED headlight bulbs? No legal issues, no cutting and they should be long lived. I am considering a set for the V50

I am very glad my 50 has auto lights with DRL's as the XC70 also had an appetite for bulbs as the lights were always on!
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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 21:24   #5
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I've fitted HID kits in the last 4 cars I have had they have all been 6K and never failed an MOT for them, despite what people say about self leveling & wipers etc.
The wiring was obvious as were the ballasts so it's not as if it was all hidden away. They are much much brighter the 6k give a brilliant white light and I've never noticed any hint of blue. They are much better than standard halogen inc the well known branded bulbs.
The bulbs were in projector style headlights which I don't have in the V70 so won't be fitting them.
I'd like to say you get what you pay for but I've bought cheap kits and the more expensive ones and all lasted no flickering or failures.
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Old Sep 17th, 2016, 23:29   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sasha94 View Post

Have you considered LED headlight bulbs? No legal issues, no cutting and they should be long lived. I am considering a set for the V50
Yes - been looking at those but struggling to find a 4300k set. They all seem to be 6000k - maybe that's the natural temp of LEDs. Also, the ballast seems to be an issue - the better ones have quite large heatsinks on them and I'm not keen on cutting things about. The HIDs on the other hand are proven technology and i reckon the ballast will fit with no cutting.

If I could find some decent LEDs I'd consider it but the good stuff seems to be quite expensive.

Favourite HIDs at the moment are: http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/h7r-35w...onversion-kit/
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Old Sep 18th, 2016, 10:36   #7
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Hi my son fitted a HID kit bought on eBay to a p2 S60 a few years ago. Much better than any normal bulb upgrade available . He never got flashed for dazzling oncoming traffic and they passed the mot with no problems and they gave excellent visibility. He bought/fitted a 5000 kV kit . Since then I bought my P3 V70 with HID lights. The standard bulbs were 4300 kV and while ok are not a patch on the 5000kv I replaced them with when one of the original failed. The replacements were cheap bulbs bought on eBayand cost about £28 a pair.Far more friendly than the £103 Volvo were asking per bulb at the time. They have been in the car now for two years with no problems. The light is white ,is very good and cuts through rain very well giving good visibility . I have also bought a set of spares that are 6000kv These still give a good usable light but do look just slightly blue from a distance. Any higher kV and the useable light diminishes. Just my opinion ,the optimum is 5000kv for my night vision but may not suit other drivers.
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Old Sep 18th, 2016, 11:02   #8
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Thanks.

It seems that V70 reflectors take well to HIDs despite the assumption that all HIDs with reflector lenses will kill or maim any living creature within a 100 mile radius.

I'm undecided between 4300 or 5000k...I can't imagine a huge difference, so I'll do a bit more research on that.
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Old Sep 18th, 2016, 12:04   #9
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Originally Posted by RM955I View Post
MY V70 seems to have an appetite for H7s, particularly the n/s lamp - all of the connectors seem fine and I can't understand why this is
What are the live and ground voltage drop readings for the good and bad side?
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Old Sep 18th, 2016, 17:29   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RM955I View Post
Let's get this one out of the way please...I am not looking for a lecture on the legality of retro fit kits although I am sure someone will be unable to contain themself, ramming their view of legality, construction and use regs, and their view of people who use them, down my throat. I am a big boy and know the ins and outs of this.
I'd be one of those, but respect you enough to abide by this.
Quote:
Normally I would just opt for some Xtreme Vision or Nightbreaker bulbs but these have a reduced lifespan and can prove costly.
Yes. I personally find that dropping down to the Osram Silverstar II gives a useful increase in lifetime over the nightbreaker, at a much lower cost and only a small drop in useful light output. Cost/benefit is in favour of the silverstar.

Quote:
MY V70 seems to have an appetite for H7s, particularly the n/s lamp - all of the connectors seem fine and I can't understand why this is: I'm now on my 3rd bulb in 8 months!
Use as daytime running lights means that the bulbs reach their life limit much quicker. However, there's also aspects of lamp design - a friend's Toyota Avensis also goes through H7s for fun.

Quote:
IF I fit a kit it will be an H7R kit, 4300 or 5000k canbus kit specifically designed for reflector lenses.
May I offer an alternative? Your issue seems more to do with lifetime than output, and that's understandable. I think that the issue is, as I said above, the use of the lights as DRLs results in short lifetime (bear in mind that the specification of bulbs like nightbreaker is for about 100 hours of lifetime - that goes quick when they're on all the time).

So, if you move the DRL function away from the lights so they are only used as actual headlights, would that not fulfill your brief?

No, I'm not about to suggest some of those crappy LED DRLs off fleabay. There's a much neater alternative. You can swap out the utterly useless V70 foglights:


For the XC70 facelift LED DRL:


They are pretty much a drop-in replacement. Not my idea, but thanks to Itwontstopsnowin on swedespeed: http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthr...Running-Lights

These are the parts you need:
https://www.wikingerparts.com/shop/v...light-31383204
https://www.wikingerparts.com/shop/v...light-31383205

Then there is a software update available which will move the DRL function to the foglights.

Yes, this is a little more expensive than an HID kit.... but I think it's a way better solution.
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