Fog / Driving Light HID Upgrade
 

I've seen a few member pics of X5's with HID upgrades in their fog lights. I have a 07, what would be the most common/best way to go about upgrading them to HID?

Lol
 

Anyone?

Pretty simple to do. You can get a retrofit HID kit for the fogs. Most are plug n' play. Should come with harness, ignitor, ballast and capacitors. You will need H11.

http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e70-forum...-fogs-diy.html

I've been contemplating this as well. I've not yet been able to verify that the H11 HID bulbs work with the reflector in the fog lights, and I also haven't found an OEM-supplier based kit yet either (i.e. with Sylvannia or Bosch ballasts).

Cheap ballasts can cause the lights to take a long time to 'warm up' and they can be tempermental and unreliable.

I may just try to find some upgraded halogen bulbs rather than fool around with junk ballasts, etc...

So, all that said, if you do find a high quality solution that works, please post it here.

Long "warm up" is something that you will experience with "digital" ballasts which is design to distribute start up load to protect your vehicle harness. With digital ballasts you don't need relays, start up load won't exceed 7-8 Amps.
Most of newer chinese ballasts (cheap ones) have pretty good reliability now, I installed 6 pairs with zero problems so far. The key is to buy ones with lifetime warranty.

I guess I prefer the quick startup with a relay.

The lifetime warranty is great, so long as it means 'we're almost positive this will never break, under even the worst circumstances.'

Any brand recommendations?

I actually just purchased the Xenoflo HID conversion kit from Bimmian. I'll post pics when installed, but looked very nice and high quality when I received them.

I had a relay and it failed after 8 months, it was paint on the a$$ to pull back all wires to replace stupid relay.
Brand name doesn't really matter since 95% if all ballasts came from two manufactures in China and Taiwan, which later get different housings and labels. So, as long as the seller looks legit and offers good warranty go for it.

Hrm
 

So is it as simple as buying a HID kit w/ H11 bulbs? Or are there some special fittings used to insert the bulb?

Yes. If you get a kit with H11 bulb that should be it. Nothing else required.

HID KITS
 

Does anyone have any good or bad experiences with HID upgrade kits? From what I've seen in Canada, pricing seems to be around the $250-300 mark in the ebay world. But as far as brand goes, which ones tend to be more reliable and well constructed. Right now I'm leaning towards MTEC or Philips, Philips obviously because of their worldwide track record as far as products goes. But I'm not sure... everyone and their dog up in BC has a HID kit, but it's quite common to see one with a non-functioning light, so quality must be a big issue.

And if I were to upgrade the H11's for my fog lights, will every kit throw engine codes at me, or is there a particular brand that may prevent that from happening. I've gotten great ideas and recommendations from these forums thus far, I hope someone can help. Thx.

About good/bad brands read my previous post. Philips and Osram are the best, but well overpriced and not sold to general public (only as OEM). Newest digital ballasts from china are really good, they actually consume less power at start-up vs. OEM (Philips or Osram), which is very important since you fogs are not designed for HIDs.

"Non-functioning light" happen when you install 55W HIDs in smaller housings and bulbs get too hot and eventually fail. Bad wiring could trigger the problems as well.

"Bulb-out" error will most likely show up with 35W ballast since normal wattage for halogen is 55W. But you can try 55W ballast which will eliminate that error.