I can see! It's my HID install...

[a4darkness]

After much debate, I decided to go non-OEM for this one as the option to try a 55w system was very appealing. After hearing about the success that Merkin from AW had w/Retro Solutions, I decided to give it a go. [Thanks again to Merkin for the pics and write up on AW.]
I opted for the H7 55w 5000K kit to get that crisp, white light while losing as little light output as possible. Turns out it worked pretty well. What didn't turn out so well was my write up... more or less just took some pics along the way and had a nice photoshoot at the end to show off the goodies. So, here we go.

Below, you will see where I started... with my crap-tastic OEM halogens with their yellow, dead-toenail hue shown here contrasting against the Hoen Xenon Match Fogs [which, side note, turned out to be a spot on match w/the new HIDs... go figure.]



I pulled the headlights out and brought em in to get the harnesses installed. No big deal. Par for the course, my left hand sprung a leak and I kept my streak alive of adding my blood to each mod. Nice. I'm a bleeder.

Keep in mind that the rear torx bolts on the light housings do not need to be removed, just loosened... and mind the metal guides that sit in these holes when pulling each housing out. The driver's side requires nothing more than moving some wires around and the pass side will require removal of the OEM air intake. There is a plastic barb that attaches a bundle of wires to each housing as well. You'll need to use a bit of force to pull these free.

Here's the pass side, the driver's is pretty much the same.



I was planning on clearing my corners but was having serious issues getting the lens housing out so I skipped it for later. And yes, that is a framed, signed picture of Billy Dee Williams. He advised me to pass on the clear corners as my hangover was surely impeding my ability to be more mechanically inclined. Good lookin out Billy. You're the man.



Drilling the holes and feeding the wiring harnesses in thru the rear light housing doors was cake... you will need to pull the rubber insulators much further back than shown here to allow for enough for enough slack to make the connections. Basically, slide the wires in till the labels / plugs are just about touching the rubber insulator. [You'll see it in the pic after this one.]



Take note of the proper wiring as shown here. There's nothing quite like hooking everything up backwards and getting the infamous "Dipped Head Light" warning for BOTH sides... or so I hear. Hypothetically speaking of course. Take note of the amount of slack taken in on the wires... the clips are just shy of the back of the housing door.



I opted for the zip-tie mounting method and chose to locate each ballast directly under the light housing guide. It worked very well. It's hard to see in these pics, but there are actually multiple ties that I ran thru small, drilled holes in the plastic and then clipped off the excess tie.

Here's the pass side...



And here's the driver's side. I would have mounted them in the exact same spot, but the driver's side was a bit tight. I had to place it here which worked out fine anyway.



Okay, so I got everything hooked up correctly, did some balancing and was ready to take some pics. In comparison to the halogen setup, it's like twin white suns bellowing out hot death rays into the night. And I love it.

Outside...











Okay, okay. Jokes aside... this is a solid and worthy upgrade as the ability to see at night is dramatically improved. For the most part, I'm driving on decently well lit streets in SoCal, but the real advantage is on the highway at night. Now, I can see much further ahead than I used to. A extra second or three makes the difference between avoiding or smacking that recently discarded Sentra bumper, road cone or burnt out oil drum on the 405 freeway.

Now for some pics from the interior. I chased down and cornered this hapless shopping cart and pinned it to a wall. While it begged for it's life, I snapped off a pic for a reference point. This was a few feet from the wall.



And here's about 50 feet back. The line remains pretty crisp and the beam is clean and strong... even w/my halogen housings. [Yes, I'm already contemplating E-codes... blackout of course. But not quite yet.]



Bottom line, I am very pleased with this mod. Regardless if you opt for OEM or Retro Solutions, it's really worth the effort.



Reference links:

Retro Solutions [AW Group Buy Page]
http://www.retro-solutions.com/audiworldGB.html

HID Install Links
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...&highlight=hid
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...highlight=VVME
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/748989.phtml
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/162512.phtml

[SEXICÄN]

what kind of fogs ya running?

Looks good BTW

[a4darkness]

Thanks. The fogs are your standard H11 55W from Hoen... their Xenonmatch bulb. I might upgrade the fogs to HID as well but that might be overkill.

http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog.htm

[SEXICÄN]

i have the same fogs... thats why i was wondering.

I'm actually going to be doing the HID fogs later next month

[SEXICÄN]

i have the same fogs... thats why i was wondering.

I'm actually going to be doing the HID fogs later next month

[a4darkness]

Nice. What K rating are you going with? Very nice ride, BTW.

[SEXICÄN]

Nice. What K rating are you going with? Very nice ride, BTW.

Thtanks

not sure of bulbs yet. I just have an extra set of Ballast from some S4, but not sure if i want them to match exactly with the headlights or what.....

Your thoughts?

[a4darkness]

Thoughts on the ballast... I'm not entirely sure how to wire that up, but there's sure to be a way. For the K rating on the lights, since you're in WA and the weather can tend to be foul, I wouldn't go higher than 4300K... maybe even 3K if you don't mind the yellow look. It'll light up everything on the road, even during a storm.

[SEXICÄN]

hmmmm.... good point! I wanna do it ASAP now!

[Elliott]

Nice writeup. Funny and informative!

Where did you get this HID kit?

[a4darkness]

Thanks Puma297.

I picked it up from Retro Solutions. A few others had success with em so I figured it was worth a shot. And it was.

[AW Group Buy Page]
http://www.retro-solutions.com/audiworldGB.html

[mxrz]

Those kits are not 55 watt.

[a4darkness]

What's lead you to that conclusion?

[diagnosticator]

Maybe you can see OK with this setup, but it's evident from the pics, that oncomming driver's won't be able to see, and will be blinded from the high amount of glare bleeding above the cut off shield. You should buy a pair of OEM D2S xenon HID projectors and swap out the H7 halogen projectors in you housings to use with this kit.

[PRY4SNO]

Maybe you can see OK with this setup, but it's evident from the pics, that oncomming driver's won't be able to see, and will be blinded from the high amount of glare bleeding above the cut off shield. You should buy a pair of OEM D2S xenon HID projectors and swap out the H7 halogen projectors in you housings to use with this kit.

Do you have a handy link for a preferred source/vendor? What's a good price for the D2S projectors?

I'm curious because I was contemplating going with a cheap-o HID upgrade kit off of eBay for $100 to make due until I can go with the blacked out Ecodes.

[tank8677]

there's Nothing Quite Like Hooking Everything Up Backwards And Getting The Infamous "dipped Head Light" Warning For Both Sides

Question, The Dipped Head Light On The Dash Is Caused By Backwards Wiring?? Is That True??

[diagnosticator]

Do you have a handy link for a preferred source/vendor? What's a good price for the D2S projectors?

I'm curious because I was contemplating going with a cheap-o HID upgrade kit off of eBay for $100 to make due until I can go with the blacked out Ecodes.

Check out the sellers below:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Audi-A4-Valeo-Xe...QQcmdZViewItem

the above example is D1S, and are more expensive than fresnel lens projectors, "clear" lenses having the sharpest cutoff.

http://stores.ebay.com/globalheadlig...Q3amesstQQtZkm

Here is some D1S projectors:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CADIL...mZ160217914306

[mxrz]

85$ for a pair, that's a pretty good price.

[a4darkness]

As I understand, it's a standard warning of sorts... but yes, it will appear if the wiring is backwards. However, I'm fairly certain if the HID kit doesn't match w/the system's electrical balance, so to speak, you'll see the same error. I've read about people needing resistors w/some setups, but fortunately I didn't encounter this issue.

Question, The Dipped Head Light On The Dash Is Caused By Backwards Wiring?? Is That True??

[a4darkness]

I can understand where you're coming from here and see your point, diagnosticator. However, I made sure to aim the lights low enough to compensate for other drivers and walked far enough away to verify they weren't overly offensive. I've not been high beamed at all since the install.

There are many vehicles in SoCal w/ridiculous setups like you're mentioning... and I wasn't shooting for that. And keep in mind I snapped these pics w/my old school Canon in night mode so they might be exaggerating things a bit.

However, I can say w/certainty that the improvement over OEM halogens is far better than OK. But I will concur that the setup you've mentioned is superior... but funds are tight this summer. Blackout ecodes would be a nice addition to these in the future. ;-]

Maybe you can see OK with this setup, but it's evident from the pics, that oncomming driver's won't be able to see, and will be blinded from the high amount of glare bleeding above the cut off shield. You should buy a pair of OEM D2S xenon HID projectors and swap out the H7 halogen projectors in you housings to use with this kit.