[s-cars] troubleshooting aftermarket HID's

[Fred Munro]

Tom;

I might be able to provide a comparison report between a HID aftermarket kit
(in my S4) and the TT HID retrofit in my S6 if you are interested. I'll have
to shoot few more photos though.

Fred Munro
'97 S6

-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Tom Green
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 11:01 AM
To: s-car-list at audifans.com list; Erik Addy
Subject: Re: [s-cars] troubleshooting aftermarket HID's

Erik,

I think you have plenty of advice to check the quattroworld FAQ for the
cleaning and installation instructions.  It is probably the same stuff the
PO used in the original install since he replaced the glass also.  If you
are doing cleaning, do it carefully and just avoid the high beam
reflector/trim piece.  I think more damage has been done to this fragile
piece than improvement made.

Your subject indicates the present install is an aftermarket kit and
probably 35W.  If you are pleased with the light output, I would stick with
that and the 4300 K bulb temp for the closest to OEM appearance.  Some kits
will have 5000K as the lowest, which are fine also.  If you live in the
boondocks with dark roads, the additional output of 55W ballasts may be
useful, but city drivers won't benefit much.

You are getting a lot of advice to retrofit projectors into the housing.
Read all the fine print carefully, since it is not a plug and play
operation.  Some were able to pick up a well made adapter to mount the
replacement projector properly, because some innovator had made extras.  If
you are left to acquire the projectors,buy the OEM ballasts and wiring, and
adapters, you may have to  make or have a shop make them for you, and then
insure that the alignment of the projector matches the axis of the original
installation exactly.  You have not received any comparison reports from
owners that used an aftermarket kit and then "upgraded" to Audi projectors
from another vehicle and provided an objective report on the performance of
the two.  I don't have one either.  : )  I do compare my 2003 A4 factory
HIDs that were a $1200 option and see little difference.  But, you can
easily make your own cost comparison for making the change.  At $35 to $40,
many have written off these kits as "chinese junk" because nobody can
produce a kit at that price that can compare when the german bulb is $400.
Hmmm, I think the problem is a different one.


Your intuition about kits is correct.  If your troubleshooting finds a bad
bulb or ballast, your best course is to buy a new kit and replace all.  As
the bulbs age, the color changes, so all recommendations are change both
bulbs.  You will find that just buying bulbs will cost about the same as the
entire kit.  The performance of about all these kits are about the same, and
the warranty service also.  Since most replacements require you to foot the
shipping bill, just buying a second kit and self-insuring is a better
approach.  I have used these kits since //SFest 2006, without a single
issue.

http://www.vvme.com/hid-conversion-kits

I have seen them on ebay for a few dollars less, but this has to be getting
close to the bottom of the market.


On Tuesday May 1, 2012, at 2:09 PM, Erik Addy <erikaddy at yahoo.com> wrote


> The PO installed euro lenses and HID's my S4, but the drivers side 
> just quit working.
> ?
> Is there any easy trouble shooting technique to discover if it is the 
> balast or bulb capsule?? Or am I just better off buying one of those 
> cheap DDM HID kits and replacing both sides?
> ?
> I suppose 4500K would be the best lighting performance?? 35w or 55w??
> ?
> Thanks,
> Erik

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