Poor dipped headlights. Advice seeking..

[Kidman]

Ok..so were to start.. err ..i have tinted all my lights on my vovlo which i think looks pretty nice i must say. But now my light output is dreadful 😂 i knew i would lose some output but jezzz its like driving without lights even on at night & its the MOT passable flyeye tint.

I have done i little read up myself on here &. I found out that the light output in the first place on the volvo s40 is shocking let alone tinting the headlamps.

Im just after some advice & hopefully lizard man will see this post 👍😂
Basically what i am thinking is getting the E46 AL bosch H7 clear lenses from retrofit lab & ftting philips extreme vision bulbs. Would this be decent enough?

Or a second thought is to buy the lenses but also buy slealth X 55w xenons 5500k hid kit. I read up about wiper motor issuses etc but Hid4U who sell the sleath kit says that their kit does not effect these problerms etc true or not who knows?

I dont no much at all about HID kits !!

I’ve clean my projectors to not help too, so brighter bulbs i clearly need. I do want a nice white crisp / cut off light.

I want to see if i can get nice bright light output from headlamps with the tint still on firstly if it something which can not be done then i guess ill have to remove the tint.

Any advice would be great

[jack taylor]

Hi Kidman, I have a 1998 V70 with new reflector headlights. I purchased a 35w, 5000k HID kit and the end result is amazing. Your projector h/lights are better suited to HID bulbs and provided you have the beam alignment carried out you will not blind oncoming drivers. HIDS4U are good and the Stealth kit has very good reviews [ amazon]
Don't buy cheap kits from ebay. jack

[T5R92011]

The headlamp output on a STOCK car is notoriously horrendous...God knows what it must be like on yours.

Those retrofit units will give you an extremely sharp cutoff and very good light output even with regular halogen bulbs. With HIDs you will have seriously bright headlamps but 55 watt is complete overkill in this setup... so stick with 35watt.

These projectors are not cheap...£130. Do you really want to drop that amount of money on fancy new projectors, only to have your tints killing their light output?

Here's what mine look like... yours won't have anywhere near this brightness if your headlamps are tinted:

[Kidman]

Hi jack thanks for the input mate 👍

I thought you could only have HID with projectors not reflector headlights, shows how much i know when it comes to HID lighs.

Whats the difference between 35 Watts & 55 watts kits?? As slealth sell both choices.

Correct mate when i have read up about electrical problerm HID kits can do to the volvo i would only purchase i decent brand & still hope nothing would go wrong.

When you say beam alignment is that something that will definitely need to be done if i brought a HID kit? & can only asumme i would have to take it up the mot garage for this?

Are the sleath HIDkit legal or illegal?

I have so so many questions!

Do i just buy HID kit & forget retrofit Clear lenses or buy both ? Would there be a difference? Saying that i clean my projectors with glass cleaning & some of it took the silver reflecting stuff off.

Do you earth HID to the car chassis? Slealth HID dont mention anything about that.

Whats a canbus? Read up about some where on google 🤪

See to many things i dont understand before i spend dollar 😂
I just dont want to put some in the car & cousre problerms or waste the money

[Kidman]

Hi T5R92011

I will take a photo tomorrow night to give you a laugh at how bad they are. Literally might as well have candles strapped to front of the bonnet.

I have seen your post mate. Your light output is bad ass. Basically what i want
But didnt you say your camera is making it look brighter than they are to the eye.

What is your set up?

And if i did choose to get a HID kit you suggest 35 Watts. Is the watts for how bright the light get ? I.e 55 watts would make the light even brighter?

I would probably still buy the projectors & see if the light output is decent first because i do like the way the tinted headlights make the car look. But if its still poor i guess ill have to pull the tints 😢 plus i think i should buy the projectors anyways because i rubbed of some of the silver reflection when cleaning my lenses 😳

[T5R92011]

HID with projectors or reflectors?
Any kind of retrofit HID kit needs to go into projector headlamps, because they focus the beam via a lens, whereas a refector headlamp is just a big reflector bowl that is not designed for high intensity bulbs.

S40 only comes with projector headlamps, so this is not a concern for you.

Difference between 35watt and 55watt
Brightness. Almost all factory kit HID systems are 35 watt. They are bright enough, but in a retrofit projector with a clear lenses (as apposed to the 'frosted' stock lens), they are VERY bright.

55watt are brighter still, and produce a lot more heat. If you putt a 55watt HID kit in a clear lens projector headlamp, you would have a huge amount of glare thrown back at you from roadsigns and would be unpleasant to drive with imho, let alone for oncoming traffic.

Electrical problems
S40's with halogen headlamps are electrically different to those with Factory fitted HIDs... if you try to put a cheap HID kit into an S40 that didnt come wth HIDs, you can potentially blow the windscreen wiper motor module (it shares the same earth connnection as the headlamps).

You can get around this issue by earthing your HIDs somewhere else. Or buy buying a SKBOWE PWM filter from here - https://www.skbowe.com/a/issues/

Some HID kits claim they also prevent this issue occuring, but you need to be certain before buying.

Beam Alignment
If you don't change your projectors, then the beam patter will be the same so unlikely you will need an alignment.
However if you fit the new projectors, you will need to get them aligned or do it yourself.

Are stealth HID kit illegal
Your car will fail an MOT if it has been retrofitted with an HID kit but does not have self leveling suspension and headlamp washers.

Do i just buy HID kit & forget retrofit Clear lenses or buy both
Just buy the new projectors and some good halogen bulbs, then untint your headlamps and you will have very good headlamps (once aligned).

HID kits are a bit of a pain to install in these cars, as there is hardly any room for the ballasts etc to fit under the bonnet. It's just not worth the hassle when you can get new projectors + Halogen bulbs and get GREAT light output.

Do you earth HID to the car chassis?
I recommend that you do this, to be 100% sure you aren't going to blow the wiper motor module

Whats a CanBus
It's a "network" that allows different modules in the car to communicate with each other.

[jack taylor]

Hi Kidman, As you have taken off some of the reflective material when cleaning you may well need new headlights.
35w bulbs burn a lot cooler than 55w bulbs. My HID kit gives me "daylight" light. 55w will eventually burn off the headlights reflective coating over several years. A lot depends on how long you propose to keep the car.
Normally were you to fit 35w bulbs the "canbus" system in your car would think that a bulb had blown and you would have a constant warning light showing. A HID kit fitted with a "canbus system tells your car that everything is ok and no warning light will appear.
What to do!!!!!!!, is your mind set on tinted lenses ? From what you have said I assume it is, so decide whether or not to purchase new projector h/lights.
A lot depends on how much reflective materiel you have removed from the h/lights when cleaning them.
Lets say h/lights are ok then purchase a good HID kit [ about £50.00 ]and retain the tinted lenses. See what the light output is like and if you are happy with that then all ok.
Should the tinting be too dark then purchase a pair of new clear lenses and retain HID kit. Should burn holes through a concrete wall.
As for passing an MOT with a HID kit fitted,I cant help as I have lived in spain for several years and am out of touch with MOT regs. Here I could fit a 747`s landing lights and it would pass provided the beams are not too high.
Perhaps a visit to your friendly MOT tester will give you a definitive answer.
I know from reading threads on here that new regs have come into operation concerning HID kits being fitted. I think this refers mainly to reflector h/light and not so mush to projector h/lights
Should you decide to purchase new h/light you could fit the tinted lenses and try something like an upgraded 55w halogen bulb. I am thinking of "Night Beaters" if that's the correct name. These bulbs have a short life of about 400 hours. The hid bulbs last about 5000 hours. Have a look at Auto Express tests on these upgraded bulbs I cant now remember which came out on top. Cost about £25.00; so not a lot cheaper than a HID kit.
I hope the above makes sense. jack

[Kidman]

Hi guys thanks for taking the time to give me advice.

I now know allot more than i did at the start.

Im going to take both advice from you’s.

So today i purchased the new E46 al bosch projectors from Retrofitlab, first thing im going to try is the new projectors with decent H7 bulbs.

T5R92011 what bulbs do you have in your photo’s mate? Do you have a link for them.

And if im not happen with the lightout i will purchase a 35 watt slealth HID kit. & if im still not happy with the light output. I guess it will have to be bye bye headlight Tint.😭 🤣

One more thing so message HIDs4U about HIDs & they mention H7Twenty20 LEDs as an alternative, what your thoughts on LED bulbs? £80 for a pair!!!!!

[jack taylor]

Hi Kidman, I have very limited knowledge of LED bulbs. Have a look on here for the thread of 13th of February 2018 which talks about LED bulbs in h/lights.
I meant to mention that in my opinion 5000k gives a pure white light and is by far the best,but if you go for 6000k the light has a slight blue tone. Should you decide not to go with the tinted lenses the 6000k might give you the effect you want.
Have a look on Amazon uk at HID kits and read the reviews;plenty of info and opinions.
Please keep us all posted about your project. jack

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by Kidman

...

Im just after some advice & hopefully lizard man will see this post 👍😂
..
...

I can only assume you meant me, did you?
A bit late to the party and cant really add anything more than T5R90211 had written (extensive info, btw ).
Just from my perspective, in principal I am always for usage not looks so to me tinting headlamps/rear lights is... akhem... cant find polite word so I will roll my eyes if you dont mind everyone is up to their liking (car looks nice btw, if only it was track/show car) but you will have to put an extra effort to overcompensate for tint.
Personal preferences aside and focusing on your questions - as for LEDs, I would strongly discourage it from going that way. It is really hard to find decent set (not impossible but hard) and in most cases you end up with terrible beam pattern. If someone can recommend decent set that is proven - you may trial it but its a hit&miss. As you already ordered E46 H7 (good choice btw, best thing to do is to throw out old projectors and not even try to fiddle with lens swapping) you can go either :
- good halogen bulb (OSRAM nightbreaker Unlimited highly recommended)
- HID kit
With halogen bulbs you will get nowhere near light output you may want but it is cheapest and possibly easiest solution. If you go for HID kit, you need to familiarise yourself with dangers it causes (WMM failure) and either disable DRL or make sure you never drive with HIDs and light switch on POS0. Also extra ground wires, extra AntiFlicker modules and GOOD ballasts. I am against 55W kits myself, my lights are bright AF without going higher wattage, and light colour/intensification is not related to wattage at all. Good 35W ballast will output pure white light on 5000K bulb where cheap 55W chinese ballast will make same bulb look blue/purple... All OEM xenons are 35W, 55W is good for offrroad/spot lights etc.... thats my opinion.
As you went for H7 version you can only get "fake" bulbs *(there is no such thing as branded h7 HID bulb) and those are also hit&miss with misallignment issue, hotspot off the centre etc. If anything, make sure you get metal base on them. You can get full decent kit like Stealth or mix&match parts like I did, as long as you get good components.

Not sure what else to add, start by replacing your projectors, put current H7 bulbs in them (no extra $$ spent) and see how they go. Then decide which route to go with.