hi there,

there is one lil question bugging me...Can the standard Halogen bulb be replaced directly with a Xenon bulb without getting the kit installed (ballast etc) and would this work...if it did why go through the trouble of getting the whole kit?
is the ballast like a transformer which increases the voltage?

thanks in advance...need to lay this question to rest!

no you can't and yes it is. :grin: it would be super easy then.

that must be the shortest answer greek has ever given, as it doesn't refer to an anecdote about some random time that he might have been driving and found one on the road and tried it in the lamp on his dinner table.

(yes i am back)

the HID's use high voltage to charge a gas or somthing like that, its quite specialised, and they give a bright white look. i just saw some that you *CAN* replace your existing lamps with, but they are NOT HID's but give the look and feel of them, think they are about £60 ... not worth it seeing as you can get HID conversions here for £99 :)

You get Xenon bulbs in the standard type to replace the bulb you have , Philips make a good one and till i can get time to put in my "Halo Angel Eye " replacement headlights for my 850R , i will put these in and they do cost a bit but you pay for quality as always.... As for the cheap HID units you speak of which indeed use Xenon but in a High Intensity Discharge [ HID ] which gives a lot more light and last longer too , but as always you pay for quality and the cheap ones use lesser quality ballast units. Siemens make really good units and are sometimes double the price of the cheap ones so if your headlights are poor like my 850R i suggest replacing the whole unit with an aftermarket one like eBay TJM-TraderLinky :thumbsup: And see how they go.

greekmason and skyq thanks...

850R,
...so ure saying that only the cheap xenons need a ballast and that there are expensive bulbs such as the Philips u mentioned that can be directly plugged and played with no need of increasing the voltage?

not really, there are super bright xenon-like bulbs on the market, well here anyway, not sure about in aussie-land. cheap or expensive, you'll need the ballast. they have those black diamond headunits that look cool with the led lights in them, you could try those. but at 6 bills for the pair, i would rather save up and get xenon's, even though they look cool.

tell you what, bodge job, go to your local hardware store and get some 250w halogen flood lights, gaffa tape them to the bonnet facing forwards and get one of those power inverters... weyhey!

erm no.