Listen to Cruiser. A wise one is he.

Also, think about this: The main cause of the crappy stock headlight performance is the wiring, not the bulbs. So if you think about that for a minute, you'll realize that you will not be getting all the benefit of the upgraded bulbs if they are used with the same crappy harness.

If you want the best immediate improvement, most likely, you'll get brighter output on stock bulbs with a new harness, than new bulbs with stock harness. Do the harness first for immediate improvement, and this will have you prepared for new housing and bulbs down the road when you budget allows some spending again.

I will tell you this...
Autopal E-Code housings+LMC Harness+Philips Xtreme Power 9003 XPS2 bulbs will net you what appears to the eye as about three times as much usable light over stock. The difference really is amazing!

 

I started with Rampage H4 housings and the cheap-o harness. The harness was bad from the get go so I shelved it and went with the ARB harness.

Yes its expensive but I doubt I'll ever have to replace my headlight harness anytime soon. Mounting took about 30 minutes after getting everything ready. It required no cutting or splicing in my 01 Sport and I'm running 55/60's for the time being and there is plenty of light.

 

What is it with people suggesting HID's in halogen housings lately!? DO NOT DO THIS! It is ILLEGAL, it is DANGEROUS, and it creates more eye strain due to the way that the beam is scattered rather than concentrated.

The folks who are suggesting wiring upgrades and a standard bulb in the Autopal H4 housings are the ones to listen to here. Anything above a 4300k to 5000k light temperature is outside of the spectrum of "true daylight" and is harder on your eyes. Please be considerate to your fellow drivers and don't install HIDs on your XJ.

 

Dude get real...

So an 85W low beam is perfectly fine and not breaking any laws?

As for a HID not being good for your eyes... Again, get real. You can easily get a 4300K 35W setup that in a Autopal (NON EURO) DOT housing, is perfectly fine. If adjusted a tinny bit down, has a great cut off point, has nice white light (not gay blue like all your 65/85, 75/95 yadda yadda yadda, bulbs) and uses less amps.

I would not run them on a daily driver though. There will be no true high beam, and it is brighter then stock, enough to irritate on coming traffic, just like your high wattage bulbs will...

 

You need to do some research on hid bulbs they are not designed for halogen housings they require a projector to focus the light to ensure it is not scattered thus having a good cut off pattern.

 

You didn't quite read what I said there in regards to HID's. You said a 4300k 35W setup would be fine for your eyes, and I agree there. Where we don't agree is the housing. An HID bulb that is non shielded in a housing designed for halogen bulbs WILL slag the light everywhere and cause irritation and most likely blinding of other drivers on the road.

The actual technicalities of the laws vary from state to state based on light color and actual lumens of output.

As far as "my gay blue lights" I currently have the awful factory lights in my XJ and my GTI has a proper set of projectors with a clean cut off and a 55w roughly 4800k HID kit installed in it and properly adjusted. The whole setup listed above done properly ran me about $1000, so I'd say I've gotten pretty "real".

I'm also well aware of the amperage draw differences between a halogen bulb and Xenon/HID bulbs. Any bulb in an improperly aimed housing can be dangerous to other drivers on the road, it's just far more likely to happen when it's an HID because of the change in light output (both brightness and direction/focal point of the bulb) and the housings make a huge difference.

/rant /threadjack

 

I know Many that have installed and confirmed the cut off on a quality set of Autopal DOT housings (NOT THE E-CODE Crap) with a single 35W HID conversion, in the XJ. Myself as one (yes its a racecar though), and a few of my crew and close buddys as others.

The cut off is pretty Nice, and not "scattering", as you put it, light everywhere. Ever look at a HID bulb? They have a shield that covers the lower area of the output allowing only the upper section to project to the upper back reflector and IF you have a quality set of housings (like the ones mentioned), then the reflector is positioned to throw light from the top reflector to the ground.

I am not giving assumptions as you are. I am giving 100% accurate real world experience.



Sorry to derail your thread some. I just feel its wrong for people to spew hearsay and assumptions as facts...

 

Not all HID bulbs are shielded. You are referring to shielded HIDs which, as you said, will help control the light output a bit more. There will still be some scatter of light though without a proper housing. Take a look at the road signs driving down the highway, if the retro-reflective coating on the signs 20ft above the road is lit up brightly by your lights, then you're scattering light where it's not supposed to be.

Some glare or scatter is built in to all just for the purpose of illuminating road signs, but unfortunately I cannot better explain the point I'm trying to make at the moment, the words just aren't coming to me.

As for me "giving assumptions", you probably shouldn't speak for the experiences of others. I have done dozens of hours of research on this, tested lights in different housings, and been blinded by more drivers with HIDs in improper housings than I can count. I'd be more than willing to grab my factory GTI housings and drop an HID in there and show you side by side just how much scatter there is compared to a proper projector housing if you don't believe me.

I'd prefer to not get this guy's thread locked though because we brought it too far off topic though.

 

Harness, Autopals, up to 100 watt bulbs= no problems and proven.

All this HID projector crap=possible problems.

 

The conversation took a crazy turn into HID land! Fund the apc upgraded harness for a good price, got them in order and should be in next week. I'll give that a **** then if its not to my liking then but the housings. All the HID talk had got my brain fried!

 

Glad you're back on track. You won't be disappointed. I promise.

 

I'll hold ya to it! Haha