This is a thread built specifically to answer many of the frequently asked questions about HID lighting on the xB.
First, lets cover what HID means. HID means (High Intensity Discharge). the light production of a HID bulb is resulted in a sustained arch of high voltage electricity that excites xenon gas that is inside of the HID bulb.
What is our stock bulb size? the answer to that would be 9003/HB2 with a H4B 3 prong harness connector.
What is the meaning of Kelvin temps? some people believe that the different temps are what tells you how light production is resulted. this is wrong... the Kelvin temps are just the reaction of how much xenon gas is used in the bulb. the more xenon gas, the higher the gas density which means the higher the kelvin temp will be. the higher the kelvin temp, the bigger the difference in color. with colors between 3800 - 4200K being around what a stock halogen light looks like, colors above that start to go into different color bands of the light spectrum. 5000K-ish being a pure white, 6000K-ish being crystal white, 7000-8000K-ish being a crystal white with a hint of blue due to the kelvin temp going into the higher light spectrum zones. 9000-12000K being the zone of which the hint of blue turns into a brilliant blue. 13000-15000K is where the blue starts to turn purple and pink. 15000-30000K is the zone of light pink to a brilliant hot pink. generally, after around 5000K temp, you go from having some of the highest amounts of LM or "luminous flux" will slowly start to drop down again. your average 5000-8000K HID bulb normally has a LM rate of between 2700 and 3300, the lower being the higher Kelvin Temp. do note though... even it's lower, it is still nearly 3 times the amount of light production than what the original halogen light could produce. also know that there is a temp increase over the lifespan of the bulb that normally adds on roughly between 250-500K extra kelvin temp as the bulb get's older, this is why most replacement bulbs are sold as pairs.
can i modify my HID setup? yes and no... yes at least to a point that if your source power wire isn't long enough, you can extend it to me longer. yes at least to a point if the wire between the ballast and the igniter is not long enough to reach your bulb. a BIG no if it means extending the wiring between the igniter and bulb, you don't want to mess with the wire between that point being that it sees a large 23,000-25,000 volt discharge from the igniter to the bulb. most aftermarket kits that have a ballast and then an igniter after that, normally have about a 4-8inch length of wire from the igniter to the universal AMP clips that go to your non-rebase HID bulb. some HID aftermarket HID ballasts have the igniter built inside of the ballast, that means you should cut or extend the out going signal wire that goes to the HID bulb what so ever UNLESS you intend on putting a different style of harness clip at the end of the wire. this all being said, the reason you shouldn't do this to that specific section of wire is both because of the high voltage and because the length of additional wire will tamper with the original load that the ballast normally sees when in operation. putting extra load on the ballast will shorten it's life span and the bulbs life span since the bulb is now not receiving the proper load. if you are using a D2S/R style hybrid harness and igniter, there are adapters
here under "D2 to AMP adapter". the wire length of that adapter is acceptable but it would be better off after you receive it, that you shorten the length and reconnect the ends via soldering and shrink wrapping twice over to ensure electrical isolation from both poles due to the extreme high voltage passing through those wires.
What is "Glare" and how do i cancel it out? this is a simple problem that is over looked many times. Glare is what happens when there isn't the proper blocking of light on one side of a given size HID bulb. industry standard bulbs from Philips and whatnot normally come with a block plate on one side of the bub housing that sort of wraps around in a semi-cylinder shape around the bulb to block one half of it's light projection from bouncing off the wrong parts of a given reflector or projector. when this plate isn't here, it tends to add a tremendous amount of "glare" which is extra light projection that goes into on coming traffic line of site... most people can recall this one they get flashed by other drivers even though they have the low beams on. that is what glare is... if you have bulbs that don't have the blocking plates, you can simply take a piece of thing sheet metal and make your own blocking plate. the plate most be on the bottom side of the bulb, the light projection of the bulb most not hit the lower side of the reflector/projector, otherwise it will be disbursed upward into oncoming traffic eyes.
Are my HID's water proof? if so or not, how do i mount them and protect them? no, they are just barely water resistant. HID ballasts are normally housed inside the headlight housing when it comes to an OEM application so they are normally safe away from water. the easiest way to fix this is to buy a couple small plastic containers that have just enough room to fit the ballasts inside. grill or cut a couple holes for the wiring to go through. put the ballast inside and fit the wiring through the holes. after that, take some JB weld or RTV and seal the holes with the wiring going through then seal the opening seam of the container it's self. now, on the outside of the container, you're going to want to use some JB weld and adhere a piece of plastic to the back of the container so that you have something to mount the container down to your engine bay/chassis. you DO NOT want to use sheet metal strews or any metal screws of any kind going through the container that may be touching the ballast at all. due to the higher voltages and depending on where you mount the ballast, the grounding of the ballast and the grounding of the vehicle's electrical systems are completely different and if they conflict with one another, the igniter's 23,000-25,000v discharge could wipe out all your vehicle's electronics OR your vehicles grounding will conflict with the ballast and the ballast will fry. so you'll want this added piece of plastic on the outside if the container doesn't have it's own little holes on the OUTSIDE. if it has holes on the outside for mounting purposes, THEN you can use metal screws, rivets or zip ties. you can also take some RTV around the seal edges of the ballast it's self to help seal off water. the connector around the bulb / igniter or clips between the igniter and bulb should have some of that sealant gel normally used on factory headlight bulb to harness installations that helps keep water out. also, you'll want your igniter to be inside a sealed container of it's own aswell. if you're using a D2S/R style OEM igniter clip, then the only thing you should need is the sealant gel. don't overestimate/underestimate the capability of your HID ballast system.
Do i need new relays for my HID kit to work? no, the stock lights are much more power hungry than the 35watt HID kit that you are putting in there. if anything, you're giving your relays a break for once.
Is an HID bulb just like any other bulb? no, it's VERY delicate and VERY sensitive to outside forces. why you just touching the outside of the bulb can cause it to burn out because the oils on your skin will stick to the outside of the glass and the glass will have different expanding and contraction points and will cause it to crack which will release the xenon gas that produces your light. HID bulbs also react heavily to excessive use, turning them off and on. say if you have a dual light headlight housing, where your low beam is your HID and your high is Halogen or another HID, you switching back and forth from low to high and back again will be very hard on the HID bulb do to hot starts. this will decrease the life span of the bulb but not to worry, if you're using HID's, the likely hood of you ever using your high beams ever again will be EXTREMELY low... also, hot starts on HID bulbs also cause a differential load on the ballast and can harm it too, this is why Bi-HID bulbs are out there. they come with a special motor on the back that moves the blocking plate back and forth to block or allow more lower reflecting light through the lens which translates to high beam zones. if you have projector housings, simply take your headlight housing apart and pull out the blocking plate out if you wish to use Bi-HID bulbs and let the bulb's blocking plate do the work for you.
My Sonar headlight housings say "not to use HID bulbs" yet i had an HID kit installed on them, is that a problem? no, that sticker is only there to let the consumer of the non-HID versions of those housing to not use HID bulbs because there is no ballast system for you to use your HIDs properly. it's just a liability thing against retarded people.
