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European Legal HID Upgrade: Ask Help

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Hortevin, Dec 11, 2013.

  1. Hortevin

    Hortevin Junior Member

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    Hi everyone,

    I live in France and I have a Prius 3 2012 with Halogen headlamp. I am quite interested by Retrofit Source HID kit with special lens and projector included.

    I have 2 questions:
    1. It is hard to change the lens/projector assembly in the Prius factory headlamp?
    2. I would like to know if it is possible to add Auto-leveling motor/sensor and headlamp washer, to be completely legal in Europe. And how to do it?

    For the respect of law and the other car drivers, I will not setup HID if I can't deal with theses issues.

    Thank you very much.
     
    JimboPalmer likes this.
  2. Hortevin

    Hortevin Junior Member

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    Help please!! :confused:
     
  3. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Everything is possible - for a price.

    HID's are dreadful. Stick with what you have and if you want them brighter, just use those brighter bulbs - though they don't last as long.
     
  4. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    My '06 has factory hid, it's problematic, actually I don't drive it at night.

    It has the auto leveling feature, it's mechanical, and problematic (threads here about rebuilding it because of water entering the assemblage), I've had mine apart twice for inspection, it's working.
    When using the low's with street light's, not to bad, low's in the country, poor lighting, the high's are a joke, in town or out of town, yes I could use an aftermarket bulb, to be exact a 100w bulb, illegal in the US, but easy to do, I prefer to not use the car at night, my '11 has great lighting, no problem with night vision, anywhere, I'd suggest having the light beam analysed at a competent shop for spread, might be a mechanical adjustment to the assemblage, and if it's spot on, putting in stronger bulbs (100w), but if you need the hid for the coolness factor, as it must have self washers and be self leveling to pass inspection or your version of inspection, good luck, share your results.
     
    Hortevin likes this.
  5. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    I've been using 65w H9 Halogen bulbs in place of the 55w H11 Halogen bulbs. You just need to do a slight modification to the tabs in the base and socket of the H9 bulb to make it fit:

    DIY: Converting an H9 bulb to fit H11 fog light socket. - RX8Club.com

    Pictures in the first post detail what you need to do.

    The thing I've found is that the regular H9 bulbs don't have the cap or coating on the tip of the bulb like the H11 do. This can cause a hotspot of light directly in front of the car on each side that may or may not be distracting to you. Therefore, I've been looking for H9 bulbs that have some kind of coated tip to prevent these hotspots of light. They are available if you look. I've even seen one 80w bulb out there, but I'm not sure about going to 80w or 100w bulbs.

    I use a Dremel type rotary tool with a small grinder tip to remove both the plastic tab in the base and the metal from the mounting tab.
     
    Hortevin likes this.
  6. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    Hi Hortevin, I've been using plug and play H11 4300/4700 K HID kits for low beam in my 2010 Prius for a couple of years and about 100,000 kms. I'm very happy with them. They are much better than halogens. The stock projector works very well with just an insignificant (to me!) triangular semi shadow at the extreme edges. The HIDs don't damage the stock headlight which I confirmed after a kangaroo "dismantled" my left hand headlight. The HIDs are hot but don't seem hotter than Halogens.

    My Prius has stock manual leveling from a rolling switch in the dashboard. We have the stupid design rule about headlight washers here too but even the manufacturers are not installing them, unless as a high end extra. The police only hassle drivers who use unprojected HID in standard halogen lamps.

    Sorry I can't help with Q2 for France unless you buy the OEM headlights with those options fitted!
     
    Hortevin likes this.
  7. Hortevin

    Hortevin Junior Member

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    Finally I am looking for PIAA LED bulb with 2400Lumens and 6000K...

    [​IMG]

    In Europe, only headlight over 2000Lumens require auto leveling device and Headlamp washer.
    So this kind of Led I don't think the controller can tell the difference between 2400Lm and 2000Lms...
     
  8. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    I think you might find 6000K too blue. 5000k is still very white but more visible to human eyes.
     
  9. Hortevin

    Hortevin Junior Member

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    Yes I am quite agree with you. With 6000K even with HID you will se nothing in Raining/Fog day...

    Envoyé de mon GT-N7105 en utilisant Tapatalk
     
  10. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Priuschat member Dawit installed LED bulbs like that in his Prius. He's using them in his foglights now. He went with an HID kit in his lowbeams after seeing how much better the HID was compared to the LEDs.