Installed HID Conversion Kit on CX-5 Headlights H11 / 5000K

[bpagonzalez]

Well after much research I purchased this rather inexpensive HID conversion kit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

The reviews were mostly positive, but I always assume I'm the one that's going to have the nightmare experience but I can honestly say that I am very pleased with how they've turned out. I decided to replace my headlights as opposed to replacing the daylight running lights (DRL's) only because I always have my headlights and fog lights on.

Installation would've been a breeze had I known that the replacement lights had an extra rubber washer (the white one) that I needed to take off. Also I should've been familiar with removing the connection from the bulb (stupid easy). So the first light took me about 35 mins but the second one only took about 8-10 mins tops.

Next I'm going to replace my fog lights.

Anyways enough of me yapping on, here are the pics:

 

[NinjaNoises]

Looks great, man. Since our headlights are already projectors, it's a bit of a waste to NOT install HIDs.

 

[tsedhun69]

Hid kit

well after much research i purchased this rather inexpensive hid conversion kit:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)

the reviews were mostly positive, but i always assume i'm the one that's going to have the nightmare experience but i can honestly say that i am very pleased with how they've turned out. I decided to replace my headlights as opposed to replacing the daylight running lights (drl's) only because i always have my headlights and fog lights on.

Installation would've been a breeze had i known that the replacement lights had an extra rubber washer (the white one) that i needed to take off. Also i should've been familiar with removing the connection from the bulb (stupid easy). So the first light took me about 35 mins but the second one only took about 8-10 mins tops.

Next i'm going to replace my fog lights.

Anyways enough of me yapping on, here are the pics:

hope u bought better quality hid kit, i had many issues headlights not turning on on many occasions and finally i bought better quality morimotto hid kit and it works great and never had trouble since,,so, its more expensive than those on ebay..paid $150 i think its worth every pennies...

 

[ta240]

Have any pictures of before and after from the front? All the HID conversions I've seen glare a noticeable amount more than the stock lights. And while I love more light in front of me at night I'm not willing to become the guy killing the oncoming traffics ability to see.

 

[NinjaNoises]

Have any pictures of before and after from the front? All the HID conversions I've seen glare a noticeable amount more than the stock lights. And while I love more light in front of me at night I'm not willing to become the guy killing the oncoming traffics ability to see.

I believe glare is mostly a problem associated with reflector style headlight housings. The CX-5s have projector style housings that have a pretty clean cutoff.

 

[ta240]

the really, really bad glare is from the non-projector ones but I see a lot of ones with projector headlights that glare noticeably and distract.

http://youtu.be/B19G2RvoKuY at about the 3 second mark you can see a fair amount of light even with the camera at a very high, close angle. All the before/after pictures I find online that are looking towards the car from a standing position you can tell in the before shots that the lights are on but in the after there is that bright glow around them that will wash out oncoming drivers night vision.

 

[MikeM.]

the really, really bad glare is from the non-projector ones but I see a lot of ones with projector headlights that glare noticeably and distract.

I agree, I see far too many headlight setups that are non-conforming in terms of glare. I drive a lot of miles on dark, rainy, twisty highways and it's a real safety issue, not just for the oncoming cars but also the offenders because when a driver has trouble with visibility they might drift too wide and hook a tire on a soft shoulder (sometimes with a small abrupt edge). The resulting steering correction can cause the vehicle to suddenly swerve into the oncoming lane and cause the most deadly type of accident (head-on collision). Sadly, glare doesn't even improve the vision for the offending driver (glare is wasted light going where it is not needed).

For the same reason I cannot understand the drivers that leave their fog lights on in the rain when there is no fog. Fog lights cause a bright spot on wet pavement immediately in front of the vehicle which does nothing to improve the offenders visibility down the road (although it can offer the ILLUSION of better sight). This bright spot on the pavement produces a lot of extra glare for oncoming drivers and the glare is additive to any glare produced by the headlights. Even conforming headlights cause some glare - it's unavoidable, the goal is to minimize it to increase everyone's chances of arriving at their destination safely and rested.

With the huge population bubble of baby boomers reaching retirement age and beyond, we will see a spike in glare related deaths. As the eyes age the cornea becomes less clear and glare is more problematic. Motorists can do their part by resisting the temptation to modify DOT approved designs to everyone's detriment. That's what standards are for.

 

[GAXIBM]

+1

 

[Suddueth13]

There is still glare. You can see there's still noticeable bleed off above the cutoff that's not associated with the squirrel finders. The cutoff on these Koitos are okay but I would not call it clean by any means. A clear lens would make it clean vs the stock fresnal lens. I have Black Series clears lenses from TheRetrofitSource.com and I blocked my squirrel finders. I believe these are the same Koito projectors that the 3 uses which are okay but even modded they don't compare to a true HID projector.

 

[june]

Just finished changing my CX-5 stock HID bulbs on the headlights and replacing them with 8000K 4DS that was a breeze except the driver side which was a pain to stick your hands in between the fender and into the back of the headlight what a pain that took me 25 mins to do,and 5 mins on the passenger side,then installed matching 8000K H11 HID on the fog lights which the only problem was removing the reflector inside the fog light compartment and in order to do that the whole fog light unit needed to come out but everything went well mounted and snapped secured in just about 2hrs http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff370/junestar1/cx-5.jpg

 

[ta240]

without the reflector aren't the fog lights now more of 'driving' lights? Isn't the reflector what keeps them from lighting up everything and just lighting the road?

 

[twiztedlemon]

I am in a 2016 cx5 with halogen headlights. Figure I'd change both low and high beams to xenon HID's.

Get 2 separate kits? H11 and 9005? Or the high low all in one D4S? Rather be sure before I buy and I'd say the 2 separate would be better just not sure how the headlights are set up. Also does the cx5 need a canbus or flicker capacitor link?

Also do the DRL lights run off the low beam or separate ? Being the case, that would severely kill the life of the bulbs.... ( halogen is fairly cheap ect and I'm anal about lights on when needed.... I'd happily put in a different light source for the DRL, but definitely wouldn't like it to be the low beam xenon bulb. ( though there is a noticeable difference between DRL and low beam lights on. Thanks BTW. And tells you how much I have been in front of my car with the lights on ha-ha)

 

[4G63T]

Unless your going to be using the high beam continuously on long stretches its not worth changing over to HID in my opinion. FYI, the low beam is not used as DRL.

I have the DDM Tuning slim HID 35 watt with 4300k bulb. It is bright and white as can be. Complete day and night difference between the oem halogen and this kit. The upgrade is well worth it and if I had to give it a number i would say the light output feels like it tripled.

What I do recommend is double checking the light heights after the install. On my car both lights were a bit high especially the driver side was even more. I adjusted them both slightly lower than spec and they are now road friendly while providing way more light output.

Also, some of those in garage pics capturing that “glare” light above the hot spot/light beam line. Well I found that that it is at such a steep angle that it does not affect oncoming traffic or cars ahead. I already tested what my car’s lights look like from the distances.

Something for you to consider. Do you want your lights to look “cool” for teenagers or do you actually want to be able to see in the dark? Stay as close to 4300k as possible 6000k is still too blue in my opinion for visibility.

 

[twiztedlemon]

I'm looking at 4500 maybe 5500 range. I don't like yellow lights but don't want the teeny ricer bopper blue lol. I was looking at the kensuns ( super cheap ) but Ehh I rather quality over quantity so I'll probably just do the low beam H11 conversion morimoto kit (3x the price but in multiple comparisons and warranties between the two its worth it ) As I stated I use this for work (I cover the entire southeast USA - Virginia to Florida and Tennessee/Alabama.) So reliability and time used is very important. Also just besides the more light to see the road / hazards with, I'm doing the conversion to kill the dimming my audio system has on my current halogen lights. So its a two for one kind of deal.

I looked at the ddm website.... Deplorable in any user friendly aspect, if you wanted to provide a link I'd love to compare it with the morimoto kit. First and foremost saftey, reliability, and performance are the most important and in that order. ( and I'll of course adjust if they seem too "high", I'd rather not piss cops off across the country and or affect the other drivers.... Heck half of the other drivers on the road can really drive anyways....I'd be dumb to add to their issues and in doing so, increase my own risk for an accident.

 

[twiztedlemon]

Nevermind, found a awesome promo code and went with the retrofit morimoto kit lol.

 

[4G63T]

I still recommend the 4300k it is white and nothing yellow. This will give you the most visibility in the dark and from the outside there is still that every so slight bluish effect that oem HID’s also have.

This is what I got. Its a small and slim 35 watt ballast (there is also 55 watt upgrade available). Direct plug and play, just make sure to choose the H11 bulb size.
http://ddmtuning.com/Products/DDM-HID-Kit-Slim-Ballast-35W-or-55W

You dont need any other accessories such as HID Harness, Error Eliminator or Adaptor Cables. Mounting bracket is up to you if you need it or not. I used Gator double side tape to mount the ballast on the chassis/frame.

I had my DDM HID on my Evo for 5 years and it never failed. In my opinion DDM makes very reliable Slim Ballast HID kits. I changed the bulb once and that was just to go from 6000k to 5000k otherwise it was still functional. The 4300k is way more white than the 5000k.

They now also have the Ultra Canbus HID kit which is said to have more light output and reach full brightness quicker in 2-3 seconds. Maybe one day I will upgrade to that when my bulbs start to slowly dim or if I get the mod bug for even more brightness and quicker fire up.

 

[4G63T]

Nevermind, found a awesome promo code and went with the retrofit morimoto kit lol.

Retrofit, as in taking apart the headlights and changing out the halogen projector to hid?

 

[twiztedlemon]

No theretrofitsource(TRS) morimoto kit. Not redoing the lamp assembly. I will see in time and if it needs it, then I will. But from all the forums ect, the projector system currently in place isn't too bad. ( if it was the old reflection style, then by all means, I'd do a full out retro upgrade. But its not. )

 

[16cx-5]

I am looking to order kits for my 2016 today as a gift to my self. Want to do the foglight and headlights. Are both a h11?

 

[4G63T]

I am looking to order kits for my 2016 today as a gift to my self. Want to do the foglight and headlights. Are both a h11?

Yes both are h11 . BUT, the fog light has a reflector shield for the bulb . An HID bulb is slightly too long and will not fit . The tip if the bulb will ih the reflector sheild. I don't know if shorter HID bulbs exist to fit the fog light housing as is. For standar HID bulb size you will need to remove or somehow modify the reflector to fit in . There is a thread where someone removed it I just don't know how they did it.