HID problem

[rrico321]

My lights were working fine before i installed the HIDs but now when i pull the knob to turn the lights on the lights don't turn on. But when i turn my high beam on, the low and high beams turn on, so i have disconnected the high beam and I have been driving around with the low beams turned on by the high beam switch. The mechanic says it could be the knob but i think he installed them wrong... does anyone know what could be wrong?... sorry if its a stupid question.... Thanks

[Dougy Fresh]

you definatley installed them wrong, try switching wires around and see what works before you solder the wires.

[LeeVuong]

Hey Rico, I am surprised you found HIDs for the e30 and I wonder about the quality. What tells you that you performed the installation properly?

[rrico321]

well i didnt install them ... the mechanic installed them.... i have them in smily projectors so i think he installed them wrong

[UNHCLL]

You'll be able to get answers if you give people all parts of the equation...

1) What year is your car?
2) Did you just install the european smileys with the HID's?
3) What headlights were in your car before this?
4) What HID kit did you purchase?


Chances are, if the car had sealed beams before... the mechanic didn't jump the right pins on a relay to make the lights work as needed. OR they didn't wire the low beams into the proper wires from the OE harness...

-Chris

[LeeVuong]

I would like to pin point that HIDs need a secondary electrical system. Ballasts to feed the HIDs are also required. Are you sure that your mechanic knows what he was doing?

Do you have any link to the kit you bought?

[UNHCLL]

I would like to pin point that HIDs need a secondary electrical system. Ballasts to feed the HIDs are also required. Are you sure that your mechanic knows what he was doing?

Do you have any link to the kit you bought?

HID's do not need a secondary power source.
You can directly wire the ballasts into the OE harnesses and have correct working HID's. I've done it in my car. There are "myths" of cars catching fire due to these installs. I've never once seen proof of this happening, coupled with the fact that 75% of all HID kits are produced by the same companies and are being used by many many aftermarket retro-fitters, and suddenly the "story" becomes a true myth. If there are any incidents of this happening, I bet it can be traced back to a poor installation & installer error.

Also, its clear the bulbs/ballasts are working, as they are lighting up in the High Beam mode.

[chutrain]

I've had McCulloch HIDs on all of my cars and not once have they had any problems. One of the ballast started to become sub-par and the seller sent me a new one free with just shipping costs. McCullochs are completely plug-and-play so there are no splicing wires. I switched from 9006 bulbs to H1 bulbs and never had to switch the ballasts.

I have a pair of brand new ballasts for H1 (which can be spliced in or find the right adapter) and a pair of 9006 bulbs that were in the car with minimal usage. PM if anyone is interested.

[rrico321]

i just installed European smilies and it had sealed headlights the ones without the projector.... 91 m3... the hids come with start blaster and everything its supposed to be plug and play but i don't know why they only work in high beam mode...

[UNHCLL]

I've had McCulloch HIDs on all of my cars and not once have they had any problems. One of the ballast started to become sub-par and the seller sent me a new one free with just shipping costs. McCullochs are completely plug-and-play so there are no splicing wires. I switched from 9006 bulbs to H1 bulbs and never had to switch the ballasts.

I have a pair of brand new ballasts for H1 (which can be spliced in or find the right adapter) and a pair of 9006 bulbs that were in the car with minimal usage. PM if anyone is interested.

McCullochs are ONLY plug and play for cars that came with 9005/9006 US Elipsoids to begin with. It doesn't matter what kit you purchase, if you are retrofitting any sort of HID onto a sealed beam car, you will not have a plug & play kit.

i just installed European smilies and it had sealed headlights the ones without the projector.... 91 m3... the hids come with start blaster and everything its supposed to be plug and play but i don't know why they only work in high beam mode...

The mechanic spliced one wrong wire.
The wire they spliced the main power for the Ballast into is the high beam activated wire.
There are 3 wires that connect to the sealed beam low beam headlight...

Ground
Low Beam Power
High Beam Power

The mechanic has spliced the power lead into the high beam activated power lead. They just need to switch it to the low beam lead. The ground connection is already correct, so it's not rocket science on how to do it.

Now, once they've corrected this mistake, they may find that the low beams turn OFF once the high beams are activated. If this is the case, they just need to add a jumper wire to one relay in the fuse box.

Here is a link to a detailed write-up of the process: http://www.abrahamsmotorsport.com/ee.htm

HTH,
Chris

[m000240]

Ok, I have this exact same problem. The link in the post above is dead, so does anyone any idea what went wrong?

I installed Euro Ellipsoids & a DDM tuning HID kit. The car is a 1990 which previously had sealed beams. I used the supplied adapters with the Euro Ellipsoid kit.

Thanks.