2008 Hummer H2 HIDs, HID foglights, + offroad lights

[pteam]

2008 Hummer H2 HIDs converted 10,000K (they don't offer the hummer with HIDs but come standard with the escalade which is pretty much the same car) HID foglights 6000k , + 4 offroad lights on the roof




Picture of just the HID coverted headlights before the other lights were added:

[crazedmodder]

It's nice, that's a lot of light. Must light up the whole block

One thing though, the hummer and the escalade cannot be compared as such. The escalade has a drastically different design, it uses projectors to control the light of the HIDs and to prevent it from going above a certain line (cutoff) so that it doesn't blind other drivers. Putting HIDs in reflector headlights, especially on an SUV, is extremely dangerous and will blind other drivers, even if they don't flash you.

Projector:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...82121a-2-1.jpg

Kit:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...5080045b-1.jpg

You can see all the light that goes upwards, although a lot of people say they aim their headlights down to not blind others but by doing that you're losing light and you can never compensate for light coming out that much higher than where it should be.

Not to mention that halogen headlights are built to have two hotspots, where HID headlights spread the light out as smoothly as possible. It doesn't look brighter (they're cell phone pics) but trust me an HID projector is much better. Not only that, it makes your vehicle look a lot classier than a kit, in my opinion of course. HIDs put out more glare than halogen as well check this out:
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g3...5/DSCN1806.jpg

It's all because the housing is made to very tight regulations and the HID sits in a different position as well as emiting light differently.

Anyways, hope you don't take this post the wrong way not trying to be a dick just trying to inform.

Do you have any day shots of your Hummer? It must look mean with the grill lights and off-road lights on the roof.

[Diesel_Bomber]

I have to ask WHY?

HID capsules lose lumens as their color temperature goes up. At 10k you not only have a color temperature that's horrible for seeing and rather blinding to others, you're also not making much more light than good halogens. HID fogs are a bad idea for the same reason, higher color temp scatters more easily in fog.

Why?

[Canonista]

On my Jeep I went with the Hella Rallye 4000 HID lamps. They simply work better than any halogen bulb on the market.

Really, if you can afford HID you should be looking at them.

[lasercrazy]

10000K is crap, go get some good 4300-5000K bulbs.

[crazedmodder]

Easy guys.

Projectors first

[MichaelW]

Putting HID lamps in reflectors is completely irresponsible.
Replacing dual beams with HID lamps is criminal.

Totally frackin stupid!

[pteam]

Hey thanks guys for the warm welcome! You are an awesome bunch

Ok first of all the last gen 2002-2006 not the newest gen escalade 2007+ had HIDs without projectors. I know cause I own one its a 2004 escalade limo (I own a limo company) here is a picture of the HIDs that came standard with the car yet don't have projectors


They made these for years and I don't think hundreds of thousands of cars on the road using these HIDs without projectors is "extremely dangerous". And a statement like "Putting HID lamps is reflectors is completely irresponsible. Replacing dual beams with HID lamps is criminal."
Is more like "completely wrong" because car makers for years did it and you don't see every cadillac going down the street blinding people and cops putting cadillac owners in jail..................



Also I have never gotten flashed from my HID headlights only (not that I can remember at least) and I've had those things on for at least 6 months or more... They're pointed at the same position as factory.

The only time I did get flashed was with the fog lights on in the city, even though they're pointed almost not to far in front of the car hitting the ground they have some flood to them. So I don't use them in the city with oncoming cars, and I have no problems. And ovbiously I don't use the roof mounted offroad lights anywhere near cars / people who might die from the light, so you can rest easy tonight

My 10,000k headlights are very similar color to other cars that I have / had in the past. Here is an example of two of my other cars:

This is my porsche with the same 10,000K color HID kit and it is much brighter than before:


Here is a picture next to my lamborghini, note the lamborghini has a purple color from the factory which would indicate a color of even higher than 10,000K , but the lambo's lights are still actually brighter:




Here is a picture of another porsche I had a few years before with factory HIDs notice the color is close maybe a little lower K:




So I guess lamborghini and other car makers like audi using colors up to 10,000K or more are wrong and you are right? yet the lambo's lights are the brightest yet I've seen...

GM / Hummer doesn't even offer HID as an option on a $60,000 truck yet on the GM/ Cadillac Escalade (same engine, very similar in alot of ways including price) HIDs are standard. So if you want HIDs on the hummer this is your choice. They're not blinding people and making old grannies drive into ditches so relax. I would bet that if I did a few searches on this very forum I would find plenty of people who did HID upgrades to their cars that don't have projectors...

Lastly, it was suggested I post in this forum to show you guys my lights as I was posting in other forums about buying products from the people who sponsor these forums... I guess they didn't warn me about the how nice the people are here...

And thanks again for the warm welcome...

[MichaelW]

They made these for years and I don't think hundreds of thousands of cars on the road using these HIDs without projectors is "extremely dangerous". And a statement like "Putting HID lamps is reflectors is completely irresponsible. Replacing dual beams with HID lamps is criminal."
Is more like "completely wrong" because car makers for years did it and you don't see every cadillac going down the street blinding people and cops putting cadillac owners in jail..................

The best way I can respect you is to be honest.

If you design a reflector for a D2R or D1R, then they can be made to work with an arc discharge .[remember a filament is a precise light source, whereas the arc is a nebulous emanation of light]
MB did this with the big tank S-class.
http://faqlight.carpassion.info/hl-hid-bulbs.htm

Now if you retrofit a D2R into a reflector that was designed for a filament, that IS bad. D2S is worse.

Now a dual beam headlamp in the H2, 9007/HB5, where the filaments are parallel, being retrofitted with D2R is really bad, D2R 15% worse.

This would be less egregious with the H3, with its H13 dual beams with filaments offset both axially and laterally, because you can position the arc, as best as can be expected, in the low beam position. Some people have done similar for H4 dual beam motorcycles.


The problem was GM is a bunch of cheap SOBs.
The H2 should have a quad beam headlight system. (it is certain $$$ enough to warrant it)
Here is how they could have done it.
Where the current lamps are, replace with H4 bulbs. Low beam is low beam, DRL function is both filaments in series.
Where the current DRL lamp is, replace with another H4. High beam is the high beam filament, and fog lamp can be accomplished the same way the
http://www.talbotco.com/super_bi_oscar.htm
was achieved.

GM was more interested in profit margin.

[crazedmodder]

Please do not take offense to my postings, as I said I'm only here to inform you. I understand that everyone else jumped on you but just ignore them if they aren't providing any helpful information. All I want is to help you see this properly because a lot of people put HID kits in their vehicles without understanding how they work and become extremely ignorant when told otherwise because people attack them. I personally don't think it's irresponsible if you aren't informed, if you are informed and still do it then it becomes irresponsible

Now that that's out of the way I will offer up some explanations for you.

As he said above, those Cadillac headlights are designed specifically for HIDs, the way HIDs output light is completely different then Halogen. Halogen is a filament that is heated and outputs light in a different pattern than HID capsules which create an electric arc to produce light. There are reflector based HID lights but those are old and they are designed differently to halogen based reflectors. They also use different HID capsules (D2R and I believe D1S) that have a built in shield, there are no kit style HID capsules in use in reflectors. Older Acura TLs used them as well.

A lot of people think that because they don't get flashed their lights are fine, I'm sure if I aimed my normal headlights up enough to blind people that maybe only one would flash me. I've seen plenty of people at night with high-beams on and I'm the only one to flash them. I usually don't flash even because the people are either behind me and I'm not going to slow down to flash them or they're driving by and it's only for a second. It's not a good way to measure your lights "blindingness". Park around 25 feet away from a wall on a flat slope and you will see how much of the light ends up higher than a normal car's roof even.

For sure the HIDs will be brighter than halogen even if you pick up 10,000k because they output a lot more light, but an HID capsule at 4300k will be brighter than a 10,000k HID capsule I can guarantee you. Not only than, a 4300k HID capsule in a projector will blow away anything HID in a reflector because the beam will be smoother, wider and more intense.
Just look at your Lamborghini versus Porsche picture. From pretty much the same height and same angle of the cars the Porsche's light is a blob of light, that means that from where you were standing the light will be bright, and I will take a guess that you were standing up right (meaning your camera was probably at roof height of a normal car). The Lamborghini has a much tighter circle of light because it is cutoff at that point. Trust me it is really uncomfortable to be driving in a car at night in front of a car with an HID kit, even worse if it's an SUV because the lights are already harsh being at a level that shines into your mirrors, HIDs being brighter make it even worse.

I can guarantee you 100% that any vehicle with HIDs stock (not sure about reflector based ones but the projector based ones yeah) is using 4100-4300k capsules. The reason the Lamborghini looks purple is because of the cutoff, think of it as a prism (the lens) as it works the same way. The cutoff is the only part of the beam that is colored. Again, park 25ft away from a wall and look at the wall, the line on top will be coloured but the rest of the light will be white. That's why BMWs look blue, it's the way the projectors are designed, not the color of the light. The light on the ground will always be white. Call any car dealership and ask them what color temperature their HID capsules are, they're always 4100-4300k. The companies that actually supply capsules (osram, philips) to the car producers do not produce anything above 6000k anyways.

Anyways, there is another way to get HIDs the proper way, it's called a retrofit. It involves taking the projectors from a car with HIDs and modifying your headlight with them, that way you can have HID projectors in a vehicle that never came with them. Check out http://www.hidplanet.com, they hate kits over there (be careful) but they are extremely knowledgeable.

Nobody might be crashing because of your lights (though it is a possibility), but trust me, it would be greatly appreciated by everyone on the road if you do it with projectors.

Thanks for taking the time to read and sorry for the long post.

If anything is not clear I would be glad to clarify it, just let me know.

(BTW, a few of the other people who posted their HID kits on this site got eaten up because people rather insult and attack than educate)

[crazedmodder]

This is a projector from a Lexus LS460 using a 4300K D4S bulb and Denso D4S ballasts.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4-P8066588.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0-P8066592.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...0-P8066578.jpg

And the projector:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...4-P8066582.jpg

That was from like, 15-20 feet away. The cutoff line gets thicker from further away so if becomes even more blue, but you can tell the light that will be hitting the road will be white.

[steed77]

To do it right.... you should Retro-Fit.
Here is mine, done right

S2000 projectors, 85122+ Philips D2S, Denso Ballast



This is what it SHOULD look like.

[rudbwoy69camaro]

Putting HID lamps in reflectors is completely irresponsible.
Replacing dual beams with HID lamps is criminal.

Totally frackin stupid!

LOL. An "escapee" from a different forum IMO.

[IcantC]

PTeam, why drive the H2, when you have a Lambo and Porsche!

Another thing to note, certain cars seem to have a higher HID color, but it is due to the projector. Sometimes if you look at it from different angles or when driving, the light looks to be a different color compared to looking head on.

[pteam]

PTeam, why drive the H2, when you have a Lambo and Porsche!

Another thing to note, certain cars seem to have a higher HID color, but it is due to the projector. Sometimes if you look at it from different angles or when driving, the light looks to be a different color compared to looking head on.

heh cause I live in Ohio and 5 months of the year is salt and snow Its bad enough that sports cars are lucky to get driven once or twice a month in winter.

also one of my businesses is a limo company and the unstretched hummer (thats what we call it) doubles as one of my personal vehicles and also gets rented out. Its popular for homecoming and prom transportation and airport transportation. It doesnt make as much money as our hummer limos that seat 25 people but it makes enough to pay its own payment and more, thus I have that hummer for free

[BlueGerbil]

On my Jeep I went with the Hella Rallye 4000 HID lamps. They simply work better than any halogen bulb on the market.

Really, if you can afford HID you should be looking at them.

Same here. Love my Hellas!

[Scheinwerfermann]

Tone of voice notwithstanding, those who are objecting so strenuously to your having "converted" your headlamps to HID are completely correct, and you should heed what they're trying to tell you. "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. See here. And no, there are no vehicles coming with 10,000K HIDs —*never have been, nor any other color-temp HIDs except nominal 4150-4250K. The various blue/violet glints you see from some cars are indeed an optical phenomenon caused by the design of the projectors, not a result of a high-color-temp bulb.

[bimmer4life2009]

Wow those lights look so nice.......

[DM51]

Wow those lights look so nice.......

You posted a link which appeared to be spam/advertising. I have removed the link from your post. Please read the CPF Advertising Policies before posting further links.

[tay]

What you may find once winter comes is that the 10000K will not look very good in wet or snowy conditions. It will light up the snow, which will glare back in your eyes, but won't put much usable light on the road.

That's why many people keep yellow-white stock halogen bulbs, or yellow-tinted bulbs in their foglights. My dad has pretty decent PIAA yellow fogs in his car, and it's so nice to take to Vermont, because during a snowstorm, you switch from headlights to parking lights, and turn the foglights on. The low mounting and yellow light really illuminate the road, without glaring into the snow in front of you.

If you decide to retrofit projectors, you will still be able to retain that blue look from above and to the sides, but you'll have far more light on the road, and a much wider beam. If you're DIY-inclined, you can do it (many people on this forum have), otherwise there are several small companies that will do it for you.

Here are a few pictures of some of the stuff I've done. The photos are a bit blurry (I'm using a cheapo Canon point-n-shoot, so it isn't great at night shots). You can see how wide and bright they are, without causing excessive glare.


Note - the camera shook in this one, so there's two images of the lights - they're not actually that big blobs. notice how from eye level, they're not really much brighter than the ~8w parking lamps.



These were taken at the same time. Notice how the halogens are only bright right in front of the car, but the HIDs light up the full garage doors to the point you can't see the seams, and they light up the stone landscaping on both sides, which you can hardly see with the halogens.

The best part? Since I did it myself, this whole setup cost $250. That was for a new pair of headlights, projectors, bulbs, ballasts, and shrouds. I shopped around and got a great deal, but retrofitting doesn't have to be $600-800.

[bshanahan14rulz]

for the record, OEMs rarely use anything else except ~4300k bulbs. bmw sometimes uses higher k, but NEVER 10000k. I'd guesstimate around 5200k is the max that OEMs use.

It's not your car, so a retrofit is out of the question anyways, but be careful not to turn all your lights on at the same time, I dunno how your wiring would respond. think 20 or 30A at startup.

[LEDobsession]

for the record, OEMs rarely use anything else except ~4300k bulbs. bmw sometimes uses higher k, but NEVER 10000k. I'd guesstimate around 5200k is the max that OEMs use.

Never seen anything other than 4100-4300K in OEMs. Not in BMW, Acura, Lambo, Nissan, VW, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Jag, nothin. Could it be the projector's optical illusion of higher color temp that you're seeing? Your guesstimate just makes me wonder about it, is all Im saying.

[Scheinwerfermann]

for the record, OEMs rarely use anything else except ~4300k bulbs

OEMs never use anything but (nominal) 4200K.

bmw sometimes uses higher k

No, they don't.

[tay]

I know some older BMWs used Philips 85123 instead of 85122, but I don't know if the 123s were any different in color. I've heard that they're bluer, but I couldn't find a datasheet or anything like that.

There's also the 85122CM bulb, which is 5000k, designed to replace aged 85122s that had gotten bluer as part of the electrodes vaporized. But no car would come with them - only use would be if one bulb burnt out and owner was too cheap to replace both.