1979-1993 & 94 Conv [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I can't believe they are if they are for $14.95 or that ballpark. A true HID conversion will be about $100 or more.
True HID headlights use an arc lamp...hence the name HIGH INTENSITY DISCHARGE. What happens is that within a Xenon filled quartz bulb are two electrodes. A high voltage power supply generates a white-hot spark between the two electrodes. The spark produces a full-spectrum ultra-white light ouput. HID lamps are commonly used projectors big and large, from the little DLP projectors at your computer shop, to the big movie-theater projectors.
HID bulbs do not have filaments!!!!, and they also need power supplies to step up the voltage. I am not sure if true HID systems could exist for the 900's headlights because they combine the high and low filmaments in the same bulb. The issue is that on most HID systems in other cars, the low beam headlight is HID, while the high-beam headlight is a standard halogen colored to match the HID low-beam. Why? This is because the high beam headlamps are cycled on and off frequently. HID headlamps take several seconds to warm up to full brightness, and their lifetime is significantly reduced through frequent cycling. A typical driver can be switching the beams between high and low frequently while under way.
In a combined-beam headlamp system such as on the 900, the low-beam filament shuts off when the high beam filament is turned on. There wouldn't really be an easy way to combine both a HID arc bulb for low beam and a standard halogen bulb for the high beam into the same headlight lens/reflector assembley, especially where a previous single halogen bulb existed. Some re-wiring of the vehicle would also be needed, so that the low beam would stay on with the high beam.
Only two ways to solve this problem really exist. One way is to just install a single low-beam HID headlight lamp into the existing reflector/lens. The other would be to replace the OEM single reflector/lens/lamp holder with a dual reflector / lamp holder/lens assembley. One for high, and the other for low beam.
For now, I'm just sticking to my Sylvania silverstars which are the next best thing...and are only $18.99 a piece and require no re-engineering of the lighting system!
posted by 70.16.252...
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