A8 HID's installed!

[aborchew]

Well ProtocolD's OEM A8 HID kit came in yesterday and I finished the installation this morning. Everything was very simple and easy to install. Can't wait till nightfall so I can really see the difference!

I now need to level the lights as well. If someone has it, a picture of the light pattern on leveled HID's on stock halogen housings would be much appreciated just so I can see what it should look like!

Props to Jackson for selling such an excellent product and for good customer service!

Here are some pics of how I mounted the ballasts and ignitors in case anyone is interested:

Overhead view of the Driver side Ballast.

Angled view of the Driver side Ballast.

Overhead view of the Passenger side Ballast.

Angled view of the Passenger side Ballast.

View of the Ignitor inside the Driver side housing.

The HID's in full effect after about 2 Hrs running time.

And a side view.

[EVIL-AUDI]

Get some ecodes now and make it complete.

[aborchew]

All in good time

are the locations of the ignitor and ballast acceptable?

[Zodiak]

Originally posted by aborchew

Ha samething happened to my driver's side center cap

[jrodmk2]

i know that this has been asked but ... what is the difference between the rs6 and a8 hids???

[widm3r]

Need night time pics!

[ProtoColD]

Originally posted by aborchew
All in good time

are the locations of the ignitor and ballast acceptable?

Very smart, you drill holes on the headlight back cover and use screws to mount the ballast on there. No need to modify the housing itself. That's exactly how you should install the A8 kit.

But if i were you, I will flip the ballast the other way and have the wiring stay completely inside the headlight housing. You can reuse the screws that you drilled. You just need to drill another bigger hole for the harness to go in. That would make it perfect and weatherpoof.

Those headlight back cover is cheap.. only $13 each so chop them off and be creative.

If you want to leave it, I suggest you at least buy some plastic wiring protection tube and wrap around the wiring to prevent scratching them. You should also get some silicon/glue gun to cover up the plug that go into the ballast to prevent water spill in and short the circuit.

To aim your headlight, follow the instruction in:

Visual Aiming Instructions

[aborchew]

Awesome, thanks for the response. I'll look into some sealant to make it completely water proof some time this weekend and maybe flip them around.

I believe the difference between the RS6 and A8 kit (and ProtocolD can verify this) is that the A8 kit has the igniter and ballast in two seperate units, whereas the RS6 kit is one unit for both the igniter and ballast.

[ProtoColD]

Performance wise, they are identical.

It depends on how you would like to install it. Some people prefer drilling holes on headlight housing itself and then mount the ballast underneath. Some prefer not to touch the headlight housing and externally mount them like aborchew.

Either way works well. If you bought a B5 xenon housing(not halogen housing), you would have to buy the A8 kit because RS6 kit wont work.

[ProtoColD]

Actually what type of housing you have??? 1 piece headlight or 2 piece?? Projectors??

[RedRocket]

Eeeeewwwwww. Two-Piece!! J/K until yesterday I had the two piece lights with HID and it's a hell of an improvemnt. Projector housings are awesome and I wish I got them much sooner. The whole "chopping the fender thing" sounds odd but it is really easy with a dremel and well worth it

I must complement you for doing it Go before Show, not that projectors are all show of course.

enjoy

[ProtoColD]

aborchew, when you get a chance, can you take more picture for me??? I want to do a write up.

[aborchew]

RedRocket: Although projectors would have been nice, I think that the HID's are much more important ATM! Thanks for the props, I'm satisfied for now

Jackson: I'll definately take some more pics for you, because I think that the way I installed it is the best option. I'll probably flip the ballasts around too like you had suggested.

I have been having trouble getting the lights leveled. When I put the bulbs in, I bent the little metal cylander that the glass part of the bulb sits in (that is part of the ehadlight housing, not the bulb) does this have a drastic effect on the cutoff of the light?

[J_Ho1997]

I hope you are using D2R bulbs. your headlamp housings do not cut off the beam like the projectors. The D2R bulbs have a built-in shield that cuts off the beam so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic. Otherwise its like having HID brights on all the time.

[aborchew]

No, they're definately D2S, just like everyone else using this kit. Do you have anything to say relevant to my question?

Edit: didn't mean to sound so hostile, but if you have some projectors for me, donations are welcome!

[J_Ho1997]

actually what I said is very relevant. it is downright dangerous to be running d2r bulbs in reflector housings. You will blind oncoming traffic!!!!!

[aborchew]

Which is exactly why I'm asking questions to try and gain as much knowledge as I can about this issue, so I can correct it.

[RedRocket]

Originally posted by J_Ho1997
actually what I said is very relevant. it is downright dangerous to be running d2r bulbs in reflector housings. You will blind oncoming traffic!!!!!

I never had a problem like this when I ran D2s in my two-peice lights. I just had to make sure they were aimed right.

[DDQ]

Whoaaaaa....... You're running HIDs in the stock 96-97-98 housing? I don't get it. I'm not going to claim to be a headlight expert, but those foggy crap lenses cannot possible be meant to accomodate HID lighting.

I've also read a lot of info indicating that the projector assembly is not truly suited for the HID lighting.

Personally, I hated the 97 lights. I bought projectors, and used Phillips BluVision bulbs. While they're not near HIDs, the difference was phenomenal. The cutoff of the beam, and the clarity is a monster upgrade from the stock crap in my 97.

I would think one would get the new housings, before investing in the HID kit. At least e-codes.

[RedRocket]

Foggy crap lenses to say the least. Any non HID housing is not ment to take Xenon Lights. The real difference it the cut-off which does not exist. However the lighting improvemts are clearly there when you change the bulbs type no doubt about that.

[aborchew]

I understand that the housings are not made for this kit, and I knew that beforehand. I didn't have cash to purchase both at the same time, and my headlight was out, so I decided to go the HID's first, and I will put some E-Codes in once I get the flow to do so.

so redrocket I guess it's not just my housings that are missing the cutoff. They don't exist. That makes me feel better that I didn't mess somethign up, but on the other hand that means I need to angle them downward mad-style to not blind other drivers.

[ProtoColD]

Let me jump in and say something.

D2R is no different than D2S in this context. D2R bulb are meant for xenon reflector, not regular reflector either.

If you install any xenon bulb in a reflector housing, you are going to experience glare anyway which may blind oncoming traffic. You would have to aim it in such a way that glaring is minimal.

You may also considering building a glare shield for your xenon bulb, then glare wont be an issue. The idea is to build a metallic shield that cover the bottom half of the xenon light, only the top half will reflect down onto the road, the bottom half will only reflect upwards and it is useless. So you may want to consider doing that. (what material you can use? be creative on that, you can use coke cans and sand off the paint or you can use sheet metal)

Now while this is being said, you just have to do what you want to do. HID works best for our projectors but everyone have a different priority. But I agree the next best thing for you is to get projector headlight housing, it is a different technology and you wont regret it.

You wont see any shape cutoff with your headlight housing, shape cutoff only existing in projectors.

[ProtoColD]

Originally posted by aborchew When I put the bulbs in, I bent the little metal cylander that the glass part of the bulb sits in (that is part of the ehadlight housing, not the bulb) does this have a drastic effect on the cutoff of the light? [/B]

Sorry I did not get what you were saying... could you post some picture???

[aborchew]

Originally posted by ProtoColD
Sorry I did not get what you were saying... could you post some picture???

What I mean is the metal cover that is visible when looking through the lense of the housing, rendering the actual bulb invisible from the exterior of the car. I bent it slightly downward because the bulb was a little too long to fit otherwise. Could I connect a piece of metal to this part to create a glare shield like you said?

[aborchew]

What do you guys think of these?
eBay knockoff or decent price for decent product?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW

[ProtoColD]

forget that.. just go with OEM housing. The output are very different. You will regret if you get those.

[ProtoColD]

Originally posted by aborchew
What I mean is the metal cover that is visible when looking through the lense of the housing, rendering the actual bulb invisible from the exterior of the car. I bent it slightly downward because the bulb was a little too long to fit otherwise. Could I connect a piece of metal to this part to create a glare shield like you said?

yep if you can get to it..stick a shield in there so that the bottom half of the bulb are covered. You wont lost any effective light. So go for it!

Or you can paint the bottom half of the reflector black with high temperature paint.

[Suparslinc]

Buy them at procarparts.com for less.
Although last I checked, they were no longer offering the smoked lenses on their website.