I've seen some kits costing over $2k while some people are buying them off Ebay for less than $100. What's the difference?

On factory installed HID's the light seems to have a tight, somewhat precise beam while on some aftermarket kits it sometimes appears to be just a crappy blue light or they may have that Xenon look but have a real diffused light pattern.

A few years back I installed a HID kit on my BMW for which I paid $1,000 but the light pattern was diffused. It looked much different than the Xenons that came factory installed on other 3 series cars.

 

~ McCulloch are the best kits available in my opinion ... tested and proven ...

http://www.hidkits.net/mcculloch-c-1296.html

also available on ebay for $200 ish and go with the 4,000 kit for the best factory hid color/look.

and the cheaper kit may also throw a dash light...

 

but isnt pella the best kit you can buy.

 

~ now that's a damn good window!

 

I prefer Kolbe and Kolbe myself.

Just an opinion you understand?

 

After researching the topic I discovered the difference between the expensive and cheap kits is the light housing. Placing an HID light and ballast into a housing made for halogen will give that Xenon look without the proper cutoff and beam projection. So basically oncoming traffic can sometimes get "dazzled" because the light gets so spread out.

It seemed too good to be true to get that Audi or MB look for only $250 or less. So now I need to find out if anyone makes a projector housing for the XF othe than the $2500 kit I've seen advertised.

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123...-retro-203383/

 

There isn't much differnce between the 2k$ and the 100$ ones from ebay.They just marked up the price.
But hid kits price has been only around 60$ now.

 

Since this thread already got bumped, I'll add my question to the mix. I know from searching that there have been numerous discussions on the topic, but maybe now is a good time to revisit it.

I have a few friends that swear by DDMTuning kits and at $60 it seems like it's almost too good to be true. What's the consensus right now for the best ultra white, OEM looking kit for our XFs?

 

I had $40 6000k lights on my SRT, and they were some of the best lights I had ever had. Plus I didn't have light out light on my dash, if I did I would've removed them.

 

My 2 cents : Morimoto Elite 4300K from The Retrofit Source ( $150, if not on sale )

 

Personally, I think there are much better quality products out there (such as the Morimoto), however, I am perfectly content to buy the $35 kits on eBay. In fact, I found a seller located in Maryland (close to me in Northern VA) that sells the kit with the two year warranty that I have purchased from twice, once originally with my Limited, and now with my SRT. eBay seller hidfusionstore - and no, I am in no way a sponsor for them.

The kit I had in my limited was going strong after 1.5 years when I sold the car. When I bought my SRT, one of the first upgrades I did was the HIDs. Since buying for my limited, it seems the "Slim Ballast" kits have become popular. I purchased one from a seller on eBay, and after about 3 months the right side ballast/bulb failed (I didn't take the time to test which was broken). I decided to go back to the "regular" sized ballasts and purchased the 6000K kit from hidfusionstore - no problems or complaints since.

Sure, the eBay $35 kits may not have as long of a life, but if they last 1-2 years I they would have paid for themselves IMHO.

With regards to the light output, I noticed a significant difference from the slim ballast and the large ballast kits, the large being considerably brighter. Additionally, the large ballast kit has a fairly tight light line (assuming you adjust your headlights), with only two small half crescent bumps where each bulb is directed. I have seen the Mercedes xenon headlamps which create a perfectly flat light line, however, those lights (housing, bulb, and ballasts) cost about $1200 - $1500 a light!