Any one with experience with this HID Kit ...

[TwinsPoppa]

Okay so received a HID Fog Kit today from www.DDMTuning. Couple of things:

1) Ordered these 12/19/08 for $39.95 + $14.18 ship = $54.13. Specifically wanted these 35W Kit (compared w/their other kits) because there were no mentions of possibly having to buy relays, harnesses and/or error-code nullifiers.
http://www.ddmtuning.com/ap55wwesa.html

2) However, I received these instead today:
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2034_18553619

First kit on this page:
http://www.ddmtuning.com/hidkihidbuhi.html

Well, I was so excited I said screw it and installed them anyways. Literally took me 10 mins. or less to install.

However, when I tried turning them on - no lights. No prob. My experience with MtX5 told me what the problem was - factory wired the pos/beg wires backwards. In my case it was a little harder to re-do as the connectors on this kit only fit one way. So, I just cut them and used wire splicers to re-connect them temporarily.

Tried them again - same results as this thread:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e53-forum/...hlight=hid+fog

Symptoms:
- Fogs continuously blink, stutter, but never stay on when the car is not running.

- Fogs blink, stutter briefly before turning completely OFF when the car is actually running.

- Dash idiot lights flicker and get the message "check fog lamps" when turning the fog light switch on. When the switch is turned off, I just get the "check fog lamps" message only.

As of right now they have never turned completely on, even trying to turn the switch on/off several times. I'll contact them and see what they say. I can't really exchange them for the ones I wanted since I modded them already. Plus who knows if they'll work like this one. Just frustrated right now.

Hey Mister2 ... I assume you got yours too. How did it go for you? If you have a fix let me know.

Obviously, I can't recommend this kit to anyone. I just wanted to share my experience, so far, so that others will know. I'll update everyone when something changes.

[Philly X5]

Sorry about your experience

I have 03 X5 4.4 and decided to do a fog xenon retrofit too. I got projector fogs from 01 X5 and bought this kit. Shipping was very fast, installed in few minutes and with digital ballasts I got no error messages and no flickering.

here is the link, someone posted it here before but I don’t remember who :http://hidny.com/product.sc?categoryId=37&productId=86

Sorry for hijacking the thread, just wanted to share my experience. The fog lights are really bright and look great. I will try to post a picture
later.

[Mister2]

Sorry to hear that man. I know it can be frustrating when you get excited about something and things aren't right at the moment. I got mine last Thursday and it was doing the same thing. I ordered a relay ($30) with mine just in case something like this were to happen. So I just plugged those in and that fixed the problem. I did have an LBF pop up on me once when I just turned the car on and the lights weren't on auto. I turned the car off then on and it never came back. I've been doing a lot of night time driving and I haven't really had any problem since. They work great so far. I would call them when you get a chance. Based on what I have been reading, they have been very helpful and normally have a fix.

I think they might have upgraded everyone who ordered apexcone regulars with the slim kits for the Christmas delays. They did this on halloween as a "treat" w/o telling people. You can ask to trade if you really want the other ones. Worst thing is they will say no. Apexcone might be less prone to this problem but that I am not sure. I don't know if it has anything to do with the slim ballast. Sorry if I'm not much of a help.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Philly X5

Sorry about your experience

I have 03 X5 4.4 and decided to do a fog xenon retrofit too. I got projector fogs from 01 X5 and bought this kit. Shipping was very fast, installed in few minutes and with digital ballasts I got no error messages and no flickering.

here is the link, someone posted it here before but I don’t remember who :http://hidny.com/product.sc?categoryId=37&productId=86

Sorry for hijacking the thread, just wanted to share my experience. The fog lights are really bright and look great. I will try to post a picture
later.

No worries ... as a rule, no thread hi-jacking is possible in my threads.

These are digital ballasts too but no go. Thanks, really appreciate your input, as this will then be on my replacement list if I can't get these to work properly. Others, I'm sure would like to know this info.

I'm going to solder together the wires in place of the splicers. If I have to buy anything major for it to work - screw it. I'll just buy another kit. I don't want to keep throwing money at it.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Mister2

Sorry to hear that man. I know it can be frustrating when you get excited about something and things aren't right at the moment. I got mine last Thursday and it was doing the same thing. I ordered a relay ($30) with mine just in case something like this were to happen. So I just plugged those in and that fixed the problem. I did have an LBF pop up on me once when I just turned the car on and the lights weren't on auto. I turned the car off then on and it never came back. I've been doing a lot of night time driving and I haven't really had any problem since. They work great so far. I would call them when you get a chance. Based on what I have been reading, they have been very helpful and normally have a fix.

I think they might have upgraded everyone who ordered apexcone regulars with the slim kits for the Christmas delays. They did this on halloween as a "treat" w/o telling people. You can ask to trade if you really want the other ones. Worst thing is they will say no. Apexcone might be less prone to this problem but that I am not sure. Sorry if I'm not much of a help.

Thanks for replying. Yeah, I don't really care if they swapped them but I do want them to work. Another $30 I guess isn't too bad if it will make them work properly.

So, you got what you ordered? The Apexcone 55W? Are you using them in the OEM Fogs? I was worried it might get too hot in there with the 55W.

I'll contact them and ask if the relay will solve my prob too (they sent me the DDM slimline). I'll also mention the wiring being backwards.

Was your pos/neg connectors to the X5 harness flipped too?

[Mister2]

Ya I ordered the 55w slim line and got those. Not much to upgrade anybody with those. I don't think I have read anybody install slim ballast here except for me and you. 55w ballast are bigger/longer than the 35w to dissipate the heat but knowing that still scares me a little about putting those on my fogs. I am planning on ordering some 35w apexcone for the fogs when they drop their prices in January. As far as wiring goes, I did not change anything. I plugged the red wire to the yellow wire and black wire to brown wire. Everything else was a one directional connection. I tested them before I did anything and made sure they worked. I hope you get this fixed soon enough. Let us know how it goes.

[mtX5]

Originally Posted by TwinsPoppa

Thanks for replying. Yeah, I don't really care if they swapped them but I do want them to work. Another $30 I guess isn't too bad if it will make them work properly.

So, you got what you ordered? The Apexcone 55W? Are you using them in the OEM Fogs? I was worried it might get too hot in there with the 55W.

I'll contact them and ask if the relay will solve my prob too (they sent me the DDM slimline). I'll also mention the wiring being backwards.

Was your pos/neg connectors to the X5 harness flipped too?

I think it will get too hot down there with the 55W. Its already hot there with the 35W. I would advise to stick with 35w...

Also, its interesting to see you had the same problem with the factory wiring the positive and negative backwards... i hope you didnt have that much difficulty this time around though.

[TwinsPoppa]

After speaking with DDMtuning, they said I needed this to solve my problems:
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2034_18608070

"Warning Code Eliminator
Some cars will generate a bulb out warning message or even turn the headlight/foglights off when connecting HID to them. Our cancellation modules fool the computer in the car and allow the HIDs to work flawlessly."

Received and installed the warning code eliminator today. Now the HID fog kit from DDMTuning works perfectly.

- No flickering at startup (in cold weather too)
- No "check fog lamps" message on the dash

I'm very happy with them now that they work properly. I recommend this mod - just know ahead of time that the total cost will be more like $100. Easier mod for post-face lift because there's no cutting required of the fog light assembly.

Thanks to Mister2 for turning me onto to these!

[Mister2]

That's great news man. I'm glad you had those issues resolved. Did you have to re-aim the fogs?

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by Mister2

That's great news man. I'm glad you had those issues resolved. Did you have to re-aim the fogs?

Right now they look a bit low to me but it's propably more from me wanting even more light forward - like the headlights!

I'll play with the aiming adjustment but I'll make sure I'm not gonna blind any one.

I'll tell you what, the first time I saw them tonight I thought they were almost a perfect match to the OEM xenons. After some time and looking more closely, these things are dang bright!

I was already planning on getting 6000K bulbs for the xenons but seeing these 6000K fogs make me really want them now - the actual light maybe less than OEM but you can't tell that to my eyes/brains.

6000K lighting just SEEMS so much brighter!