Had a spare hour tonight so decided to have a bash at fitting my newly arrived HID kit (by torch light). I bought the cheapest kit available on eBay coming in at 16 quid delivered. They were very easy to fit and the longest part was figuring where best to secure the ballasts. I've never done this before and it only took 45 minutes from opening the box to turning them on (I didn't take the lights out I did them in situ). I'll take some photos of how they look when I get chance tomorrow. They are a MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT. The beam pattern is ever so slightly imbalanced but I can live with it. I can actually see where I'm going at night and they are not too intrusive. I went for the 6000 35w option on the advice of folk on here and id say they are perfect. I'm really happy with the results and would recommend buying and fitting the kit if you are suffering from poor headlights. The said kit is pictured (ignore the MBC) below. Will take some photos of how I've secured them and how they look soon as I can.

A must have upgrade IMO!

Can't understand why you'd buy "the cheapest kit available on eBay" though!

I bought the cheapest as every kit I looked at looked like the same kit that was repackaged whether it was £16 or £66. Also if they didn't hit the spot I'd only be wasting a minimal amount of money. Very pleased as yet but time will tell of their quality.
I'd be over the moon if they lasted a year.

Mint, been contemplating this upgrade for a while but like you say on not splashing out a decent amount of money if there not very good, and I wasn't too keen on getting a low priced kit if the quality of the said kit shows.

Yeah can't wait for the pictures though to give a comparison.

Could anyone recommend a middle of the road kit too? That would be great.

Heres the kit I bought below.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390840239313?redirect=mobile

Will take a few pictures when I get chance.

my cheap set of hid's are still going strong after 6 years , paid £50 for them and that was cheap then .

I bought a cheap set (£23 delivered I think) a few years ago. Bulbs wore (took ages to warm up) after a year. Decided to try a 50w set, that died very fast. After a year with cheap halogens I decided to buy some new bulbs and reuse the old ballasts, and they're working fine again!

Do need to polish up the headlight covers at some point though

Yeah my lamp covers are filthy too. Think the HIDs show how bad they really are.

Sorry about the quality of the photos but I think you get the jist....

They look a lot brighter in the photos than they are in the real world. Again, I'm really really happy with them and never expected results like this from a cheap kit.

looks good mate

Yeah, sorry... I'm just (unecessarily) paranoid!

And, I suppose even if one did blow on a long dark journey, one HID would still be better than two originals

these are to replace the high beam lights correct? (blue light indicator on the dash when you turn them on)?
I am thinking about this to cause as everyone knows, the standard lights suck specially where i live and there is no streetlights. however i am thinking MOT do these pass the test or do you have to swap them out ???

These replace the headlights (outer lights) not main beam. It will depend on your MOT Testers interpretation of law to whether it passes or not. I'm just happy I'm not driving virtually blind at night.

I have hid's on my dipped , main and fog lights (3 sets) and haven't had any problems with a mot .

Not done the fogs but I also have 2 sets, main and dipped. Never had a problem with mots either.

which model? there seem to be loads!

H1 6000k are the only ones they have in stock. Are other using the 6000 models?
cheers

no I use the 8000k bulbs for a slight blue tinge .

I had 6000k and found them slightly green/yellow but it could of been just that they were cheap
They were slimline ones

I now have some more that are spot on cannot remember the k rating but they are in between 4200 and 6000 i will have a look for the box in the attic later on, but they are Not slimline ones if that makes a difference

How are the Main beam ones? do they light up in time to be useful

I have got a spare set of headlights and i was toying with the idea of fitting a new reflector lens with the metal relay part so you get instant full beam but if they are fine as they are may not bother and just sell the headlights

See my first post mate.

H1 35w 6000k kit.

A very slight blue tinge but as you can see from the photos they emit a nice bright white light.

cheers phil, just ordered a set - at worse its a £15 punt...

I will also buy a set. Just need to check if they ship it to Sweden.

My thoughts exactly

Are the strike times on new kits any better?

I have a set on my dip that I fitted years ago. They work fine but take about 10 seconds to get to full strength. This is why I never did the MAIN beam.

These don't instantly hit full power but its only a couple seconds until they're piercing the darkness LOL!

Got an answer yesterday morning. They don't send any parts to Sweden.

Which model number is it exactly? I think I'll be having some of this!

I got the h1 6000 kit, 15 and a half quid delivered!

^^^^This one^^^^

thats a bargain at £15, i suppose you get what you pay for, the only problem i dont like about cheap hid kits is they come with the cheap hid bulbs with plastic bases which can melt due to the heat off the bulb, which arent as insulated as the metal based ones. i had a cheap pair on my alfa 156 a while back and they melted due to the plastic base then got metal ones and never had any problems.