DIY: How to install a DDM Slim Ballast HID Kit

[GetBoosted84]

For this write up I will be installing a 55w DDM Tuning Slim Ballast H7 5000k HID Kit on a 2001 Audi A4.

Please do not put HIDs in you non-projector housing. It's dangerous and stupid!

Also, you should always test your bulbs and ballasts before going through the process listed below so you can save yourself a headache.

Difficulty (1-10):
3 - Only because you need to drill a hole in the headlight

Time:
1 hour (including taking photos for this write up)

Supplies Needed:
DDM Tuning Slim Ballast H7 HID Kit (link)
T30 Torx - For headlight removal
Dremel with cutoff wheel
2 pieces of plastic (about the size of a CD case)
Silicone
Velcro (optional)

Steps:
1) Remove headlights


2) Flip first headlight over to show the bottom section where a normal HID ballast would be if you had that option


3) Measure your plastic piece that will cover the HID ballast. I am using a clear CD case because it fits with little trimming required .



4) Get out the dremel with cutoff wheel and trim the plastic piece to cover the entire section where the HID ballast will be.


5) Drill / Dremel a small hole that is big enough to fit the ignitor but not too big.


6) Test fit the ballast in the headlight housing


7) Fetch some velcro or you can use the included two way foam tape. I opted for the velco since I had some commercial velco from another project and I like the idea of being able to remove the ballast fairly easy later on.


8) Clean the housing and ballast with alcohol then place two strips of velcro on the housing on the flat areas and stick the ballast to the housing


9) Now it's time to seal up that nice hole you put in your headlight housing. Get the silicone sealant and put a bead along the edge of the plastic and stick it to the housing. Please note: You can use weather stripping as another used did in their overview of the DDM install (link) but I like silicone. And Poopie loves when I use this stuff anyway


10) Start making connections. The wires will only connect in one way with the exception of the two wires shown below. Make sure you put the positive and negative wires in the right position before you install everything and think your HID kit is busted up.


11) Tuck all the wiring into the housing and get ready to seal everything up


12) Wait for the silicone to cure then re-install your headlights


13) AIM YOUR HEADLIGHTS!!!
http://www.modifieda4.com/web/tech/h...ht-aiming.html

14) And of course celebrate with a nice bottle of brew


I'll post up photos of the finished product tomorrow night. Just finished with everything so I need to let the silicone set before installing in the car.

[Poopie]

nice work chris. looks very tidy.

[GetBoosted84]

nice work chris. looks very tidy.

Thanks! Can't wait to see how they look on the car tomorrow night. Looked really awesome when I was testing them before I got started.

[soccerstargt17]

Great write up, i just asked for a write up because i'll be installing a similar set soon. Two questions:

Where did you get the silicone paste?
Are the 55w ones safe?

[njm23]

I would say that looks like RTV red.

[Sick_Boy]

looks clean man. i am so tempted to buy a kit or two but kinda want to see what the 55 watts look like b4 i do so get those pics up!!! haha

[GetBoosted84]

Great write up, i just asked for a write up because i'll be installing a similar set soon. Two questions:

Where did you get the silicone paste?
Are the 55w ones safe?

Perma-Text High Temp Gasket Maker (I had it laying around from my valve cover gasket job)

Stock halogens run at 55w and other people on here run the 55w kit so yes. Also if you are referring if they are safe for the road then I would say yes assuming they are aimed correctly.

I would say that looks like RTV red.

Bingo

looks clean man. i am so tempted to buy a kit or two but kinda want to see what the 55 watts look like b4 i do so get those pics up!!! haha

I'll post up some shots tonight for everyone.

[GetBoosted84]

Low Beams:


Low Beams w/ Fogs:


High Beams:


Low Beam Cutoff (on slanted driveway):


And a video of them starting up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Ya355KkgE

[Sick_Boy]

looks awesome. ill be putting in my order tonight for some 55w 6000k's

[jturnbull]

Wheres a good place to order these from?

[GetBoosted84]

I got mine from here:
http://www.ddmtuning.com/hidkihidbuhi.html

[JaVa]

little off topics but anyone done a ddm 55w kit in the fogs? it says not recomended for fogs because of heat. just wondering if anyone had done it?

[Sick_Boy]

just wondering how long did it take you to get you kit in the mail?

[GetBoosted84]

just wondering how long did it take you to get you kit in the mail?

Just shy of two weeks.

Also for anyone else who orders and wants to know if they did in fact receive the 55w or 35w kit (with the slim ballasts anyway). The way to tell is by looking at the DDM logo. If it is in the top-center of the ballast, you have the 35 watt kit. If you have the logo on the top-right, then you have the 55 watt kit. I called to ask about this just to make sure since the box I got from them had no indication that it was a 55 or 35 watt kit.

[JumboBlack1.8]

hmm.....looks like I found a lil project for the weekend. Very tidy man. All my wires are all over the place :-(

[GetBoosted84]

Thanks!

[The Russian]

hmm, i heard that on the 2001's you have to run HID's through relays, cuz it can burn out some key electronic components. Correct me if i'm wrong, please, haha cuz i have the same DDM kit waiting in my garage, just haven't had time to setup the relays.

[Poopie]

these kits are rated 55 watts. that is power consumed. its the same power consumed with halogen bulbs.

[Siena]

Nice work.

For me though, will always be 4300k, either in 35 or 55W guise.

[GetBoosted84]

hmm, i heard that on the 2001's you have to run HID's through relays, cuz it can burn out some key electronic components. Correct me if i'm wrong, please, haha cuz i have the same DDM kit waiting in my garage, just haven't had time to setup the relays.

these kits are rated 55 watts. that is power consumed. its the same power consumed with halogen bulbs.

I've never heard of anyone having to do relays with a 55w hid kit either.

Nice work.

For me though, will always be 4300k, either in 35 or 55W guise.

Keep in mind that a 55 watt kit will wash out some of the color of your bulbs so if you get a 8000k bulb running at 55 watts, it looks more like a 6000k bulb according to DDM.

"What is the difference between 55w and 35w kits?
Our 55w HID kits are 40% brighter than the standard 35w kits.The 55W system ballasts are about 1 cm longer than the 35W ballasts. 55w kits tend to wash out some of the color of the HID bulb due to the light output( for example, a 55w 8000k will look similar in color to a 35w 6000k kit)." - DDM Tuning

[JaVa]

no one done 55w in fogs?

[AudiTurbo]

Which ones off this site did you get?
The first ones?

[flynnr]

why does the third pic look so pink?

[GetBoosted84]

Which ones off this site did you get?
The first ones?

The Slim ballasts.

why does the third pic look so pink?

Too much light from the high beams is my guess.

[marc1]

GetBoosted84, that is a very neat install.

You've inspired me and I'm trying to do exactly the same right now, can you give me some tips please?

The black box in the picture below, did you put yours inside the bulb housing area, or somewhere else? I'm not sure that I can get it all in there and was concerned with heat build up. What do you recommend?

I'll obviously install the ballast as you have don, in the OEM place, just checking it out now.

[bassed]

Chris I want to see these, just grabbed a spare headlight to play with for my intake setup:)

[willowtreexx]

hmm I thought with these that you had to drill a 1inch hole in the back of our housings. Like with the little piece that comes unclipped right behind the bulb.

am i mistaken?

[Seerlah]

^ It can be installed either way. The OP just took that route (similar to OEM d2s install). I don't know if he did it or not, but he could have also removed the rubber groument if it seems like a big peice of rubber that got in the way. I have a different kit, and installed it from drilling a 1" hole in the back cover for the low beam. Besides, my ballast is too chunky to go the route he did.

no one done 55w in fogs?

If you are doing the fog lights, then go with the 35w. I would actually keep the fog bulbs for when it actually becomes foggy. Safety over looks.

[JaVa]

If you are doing the fog lights, then go with the 35w. I would actually keep the fog bulbs for when it actually becomes foggy. Safety over looks.

i have yet to have NEEDED my fogs.......

[GetBoosted84]

GetBoosted84, that is a very neat install.

You've inspired me and I'm trying to do exactly the same right now, can you give me some tips please?

The black box in the picture below, did you put yours inside the bulb housing area, or somewhere else? I'm not sure that I can get it all in there and was concerned with heat build up. What do you recommend?

Thanks, as for tips I would just say take your time aiming the headlights. I just lowered mine a slight bit lower than recommended (normally 2" drop in cutoff at 25', I have mine at about 2.5-2.6" at 25' due to a few people flashing at me.

Chris I want to see these, just grabbed a spare headlight to play with for my intake setup:)

Yeah I'll have to swing by. I still gotta see the photos you took from the turbo install! Been so busy with buying a house (we ended up buying the one in the photo I sent over to you a little while back).

hmm I thought with these that you had to drill a 1inch hole in the back of our housings. Like with the little piece that comes unclipped right behind the bulb.

am i mistaken?

You can run it that way. I didn't want to because it fit just fine thru the bottom of the housing.

[AudiTurbo]

If I get aftermarket projectors do I have to get BOW3 and HID HARNESS sold separately, or will these just plug up? Thanks!

[GetBoosted84]

If I get aftermarket projectors do I have to get BOW3 and HID HARNESS sold separately, or will these just plug up? Thanks!

Nothing else required. A few people have asked me about this. Just order part # DDMGEN from the site (The part # is the HID kit).

[JERacingPrez]

How really bright are 3000K? Would be stupid to have it has a headlight cause I heard if should for secondary lights fog/hi?

[.Mad Hatter.]

i just installed these, and they turn on when the car is on...i cannot turn them off, which is odd.

any thoughts?

car is a 97 with Valeo projector lights, and DDM 55w 4500k HIDs, of course.

[zrowcool]

does your car have daytime running lights? I'm not sure on the canada spec models but i know some did.

[.Mad Hatter.]

my DRLs would be my signals which were the only things illuminated before my old ballasts died.

im guessing that for some reason its reading now that the low beams should be the DRLs

[Emilgevor]

im running 6500k HIDs right now with 35w consumption if i were to get 6500k with 55w how much difference would that be?

is it worth the trouble of redoing them or you wont see much difference anyways...

[GetBoosted84]

im running 6500k HIDs right now with 35w consumption if i were to get 6500k with 55w how much difference would that be?

is it worth the trouble of redoing them or you wont see much difference anyways...

They'll be much more white (and bright). The higher wattage washes out a lot of the blue-look of most aftermarket HID kits.

[Emilgevor]

I have aftermarket DEPOS and i wanted to know if 55w would be ok for those because i hear that sometimes it melts the housing and the lens

[.Mad Hatter.]

is it same to assume that once headlights are aimed they are not necessarily pointed straight ahead in the sense that there could be slightly different coverage left and right?

it seems (and the aiming DIY seems to support this) that they are designed to be aimed slightly to the right, i guess so as to not blind oncoming drivers.????