HID Headlights for 308/328: Sylvania Xenarc X6024

I will also be doing this upgrade to my Dino when she comes back from the paint shop. Actually, I've been considering doing this ever since I saw a Cobra with HIDs. So I figured both cars have 7inch lights so it's gotta be a universal kit.

I'd be interested in hearing any experiences as well.

 

The XENARC 7" kit works fine in my 308. The lighting is great although the light "pattern" is a bit funky--looks like a "Y" pattern--go figgure.......

anyway--i got mine off of EBAY on a closeout for 350

you will need to take a cutting wheel/die grinder and cut out a 2x1" notch in the bottom section of the headlight "ring" (thing that headlight seats up against) to accomodate teh new lamp shape--it had a bulge in the lower half for teh secondary H1 highbeam.

I have not tried the x2020 fog lights-- yet---

 

OH YEA--- there is a diode box included to keep the lowbeams on full time --you do not want them to go off when the hi's are on---the Ferrari uses independant wireing on right and left sides. you can either call sylvania and they will send a second diode for free OR-- install a relay to the lights and run it from 1 side only.

I installed a relay and run them off of 1 side --NOW ANOTHER POINT----

when switching from low to hi or hi to low --you may have noticed that your lights go out for a second--danmed lowsy ferrari design here i must say--i installed a capacitor at my relay to keep the lows on for .2 seconds after power loss just so the lights wont "blink" on switching.

 

Thanks Charles for the 411. Any part numbers for the relay and the capacitor?

 

Timely thread.

I purchased both the X6024 & X2020 fog/aux. lo-beam last fall, & was planning to start installation tonight! I picked them up when Sylvania's store had them on clearance.

Knew about the cutting out the headlight dish (aka ring), but the need to delay the low beam switching is new.

BTW, I've got a 2nd X6024 kit, but really need an X6054 for my Rx7 daily driver. Will trade housings w/someone...

One big plus, these HID kits draw a lot less power than the regular bulbs. Easier on the old alternator.

Also, they are powered by a fused line direct to the battery, so there's less current going thru the column switch headlight contacts.

BTW, A couple of weeks ago I wrote Sylvania asking if it would be possible to buy the X6054 housings to convert my kit & was told that they were no longer available, even for repair/replacement purposes. Apparently all that's left is whatever inventory retailers have on their shelves...

Not sure that this applies to things like ballasts tho, they seem to be pretty universal.

 

Mike--not in the light itself--see below

 

by the way--it is true that the bulbs are only 35w--BUT that is at 40000volts too--with the power loss thru heat on the xmfr-these lights draw MORE amps than conventional 55/60 and about equal to 90/100 watt setups

 

Mike Procopio,

EXCELLENT POST!!!! Agreed have the alt reworked. Agreed the stock fuse box sucks, replace it guys and watch your electric gremlins go away. Agreed check your grounds and clean/etc. And yes agreed going HID or xenon-imitation improves the headlight effectiveness greatly.

 

I don't agree with Atlantaman on this. We use HID lights in film production and my battery powered HID underwater system runs more than twice as long with twice the brightness of a halogen system with the same battery pack. The lights themselves are extremely efficient. A 15 watt video HID light can produce the same lumens as a 50 Watt halogen. For this system to draw more current than halogen, you would have to lose all that efficiency in the power supply, which is nothing more than a switching supply that steps up the voltage. There just aren't those kind of conversion losses. I'm about 95% certain that in automotive applications HID's draw considerably less current than standard halogens.

Birdman

 

Verell,
The column switch only operates a relay that actually switches the headlights, so the current in the column switch is low either way, but I know you already knew that! Just thought I would clarify.
Birdman

 

I'M DUBIOUS THAT CURRENT DRAW IS HIGHER:
These numbers imply a conversion efficiency of something like 38%!!!!

Have you actually measured this kind of a power draw?

My understanding is that the average current draw with HID is not significantly greater than the power rating of the bulb.

BTW, the 40KV is an instantaneous voltage spike that's needed to establish the plasma arc inside the bulb. Once the arc is established, the actual arc voltage is down around 30Volts that has to be very precisely regulated to both keep the arc going, and limit the current thru the arc. Thus the 'ballasts' are actually switching power supplies.

When I was in college, my EE co-op job was with VARO,Inc. They made night vision eqpt for use in 'Nam. They made several Xenon Arc (aka HID) products: 2.2 KW Xenon arc searchlight, a 30KW Searchlight, and an experimental 1KW searchlight. I spent a lot of time working with the engineers on the power supplies (aka ballasts) for the bulbs. Everything I"ve read to date about auto HID technology matches what I learned about short arc Xenon bulbs back in the late 60s!

The HID ballast does require a voltage source that's very stable under fairly high peak currents. This is especially tru while igniting the arc in the bulbs. Hence the direct battery connection.

The ballasts have a high turn-on surge. Because they're switching power supplies, the instantaneous peak current is significantly higher than the average current because they accomodate changes in input voltage by varying the % of the time they're drawing current. For example, 35W @ 12V requires an average current of ~3A. However, if the power supply is running a 50% onff cycle, then half the time it's drawing 6A & the other half 0A.

The efficiency of modern switching circuitry is ususlly something 98%. I'll be surprised if it's as low as 95%.

One of the reasons the car mfgs have been going to HID is because of the reduced load on the alternator.

DRIVING LIGHTS
Oops! The driving lights I have are X1010. Just remembered the doubled numbers & picked up X2020 from AtlantaMan's post.

SYLVANIA CLOSEOUT PRICES:
I bought 2 of my sets direct from Sylvania back in late Nov/Early Dec.
I think I paid $249/set, definitely under $300. Will have to check my receipts.

I picked up another X6024 set (slightly used) a couple of weeks ago on eBAY for $200. There hadn't been any on eBay for several months! Figured I could buy X6054 lenses from Sylvania, & was surprised when they said 'no'... Think I'll try calling their customer service rathar than sending eMAIL since their web site says spares are available.

CAPACITOR??
What value was used?
I'm guessing that the capacitor is on the relay output to the sense line for the ballast. The sense line will have relatively current draw, so the capacitor may not have to be very large. I'd guess something like 200-300uF @35V, but haven't measured the sense line current draw. BTW, there should be an input resistor between the contacts & the capacitor to limit the cap's inrush current so the contacts won't get burned. Probably 15 Ohms would do the job. (CAVEAT: These values are all SWAGS w/o any meas'ts or experiments behind them.)

NO WIRING CUTTING
I"m not planning to cut any wiring. All the connections you need are avail at the existing light bulb sockets. I'm just going to make up male connectors that plug into the existing sealed beam bulb sockets. Probably will have to sacrifice a bulb to get the male contacts for them.

 

I'm surprised not to have seen on this thread that aftermarket HID retrofits are illegal in the US. I'm in the automotive aftermarket parts business and a few months back, all retailers (including Sylvania thus the blowout pricing) were served with a notice forbidding the sale of aftermarket HID kits in the US even if you sold them under the banner 'for offroad use only' . One of our customers lost 50% of his business overnight. With that said, the chances of getting pulled over are very slim but this is the law as I know it. I don't mean to hijack the thread, this is just an FYI.

 

(Quote)
NO WIRING CUTTING
I"m not planning to cut any wiring. All the connections you need are avail at the existing light bulb sockets. I'm just going to make up male connectors that plug into the existing sealed beam bulb sockets. Probably will have to sacrifice a bulb to get the male contacts for them.[/QUOTE]


Verell, a male plug should be able to be sourced....there are companies offering relay wiring kits and they tap into the stock wiring through the exisiting headlight plug.

Dave

 

where i got mine--1 set on ebay (7"--300.00), and 1 set from brightheadlights.com ( i think),these were the x2020's were for my tahoe--they are AWESOME--tremendous light!!!! 499.00 and worth it.

there is a new "projector" sylvania to fit in a 7" hole but it is ugly as a 3 eyed frog.

my 1st generation 7" sealed beams are OK--but will likely sell them soon (ebay) and buy a new set of 2nd gen units.
http://brightheadlights.com/

 

SOURCING CONNECTOR
Tnx, Dave, I know that they're available. It's at least half an hour to get one from my home to the nearest AZ, longer if they don't have it & I have to go to PepBoyzl, but only 10-15 min to make one up in my shop. (The joys of living 12 miles from the nearest volume parts store...)

LEGALITY?
From the Sylvania web site:
"Setting New Performance Standards. Meeting All Legal Standards

SYLVANIA'S HID aftermarket products illuminate the night better than anything on the road. But what sets our brilliant innovations apart is that every product we offer is 100% street legal. All Xenarc products have been designed and tested to conform to applicable legal standards.

Headlight Upgrade Systems comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108 and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Specification J2009 for Discharge Forward Lighting Systems.

Auxiliary Low Beam Kits comply with SAE J582 for Auxiliary Low Beam Lights. Many states regulate the use of auxiliary vehicle lighting.
"