HID lights on a P38

"Nige" Said

I had a set on my P38 for a few weeks, you will get a "bulb failure" warning if you use main beam, apart from that I had no problems.

Apparently, if you go for the more expensive twin-filament bulb types as opposed to the cheaper single filament with moving shroud for hi-lo, this gets around that issue. It also means that should one blow, you don't loose hi and lo together on that side. Have a look at hid-direct on google, sorry I can't remember the exact web address. Badger.

A more useful question might be "will they still work after the first time I give them them a fecking good dunking whilst playing in puddles?"

Does a P38 have the rapid (as in bump following rather than electrically adjustable) self leveling headlights that lamps fitted with HID bubbles should have?

P38's have fully auto level susp.

EMB Said

The ballasts on the set I bought have rubber seals everywhere and the documentation supplied suggests they are water resistant.

TBH, if you go that deep in a P38 the headlights will be the least of your worries. __ Andy

Wouldn't you need some form of aux lamps for the headlamp flasher?

People Hi,

Proper HID kits are very effectively protected from water or humidity.

As for how sensitive they are to a bumpy ride it is enough to say that they have no filement and therefore the light emiting elements quite simply are immune to vibration. This does NOT apply of course to the moving focusing center type of bi-xenon lighting elements ("bulbs"). But the proper twin "bulb" type for H4 hi-low "lamps" should not have a problem.

The ballasts are a different story and I guess it mainly has to do with the quality you pay for.

Just remember that proper HID lights are self leveling and also come with light cluster cleaning devices (water spraying jets or wash/wipe).

Fitting them to a P38 should not create a problem though since the self levelling suspension should (in theory) keep the light pattern where it must be so that it does not blind oncoming traffic from the other direction and wash/wipe was usually fitted from the factory (at least here in Greece)

Take care and Happy Holidays Seas> > > >

Not the same. I very carefully worded wot I wrote... ie. the headlight units themselves adjust rapidly to the attitude of the vehicle so that the lights don't dazzle oncoming vehicles when you hit a bump.

Watch the head lights of a car with HID lights when they switch the ignition on and you'll see the units go through a calibration cycle.

I'll admit to not being 100% sure that it would be "illegal" to fit HID bubbles without the appropiate self leveling units, just a heads up. With a lot of things you can buy for cars just because you can buy them doesn't make them legal for road use.

Seems if you have self levelling suspension and headlamp washers aftermarket ones will pass an MOT - provided the beam pattern is ok on the headlamp alignment tester. My SD1 was fine. But it also has later headlamp units not for an SDI. Of course it will depend somewhat on the individual tester as all such things.

They allegedly arc straight up, allowing the flash function to operate as normal Dave. I'm considering fitting them to my 110 which has 4 spots on the roof and another 4 in a pod on the bonnet - all wired via relays to flash with the high beam, so no probs there even if the HID's don't arc straight up. Badger.

Only illegal insomuch as a violation of type approval for the vehicle and Construction & Use regs.

Headlamp wash is not an MOT testable item, so wouldn't be a cause for an MOT fail on a vehicle equipped with HID's. Nor is the auto lamp levelling checked. If the lights work and pass the beam test, then it's a pass. A scrupulous tester may issue a pass and advise if he realises they are HID and don't have wash/levelling. Badger.

Can you recommend some matey? Took it off roading today, it performed stunning, even had one rear wheel hanging four feet in the air at one point!!

;)

Mine flash brightly when 'struck' then gradually get up to full wick in about a minute. But my experience of this type of lamp in film use is they don't like being switched on and off rapidly - as you might do when flashing. They might possibly protect themselves against damage by shutting down but then you've not got a flasher.

Yes.

I'm well impressed with mine which were bought off ebay a couple of years ago for just over 100 quid including postage - and they've got cheaper since then. I ordered 4300k ones so they didn't look too blue and although the colour rendering is poor (rear number plates look slightly green) they give a decent light for driving - better than the 100w tungsten they replaced.

On or around Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:34:40 -0000, "Badger" enlightened us thusly:

Of course, you know that you're supposed to have headlamp washers and auto-levelling on a UK vehicle for HID to be legal...;-)

On or around Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:15:49 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Liquorice" enlightened us thusly:

as far as I know, yes, it is. That doesn't stop people.

there's no good reason for 'em, either. Ordinary 55W halogens are plenty bright as dips, and having anything brighter is in fact counter-productive. Most modern dip lights are brighter than they need to be and cause unnecessary dazzle, making it very hard to see unlit objects.

As for main beam, if you haven't got enough light for high-speed motoring, a pair of decent spots makes a lot of sense, rather than making the existing lamps brighter.

One mod I do find very worthwhile, and that's arranging for the dip beam to be on at the same time as the main beam. This can be done with one or two relays, depending on the vehicle. All you need is a supply to feed the dip beam, NOT running through the normal light switch, triggered by the main beam.

When on main beam, the dip beam fills in the bit fairly close to you, especially when going over crests in the road.

On or around Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:06:28 +0000, AndyC the WB enlightened us thusly:

were they genuine 2-element ones, or the kind with one HID and one halogen?

Bloody hell, have you seen the lioght output of the P38? It's utter shit, I'll try a set, if they blind folk, I'll sell 'em.

I am surprised my DII is excellent and I don't think it has anything other than factory fit halogen bubbles. There again a Range Rover is a townee car for lit and surfaced roads. B-)