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I think I can help. Posted by B Millar [Email]  (#1109)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from B Millar) on Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:10:16
In Reply to: HID Conversion Kits, 30W v 50W Difference / Opinions, jeff02  [Profile/Gallery]
, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:24:46
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I put a Xenon kit in my 2004 9-5 (everything is the same for 1999 except for the lenses on your headlights). If you're looking to do it for an amazing increase in light output and nighttime visibility... you may want to reconsider. The difference really isn't that amazing. If you're doing it to give your car an updated "high-end" look then you will like it. I sure do.
I just did my low beams. You could do your fogs if you wanted to but for the fogs to be effective at cutting through fog it's best to keep them halogen. I wouldn't do the highbeams. One thing you will notice about these bulbs is they take a little while to "warm up." When I turn on my low beam Xenons they are very blue and take 10-15 seconds to come to full white power. I would find this really annoying in a high beam application where they're being switched on and off for short times. Check out the video I took of mine below. The warm-up period is most apparent if you let the full video buffer and then jump back and forth from when they turn on to the end of the video.
The 9-5 can handle the 30 or 50 watt system just fine. The OEM halogen bulbs are 55 watt. I think my Xenon kit is actually 35w?
As for color, get as close as you can to 4300k (that's the OEM color). In my opinion, anything hotter than that is way too blue and foolish looking. Xenon conversion kits aren't exactly Kosher for public street use and if you go really blue you are asking to be pulled over. I heard someone refer to blue Xenons once as "pull-me-over-blue." Mine are 4300k or 5000k (don't remember) and I've been driving with them for about 6 months with no problems. Then again, they don't look out of place on a 9-5, where a cop might get suspicious to see an '89 Camry flying by with them...
I did have to get a little creative to trick the filament monitoring system. The lights worked absolutely fine until I went to switch them off with the switch on the dash (I have DRL's disabled). They wouldn't shut off, but go into a rage of flickering and scary relay clicking. If I shut the car off they turned off just fine. It turns out the filament monotoring system sends a pulse voltage after you shut off the bulbs. It's not enough to light halogen bulbs, but it was enough to keep my Xenons from shutting off fully (once they're ignited it takes very little to keep them going). With the help of a nice guy on SC we figured out which pin in the headlight control relay did this, and I covered it with electrical tape to block the pulse voltage. They work PERFECTLY now. I'll post some more pictures in subsequent threads to help you out.
For what it's worth I bought my kit from a seller by the name of "supervtec." Very fast shipping, and he has a great Feedback rating. Mine was about $60 I think and I haven't had any problems with the bulbs or ballasts so far.
, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:24:46, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:10:16 <-- Viewing This Message, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:20:33, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:19:40, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:16:17, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:14:54, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 11:12:14, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:29:02, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:43:44, Sun, 8 Nov 2009 12:52:47
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