Hi All,
After trawling the internet and the forum I am liitle confused about installing an aftermarker HID kit. It seems bi-xenon is only available in H4 aftermarket. As both high and low beam on the RRS are H7 it seems you have the choice of installing it in either the high beam lamps or low beam. As 90 percent of my driving is low beam I would like to have this upgraded as a priority. If you install in the low beam sockets what controls the height of the beam? I don't want to blind oncoming traffic. Is it only OEM that does h7 bi xenon?
thanks,
Anthony

Hi redrover .......and welcome.

A few of us on here have been playing with headlight modifications for some time.
When we have some final results I will start a thread in the Australian section as "HEADLIGHTS"
To answer your immediate questions.(from my own enquiries ......so if I'm wrong please chime in. )
H4 is the only Bi-xenon bulb that has the Hi/low beam shutter as part of the bulb.
H4 bulbs can do this either by a sliding metal shutter or one that rises and falls.
The other system (as used by Land Rover ) is to have the shutter as part of the light unit.
The RRS has 3 different types of headlight units.
i) The halogen unit which takes H7 bulbs in both beams.
ii) The bi-xenon unit which takes D2S bulbs in both beams (with a very elegant ballast system mounted directly to the bulb ) the hi/lo being xenon and the high beam is halogen.
iii) The adaptive headlights which are bi-xenon as above and also take D2S bulbs.

The smaller size of the aperture in the reflector precludes fitting H4 bulbs to the projector headlight unit.
As well, the shutter is already inside the light unit !
One can however obtain 35w xenon bulbs in an H7 configuration which are a direct swap (with a bit of wiring modification ).
This will give you a xenon low beam and a halogen high beam.(but low beam remains constant )
Remember.
After fitting the replacement xenon bulb (which is many times brighter than a halogen ) check and carefully adjust your headlight aiming. Pay attention to the 'Touring adjustment'....you want the right hand light cutoff 'flat' and only the left hand light with the 'upturn' to minimise glare to oncoming drivers.
Comment.......
Examination of the wiring sizes and safety circuits preclude simply fitting higher wattage halogen bulbs.
Hope this helps..........I will be happy to answer any other questions (within my limited knowledge ) and keep an eye out for the future 'headlight' posting.
Post up your results as I am sure we are all interested in how you get on.
Hope this helps

Thanks Ivery819 for the great information! A couple more questions...
1. Do you have any kits to recommend? There is a german one (sold of the U.S.) that looks pretty good value
2. Does replacing the H7 with a Xenon maintain correct focus, i.e. is the fiament in the same place?
3. Do you think there are any potential warranty/insurance issues here?
4. What do you think of some of the high output globes that are coming out (same wattage)

I head down the south coast of NSW on a regular basis and would like to be able to spot those roo's. I hit a big one years ago in an old Alfa and don't want to replicate the experience!
many thanks,
Anthony
p.s. just picked up my new ride last night! Black RRS TDV6

redrover
some answers:
You get what you pay for and there are some cheap options out there which have been getting a mixed reception. SEE HERE+ "Search" in forums.
i)I use x-tec units from a show called 'Bit Distribution' LINK HERE
Their kits are very well presented with top components and wiring. However they include fuses and relays which you don't require so you may be able to find a better price.....anyway talk to them and shop around.
ii) The focus is actually better because the xenon has a smaller (more compact) effective 'filament' area. It's actually not a filament but a gas bubble.
iii) ANY modification may have legal or warranty issues and as with all these things you do them entirely at your own risk. I am making no warranties whatsoever, implied or otherwise. I can make the following purely personal observations from my own research.
Wiring..There appears to be no difference in the vehicles between the various options OEM as far as the wire sizes(read amperage capability). The differences are in the CJB and the control modules. ALL xenons have a high current draw on startup for a few seconds but the vehicle has been designed to cope with this (as per the OEM xenon setup). The protective FET's seem to cope with this transient load. Just don't exceed 55w running load per bulb!!! If you adopt a relay system you will get a bulb 'failure' message unless you also incorporate a resistor as a dummy load on the switching side of the circuit (power wasteful and much more wiring !). The 35w xenon fitted correctly complies with the ADR's The 50w xenon is off-road only.
It is critical that you check and if needed re-aim the lights after any bulb change.
iv) They can change the colour of the light however every accurate report I have read shows that you can't change the laws of physics and for more light, using halogen bulbs,you need more watts/amps.........NOT AN OPTION HERE. DO NOT EXCEED 55w LOAD Per BULB
Cheers
BTW Re your PS............Congratulations .......details and pictures please

Those xenons you linked to seem a pretty good deal. Where are the ballast modules manufactured? Also, when you modify the wiring, can it be unmodified without any noticable difference? It would be good to have the option to put the ordinary h7's back in when it goes in for service.
cheers,
Anthony

redrover
Ballasts are manufactured in China but appear to be top quality.......lots in satisfactory use worldwide.
In your case, changing H7 halogen bulbs to H7 xenons should be able to be done totally inside the light housing without cutting any wires. You simply need to get the correct utilux cable fittings. Mount the ballasts with double sided tape.......I used velcro as I wanted to be able to move everything around. Simple, not visible other than inside the light unit and totally reversible. Should take you less than an hour per side, including re-aiming.
Go for it

This was the one I was looking at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H7-XENON-HI...1801QQrdZ1. The dollar is pretty good at the moment and these ballasts are made in Germany. Does the normal headlight aiming change when you install the Xenons? I am guessing by what you say you have to lower them. Is the best method to mark up the old halogen H7's on a garage wall and replicate this aim?
cheers,
Anthony

Hi redrover
Those kits look OK and the seller seems to have a fairly good ebay record.
I have not seen any feedback on either the brand or the vendor.
With regards the aiming I have found very little difference after installing new bulbs, but is advisable to check that you are not going to blind the oncoming traffic.
If you think, from your experience on the road, that your halogens are aimed correctly then replicating the pattern on the garage wall EXACTLY works well. Don't move the vehicle for your before and after tests.
I have found that because of the sharper cutoff you can actually raise the aim VERY slightly. This gives the low beam puddle more depth without causing any extra glare to others. Experiment yourself...you'll see what I mean.
One more comment.
I don't like too much variation in the colour (expressed as degrees kelvin) of the lights between high and low beam. I find that your eyes need to adjust too much causing a temporary reduction in vision.
Normal halogens are about 3000°k or thereabouts and when mixing the two light types I would not go above 5000°k with the xenons.
I assume you are interested in improving your effective illumination rather than impressing people with your fancy "purple" lights
Cheers

Hi ivery819,
I meant to ask your opinion on colour. I would probably go for the 4300K as I am very sensitive to colour changes as I colour grade for a living. My understanding is, if you go too blue or purple you get less light output anyway. Ideally I would do the high beams as well or maybe even instead. I am driving down to the South Coast this Saturday night so I should get a good idea how the stock halogens hold up and whether high or low beam should get my attention first.
cheers,
Anthony

IMHO
Do both beams @4300°k

You know you want to

Ivery,

Seeing as you seem to be so informed on this stuff - any hints on where I might send someone looking at doing a Bi-Xenon upgrade on a lotus esprit? Just a white TDV8 with a few extras

WD Great avatar........

Identify the bulb configuration and then go above to the link given to redrover
WARNING.......Don't confuse quantity with quality.

Ivery

Thanks - will pass the info along Just a white TDV8 with a few extras

Hi Ivery,
A found these froma local supplier as well http://www.gadgetmaster.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=64. I am not sure who the manufacturer is though.
cheers,
Anthony

Anthony, I have used this seller (http://tinyurl.com/2m4rf4) on eBay a couple of times now. I'm very happy with the service and quality of product, plus, he is located in Aust.

I've modified the H7 spots on my vehicle (http://rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic6730.html) as well as put one of his kits into a set of Hella 4000 driving lights a while back. All kits were at 6000k which is the highest I'd go as any further, the actual light output drops away. As a personnel preference, I like the white ish blue that this type puts out. The Hella 4000s were done a couple of years ago and saw service on my D2. They are now in the shed as I'm setting them up on an short ARB roof rack which will be mounted on the RRS eventually.

The kit in the Hella's was rated at 35w while the one I put into the Sport was 55w. I've tested them side by side and there is a noticeable difference in brightness with the 55w HID. The only issue I had was that a ballast failed on one of the Hella 4000 lights. I had no issues getting a quick replacement from the supplier. He stood by his 12 month warranty.

Steve RRS TDV6 MY07 gone.
RRS TDV6 MY10 just arrived!