VVME you can suck on this, here is your review

[fitch303]

Sucknfuckin bitches, 3 BULBS AND 1 BALLAST FAILED!!!! then I have to pay out my ass for my free shit in the form of shipping. I'm done buying chinese shit for a very long time.....im just gonna shell out the big bucks and get a phillips kit. You want my advice, stay way the hell away from vvme or anything chinese. /rant

[HTA A4]

You forgot to put "/rant" but thanks for the advice. Sorry that you didn't have a good experience

[AudiA4Turbo22]

now like 10 people are gonna say i told u so.

[fitch303]

yeah, driving home from the bar with 1 headlight is not a good idea. I'm looking for a 55watt kit, other than the brightness are there any other concerns about the 55wat kit over a 35watt kit?

anyone have luck with the ddm 55watt kit?

[mxrz]

yeah, driving home from the bar with 1 headlight is not a good idea. I'm looking for a 55watt kit, other than the brightness are there any other concerns about the 55wat kit over a 35watt kit?

Short bulb lifespan, reflector surface damage and loss of reflectivity from the extra heat.

[fitch303]

ddm better than vvme?

[Trev]

Just finished my 55w ddm retrofit. Look for my review in the next day or so. It turned out pretty dam good.

[fitch303]

why a retrofit, isnt it plug and play?

btw im talking to vvme via msn messenger and laying the slap down.

[D.C. Designs]

damn really sucks check out Xenon eyes good stuff and great prices we use them on all our cars

[mxrz]

ddm better than vvme?

If not better, they at least have something VVME never heard of; quality control.

[demea]

Dont know why people dont go OEM? hidconcept.com
Prices arent that much more when you consider replacing cheap bulbs and ballasts after a month.
Love mine.

[akaEsCo01]

No problems here, going on 6 months with my VVME 6000K kit on my fogs

[fitch303]

mine were on for about 6 months before this crap started, good luck!

[pOrKcHoP07]

VVME does suck. I tried on 3 different occasions to purchase their hid kit and everytime I would get an error in paypal because of their address, meanwhile after I would get confirmation that I had purchased the kit. lol.

I went with Xentec Hid Kit. So far so good, however I have some static on the radio, but I believe its cuz I placed the ballasts on metal. I'll have to relocate them to get rid of the static.

[pyro]

www.understeer.com

[Silverstreak98]

Dont know why people dont go OEM? hidconcept.com
Prices arent that much more when you consider replacing cheap bulbs and ballasts after a month.
Love mine.

Yep OEM or bust!

[EUROaleksey]

OEM is the way to go no doubt, but in vvme's defence, i got a kit from them (long shipping but got it eventually)... ran it for half a year now, no problems... During that time my friend on saab 9-3 and other one in scion tc got the kits, referred by me, soon to be half a year since they got them, and both are also happy...

go figure

[BNZ TOY]

did anyone say "buy nice or buy twice" yet?

[heateris]

Dont know why people dont go OEM? hidconcept.com
Prices arent that much more when you consider replacing cheap bulbs and ballasts after a month.
Love mine.

yep, i got all my stuff for my e-codes from hidconcept.com. almost 2 years without a problem.

[a4darkness]

My 55w Retro Solutions kit is still working well. Another option if you're interested, OP.

http://www.retro-solutions.com/audiworldGB.html

[GermanAudi]

It's funny how much VVME bashing there is on AZ. On AudiForums, everybody goes with VVME.

[vinny.dtw]

Honestly, what do you expect. For paying about 70 to 80, you really can't expect it to last a life time. When you buy something like this, you have to be prepared to know that it may fail sooner then most product. Take it as a lesson learned, and just don't buy from them again.

[retrosolutions]

Oh man, I'm sorry to hear this, we honestly see it everyday though. As someone hear said before, buy nice or buy it twice. That unfortunately is so true from what we see, and I think it is a shame more people that got screwed, especially by VVME, don't mention it publicily to save others. There is no shame in helping others avoid the same pitfall.
Anyhow, I also see someone mentioned 55w kits causing "Short bulb lifespan, reflector surface damage and loss of reflectivity from the extra heat."
These arguments are also very valid for kits that use 50w ballasts and 35w bulbs being overpowered. The thing is, when a 55w kit uses real 55w bulbs you avoid those problems and get much better output as well. You have to spare the extra expense in production to have 55w/50w bulbs made like we do in our DIGITAL brand kits to truly offer a kit with higher output. So far we have not seen another kit or manufacturer that will do it, but there are those that make the claim to.

[Charlescrs6]

you didn't touch the bulbs right? I had a good exp. w/ vvme the bulbs and ballasts were easy to install.

[B6driver]

the irony is... unless you get OEM, everything will be made in China

[KPC1.8TQuat]

reflector surface damage and loss of reflectivity from the extra heat.

Not if they go in to OEM xenon or bixenon ecode housings. IF you are talking stock halogen housings, then yes you would be correct.

[JumboBlack1.8]

DDM tuning kits are the way to go. I've got a 55watt 6000k kit with a free lifetime warranty......very good quality and unreal light output without blinding anyone

[fitch303]

DDM tuning kits are the way to go. I've got a 55watt 6000k kit with a free lifetime warranty......very good quality and unreal light output without blinding anyone

No shit, my NEW ddm 55watt kit has a TON of light. I got the 5000k bulbs but those are too yellow for my taste. Can you take a pic of your 6000k for me?

[KPC1.8TQuat]

No shit, my NEW ddm 55watt kit has a TON of light. I got the 5000k bulbs but those are too yellow for my taste. Can you take a pic of your 6000k for me?

I think the general rule of thumb is that if you go with a 55 watt kit, the color temperatures appear one shade lower than 35 watt kits. For example, 55 watt 6000k looks like 5000k 35 watt kit. 55 watt 8000k looks like 6000k 35 watt. The difference however is that the 55 watt kits put out a ton more lumens.

Does anyone have a picture of a 6000k 55 watt kit?

[retrosolutions]

I think the general rule of thumb is that if you go with a 55 watt kit, the color temperatures appear one shade lower than 35 watt kits. For example, 55 watt 6000k looks like 5000k 35 watt kit. 55 watt 8000k looks like 6000k 35 watt. The difference however is that the 55 watt kits put out a ton more lumens.

Does anyone have a picture of a 6000k 55 watt kit?

If the kit uses 50w/55w ballasts and 35w bulbs, yes the color will be lower in K. The output will also not be as bright, and the heat production from the bulb is greater, and longevity is redced. As from fitch303's experience with DDM, that is exactly the case. 5000k should not be yellow at all, but it is because DDM supplies mismatched 50w ballasts and 35w bulbs (sold as "55w").
HOWEVER, when proper 55w bulbs are used with 55w ballasts, the color for a 55w vs. a 35w kit is the same. Heat production is lower, the output is that much brighter, and the bulbs longevity is not affected. 5000k should be pure white, if anything leaning ever so slightly to the blue side of the correlated spectrum.

[mxrz]

5000k should not be yellow at all, but it is because DDM supplies mismatched 50w ballasts and 35w bulbs (sold as "55w").

That's not the reason. Even their 35/35watt kits in 5000K produce a yellow tint, very much like OE 4300K, to a lesser degree. Pairing 35watt bulbs with 50watt ballasts isn't really a problem, the bulbs still last a reasonably long time and they can withstand up to 75watts. The heat ouput is actually the same between 35watt and 50/55 watt bulbs when paired with 50/55watt ballasts, unless the bulb is the cheapest Chinese denominator available.

[fitch303]

I had no idea I could use the 35watt bulbs with my 55watt ddm kit. I have a pair of 6000k 35 watt bulbs so I could use them? Also, what is a good site to buy the 55watt 6000k bulbs?

[KPC1.8TQuat]

I am still dumbfounded as to why anyone would buy a non-OEM xenon kit...

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

[fitch303]

Well because our audis might as well been manufactured in china based on reliability alone. Second, I drive an $8k car with 100k miles I'm not gonna spend $500 on oem hid housings plus another $400 on an oem hid kit. Bottom line, I will not spend 10% of my cars value on a cosmetic upgrade......

Is that hard to understand?

[KPC1.8TQuat]

Is that hard to understand?

No need for the attitude.

[Silverstreak98]

OEM FTW!

If you buy a $50 HID kit, just know that the chances are you are gonna have to replace it in a year or so.

Also if you shop around you can piece together an OEM kit for less than $400.

[B5A4Kevin]

i was looking into vvme for a couple weeks but then just decided to skip all the hassle and bought colored halogens from luminics.com. received in 2 business days after ordering. total was 70ish and havent had an issue.

[20A4Audi1.8t01]

As said above YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, I have Apexcone 8000k and 3000k for fogs no issues and you get a lifetime warranty!

[mxrz]

Bottom line, I will not spend 10% of my cars value on a cosmetic upgrade......

Cosmetic upgrade? Headlights are a very important safety device, you either leave them stock, or upgrade them in a proper way. I wish cops would start giving tickets for this kind of stuff...

[KPC1.8TQuat]

I wish cops would start giving tickets for this kind of stuff...

That would be great. I'm so sick of high school kids putting 10,000k bulbs in their damn 1993 hoda civics with their fucking fart can exhausts.