HID Install - A Breeze!
07-04-2008, 05:15 PM
#1
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Land of Lincoln
Posts: 707
HID Install - A Breeze!
WOOHOO! They look great!
Quick install review of the Retro Solutions 35W 5000 HID kit.
The Retro supplied HIDs came VERY fast (2-3 days). I have to say after all this talk about 08's and cutoff and little black hoods, I was a bit concerned. But, I decided to try them out and at least give them a fair shake. My wife's ES330 has OEM HIDs and these are VERY close in driveability for sure.
Install wasa snap. Retro forgot to include directions, but the packaging has a high level wiring schematic on it...so I just went at it. I am an EE, but anyone can figure this setup out. The first thing to do it just lay the kit out on the motor and figure out where everything goes. Todd did reply promptly with a PM with a rough how-to...but I was already aiming them by that point.
Install notes:
Ballast location is crucial...so pick a spot that you know all the wires will reach while still allowing routing along facotry lines. I wound up with the right mounted to the lid of the fuse box and the driver mounted to the side of the airbox (dirty side). They are mounted with high-end zip ties with two little holes drilled through the mounting plastic. They look great and are extremely secure.
The bulbs do not screw tight with the stock rubber gaskets on them. Two gaskets were two much...one not enough. Hmmmmm.... After spending 20 mins wondering what to do, I built a little "washer" out of solder (medium gauge) and then put it in the gasket holder first...followed by the gasket. They screwed in PERFECTLY. Snug without being overly tight. Remember the arc bridge goes DOWN!
You can pull the radiator shield (be careful of those plastic pop rivets) and run all your wiring under there. I wound p zip tieing (what the heck did we do before zip ties) all the wiring to OEM wire runs. It looks totally factory.
The grounds are added to OEM frame grounds and the fused hot hits the accessory post on the OEM battery terminal. Everything looks great!
Test time...
Turned them on. First sec was a slight flash, and then they built for 7-10 secs until full bright. There is a slight magnetic hum from the ballasts...nothing you can hear from the cab though. They are BRIGHT! 100% pure white...no blue at all.
I did the aiming per Ford's directions and wound up lowering the beam about 6-8" at 25'. There has been some discussion about our lights not working well with HIDs and I have to say that the horizontal cutoff is EXCELLENT with near zero scattered light. I pulled my wife's Lexus up to compare and, although her cutoff was black/white, it was not much different.
We then swapped cars so I could see them head on...they look very much OEM coming down the road. Equal in brightness and no "skyward" beams of light. Driving at them head on was uneventful.
Moved on to testing on Main Street...lots of head on pases and back in front of the police department for 4-5 cop passes. Nada...no flashes...no one even noticed. A fire fighter did yell something about a "nice car brother" on my third pass!
So...for the money...a GREAT kit. They came packaged in an aluminum kit which my son quickly tok and has his DS stuff in now...he thinks I bought him the case.
Todd at Retro is a stand up guy and I have no doubt about the quality of the lights. All the connectors were OEM quality, the wires were wrapped well and it came with everything I needed (sans directions!).
Hood open to hood close time was a bit under 2 hours, but I was going slow as I had never had the hood open before (new car).
All those concerned with the discussion about the 08's not having the bulb skirt...don't worry. They work great. OEM quality at 1/10 the price.
The only down side??? Now the fogs look TERRIBLE...old and yellow in comparison! So I will run the fog's when, well, it is foggy.
Quick install review of the Retro Solutions 35W 5000 HID kit.
The Retro supplied HIDs came VERY fast (2-3 days). I have to say after all this talk about 08's and cutoff and little black hoods, I was a bit concerned. But, I decided to try them out and at least give them a fair shake. My wife's ES330 has OEM HIDs and these are VERY close in driveability for sure.
Install wasa snap. Retro forgot to include directions, but the packaging has a high level wiring schematic on it...so I just went at it. I am an EE, but anyone can figure this setup out. The first thing to do it just lay the kit out on the motor and figure out where everything goes. Todd did reply promptly with a PM with a rough how-to...but I was already aiming them by that point.
Install notes:
Ballast location is crucial...so pick a spot that you know all the wires will reach while still allowing routing along facotry lines. I wound up with the right mounted to the lid of the fuse box and the driver mounted to the side of the airbox (dirty side). They are mounted with high-end zip ties with two little holes drilled through the mounting plastic. They look great and are extremely secure.
The bulbs do not screw tight with the stock rubber gaskets on them. Two gaskets were two much...one not enough. Hmmmmm.... After spending 20 mins wondering what to do, I built a little "washer" out of solder (medium gauge) and then put it in the gasket holder first...followed by the gasket. They screwed in PERFECTLY. Snug without being overly tight. Remember the arc bridge goes DOWN!
You can pull the radiator shield (be careful of those plastic pop rivets) and run all your wiring under there. I wound p zip tieing (what the heck did we do before zip ties) all the wiring to OEM wire runs. It looks totally factory.
The grounds are added to OEM frame grounds and the fused hot hits the accessory post on the OEM battery terminal. Everything looks great!
Test time...
Turned them on. First sec was a slight flash, and then they built for 7-10 secs until full bright. There is a slight magnetic hum from the ballasts...nothing you can hear from the cab though. They are BRIGHT! 100% pure white...no blue at all.
I did the aiming per Ford's directions and wound up lowering the beam about 6-8" at 25'. There has been some discussion about our lights not working well with HIDs and I have to say that the horizontal cutoff is EXCELLENT with near zero scattered light. I pulled my wife's Lexus up to compare and, although her cutoff was black/white, it was not much different.
We then swapped cars so I could see them head on...they look very much OEM coming down the road. Equal in brightness and no "skyward" beams of light. Driving at them head on was uneventful.
Moved on to testing on Main Street...lots of head on pases and back in front of the police department for 4-5 cop passes. Nada...no flashes...no one even noticed. A fire fighter did yell something about a "nice car brother" on my third pass!
So...for the money...a GREAT kit. They came packaged in an aluminum kit which my son quickly tok and has his DS stuff in now...he thinks I bought him the case.
Todd at Retro is a stand up guy and I have no doubt about the quality of the lights. All the connectors were OEM quality, the wires were wrapped well and it came with everything I needed (sans directions!).
Hood open to hood close time was a bit under 2 hours, but I was going slow as I had never had the hood open before (new car).
All those concerned with the discussion about the 08's not having the bulb skirt...don't worry. They work great. OEM quality at 1/10 the price.
The only down side??? Now the fogs look TERRIBLE...old and yellow in comparison! So I will run the fog's when, well, it is foggy.
]
07-04-2008, 06:00 PM
#4
3rd Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Land of Lincoln
Posts: 707
RE: HID Install - A Breeze!
Yeah..I was thinking about documenting the whole thing...but the battery was dead. I will snap some installed pics tonight. I think the pics you see of them lit up are worhtless as the camera can just not capture the light correctly.
Right now...the car is getting waxed for the 4th!
Right now...the car is getting waxed for the 4th!
07-04-2008, 09:16 PM
#7
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Arizona
Posts: 623
RE: HID Install - A Breeze!
yea yea, knew someone would throw that smiley in the ring.
i've been looking at getting this hid kit. how much difference in brightness is the 35w to the 55w?
i tried pming retro thru the forums but haven't gotten a reply back (probably because its the 4th, no big deal).
i'm gonna install the hids at the same time i replace the factory grille so i don't have to worry about the hid/yellow problem
i've been looking at getting this hid kit. how much difference in brightness is the 35w to the 55w?
i tried pming retro thru the forums but haven't gotten a reply back (probably because its the 4th, no big deal).
i'm gonna install the hids at the same time i replace the factory grille so i don't have to worry about the hid/yellow problem
