new twist on ballast replacement

[Craig4807]

Okay. I already know my ballast is bad. I have read all the threads on 3 different forums. I have a possible solution I'd like feedback on.

Doing my due diligence, it seems to me that the Valeo LAD5GL is also the stock ballast for many Jaguars, Volvos, VWs, Cadillacs and the Chrysler 300C. My Audi dealer wants $400+ for it. Chrysler wants $190. Mopar wants $110. If the part is the same OEM ballast, I'd rather give $110 to Mopar and stay OEM/street legal, etc. than give Audi $400 or use a kit. The Chrysler/Mopar part number is: 5139061AA. I would like your input. Can anyone confirm my conclusions? I'll pull the trigger today if possible. These are front and back pics of the OEM from Valeo.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

question is, are the connectors the same?

[Craig4807]

Right now, I'm guessing they are. The 300C that uses this ballast also uses the HID D1S bulb. I'm hoping someone here has access to that info for sure. A friend is waiting for his contacts at Chrysler to confirm, unless someone here can first.

[02quattrob6]

i know someone selling their used factory ballasts off their b6.. or why dnt yu just get a HID kit from an aftermarket company?

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^because aftermarket are junk and they do not fit the same way and connect to a D1S bulb. A D1S kit aftermarket is as much as an OEM unit, if the connectors and shape are the same you should be just fine, as they convert 55w to 35w so in essence they will both get the job done.

[Craig4807]

If the B6 ballasts are the same, and the price is right, that might work. I'd rather not use a kit. I stated that in my original post. And the D1S kits are scarce right now, and possibly NOT %100 street legal. If I can go brand new OEM for $97, I'll do it all day!

[AudiA4Turbo22]

^^if that were the case I would not run D2S bulbs in my D1S housings.

[ivoryman50]

Do you have any pictures of the Chrysler/Mopar ones? Not sure if the pictures you provided were from Audi or not.

[IVRINGS]

If the B6 ballasts are the same, and the price is right, that might work. I'd rather not use a kit. I stated that in my original post. And the D1S kits are scarce right now, and possibly NOT %100 street legal. If I can go brand new OEM for $97, I'll do it all day!

I'm not sure on this, but how can this be not street legal? I must be missing something.

[Craig4807]

The pics are from my Audi. If I had the Chrysler pics, I wouldn't have started the post! The DDM and VVME sites both have disclaimers stating that their kits are only approved for 'off road' use. They themselves suggest checking with local law enforcement or DMVs to see if you can use their stuff where you live. Since I don't only drive where I live, I'd rather avoid the issue. Yes the odds of getting caught are slim. But why open myself up to tickets or civil suits if some attorney breaks my balls about questionable lights after an accident?
So, my original question still stands. Can anyone CONFIRM for me that the Chrysler ballast is the same?

[F16HTON]

Chrysler pic

[S4King]

Chrysler pic

They seem the same to me.

[ivoryman50]

Those Chrysler ones look exactly the same. I'd say go for it I guess. What are your thoughts Greg?

[ziggituning]

If the B6 ballasts are the same, and the price is right, that might work. I'd rather not use a kit. I stated that in my original post. And the D1S kits are scarce right now, and possibly NOT %100 street legal. If I can go brand new OEM for $97, I'll do it all day!

I can get the aftermarket D1S kits and they are not really that expensive PM me if you want.

[ziggituning]

The pics are from my Audi. If I had the Chrysler pics, I wouldn't have started the post! The DDM and VVME sites both have disclaimers stating that their kits are only approved for 'off road' use. They themselves suggest checking with local law enforcement or DMVs to see if you can use their stuff where you live. Since I don't only drive where I live, I'd rather avoid the issue. Yes the odds of getting caught are slim. But why open myself up to tickets or civil suits if some attorney breaks my balls about questionable lights after an accident?
So, my original question still stands. Can anyone CONFIRM for me that the Chrysler ballast is the same?

the disclaimer are mostly to cover them in the usual case where the ricers are running 12000K bulbs on their rice cooker and local police pull them over, running any aftermarket balast that can power your D1S will have no legal concequence whatsoever.

The bulb color and poorly aimed lights are always the issue there.

[Craig4807]

No kit means NO mods and NO consequences at all from anybody anywhere. The only difference seems to be some molding on the back side of the ballast. I'm going to try the Chrysler ballast. If it doesn't work perfectly, I will be the first to say so. If it does, then we can all go OEM for 25% of what the dealer asks!

[doublezero30]

I'm not sure on this, but how can this be not street legal? I must be missing something.

they are not street legal because people put them in a halogen housing which has a projector designed to project halogen light. when you put the xenon kits into a projector meant for halogen bulbs you get scattered light beams that blind oncoming traffic.

[IVRINGS]

they are not street legal because people put them in a halogen housing which has a projector designed to project halogen light. when you put the xenon kits into a projector meant for halogen bulbs you get scattered light beams that blind oncoming traffic.

I can understand what you are saying, but GM still makes headlights that are HID's with no projector. The Older Jimmy/Enoy's and others still have this. I still say that you can put a HID in a projector headlight if you aim it right. The last car platform I worked on they installed shields into the housing while doing Joeymod type things to the headlights to make almost a perfect cutoff like we have. The law I think says if you car doesn't come with them and you install them they can ticket you, but if you have a xexon car you can't get a ticket for them.

[doublezero30]

I can understand what you are saying, but GM still makes headlights that are HID's with no projector. The Older Jimmy/Enoy's and others still have this. I still say that you can put a HID in a projector headlight if you aim it right. The last car platform I worked on they installed shields into the housing while doing Joeymod type things to the headlights to make almost a perfect cutoff like we have. The law I think says if you car doesn't come with them and you install them they can ticket you, but if you have a xexon car you can't get a ticket for them.

i think youre confused...a projector is a part of a headlight. i have no idea what youre talking about when you say a projector headlight. nor does it make sense to me when you say a headlight had no projector. i dont see how this is possible as the light beams would be litterally all over the place.

when at waterfest over the past summer in NJ, i talked with the hella rep and they wont even sell HID kits because they are illegal in all 50 states. do people usually get in trouble for them? no. but it still is illegal.

[bode]

I had 55w 6k HIDs and 35w5k hid fogs in my bmw. I live in atlanta, and was pulled over a few times for other various reasons, and none of them I was ticketed for my headlights, infact one cop said he liked them.




Is the factory ballast a 55w or 35w? I am guessing the factory color to be 4300k?

[IVRINGS]

i think youre confused...a projector is a part of a headlight. i have no idea what youre talking about when you say a projector headlight. nor does it make sense to me when you say a headlight had no projector. i dont see how this is possible as the light beams would be litterally all over the place.

when at waterfest over the past summer in NJ, i talked with the hella rep and they wont even sell HID kits because they are illegal in all 50 states. do people usually get in trouble for them? no. but it still is illegal.

Well just FYI there are two types of headlights that I know of off hand.
Reflector headlamps

Projector headlamps

Both of which have come come with Factory HID's in the past. Check out those photo's I copied in here for you to check out. Might learn something about headlights today.

[Craig4807]

And there is the rub my friends. I can NOT knowingly break a law. It's kind of a job requirement... I've ordered the ballast from Chrysler. I'll put it in on Monday. OEM calls for 35W at 4300K for the temp.
For the record, yes factory installed Xenon HID is legal. Once you swap in a kit, it is no longer factory installed. You can do the math from there... OEM replacement parts are still considered factory installed since they do not modify anything. Does the average LEO know or care? Probably not. But I don't gamble.
True story: I was parked in NYC. I came out to find 2 tickets on my car for "Improperly Displayed License Plate". Why you ask? Because I had clear plastic covers on them. The same covers you can buy anywhere!

[IVRINGS]

And there is the rub my friends. I can NOT knowingly break a law. It's kind of a job requirement... I've ordered the ballast from Chrysler. I'll put it in on Monday. OEM calls for 35W at 4300K for the temp.
For the record, yes factory installed Xenon HID is legal. Once you swap in a kit, it is no longer factory installed. You can do the math from there... OEM replacement parts are still considered factory installed since they do not modify anything. Does the average LEO know or care? Probably not. But I don't gamble.
True story: I was parked in NYC. I came out to find 2 tickets on my car for "Improperly Displayed License Plate". Why you ask? Because I had clear plastic covers on them. The same covers you can buy anywhere!

I think if the cover doesn't block anything from 20ft way you are ok, but if it covers up anything on the plate you can be ticketed for it. I don't see how they can give you two tickets for the same charge twice.

[Craig4807]

I think if the cover doesn't block anything from 20ft way you are ok, but if it covers up anything on the plate you can be ticketed for it. I don't see how they can give you two tickets for the same charge twice.

They gave a ticket for EACH license plate. Turns out NYS does not allow anything covering your plates. A frame that borders it is fine, but it can not cover the face of the plate at all. Hundreds of dollars later I know why. There are clear plate covers out there made from materials that supposedly defeat radar/laser detectors. Would I have gotten the point with 1 ticket? Yep. Do I hate NY? Yep. The moral of the story is: different jurisdictions allow/disallow different things. I no longer leave it up to them. I don't leave it up to the officer's mood-knowledge-discretion. You can't go wrong with OEM!!

[IVRINGS]

They gave a ticket for EACH license plate. Turns out NYS does not allow anything covering your plates. A frame that borders it is fine, but it can not cover the face of the plate at all. Hundreds of dollars later I know why. There are clear plate covers out there made from materials that supposedly defeat radar/laser detectors. Would I have gotten the point with 1 ticket? Yep. Do I hate NY? Yep. The moral of the story is: different jurisdictions allow/disallow different things. I no longer leave it up to them. I don't leave it up to the officer's mood-knowledge-discretion. You can't go wrong with OEM!!

Yeah I've heard all this from people coast to coast. I love how Mythbusters shot this down that no cover or spray can or will defeat a radar/laser detectors or a cam from getting you.

Let me know if this ballast replacement works. Cause I want to go oem HID with the next setup.

[B6Lovin]

they are not street legal because people put them in a halogen housing which has a projector designed to project halogen light. when you put the xenon kits into a projector meant for halogen bulbs you get scattered light beams that blind oncoming traffic.

Speaking specifically on our audis - prove it. I dare you.

Because ive already proven several times that there's no difference in our projectors except for size

[Chekm8]

I ordered mine off of ebay for a decent price. i believe the ad had audi, crysler, volvo, etc on it and it looked the same as my oem.

this went to my old housing which then went to the girl's car. i picked up some ecodes a while ago and moved my old ballasts over. anyway, hers is working fine and feels a lot brighter than mine. mine is an 03 with original equipment except the housing.

if it's cheap go for it. gl...

[CyberPMG]

Totally understand the legality of HIDs. I've seen some kits that are supposed to do a power conversion of 55W down to 35W to properly fire the bulbs, but the converter usually fails which will overdrive the bulb which causes the blinding of oncoming traffic. You then run the risk of melting the wire harness because of the overload.

To the OP: I'm looking forward to your post on Monday to see if the Chrysler part works.

[IVRINGS]

I feel the only thing that is different is the focal point is a little off from the two, but nothing that will toss light into traffic. I only say that only cause the H7 bulb is so short and the HID H7 bulb is so much longer it doesn't allow it to use the projector to it's full use, but nothing major I feel. I still run HID's in my stock non xexon car.

[TwinTipSkier]

subscribed...

My swapping of bulbs confirmed my going ballast. Interested to see if you go for the chrysler unit.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Speaking specifically on our audis - prove it. I dare you.

Because ive already proven several times that there's no difference in our projectors except for size

Dan there is a slight difference, when I upgraded to xenon I looked at both projectors, and the xenon one had a bunch of lines running through the inside that were a part of the glass. However, OEM halogen projectors will not scatter the HID everywhere, they just wont be as crisp.

[IVRINGS]

Dan there is a slight difference, when I upgraded to xenon I looked at both projectors, and the xenon one had a bunch of lines running through the inside that were a part of the glass. However, OEM halogen projectors will not scatter the HID everywhere, they just wont be as crisp.

Yep, That is like I said above cause the reg H7 bulb is very short, and the HID bulb is longer and doesn't focus the light perfect like it does with the reg bulb. This is why everyone tells you that the OEM xexon lights are the best.

[doublezero30]

Speaking specifically on our audis - prove it. I dare you.

Because ive already proven several times that there's no difference in our projectors except for size

so then tell me, what is the reason that a xenon bulb will not fit in a halogen projector?

like i said, i talked to the HELLA rep...a very well known company that deals mainly with headlights and bulbs. im not making this shit up, thats what the guy told me. maybe our audis may use close to the same...but i never said just our audis. im talking in general. i still wouldnt use an aftermarket kit in my own car because IF you do get in trouble for it, its a huge fine. plus in MA you wont pass state inspection with it unless you either go to a sketchy gas station or know someone.

[UGwagen]

^^if that were the case I would not run D2S bulbs in my D1S housings.

The only difference between a D2S & a D1S is.... the D1S has the ignitor integrated onto the bulb.

Otherwise, the bulb itself is the same exact thing.

[IVRINGS]

so then tell me, what is the reason that a xenon bulb will not fit in a halogen projector?

like i said, i talked to the HELLA rep...a very well known company that deals mainly with headlights and bulbs. im not making this shit up, thats what the guy told me. maybe our audis may use close to the same...but i never said just our audis. im talking in general. i still wouldnt use an aftermarket kit in my own car because IF you do get in trouble for it, its a huge fine. plus in MA you wont pass state inspection with it unless you either go to a sketchy gas station or know someone.

hmm I have xenon bulbs in my halogen projector right now. Where are you getting your info on headlights?

[IVRINGS]

Well it is Monday! Update if you can today.

[Craig4807]

I just picked it up. It's the exact same ballast! It didn't come with a gasket, but I'll reuse the old one. The label is identical. I can't upload pics, but there is no need to. As soon as I get home I'm putting this puppy in.

[ivoryman50]

That's a very interesting find. I guess we know where to go now.

[O2VW1.8T]

nice job

[Burtonrider1002]

hmm... so how much would a full Xenon set up from chrystler cost? 400 instead of ovr 1K?