Fitting HID Xenon Headlamp system to R75/MG-ZT

Transcription

1 Fitting HID Xenon Headlamp system to R75/MG-ZT By Ross R75 Time Required: minutes Let me first of all start by saying that this subject in itself is an area of heated debate. The basic fact of the matter is that at the time of writing there is nothing contained in the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations (RVLR) that makes fitting High Intensity Discharge (HID) Xenon lighting to your car illegal. This may change over time but at present your vehicle can not be failed on its MOT and you can not be fined by the police for having a HID kit fitted SO LONG AS IT IS PROPERLY ALIGNED. The difference in light output over halogen bulbs is astonishing, there are no conventionally powered H7 bulbs available that even come close to these. Headlamp performance is improved by a huge factor under all circumstances. Its much easier to see where you are going in poor weather conditions and reflective road signs become much brighter at night. These kits are available from a number of places, not least ebay. I got my particular kit from I bought from here because I know they are reliable due to being a previous customer. This kit is inexpensive, top quality and is fully covered by a comprehensive warranty. Considering that you can pay 40+ for a high end set of H7 halogen bulbs, the much greater performance of this system makes its price tag of 65 delivered seem like an absolute steal. Although they are shipped from China, delivery of mine took only 5 days and the package is marked as a gift with a value of $19.99 so there is no import duty to pay. Shops in the UK will charge up to 200 extra for EXACTLY THE SAME KIT! There are a number of different colour temperatures available ranging from 3000k (kelvins) to 12000k. I opted for 6000k as they are a crisp white colour like modern high-end BMW/Mercedes cars. 3000k would be very yellow in colour much like your existing headlamps but with more light output k would be purple and would definitely get you pulled by the local constabulary in very short order. I would suggest that either 4300k or 6000k are the best options, 4300k if you want to retain the classic headlamp look and 6000k for a more modern looking light output. The following pictures detail what your package looks like when it arrives:. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

2 In the next picture I ve laid half of the kit out and labelled the parts, this is what is required to do one headlamp:. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

3 In the next picture I ve laid half of the kit out and labelled the parts, this is what is required to do one headlamp: The securing of the ballast units inside the engine bay is important. Rather than start drilling holes or removing and replacing fixings already present in the engine bay, I opted to use some very strong self adhesive Velcro. It can hold up to 15kgs and its weatherproof so it ll have no problems holding your ballasts in place while also making removal of the kit a. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

4 10 minute job. The Velcro cost me 4.99 from B&Q and comes in a pack shown in the photo below: Use the spiky side for the ballast units and the fuzzy side for the engine bay. You need to trim about 2cm off of the spiky bits so that they fit on the back of the ballast: This should be your first step as the adhesive needs 15 minutes to cure properly before any loads are placed on it. Once you ve placed the spiky Velcro strips on the ballasts its time to head out to the car. Now we need to locate somewhere in the engine bay to site the ballast units. This will vary due to different engine configurations but in the case of the CDT model, I opted for the positions illustrated in the pictures below. You must. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

5 ensure that wherever you fit them is close enough to the headlamps for the cables to reach:. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

6 The next step is to remove the washer bottle neck. This gives easier access to the rear of the driver s side headlamp. Mine required a bit of elbow grease and the assistance of 2 pairs of pliers to remove but give it a good pull and it will slide out of the main washer bottle: Now you need to remove the rectangular covers in the front of each wheel arch liner. This makes the job much easier by affording easy access to the back of the headlamps. They are held on with one twist fitting. Just turn this clockwise, slide the cover up and remove them. Here is a (somewhat grainy) picture of the back of the passenger s side headlamp unit viewed through our new-found viewing area in the wheel arch: Next, remove the rubber covers over the back of the dipped beam sections of the headlamps, they just pull off. Its up to you at this point whether you refit them or leave them off. The engine bay in the 2.0 CDT up to about 2003 at least has. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

7 an undertray below the engine. This stops almost all dirt and water ingress to the engine bay itself so I opted to leave mine off. If you do want to replace them after fitting your HID kit you will need to make a hole in the middle of each one, don t worry though as the is a large rubber bung attached to the HID kit to seal it up. Once the covers are removed, looking from the wheel arch holes, remove the power connector plug from the back of the bulb. Undo the metal bulb retaining clips and remove the halogen bulb from its housing. This done, take the HID bulb and wiring and remove the screw-on protective cap from the bulb. The base needs to be slid over the rubber grommet and down the attached wiring to remove it. Again going through the wheel-arch, place the HID bulb into the bulb housing the same way the halogen bulb was fitted (notch to the top) and secure it with the metal bulb retaining clip. The two wires on the back of the bulb get pushed back by the clip, this is normal and nothing to worry about. Next, the blue and black wires with spade terminators from the bulb need to be pushed into the power connector plug. BLACK GOES TO BLACK AND BLUE GOES TO BROWN/ORANGE. See photo: Thats the most difficult part done!!! Not hard, is it? We now fit the ballast to the Velcro we positioned earlier so that it looks like the image below. It needs to be below the level of the engine bay fuse box to stop the cables being fouled when the bonnet is closed.. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

8 With reference to photo 5 of this guide, connect the 2 other cables from the bulb wiring to the ballast wiring and the block connector to the ballast itself. Everything is one way terminated and it can t be fitted to the wrong connector. Use the cable ties provided to secure the new wiring somewhere that it won t foul any moving parts. Repeat all steps on the other side of the car:. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

9 You re done!!!! Turn on the engine and the headlamps and be prepared to be amazed by the difference.. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

10 Finally, as always when changing any headlamp bulb, REMEMBER TO CHECK THE ALIGNMENT OF THE HEADLAMPS. If you have knocked them out of alignment the dazzling effect of these units is much greater than normal halogens due to the greatly increased output. I've just done another couple of night time pics as the roads are dry and you can get a better idea of light output. The photos aren't perfect, my camera isn't very good in low light situations so bear in mind that the actual effect is better than the photos can do justice to. One of the mods might be kind enough to tag these onto the end of the How to.. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these

11 This photo demonstrates that the beam pattern is un-altered. You can clearly see that it has a clean cutoff and rises to the left: This one shows the colour of the beam pattern noting the clean cutoff left and right:. Neither 75ZT Community or the author of this document shall be held responsible for any losses or injury caused by the use of these