Installed HID headlight Kit on Discovery 1

[Adam in NYC USA]

Hi there from the Baked Apple.

Only do this if you want more trouble. Most all HID kits are labeled off-road only and were made DOT illegal here in the US. Older posts suggest there are legal kits but as you would expect, quite pricy.

I got my hands on a H4 replacement HID kit. Pay/Plug and play. Why put them in? I wanted some more light on the open road but not be obnoxious. As much as I like the violet look (10000k and up), they are not street legal, attract a lot of attention and I don't need the eye strain.

I did not want to draw too much attention from the car thieves so I got my hands with a 4300K kit. That is what I read is most factory looking and generates the most amount of light. Not too blue but I gotta left them run on to see if there are any color changes.

On the box and in the instructions, it states a half-hour installation.
Maybe if you are driving a wet cardboard box.

You get a large wiring harness with two modest ballast and the lights with the H4 adapters. There is a male H4 connected to a control box and some relays to steer the headlights for low beam/high beam. There are two power connections that go straight to the battery.

I got my hands on the kit with the sliding shutter with the single bulb. They sound like sharpening knives when you switch beams.

They do a classification of kits H4-1 H4-2 H4-3 H4-4. The descriptions are: H4-1 is a low beam only, H4-2 is a electrical shutter to change the focal point, H4-3 has a high beam halogen bulb, H4-4 is two HID bulbs. I had contacted one of the Tiawanese manufacturers and they stated the H4-4 (that is with 2 HID bulbs) would run too hot. Maybe for a plastic headlight enclosure. On the old glass headlights on the D1, I think the glass would take the heat.

I had priorly installed an wiring harness upgrade for the headlights and had removed the voltage boosters for the headlights. Never had a big problem with the boosters, just one of the H4 sockets melted. Remember to clean those high current connections prior to install.

Parked under a shady tree with a best friend (paid him for his labor with a double burger and all the Cokes he can ingest). I had done it the sloppy way by running it around and behind the grille.

Did a test turn-on. It did not work. Figures.

First time I bought a kit with no fuses installed in the dual fuse holder. Dropped some 15 amp fuses in and continued. Turned on the lights again. They ignited and began to go thru color changes and then get bright. Let them run for a bit and then clean up the install.

Went shopping at the local big box, after feeding the ever-empty stomach (his not mine). Came out and drove back in the night.

Quite a difference on the road. 30 minutes on countryroads with no streetlights really make a good test for the lights. Nice even lighting with no bright spots and no surprises.

Every reflective marker on the road glowed brightly. Every sign was readable. Check the beam priorly for alignment and recheck them again. No stray beams going into oncoming traffic. No complaints from the driver up front but then again they did not want to be in front of me anyhow. Some white signs did surprise me with the dazzle but boy do they work.

I left the upgrade wiring in place for the state inspection.

Now for the test. Real life.

[Bleed Green RRC]

Hey thanks for the info. I’ve wanted to get HID's for the past month now. I'm glad you enjoy them.

[d2sti]

sweet any pictures of the light output?

[apbtpetey]

What kit did you get? where and how much? I might be interested in upgrading my lighting seeing how I live on the back roads and it is the time of year we see all the new born deer around.

[natvboy]

yes please share - I live in the boonies and could benifit as well ....

[Adam in NYC USA]

I dont have a digi-cam available but I will try to knock off a few photos when time permits.

As I bought the D1 and much of its stuff off of eBay, the kit also came from eBay.

It was a off an failed auction,which means the price can be much lower for the bidder than you would think.

I got it for half the going price so that worked out well for me.

I was originally looking for a Hella based system but their prices got rich.

The auction was for a McCoulloch system, which is Tiawanese based. I read some negative feedback, but it is based more on conjecture and poor installations rather than hardcore facts.

So far, they have been working flawlessly and I hope to have them for awhile.

[disco12]

The HIDs are cool.
I bought some silverstar headlights to give a look of HID but at 50 bucks.

[Badger1]

Originally Posted by disco12

The HIDs are cool.
I bought some silverstar headlights to give a look of HID but at 50 bucks.

Sorry for the highjack.

How did the silverstars work? Any difference? Gain any more light?

[Muddy Oval]

I did a conversion on my 04 Disco to HID low beams. We had huge problems with the focal point of the HID capsule being WAY far off from the focal point of the halogen. We ended up running a bunch of shims until the focus pulled in to the right place, then had a new capsule base made that has the proper offset. I love my HID's and never get flashed by oncoming drivers since the original hard cutoff on the beam is still there.

[Adam in NYC USA]

Originally Posted by Muddy Oval

I did a conversion on my 04 Disco to HID low beams. We had huge problems with the focal point of the HID capsule being WAY far off from the focal point of the halogen. We ended up running a bunch of shims until the focus pulled in to the right place, then had a new capsule base made that has the proper offset. I love my HID's and never get flashed by oncoming drivers since the original hard cutoff on the beam is still there.

I noticed one outfit out there that sells replacement HID bulbs placed on the adapters that have optimised focal points using laser placement. I am guessing that they know where on the bulb is the sweet spot and mount the bulb accordingly with the proper electrical connectors for your kit. They let you choose between Phillips bulbs and GE bulbs.

It is nice to know that that service is available.

As for my kit, I see it has specific electrical connectors on the bulb made for the starting high voltage.

Another point: The kit was designed specifically for the H4 (HB4) housing. I keep checking the beam patterns from the front and from behind and there seems to be no need for recalibrating the beam patterns so I pretty much lucked out. I remember buying some so-called H4 replacement bulbs and they had the focal point in the worng place , leading to poor illumination.

[disco12]

Originally Posted by Badger1

Sorry for the highjack.

How did the silverstars work? Any difference? Gain any more light?

they actually work very well and give about 50 light than stock driving lights also they have a blueish tint which is called superwhite. Not a true HID but works pretty good for the money.

[keptin]

Originally Posted by Badger1

How did the silverstars work? Any difference? Gain any more light?

Ive got them, I dont know if they actually put out more light, but they definatly are more white. I believe that by filtering out some of the yellow light (with a blue tinted bulb) you end up with a whiter light that better reflects off of the road and other objects. Its like pseudo-brightness. One thing I do know is that im not going back, and they are darn good bulbs for off-roading since they never burn out with all that punishment.

[TN-LR3]

i just put silverstars in my LR off-road lamps on my brushbar, and it's a difference. The white light gives it more ligh than the standard bulbs and one my trip to Atlanta yesterday those lights help convince people to move out of my way on the passing lane. also does anyone know to to make it so i don't have to turn on my brights to run he off-road lamps

[Muddy Oval]

The whiter/bluer bulbs are worse in bad weather though... the more yellow standards or even some with a yellow tint are better in wet or winter driving.
I got tired of feeding my 04's new bulbs. They both went through Silverstars as if they were free or something...

[p76rangie]

I had the blue (white) type globes and have got rid of them for the same reason as Steve said above. In wet conditions you cannot see them lighting up the road and it does not give any confidence in driving in those conditions. They may be lighting up the road, but because of their white colour you cannot see them working. I have gone to IPF X51 H4 replacement globes. They provide 2.5 times the light of the same wattage halogen globe. The best thing is that they are actually brighter on low beam than high beam. As 95% of my driving is on low beam, this is a great advantage. Due to the focal cut-off on low beam, they do not affect other drivers and I have never been flashed by other drivers for having too bright a lights. The globes pull 80 watts on low beam and 60 watts on high beam, so they do not require wiring upgrades and will not melt headlights. But they put out the equivalent of 190 watts low beam and 150 watts high beam in light. The colour of the light is somewhere between a standard halogen and the blue (white) lights.

I like them and they are 1/4 the price of HID.

Ian