Heon Xenomatch/ HID fog lights...

[skiboats]

Back in September I bought a pair of Hoen Xenomatch H3 fog light bulbs. For 40 bucks I thought they looked pretty good and matched my headlights a lot better than the stock bulbs.

A week and a half ago the drivers side puked. I emailed Hoen and they sent a replacement, took a little over a week to receive. I installed it yesterday.

Last night I noticed that the new bulb was quite a bit brighter than the other one.

Today the passenger side quit. Is 3-4 months the life expectancy of an H3 bulb? I have read quite a few posts on the subject.

I think I am going to upgrade to HID fogs. Seems the price has come down a bit.

In Twinspoppa's post PhillyX 5 mentioned these http://hidny.com/product.sc?categoryId=37&productId=86

Has anyone else tried them? Are they really P & P? I am not to keen on splicing. Seems Twins had a wrestling match with a cheaper set from DDM.

Any input appreciated!

[TheBosphorus]

Hoen The silver paint on the tip of the Hoen bulbs I bought from them chipped and fell and they didn't do anything about it.

[skiboats]

Anyone? Twins, Philly?

[Philly X5]

Originally Posted by skiboats

Back in September I bought a pair of Hoen Xenomatch H3 fog light bulbs. For 40 bucks I thought they looked pretty good and matched my headlights a lot better than the stock bulbs.

A week and a half ago the drivers side puked. I emailed Hoen and they sent a replacement, took a little over a week to receive. I installed it yesterday.

Last night I noticed that the new bulb was quite a bit brighter than the other one.

Today the passenger side quit. Is 3-4 months the life expectancy of an H3 bulb? I have read quite a few posts on the subject.

I think I am going to upgrade to HID fogs. Seems the price has come down a bit.

In Twinspoppa's post PhillyX 5 mentioned these http://hidny.com/product.sc?categoryId=37&productId=86

Has anyone else tried them? Are they really P & P? I am not to keen on splicing. Seems Twins had a wrestling match with a cheaper set from DDM.

Any input appreciated!

Hey,
The wiring connections are all plug and play. The only thing that I modified was rear fog light covers. I had to drill a hole in them for the new wiring but the kit came with the rubber insert that covered that completely when everything was connected (I used some clear silicone all around just in case) Also I left my original connectors/wiring for the fogs intact just in case if I decide to go back to non-xenon but that wont happen -
I love the xenon fogs and been using them every day for the past two weeks - no problems at all I got 6000K kit with H3 bulbs, perfect match with my xenon headlights.

I will take some pictures tonight...

[Essam Khafagi]

DDM kits are awesome and very cheap (Apexcone)
I have two on my E46 and one on my E53
They are just very slow in shipping and response. I bit they are very busy due to the large number of orders they receive.

[X5Dawg]

Skiboats - I took the same route you did. Started with the Hoen bulbs and ended up with HIDs. Just as you, I was replacing the Hoens every couple of months. I think it is more to do with the bulb type (H3 design) rather than the mfg. bc I continued to have issues even with other brands.

Therefore I purchased the HIDs - mine were also the Apexcone/ DDM. I also had to modify the rear cap - very easy to do. Just need a sharp drill bit and a steady hand.

I still have an issue with mine though. The lights do not always fire up on first push of the foglight button. Most of the time it is only one that does not light up (either side), but sometimes it can be both. Usually fixed by turning them off and then back on. I have installed the anti-flicker units and this did seem to help some, but did not totally resolve the issue.

Anyone else having this issue or might know what my problem is??

[skiboats]

Thanks.

I talked to someone at HIDNY... a little hard to understand but she said easy to install and had them in stock. They are not far from me, so I think I will order a set and report back

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by skiboats

Anyone? Twins, Philly?

Sorry skiboats ... didn't see your post until now.

I called DDM and they said I need these to resolve my problem:
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.c..._2034_18608070

Warning Code EliminatorSome 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.

Mister2 said he needed something different (relays?) so not sure if these are what he was talking about (I don't think so). The Warning Code Eliminator is supposed to fix my 2 problems:
1) Lights wont' stay on (just flicker)
2) Get message "check fog lamps".

They are another $40 plus shipping so $50 more which comes to about $100 total. The guy I talked to said that I basically need this with ANY of their kits - mentioning it's the X and not the kits. Don't know if I believe that but have ordered it.

On another note, I have xenon match Hoens from mtX5 that he gave me when I helped him with his HID fogs. They are H3 though .. not H11 which are for 2003+ if I'm not mistaken. You can have the pair for $20 shipped. Just PM me.

I'll update my post once I get them in about a week. If you get those other ones from HIDNY let us know how it goes. If it works without giving you startup and error messages as noted, plus no extra relays/error cancelling required, then maybe that's the real deal for about $100 - not bad I say.

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by X5Dawg

Skiboats - I took the same route you did. Started with the Hoen bulbs and ended up with HIDs. Just as you, I was replacing the Hoens every couple of months. I think it is more to do with the bulb type (H3 design) rather than the mfg. bc I continued to have issues even with other brands.

Therefore I purchased the HIDs - mine were also the Apexcone/ DDM. I also had to modify the rear cap - very easy to do. Just need a sharp drill bit and a steady hand.

I still have an issue with mine though. The lights do not always fire up on first push of the foglight button. Most of the time it is only one that does not light up (either side), but sometimes it can be both. Usually fixed by turning them off and then back on. I have installed the anti-flicker units and this did seem to help some, but did not totally resolve the issue.

Anyone else having this issue or might know what my problem is??

I'd call DDM and see what they have to say. They'll probably say you need either the relay, that mister2 was talking about, or that warning code eliminator. Sounds more like you need the relay which also costs less than the warning code eliminator.

Good luck on resolving it and let us know any changes.

Oops! I see now that you already installed something ... the anti-flicker unit. What is it (link please) and did you get it from DDM? If so, then I don't know ...

[TwinsPoppa]

Skiboats and every one ...

Couple things I should mention:

1) These kits (the kits I've had experience with and from what others have psoted) are really pretty easy to install as most can only be wired one way. The polarity problem (if you encounter it) are easily resolved.

2) You'll probably spend more time removing the fog lights and the fog face plates (bumper covers) than installing/connecting the kit - especially if you're not familiar with removing those covers (hint: just grab the upper edge and pull).

3) Because of the different fog light used, facelift X5s will NOT need the caps drilled. The reason is there ISN"T a cap on the facelift fogs. You just connect the light directly to the fog light without having to remove a cap on the older fogs. I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure I'm remembering this correctly. I will double-check when I install the warning code eliminators.

So, pre-facelift fogs are the only ones that need the caps drilled!

4) Maybe I'm jumping the gun on this one but I don't think you need to worry about blinding people with HID fogs (even with the non-projectors) because there is an aiming adjustment on the fogs.

5) On my facelift X the 6000K HID fogs are whiter than the OEM xenons (they don't match). I'll be looking to "upgrade" to 6000K xenon bulbs to match the fogs and angel eyes.

If I knew ahead of time what I really needed, I would still do this mod. I just need to see how much brighter HID fogs (to my eyes) are compared to stock. The older projector fogs seem VERY bright but I'm curious to see how the non-projectors compare.