A couple of last points regarding HID lighting and retrofits:
1. Although no OEM ballast manufacturer makes ballasts for on road use greater than 35W, 50/55W aftermarket ballasts are widely available. First of all you must keep in mind the wattage specs on the ballast aren't precise. OEM ballasts always run a few watts short of their spec, aftermarket ballasts much more so. Aftermarket ballasts are plagued by the same quality control issues as aftermarket bulbs, so again you run a higher chance of failure or worse. 50/55W aftermarket ballasts will run A LOT hotter and can produce the exact same issue as having quads if combined with the wrong projector. Very few aftermarket projectors can handle that much wattage, in fact TRS will not sell you their MH1s with anything above a 35W ballast. Even some OEM projectors cannot handle 50W, especially if one uses non OEM bulbs, and their bowls will flake away.
2. Color temperature/Kelvin are highly subjective. OEM bulb manufacturers have established baselines from which they extrapolate color. OEM specs have historically been pegged at 4300K which look white when looking at the projector but has a slight warm tint on the road. Again, much research had gone into establishing that that color is the most effective for night sight, tires the eyes the least, and puts out the most lumens. Philips started manufacturing Ultinon bulbs a few years ago which are much bluer and they were highly controversial. They were accepted by some car manufacturers whilst acknowledging that lumens were lost. Most recently Osram came out with their CBI line of bulbs (Cool blue Intense) which after about 20hrs use settle at around 5000K. They are the first HID bulb that I know of to manage this kelvin rating whilst retaining 4300K oem lumen output … in fact some say that they surpass all OEM bulbs but for the other recently released Osram bulbs called SVS. The SVS and CBI have the highest lumen output at 4300K and 5000K respectively, they also cost about $180 a set.
When you see pictures of color charts when people are trying to sell you aftermarket bulbs, believe those representations at your peril. There is no worldwide standard for what K is what color, they just wing it. In any case the higher you go past 4300/5000K you start losing more lumens exponentially, and run a higher risk of getting ticketed ... past 8000K you're just basically a High Intensity Douche.
-------------------------------------
ETA:
Member arpz on hidp posted these comparo pics, and I thought they portrayed pretty well the loss of lumens as one goes up in Kelvin temp on their HIDs.
These low beams shots are on a set of very good projectors (RX-350), with Morimoto (slightly above average Chinese bulbs) D2S bulbs, the first pic is 5000K the second is 4300K. Both pics are on iphone auto settings.
View attachment 137696
View attachment 137697
It gets progressively worse the higher temp one goes, and also once you start dropping below 4000K. The only bulbs that are an exception to this are the Osram CBI bulbs that are the first built not to lose any lumens at 5000K.
Anyway, I know that some people think they get more light with a bluer light but it's simply not the case, not in proper OEM projectors and much less in PnP kits.
------------------------------------------------
There's never been an automotive OEM bulb manufactured to handle 50/55W. If you run OEM bulbs at that wattage it will significantly shorten their lifespan and they will run hotter, thus affecting surrounding components. Also, if you run any 35W bulb at higher wattage it will lower the K temperature rating. Not sure what the formula is of W to K but it I note it for the record.
There is one bulb that was originally manufactured to run at 50W. it is a non-automotive HID bulb called the DL-50 which came in a couple of variations including the infamous 'fatboy'. These have to be notched to work in tat D2S socket. They will only work right if run at 50W. The only way to get a real 50W output out of a ballast is to take an OEM ballast like AL-Bosch, and have it custom boosted, heatsinked, and potted to run at 50W. I've had this done in the past, and you're talking about $600 just for 2 bulbs and 2 ballasts. The output is insane, but you can get about 80% of that output by using Morimoto 5Five (50W) ballasts, and either SVS or CBI bulbs … but few projectors can take that amount of heat, so you might want to check if anyone has tried it on the projector you're looking at.
3. Custom modifications to shields, shield spacing, lens spacing, foreground limiters, are some of the customizations a lot of folks like to have done to achieve different color bands at the cutoff and other objectives. I know basically nothing about this stuff, so you can find out more on HIDP or by talking to a retrofitter.
LED lighting
There's no LED bulb on the market today that is a straight replacement for a headlight halogen bulb. LEDs generate a massive amount of heat, and the heatsink required to replicate halogen output in an LED bulb would be massive … certainly too big to be a straight swap for a halogen bulb. I'm sure this will happen at some point, but the tech is not there yet. And should it get there, the optics of the LED bulb, for the same reasons as an HID bulb, will fail to be compatible with halogen reflectors.
There are new LED projector modules on the market, including the brand new Hella Bi-Led module. They cost $700 a module. For $1400 you will get the same lumen output as a halogen bulb but with a pure white light.
There are other reputable manufacturers like JW Speaker who make stand alone headlamps and fog lamps in standardized sizes as direct housing replacements. Again very expensive, but very cool if you want full LED street legal lighting on your Harley or CJ7.
You an use a PnP 5202 bulb for your fogs if you want a whiter light. That light will only be for decorative purposes as the LEDs won't put out enough lumens to be functional … but then again, neither are our halogen fog bulbs.
For most other smaller bulb applications like DRL/TS/Park/Brakes PnP LED are often a cheap and effective alternative to customize one's truck.
That's pretty much all I know about HID and lighting in general. Undoubtably I am mistaken/misinformed on some elements but I'm somewhat confident I have a general grasp on the topic. The 'I run this and that' with no issue arguments will likely come back, all I''l say to that point is that technology is a matter of science and probability. The science is sound, and running inferior components increases possibility of failure and damage … it does not mean that every component fails.
I hope this info is useful to a soul or two.
I'm tired ...
