HID Install (25/11/2007)
HID (High Intensity Discharge), otherwise called Xenon bulbs are up to 3 times brighter than standard halogen bulbs. The majority of aftermarket kits operate at only 35W (compared to the standard 55W of the Celica's H7 halogen bulbs) To fit HIDs is quite a simple task which only takes 30-60 mins.
First of all, here is the kit. I chose 6000K lights, which are a pure white light. Do not make the mistake of thinking the higher the K the brighter the light. It is quite the opposite in fact. 4300K (or less) are the brightest (but give off a light quite similar to halogens but much brighter). The higher the K, the bluer the light (eventually going to violet at 12000K and even purple at 25000K). Be aware that only 8000K or below would pass an MOT.
HID Colours
HID Colour Information
1. Pull the "rope" wire that has the positive and negative spade connectors on the end from the rubber grommit. The spade connectors need to be connected to the existing H7 bulb's connector. This will supply the power to the ballast. The other end of this rope connector plugs into the "In" socket of the ballast (the socket to the left of the picture above) and the other 2 plugs coming from the "Out" of the ballast connect logically to the appropriate plugs leading into the bulb.
The "difficult" part of the installation is to decide where to put the ballasts as there is not too much room to fit them in a secure fashion. I decided to fit them underneath the headlight units, but it may be possible to find alternative locations for them. Placing them underneath the headlight units is far more tidy producing a less cluttered end result, but does however require both the front bumper and headlight units to be removed.
2. Remove front bumper
3. Remove headlight units
4. Position and secure ballasts. There is a natural flat spot underneath the driver's side headlight for this. I secured it here with double sided adhesive tape and cable ties. Placement for the passenger side ballast is a little less obvious. I decided to stick it down to the bodywork (which is sloping downwards) and cable tie it to existing wires for extra grip. The ballast becomes even more secure when the headlight unit is placed back on.
5. Connect the 2 spade connectors that come out of the ballast's "In" socket to the existing clip that came out of the original H7 bulb. This is a small white rectangular clip. Take care to match the wire colours correctly, connecting the red spade to the positive, and the black spade to the negative. This can be seen in the picture above. For extra protection, I insulated this with tape:
6. Take out the H7 bulb that is currently in the unit. Firstly pull off the large rubber cover surrounding the rear of the projector lens. This will then reveal the H7 bulb housing. This is held in place by a metal clip. Unlcip this, take out the old bulb and put the HID bulb back in its place. The bulb base is keyed so it can only go into the housing one way. I kept the rubber grommit attached to the HID bulb's wiring on for extra strength and protection against water leaks. Slide this grommit up as near as possible to the bulb base, then clip back into the housing with the wire clip.
7. Feed the HID bulb's 2 wires/plug connectors through the large rubber cover, and secure the cover back onto the headlight unit.
8. Re-position the headlight unit near to the unattached wires and reconnect all plugs and wires, including the 2 new plugs of the HID bulb which clip into the approriate plugs that come out of the ballast's "Out" socket.
9. Once all wires have been reconnected, position the unit back into the car housing correctly by lining up the bolt holes and re-bolt the headlight unit.
10. Repeat for the other side, and re-attach the front bumper.
19/10/2008
I changed the 6000K bulbs to 4300K as I was not 100% happy with the brightness and visibility. The 4300K bulbs give off a brighter light and I have found the visibility is now much improved. There is now also a much more definite cut-off line of light, whereas the 6000K's seemed to scatter the light much more. The light that is now given out also seems to reach further out and the road seems much clearer at night largely due to the slightly more yellowish light that these bulbs produce.
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The old 6000K bulb. Its a very attractive white light, but I found them disappointing in terms of driving visibility. |
| The 4300K bulbs are much more yellow in comparison, but in my opinion, the light they produce is far better and allows much more visibility at night. |  |
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6000K bulb on the left, 4300K on the right. |
Click on the thumbs for a closer look