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  • I fed up with my lights

    Hi guys,
    I was traveling with my car at night and it was a misery
    I couldn't see clearly specially when I speed up, I felt that I will not be able to avoid anything if it appears suddenly, and here in Egypt the roads are very bad in pavement.
    So I need to upgrade the lights and I found 4 options ....
    1- Change the halogen bulbs with Philips Xtream Vision ------ but I can't guarantee the results as they still halogen bulbs.
    2- Change the halogen bulbs with LEDs ----- but all what we have here in Egypt is very low Chines quality and I can't guarantee the results.
    3- Change the halogen bulb to Xenon ---- that is the best option regarding the brightness but that will make me lose my car guarantee in addition to I can't get a premium quality xenon in Egypt, it will be low quality Chines xenon.
    4- Change the head lights to the top line category with impeded xenon and with additional bulb for high beam, BUT i don't know if it is possible to apply such option or it will be complicated !!!!!

    Please I need your opinions and if anyone have details/experience please tell me.
    Click image for larger version

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    This I the one want to install
    Click image for larger version

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    This is the one I have

    Thanks

  • #2
    Hi Hisham

    Firstly the two pictures you have uploaded are the halogen insignia headlight and the AFL headlight. I've heard they are a nightmare to retrofit so possibly not a option.

    I would go down the H.I.D root that most people seem to go. Even some of the Chinese knock offs quality are at a useable level.

    Take them out when it comes to servicing and no ones the wiser.

    Comment


    • #3
      Hi Jon,
      Here in Egypt the top line came with impeded xenon in lens not halogen, the Base line and high line are came with halogen bulbs.
      What did you mean by HID ?? do you mean Xenon ??

      Comment


      • #4
        you wont be able to retrofit the afl headlights to fully work properly
        ​2015 Sri vx line nav BiTurbo . Sri heated leather.5500k AFL . Vx line 20s,8inch LCD dash .FLEXride.Reverse cam.Irmscher grill.235hp and 480 torqs.30mm lowering springs.20mm H&R spacers all round. Mtec drilled discs on rear,VXR 355mm drilled on front,with Brembo 4 pot calipers. Auto wipers .VX puddle lights.Carbon effect black roof wrap.Irmscher roof spoiler.Irmscher side skirts.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Hisham El Zanatti View Post
          Hi Jon,
          Here in Egypt the top line came with impeded xenon in lens not halogen, the Base line and high line are came with halogen bulbs.
          What did you mean by HID ?? do you mean Xenon ??

          Yeah H.I.D high intensity discharge xenon.

          Same in the UK. Xenon's only came with the elite unless specified as a extra. Stick H.I.D and enjoy the extra light. Remove at service and they would never no.

          Comment


          • #6
            Hello! I faced the same issue you do. Let me start by saying that the only option you have in terms of proper light output is HID.

            LEDs not only are they not as bright as HID (not aftermarket ones at least) but the beam pattern they produce is horrible and the LED drivers aren't reliable as their lifetime seems to be in the order of months, not years. The LED may be brighter than halogen but all that extra light does not go where you need it. There is no magical way to get more light from the same wattage bulb and it would seem that halogen tech is at it's limits (otherwise we wouldn't have HID, LED, laser headlights).

            I also tried stronger halogen bulbs, philips, osram, you name it. They were brighter for a couple of months and then they dimmed and yellowed. I don't know if they truly were brighter or just placebo. Unless you get higher wattage ones (the ones you see on trucks) then halogens are no good, but this comes with the problem of extra heat, you risk melting something, and also you don't know if your electrical harness can handle the extra wattage.

            HID is the way to go. In terms of HID, I was actually willing and ready to pay for the dealership to fit the OEM system but they said that even if I pay the aproximately 1500 euro for the upgrade, they would not be able to pair the hardware with the car's computers. Apparently, they are buffoons who cannot program the cars they represent.

            As I see it, you can do one of two things:
            1. Use the standard halogen headlights and get a compatible HID kit
            2. Get a pair of HID headlights, either the stock HID headlights or aftermarket and get an HID kit


            As a personal preference, I would get the OEM HID headlights and retrofit aftermarket HIDs in them because they are designed for HID (produce the appropriate beam pattern) and they look better than any aftermarket units I saw. That being said, my Insignia is a 2010 model. The 2010 model has a reflector style halogen headlights so I needed to get ones with projectors instead of reflectors. The 2010 OEM HID lights look pretty ugly to me so what I ended up doing was I got these ones. (At first I wanted to retrofit the OEM facelift headlights but it ended up being too expensive for me).

            As for the actual HID units, I ordered the Hylux 2A88 35W HID Canbus ballast along with a pair of Morimoto from a local retailer of The Retrofit Source. Make sure you choose the right bulb type, the links I gave are for H7 bulb since that is what my headlight units were designed for (I found out after I received them, otherwise I would have gotten headlights designed for HID bulbs).

            I am satisfied with the bulbs and ballasts. This is my third year I had them and so far no flickering, no faults, the bulbs are as brights as new. The warmup time is slightly longer than what I have seen on OEM units but this is a non issue since I drive with the headlights on all the time, day or night, and, except during winter, I have my car configured to automatically turn on the headlights when I unlock it. I guess the only issue might be when entering an unlit tunnel during the day.

            Another thing to keep in mind is that if this sort of thing is illegal in your country and if you choose to go with other headlight units, then swapping the original units in for the upgraded ones when you need to have the car MOTed or inspected or whatever, it is not as trivial as changing the bulbs since you have to take the bumper off to change the headlights.
            Also, and I would be grateful if someone can confirm, I think that the facelift HID headlights don't have a separate bulb for high beam since they are bixenon. It actually uses a shutter to block a portion of the light when driving with just the low beams. This shutter is then removed when switching on the full beams so as to project more light. I don't know what you would need to retrofit this but if you are good with arduinos or car computer programming or both maybe you can do it.

            If you're interested I can send / post some pics of the car, headlights, etc.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thank you i.rosca80 so much but let me tell you what I'm thinking of,
              for me the best option is to upgrade the headlights with the top line category as it will be more prestigious and more real and per your opinion as well as exclusiv. opinion i will need to re program the control otherwise it will not work properly, but let me know what I will lose in headlight option if i installed them? by other words .... I just need low beam, high beam and level control for the lens ... what will I am gonna lose !!! Got me ?
              regarding your recommendations, you are totally right as LED is not durable and the light pattern is not good, however as the brightness will be high but you will not be able to see the road clearly, the HID is the best option and the OEM will be perfect.

              And for your info. the top line category has a separate high beam halogen bulb rather than the lens with xenon, you can check my uploaded pics. you will find that there are interior compartment with bulb for high beam.

              Thanks All,

              Comment


              • #8
                As I understand it, you have the facelift model of the Insignia A. I have the pre facelift model. If I wanted to upgrade it to the OEM HID, the dealership told me that I would need to upgrade the wiring harness, the HID ballasts, the auto leveling sensors/controllers and also the headlights washers. They said they could physically install all the equipment on the car but they also said that it will not work because they would need to program the car's computer to recognize the HID system. I imagine you would have to do the same with your vehicle. If you just tried to fit the new headlights in, I don't know what will and what will not work or what functionality you will have without programming.

                As for the programming itself, I know it can be done because I have read on different forums of people that have done it. Some of them sent the car's computer to have it programmed, some of them knew the wizardry to do it themselves.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I think you'd be surprised on how well LED kits have come on in recent years. As long as you get a kit where each bulb is 4000 lumens or higher you should find the output is far better than the standard halogen bulbs. As for beam pattern. I agree the pattern is too wide spread in pre facelift reflectors but in the facelift projectors the pattern is the same as halogens except brighter and whiter. This it due to the projector having the cut off built in. I tried both HID xenons and LEDs in my facelift and although the LEDs (4000lm) weren't quite as bright as the HIDs, they were still miles better than the best halogens I'd tried and believe me I tried a fair few.

                  I'm currently running LEDs in my Grand Sport reflectors but these reflectors have a metal sheath where the bulb sits so as long as you find the correct length LED bulbs so the chips sit withing the sheath, you can have a perfect cut off without the spread. The ones I have in at the moment have a better output (6000lm) than the HIDs I'd previously tried. As I say. The abilities of these bulbs have come on a long way since they first appeared 4 or 5 years ago.

                  Hisham, the most you would gain from changing your entire headlights to AFl headlights is the HID xenons. They will never be able to program them to fully work as AFLs so you may as well just put a HID or LED kit in your existing lights. Nobody other than you will know when they're on because the colour will be whiter than halogens and output is brighter.

                  Save yourself the hastle.
                  2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by marko301 View Post
                    I think you'd be surprised on how well LED kits have come on in recent years. As long as you get a kit where each bulb is 4000 lumens or higher you should find the output is far better than the standard halogen bulbs. As for beam pattern. I agree the pattern is too wide spread in pre facelift reflectors but in the facelift projectors the pattern is the same as halogens except brighter and whiter. This it due to the projector having the cut off built in. I tried both HID xenons and LEDs in my facelift and although the LEDs (4000lm) weren't quite as bright as the HIDs, they were still miles better than the best halogens I'd tried and believe me I tried a fair few.

                    I'm currently running LEDs in my Grand Sport reflectors but these reflectors have a metal sheath where the bulb sits so as long as you find the correct length LED bulbs so the chips sit withing the sheath, you can have a perfect cut off without the spread. The ones I have in at the moment have a better output (6000lm) than the HIDs I'd previously tried. As I say. The abilities of these bulbs have come on a long way since they first appeared 4 or 5 years ago.

                    Hisham, the most you would gain from changing your entire headlights to AFl headlights is the HID xenons. They will never be able to program them to fully work as AFLs so you may as well just put a HID or LED kit in your existing lights. Nobody other than you will know when they're on because the colour will be whiter than halogens and output is brighter.

                    Save yourself the hastle.
                    I keep seeing newer LED bulbs popping up on the market but as you said, none of them are currently as bright as HIDs. As for the beam pattern, I don't know what to beleive. I do actually keep watching video reviews and read customer reviews for LED bulbs in projector units. Some seem to be good, others not so much. On my car I've changed the headlights to some aftermarket projector units but they are still halogen H7 units. I haven't tried any LED bulbs since I installed the HID kit but if / when they go bad I would like to try LED. Can you personally recommend good H7 LED bulbs for projectors?

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      The kit I had in my Facelift projectors where 9012 so I can't recommend them but the H7 kit in my Grand Sport has the led chips positioned to closely copy halogen bulbs but with the added white and brightness. I can't see why they wouldn't do the same job as the halogens in your projectors except far brighter.

                      I've posted these pics elsewhere but in case you haven't seen them, They are a comparison of two different led kits. One I tried which had the chips in the wrong positions and one with the chips positioned to mirror the halogens.

                      As you can see. The spread is terrible.


                      My current ones which match the halogens. I nice cut off with the kick up to the left as they should be.


                      This is the kit https://www.autostyling.com/lighting...headlight-kit/

                      I also needed these error cancelers https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Led-Li..._GT6Q7fnj03Hxg but not sure if you would need them in the Pre facelift. I didn't needed any in my Facelift.
                      2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Hi all
                        Your feedback and recommendations are very valuable for me, I have tried to get the Xtreme vision but I didn’t find the correct bulb model in Egypt 9012, so I am trying to find a good kit either LED or HID but that is too hard here in Egypt as all we have here are **** kits with low quality. Also I have tried to contact a friend in USA to bring me a HID kit but he couldn’t understand what I actually need as he doesn't know so much in cars.
                        I will keep trying to get a good kit from abroad and till that I will keep the halogens.
                        But all of you confirmed that the installing of High line headlight will not be worthy, right ? However I was preferring that way )

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Hisham El Zanatti View Post
                          Hi all
                          Your feedback and recommendations are very valuable for me, I have tried to get the Xtreme vision but I didn’t find the correct bulb model in Egypt 9012, so I am trying to find a good kit either LED or HID but that is too hard here in Egypt as all we have here are **** kits with low quality. Also I have tried to contact a friend in USA to bring me a HID kit but he couldn’t understand what I actually need as he doesn't know so much in cars.
                          I will keep trying to get a good kit from abroad and till that I will keep the halogens.
                          But all of you confirmed that the installing of High line headlight will not be worthy, right ? However I was preferring that way )
                          Yeah you wouldn't gain anything fitting real AFLs because they wouldn't fully work. Nobody I know of here in the UK has had success getting them to work.

                          The standard lights on the Facelift look so much like the AFLs, once you fit HIDs or LEDs. the whiter colour makes them look like AFLs.

                          These are the 9012 kits I had in my Facelift.

                          HID kit https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SUPER-CAN...jGw:rk:35:pf:0 5000K or 6000k are the best colour tempratures to match the Daytime running lights.

                          LED kit https://www.horizonleds.co.uk/cree-l...d-headlight-v2 they only come in 6500k but the colour looks like the colour of 6000k xenons.


                          They're both not cheap but both worked well and didn't give any error messages. Out of the two, the HIDs had the better output but I liked the instant on of the LEDs especially for when you need to flash your lights.

                          This was the HIDs in my Facelift.


                          This was the LEDs in my facelift.


                          As you can see, both were great colour matches to the daytime running lights.
                          2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi Marko, how are you ?
                            First your car is amazing and looks aggressive I like it. God bless you and your car.
                            Regarding the HID kit I prefer than the LED, and also I agree with you that the 5000 K and 6000 K are the best color, but my DRL is yellowish in color and the white xenon will not look good with it ...or what do you think?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Hisham El Zanatti View Post
                              Hi Marko, how are you ?
                              First your car is amazing and looks aggressive I like it. God bless you and your car.
                              Regarding the HID kit I prefer than the LED, and also I agree with you that the 5000 K and 6000 K are the best color, but my DRL is yellowish in color and the white xenon will not look good with it ...or what do you think?
                              That was my old car. I have the Insignia Grand Sport now as seen in my profile pic (I like red ).

                              Are the Insignia DRLs in Egypt not bright white like here in the UK? The reason the halogen bulbs look so yellow in Insignia lights here is because the DRLs are so white.
                              2017 Vauxhall Insignia Grand Sport Sri Nav 1.5 (165ps) Turbo petrol in Lava Red - Keyless entry and start - 18” five spoke alloy wheels - Front fog lights - Tinted rear windows - Aluminium sports pedals - Ambient interior led lighting - Front and rear parking assist - Active emergency braking - Forward collision assist - Front pedestrian alert - Traffic sign recognition - Lane keep assist - Cruise control - Speed warning and limiter - Voice recognition - Bluetooth - Duel zone climate control - Front and rear electric windows - High beam assist - Auto lights - Auto wipers - Wifi hotspot - 8” colour touchscreen Navi 900 with Android Auto, Apple Car Play and DAB

                              Comment

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