Buying EU/AU parts from outside the country

[murcod]

Curious, what car did you have with factory HIDs that you did not think was better than halogen?

"The lighting difference wasn't that huge" 2005 Renault Sport Clio Cup.

I found the blueish tinge of the light not as good (to my eyes) compared to the Osram Nightbreakers fitted in the wifes vehicle. There wasn't that huge a difference to the lit distance (remember I'm talking factory HID low beam only.) Like I said, I'm sure an aftermarket HID kit would make a huge difference, but it is most likely due to the beam pattern/ intensity no longer meeting the required laws and potentially at the expense of other driver's safety.

[KuroNekko]

i have 5000k in mine and i love the way it looks... if i keep this car i will be getting a retro fit done to the headlights.

I would love to see a comparison of a retrofit vs. a normal projector housing.
I know people have retrofitted headlights using Audi parts in other cars, but compatibility seems like an issue to consider.

Retrofitting requires baking the headlight in an oven, separating the lens from the housing, removing the projector apparatus, installing the retrofitted housing, and then sealing the headlight back up. Too much of a hassle to me unless there is a HUGE improvement in the output distribution.

[~tc~]

The factory projectors have a pretty sharp cutoff.

When my bulbs burn out, I will probably do HID with no fear of blinding oncoming traffic

[11zukizashi]

The position that the light is produced relative to the mounting surface is slightly different from an HID bulb to a halogen. there is no substitute for a housing designed specifically for either one

[Northernstar]

Curious, what car did you have with factory HIDs that you did not think was better than halogen?

"The lighting difference wasn't that huge" 2005 Renault Sport Clio Cup.

I found the blueish tinge of the light not as good (to my eyes) compared to the Osram Nightbreakers fitted in the wifes vehicle. There wasn't that huge a difference to the lit distance (remember I'm talking factory HID low beam only.) Like I said, I'm sure an aftermarket HID kit would make a huge difference, but it is most likely due to the beam pattern/ intensity no longer meeting the required laws and potentially at the expense of other driver's safety.

If you dont want to see the blueish tinge, try to stay below 5000K. From what I have heard, Anything over 5000K will add blueish/purpleish tinge to the light output

[murcod]

They were factory fit (there's no "option" for selecting the colour temperature of HID's on new cars! )

But I agree that something around 4500k seems "neutral" with no blue. I've certainly found that with LED lighting at home.