Legal Trouble With HIDs?
 

Hey guys! I am about to order a 6000K HID kit for my protege5. Has anyone run into any legal trouble with aftermarket HID kits? I know I have to re-aim the lights, but has anyone gotten into trouble by the police?

Aim them judiciously and you'll be fine.

But operating them is illegal in every state.

i found a site that tells you how to aim them. when i get back to my laptop i'll post the link (it's in my bookmarks).

i just dont want the white glar. according to the daniel sterling website it is dangerous to put HIDs in housings made for halogen bulbs... wth

Yeah, you'll get more beam divergence with HIDs because the arc has different dimensions than the filament in the analogous halogen bulb, for which your headlight reflectors were designed. More beam divergence = more scatter = more glare. That's why I went with higher output halogens--slightly brighter than stock and a tightly focused beam.

Yeah, I agree with JoshP5. You should not put HID's into housings designed for halogens. The link provided to the Daniel Stern website has lots of good information there. I installed Osram Silverstar's (not to be confused with the inferior Sylvania Silverstar's) a little over two years ago, and they provide great light. I have owned over twenty cars in my lifetime, and the combination of the P5 with the Osrams is the best I have ever owned.

Plasmaglow bulbs ftw. Make a nice color, better brightness, and much cheaper than HIDs. Plus can't go wrong with a 10 year warranty on burn outs.

I drove behind a cop in my neighborhood for almost a mile last night - no problem. It must be only aftermarket kits that are illegal, because more and more cars are coming with them from the factory. I don't see any cop being able to tell your HIDs are aftermarket unless they open the hood (or if they happen to be gearheads).

For what its worth, I did not re-aim my headlights after installing the kit (although I probably should), and other drivers do not flash their lights at me.

yes it's oly aftermarkets that are illegal.

I haven't had any trouble with mine. But then again, in Nebraska the cops probably don't know what it is.

Also illegal in Canada :)

If you aim them as properly as possible, then aim them just a little bit lower than that, you shouldn't run into any trouble. The only people that really get in trouble for aftermarket HIDs are people that have the old-school 900x-style headlamp housings (the ones that use a smooth reflector behind the bulb with a non-transparent front glass that diffuses the light into a sorta almost distinct beam pattern (really just a big glob of light).

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID-VISUAL-...-PROCEDURE.pdf

is that a good way to aim them

That's basically the same procedure (didn't read through the whole thing but judging by the diagrams) as the daniel stern lighting guide

sterling's confused me so i'll just go by that one