The Xentec ballasts are crap. Honestly most ballasts out there are crap.

3 years ago i went with ebay halo/projecter h3 setups, 8000k lows and fogs xentec ballasts. They actually worked pretty decent for the first 6 months, some issues here and there like them not turning all the way on and stuff.

Had a ballast go out on one of my low beams so i switched the fog on that side to my low beam. Before i got a chance to order a replacement the other ballast blew. So now i was down to just the lows no fogs. Needless to say it sucks to buy a product that other people have recommended and then it be total **** in the end. Just because they work doesn't mean they work well, or last long. Unfortunately most people dont know that much about HID lighting, and neither did I.

You can easily tell by looking at the ballasts and the gear that they are some of the cheapest imported POS ballasts ever, Ive recently seen some Phillips ballasts in person and they felt so much different in your hand. Obviously in this case you really get what you pay for.

The headlights with the h3 projectors and halos were **** too, a couple years later on a garage kept car (less than 1k miles) the rubber on them is dried and cracking all over, the headlights get slightly fogged up when its humid (louisiana), and it looks terrible. and they wobble on bumps despite making braces for them. frames are junk.

Needless to say i have a pile of parts (headlights, 4 ballasts, 2 h3 lows(ACTUALLY FOGS DERP), fogs) that i wasted about 400 bucks on. The sad this is i knew better when i bought it all, but i listened to others , and it was the big thing at the time. I could easily sell what i have for a decent bit even with the known issues, but i just cant consciously do that to somebody else because i know its crap. Although i see other guys on here selling their old low end HID stuff. Im not gonna sell something i dont beleive in. They're going in the TRASH

Now im switching back to halogen(silverstar), stock whistler style lights.

The only thing i will miss is the light pattern from the projectors, the the clean blue color. The HIDs weren't any brighter than a nice set of bulbs would be in a new housing. I think people get confused because theyre replacing old bulbs and old lenses with ebay HID parts and its way better, just because the other stuff needed to be replaced or fixed.

If i were to do it all over again id stick with stock style. Get a nice set of bulbs and its PLENTY, you wont be blinding people with HIDS in stock housings which is just wrong, and almost just trendy at this point.

However if i were to go with HIDS, I would retrofit the proper projectors into stock housings and run a QUALITY ballst and bulb setup, with an ACTUAL harness and relay setup. Which will set you back at least 5-600 if your lucky.

I sincerely do NOT recommend plug and play style cheapie ballasts, OR cheapie h3 halo headlights.

 

You can get the Morimoto Mini-H1 setup for $270 and retrofit them into your stock housings. The setup includes: projectors, bulbs, ballasts, shrouds, and relay harness.

There are some write-ups in the Lighting FAQ with them. They are a aftermarket HID Projector designed to us a H1 HID Kit.

 

$270 aint bad but theres not way im gunna pay 500 or 600 for light lol. If one or two kits don't work out i'd just throw the stockers back in and forget about it. I understand some stuff you cant afford to go cheap on if you want a decent product but that's way too much coin for what its worth imho.

 

You can do it for even less, I got 4 projectors with shrouds for 120 and the four bulbs and ballasts for 60. I added some other stuff but I'd say it could be done for 200
-Jess

 

That sounds much better. Good to know . Its been years since ive looked back into retrofitting with at least decent hardware.

 

There are some better OEM options that cost a little more but still under that $500 price you were thinking. However, they take a bit more modification to install.

 

The 4 setup looks cool. Do you have any pictures of what the light output looks like from inside the car?

 

"However if i were to go with HIDS, I would retrofit the proper projectors into stock housings and run a QUALITY ballst and bulb setup, with an ACTUAL harness and relay setup. Which will set you back at least 5-600 if your lucky."

There's no way in hell I'd ever pay that kind of money for a set of HIDs. Paid $175 for my HID conversion kit and $200 for the projector headlights - Total $375. I've had this set up for over 2 years and have NEVER had someone flash their lights at me. Running the 35Watt bulbs and have ZERO heat issues.

 

I need a replacement HID bulb that I purchased from DDM Tuning about a year ago because it went out . The thing is, I can't remember what kind of bulb I got (H1, H3...I have no idea!) lol

 

No offense, I'm just trying to clarify....

If you saw my post above: You can get a good HID projector setup (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, etc) for $295 for aftermarket parts or a little more for OEM parts. Check out The Retrofit Source for options and pricing. They have decently priced packages.

Own own sponsor BLS is also working on some setups for the 1998-2002 Camaro (he already has options for the 1993-1997 Camaro, 1993-1997 Firebird, and 1998--2002 Firebird). However, his Camaro setup may cost a little more because he has to factor in his labor to install the projectors in replacement stock housings. (And of course cover the sponsorship fee here on LS1Tech)

BTW, $175 for a HID kit is way to much unless you bought OEM parts which I doubt you did since your current headlights use H1 bulbs. Most HID Kits are $30 - $60. Generally, the more expensive kits aren't any better, they are just more expensive (much higher profit margin). There are a few exceptions, but they still cost less than $175.

An aftermarket setup using Morimoto Mini-H1 projectors (bi-xenon) would be $295 which is $80 less than you spent on your current setup. This is a fairly easy install. Not as easy as just swapping housings, but not much more work than doing the Whistler mod.

An OEM setup using RX projectors (low beam only) would be $395 which is only $20 more than you spent on your current setup. This involves more cutting and modification but gives better results.

Both of those options would give better output than you currently have, but require more work on your part to install and you need stock housings that are in good condition. Otherwise, you'll have to add in the cost of new replacement stock-style housings.

I'm not trying to sound rude, I'm just clarifying the pricing to make sure people are away of some options that are out there. Some people think HID is really expensive when it isn't.

However, that being said, from what Ive seen, the Sonar projectors are adequate for many people. They are certainly better than putting HID in the stock halogen reflector housings.

 

Wow that was a long post. I wasn't aiming at being long-winded.

 

Sorry for the newbie post. I like the look of the Sonar housing, so is it possible to take a Sonar housing like this and replace the low projector with a Morimoto Mini-H1 (bi-xenon) like this?

 

I haven't seen anyone modify the Sonar ones yet, but ClownVomit modified a set of R8-style by putting in Valeo D2S HID projectors from a B5 A4/S4 Audi:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...ctor-swap.html

 

Ok, thanks for the info.