Installing a HID system
Here is the kit with the wire loom lifted out so you can see the rest
Tools Required
*Short/stubby phillips screwdriver
*10mm socket
*ratchet
*extension
*drill & bits
*electrical tape
AND for pefect hardwired integration...
*cheap crimping tool (Maplin prod code: YP96E) £3.49
*non-insulated ring terminals 6mm I.D. (or insulated yellow terminals with the ring drilled/filed wider) example: Maplin prod code: ML90X Ins Spade Yell 6.4mm £0.89 X6(always have spares!)
*some small cable ties
WIRE FROM MAPLIN
1m Extra Flex Black (Prod code:XR40T) £0.79/m
1m Extra Flex Red (Prod code:XR44X) £0.79/m
This is to show you where we will be putting the ballasts, this is the ideal place as it keeps them out of sight and neat.
So first thing...
REMOVE BUMPER
1.open bonnet
2. use phillips to remove the 7x plastic clips along the middle above the grill (you unscrew the middle then pull the whole clip out)
3. undo the two 10mm bolts underneath the bumper about a foot in, theyre spaces about half a meter apart and are the only two 10mm bolts sticking striaght down and have built on washer.
4.use stubby phillips to undo to the screws at the corners of the bumper (vertically up)
5.pull the sides of the bumper down a centimeter then out an inch of two away from the wing, do the same on the other side and then grip the bumper in the middle and carfully liftt away making sure the corners dont catch you wing.
***tip. makes sure you tuck your wheel-well liners back behine the bumper as your putting it backon otherwise itll rub againts the wheel!
***
Removing the headlights & Preparing them
*Using a 10mm spanner/socket.. undo the two bolts that hold the grey brackets to the cars chassis.
*next undo the 2x bolts ontop of the headlight, and 2x either side
*slide the headlight forward and pull the H4 connector off the main bulb, twist the side-light grey-plastic hold 90* counter-clockwise and slide out and also do the same to remove the indicator bulb.
It is much easier to twist and release the side/indicator bults rather than unplugging them with is not needed.
*place you headlights down somwhere safe to change the bulbs.
*remove the OEM headlamp bulb and proceed to CAREFULLY remove the HID bulb from its shroud (twist the base counter-clockwise to the unlock position) being very careful not to touch the bulb on ANYTHING!,
*Put the bulb SHROUD into the headlamp. THEN lock the bulb shroud in. Itll only go in one way. You wont get the bulb-clamp (the wire clip/clamp) past the full HID bulb assembly with it in the shroud! the wire clamp on the headlight casing will be very firm but it WILL clip into place given force.
Preparing the brackets
1.Next remove the bottom bolt from the front crash-bar at both sides. (using a 14mm spanner/socket
2.hold the bolt against the backend of a drill bit to match the size (at a guess its 10mm drill-bit needed but I dont recall
3.holding the bracket in a vice or on a piece of wood on the floor using your foot to steady the bracket (ONLY WITH WORK-BOOTS/STEEL TOE-CAPS on!!)
You have to be-careful here because you need the dill at high speed and to be very gentle and square onto the bracket so it doesnt snag on the drill bit (which will make the drill kick round trying to twist your wrist). once drilled wider, check that the bolt fits through the end fine. then if it does, your good to go
4.mount the HID ballasts to the bracket usign the supplied screws with the long part of the bracket sticking up above the heatsink of the ballasts.
5.hold the ballasts sideways with the longer part towards the crash-bar and replace that bolt and tighten back-up.
Installing the wire-loom and relay-blackbox.
QUICK INSTALL - not neatest but works fine
Now if you want a quick install plug and play you can just bolt the the round terminal to the side of the positive battery terminal, run the wires along the path of the ABS wires (using the plastic wire clip on the suspension tower) then along the inside edge of bay to near the washer-box. using a longer bolt or just trimming the relay-boxs' plastic bracket you can bolt it behind the window-washer-fluid filler-neck, you would plug the signal-feed connector into the factory headlight connector on the passenger side then run the cables across to the other side along the factory wiring route using electric tape or wire ties. The offside earth would be the lower splash-panel bolt (clean up with a wire brush of course!) and the nearside earth would be stacked onto the factory lighting system's earth. the two feeds go into the ballasts and the HID bulbs plug into ballasts.
Perfect/Hard-wired install
NB: hard wired install guide requires the extra tools/components that are cheaply available as listed above with maplin product codes. www.mapin.co.uk
Securing the relay box
On a proffesional install you can locate the black relay box anywhere out of view, for example infront of the windscreen washbox on the side of the chassis. Or... if like me you removed the Air-Con drier (the round cylindrical unit that sits through a hole in the chassis under the washbox filler-neck. Then you may decide to fit it there and bolt it to the AC driers' original bracket bolt.
Choices on extending cables...
You have two choices here people; you can either use:
Double-ended crimps
Double-ended crimps to 'joint' the lines, advantages are:- its easy, quick and can be heatshrinked or taped over once crimped. the disadvantages are:- theyre not as neat as other methods and are higher impedance than direct connections. also the crimped joints run the risk of coming loose over time or if not crimped suitabley from bad method or from a cheap ratchet crimper.
...or...
Direct soldered and sealed
Direct soldered and sealed joints are IMO the best method for a number of reasons.. the disadvantage is it takes a little more time as you have to solder them. Benefits include; lowest resistance connection, solid s no crimp for the wire to pull out of, neater when heatshrinked or EVEN when simply taped.
---
Installing the positive feed
Depending on the location of your relay box; the length required for the positive will be different, if you put it where the AC drier was then you'll need t add aproximately 6" onto the positive feed AFTER the fuse holder. When installing the kit make sure youve removed the fuse from the harness for safety
*chop the line about 3" after the fuse holder AWAY from the battery terminal
*strip 1" of insulation off of each end of the wire
*undo the nut on the side of the positive battery connector and place the systems positive feed terminal on and re-fit and nip' the nut.
*check the length of the positive wire (with the relay already positioned and the wire neatly tucked along factory wiring) and cut a piece of the new wire to suit, again strip 1" on insulation off of each end.
*IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE HEATSHRINK THEN CUT some 1-2" sleeves and slide onto the HID systems original wiring and the new section BEFORE soldering and make sure that you dont let it come near the heat source otherwise the passive heat will make it not-movable over the joint! - Electricians tape works fine if you cant get hold of heatshrink!
*NEATLY twist the wires EVENLY together opposing each-other
*with a heated pre-tinned soldering iron coat the joint with solder in the previously prescribed method.
*Then wait till its cooled for 30secs and slide your heatshrink over the joint and shrink; again using the previously prescribed methods.
*repeat this method for the other end of the wire extension and also the other extension later on.
Connecting the ballasts
*Next plug the power feed onto the nearside ballast, the offside ballast power lead needs extending approx 6"
NOTE-Theres a little gap behind the front panel where curved metal meets the frame-rail. this is where you should feed the power cable through ideally so not to interfere with the base of the headlight casing.
connecting the earths
*Again for a perfect installation you'll need to extend the earths by about 6", looking in the gap between the curved metal (where the headlight goes) and the inner wing (engine bay side but looking from the front towards the firewall) there is a factory earth on either side of the engine bay, this earth is for the factory lighting system.
*chop the supplied earth terminal off and fit your wire extension then crimp one of the ring-terminals onto the end.
*using a flat 10mm spanner unbolt the factory earth and ideally clean it up a touch with a file, then stack the HID systems earth onto it and re-fit the earth bolt.
*do the same to fit the earth on the other side. noting that the earth on the passenger/nearside is a little hard to get to as its behind the washer-bottle filler neck, but by undoing the washer bottle filler-neck you can get to it fine with a little bit of leverage (you can drop the washbox with a few bolts if you like, the water pump pulls out of the washbox)
Connecting the signal connector
For this you have three choices..
*it will just PUSH into the nearside headlight H4 connector
*you can UNCLIP the factory plug (NOTING WHIC COLOUR GOES WHERE!) and do the same with the HID plug then heatshrink or tape them up for neatness
---Both of the above methods are easily reversable if you for some reason ever decide to return to standard performance bulbs (god forbid!
)
Best method - What I did on my own EK9..
*You can chop the factory terminals off and hard-wire them into the HID systems signal input lines! this is by far the neatest and most proffestional way to do it, save the plugs so you can still return to stock if need-be.
You decide how youd like to connect the signal plug, everything else is plug and play removable easily still.
NOTE: One thing to remember is you'll only use one of the factory headlight connectors as it only takes its signal from the factory lines, running current is 3.2A which is a considerable ammount less than standard rated bulbs, but the initial startup current is about 40-50% more than stock This is why we have the harness with relays... to PROTECT the factory wiring. Ive already calculated the cross-sentional area required for the current and gave you a product code to use or buy similar for the wire dont be skimping on wire!
Pre-reassembly testing
*carefully place your headlights almost in their place and connect the ballests INCLUDING THE HI/LO signal wire!!
*Re-install the fuse
*start engine (preffered)
*turn headlights on
You should notice them buzz for approximately 10-15seconds (depending on how good your battery is) as theyre igniting the HID bulbs; they will get brighter, brighter and brighter still until the noise goes away and theyre up to operating temp.
*test HI/LO function on headlight. youll hear the mirror clicking into the other position.
DO NOT LOOK DIRECT AT THE HEADLIGHTS AS WITH ANY POWERFUL LIGHT IT WILL DAMAGE YOUR EYES AT SUCH PROXIMITY
Now go a ENJOY driving at night with SUPERB visibilty and clarity!
Trouble-shooting
*if both lights fail to illuminate, check your fuse, then check each joint you made to make sure theyre intact. with soldering you shouldnt have a problem, with crimp-joint as previously mentioned, you somtimes find they can pull-out if not crimped properly! next check the earths.
--in the above case also check youve properly and securly connected the signal wires
*You can see if power is going into the ballasts by the blue power indication LED on the metal casings!
*if only one light fails to illuminate, then check your extensions you made and that youve not missed anything
Any help or advice just post your questions up here
To all the people Ive helped out supplying this quality kit I hope this is a great help to you! Any question PM me.
i hope you get years of joyous night driving with them; theyre REALLY that good!....I just want you to have the best info available to fit them perfectly instead of paying some garage to do a 'quick' job. I hope some of you learn some in the process!
Ill add a detailed guide to soldering these joints proffesionally when I get chance and Ill also add more info on heatshrinking. anything youd like me to add, please feel free to post up!
As for the kits... if anyone want one then there not many left so get them now as Im not going through the expense to buy-in again
EK9turbo
Here is the kit with the wire loom lifted out so you can see the rest
Tools Required
*Short/stubby phillips screwdriver
*10mm socket
*ratchet
*extension
*drill & bits
*electrical tape
AND for pefect hardwired integration...
*cheap crimping tool (Maplin prod code: YP96E) £3.49
*non-insulated ring terminals 6mm I.D. (or insulated yellow terminals with the ring drilled/filed wider) example: Maplin prod code: ML90X Ins Spade Yell 6.4mm £0.89 X6(always have spares!)
*some small cable ties
WIRE FROM MAPLIN
1m Extra Flex Black (Prod code:XR40T) £0.79/m
1m Extra Flex Red (Prod code:XR44X) £0.79/m
This is to show you where we will be putting the ballasts, this is the ideal place as it keeps them out of sight and neat.
So first thing...
REMOVE BUMPER
1.open bonnet
2. use phillips to remove the 7x plastic clips along the middle above the grill (you unscrew the middle then pull the whole clip out)
3. undo the two 10mm bolts underneath the bumper about a foot in, theyre spaces about half a meter apart and are the only two 10mm bolts sticking striaght down and have built on washer.
4.use stubby phillips to undo to the screws at the corners of the bumper (vertically up)
5.pull the sides of the bumper down a centimeter then out an inch of two away from the wing, do the same on the other side and then grip the bumper in the middle and carfully liftt away making sure the corners dont catch you wing.
***tip. makes sure you tuck your wheel-well liners back behine the bumper as your putting it backon otherwise itll rub againts the wheel!
***Removing the headlights & Preparing them
*Using a 10mm spanner/socket.. undo the two bolts that hold the grey brackets to the cars chassis.
*next undo the 2x bolts ontop of the headlight, and 2x either side
*slide the headlight forward and pull the H4 connector off the main bulb, twist the side-light grey-plastic hold 90* counter-clockwise and slide out and also do the same to remove the indicator bulb.
It is much easier to twist and release the side/indicator bults rather than unplugging them with is not needed.
*place you headlights down somwhere safe to change the bulbs.
*remove the OEM headlamp bulb and proceed to CAREFULLY remove the HID bulb from its shroud (twist the base counter-clockwise to the unlock position) being very careful not to touch the bulb on ANYTHING!,
*Put the bulb SHROUD into the headlamp. THEN lock the bulb shroud in. Itll only go in one way. You wont get the bulb-clamp (the wire clip/clamp) past the full HID bulb assembly with it in the shroud! the wire clamp on the headlight casing will be very firm but it WILL clip into place given force.
Preparing the brackets
1.Next remove the bottom bolt from the front crash-bar at both sides. (using a 14mm spanner/socket
2.hold the bolt against the backend of a drill bit to match the size (at a guess its 10mm drill-bit needed but I dont recall
3.holding the bracket in a vice or on a piece of wood on the floor using your foot to steady the bracket (ONLY WITH WORK-BOOTS/STEEL TOE-CAPS on!!)
You have to be-careful here because you need the dill at high speed and to be very gentle and square onto the bracket so it doesnt snag on the drill bit (which will make the drill kick round trying to twist your wrist). once drilled wider, check that the bolt fits through the end fine. then if it does, your good to go
4.mount the HID ballasts to the bracket usign the supplied screws with the long part of the bracket sticking up above the heatsink of the ballasts.
5.hold the ballasts sideways with the longer part towards the crash-bar and replace that bolt and tighten back-up.
Installing the wire-loom and relay-blackbox.
QUICK INSTALL - not neatest but works fine
Now if you want a quick install plug and play you can just bolt the the round terminal to the side of the positive battery terminal, run the wires along the path of the ABS wires (using the plastic wire clip on the suspension tower) then along the inside edge of bay to near the washer-box. using a longer bolt or just trimming the relay-boxs' plastic bracket you can bolt it behind the window-washer-fluid filler-neck, you would plug the signal-feed connector into the factory headlight connector on the passenger side then run the cables across to the other side along the factory wiring route using electric tape or wire ties. The offside earth would be the lower splash-panel bolt (clean up with a wire brush of course!) and the nearside earth would be stacked onto the factory lighting system's earth. the two feeds go into the ballasts and the HID bulbs plug into ballasts.
Perfect/Hard-wired install
NB: hard wired install guide requires the extra tools/components that are cheaply available as listed above with maplin product codes. www.mapin.co.uk
Securing the relay box
On a proffesional install you can locate the black relay box anywhere out of view, for example infront of the windscreen washbox on the side of the chassis. Or... if like me you removed the Air-Con drier (the round cylindrical unit that sits through a hole in the chassis under the washbox filler-neck. Then you may decide to fit it there and bolt it to the AC driers' original bracket bolt.
Choices on extending cables...
You have two choices here people; you can either use:
Double-ended crimps
Double-ended crimps to 'joint' the lines, advantages are:- its easy, quick and can be heatshrinked or taped over once crimped. the disadvantages are:- theyre not as neat as other methods and are higher impedance than direct connections. also the crimped joints run the risk of coming loose over time or if not crimped suitabley from bad method or from a cheap ratchet crimper.
...or...
Direct soldered and sealed
Direct soldered and sealed joints are IMO the best method for a number of reasons.. the disadvantage is it takes a little more time as you have to solder them. Benefits include; lowest resistance connection, solid s no crimp for the wire to pull out of, neater when heatshrinked or EVEN when simply taped.
---
Installing the positive feed
Depending on the location of your relay box; the length required for the positive will be different, if you put it where the AC drier was then you'll need t add aproximately 6" onto the positive feed AFTER the fuse holder. When installing the kit make sure youve removed the fuse from the harness for safety
*chop the line about 3" after the fuse holder AWAY from the battery terminal
*strip 1" of insulation off of each end of the wire
*undo the nut on the side of the positive battery connector and place the systems positive feed terminal on and re-fit and nip' the nut.
*check the length of the positive wire (with the relay already positioned and the wire neatly tucked along factory wiring) and cut a piece of the new wire to suit, again strip 1" on insulation off of each end.
*IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE HEATSHRINK THEN CUT some 1-2" sleeves and slide onto the HID systems original wiring and the new section BEFORE soldering and make sure that you dont let it come near the heat source otherwise the passive heat will make it not-movable over the joint! - Electricians tape works fine if you cant get hold of heatshrink!
*NEATLY twist the wires EVENLY together opposing each-other
*with a heated pre-tinned soldering iron coat the joint with solder in the previously prescribed method.
*Then wait till its cooled for 30secs and slide your heatshrink over the joint and shrink; again using the previously prescribed methods.
*repeat this method for the other end of the wire extension and also the other extension later on.
Connecting the ballasts
*Next plug the power feed onto the nearside ballast, the offside ballast power lead needs extending approx 6"
NOTE-Theres a little gap behind the front panel where curved metal meets the frame-rail. this is where you should feed the power cable through ideally so not to interfere with the base of the headlight casing.
connecting the earths
*Again for a perfect installation you'll need to extend the earths by about 6", looking in the gap between the curved metal (where the headlight goes) and the inner wing (engine bay side but looking from the front towards the firewall) there is a factory earth on either side of the engine bay, this earth is for the factory lighting system.
*chop the supplied earth terminal off and fit your wire extension then crimp one of the ring-terminals onto the end.
*using a flat 10mm spanner unbolt the factory earth and ideally clean it up a touch with a file, then stack the HID systems earth onto it and re-fit the earth bolt.
*do the same to fit the earth on the other side. noting that the earth on the passenger/nearside is a little hard to get to as its behind the washer-bottle filler neck, but by undoing the washer bottle filler-neck you can get to it fine with a little bit of leverage (you can drop the washbox with a few bolts if you like, the water pump pulls out of the washbox)
Connecting the signal connector
For this you have three choices..
*it will just PUSH into the nearside headlight H4 connector
*you can UNCLIP the factory plug (NOTING WHIC COLOUR GOES WHERE!) and do the same with the HID plug then heatshrink or tape them up for neatness
---Both of the above methods are easily reversable if you for some reason ever decide to return to standard performance bulbs (god forbid!
)Best method - What I did on my own EK9..
*You can chop the factory terminals off and hard-wire them into the HID systems signal input lines! this is by far the neatest and most proffestional way to do it, save the plugs so you can still return to stock if need-be.
You decide how youd like to connect the signal plug, everything else is plug and play removable easily still.
NOTE: One thing to remember is you'll only use one of the factory headlight connectors as it only takes its signal from the factory lines, running current is 3.2A which is a considerable ammount less than standard rated bulbs, but the initial startup current is about 40-50% more than stock This is why we have the harness with relays... to PROTECT the factory wiring. Ive already calculated the cross-sentional area required for the current and gave you a product code to use or buy similar for the wire
dont be skimping on wire!Pre-reassembly testing
*carefully place your headlights almost in their place and connect the ballests INCLUDING THE HI/LO signal wire!!
*Re-install the fuse
*start engine (preffered)
*turn headlights on
You should notice them buzz for approximately 10-15seconds (depending on how good your battery is) as theyre igniting the HID bulbs; they will get brighter, brighter and brighter still until the noise goes away and theyre up to operating temp.
*test HI/LO function on headlight. youll hear the mirror clicking into the other position.
DO NOT LOOK DIRECT AT THE HEADLIGHTS AS WITH ANY POWERFUL LIGHT IT WILL DAMAGE YOUR EYES AT SUCH PROXIMITY
Now go a ENJOY driving at night with SUPERB visibilty and clarity!
Trouble-shooting
*if both lights fail to illuminate, check your fuse, then check each joint you made to make sure theyre intact. with soldering you shouldnt have a problem, with crimp-joint as previously mentioned, you somtimes find they can pull-out if not crimped properly! next check the earths.
--in the above case also check youve properly and securly connected the signal wires
*You can see if power is going into the ballasts by the blue power indication LED on the metal casings!
*if only one light fails to illuminate, then check your extensions you made and that youve not missed anything
Any help or advice just post your questions up here
To all the people Ive helped out supplying this quality kit
I hope this is a great help to you! Any question PM me. i hope you get years of joyous night driving with them; theyre REALLY that good!....I just want you to have the best info available to fit them perfectly instead of paying some garage to do a 'quick' job. I hope some of you learn some in the process!
Ill add a detailed guide to soldering these joints proffesionally when I get chance and Ill also add more info on heatshrinking.
anything youd like me to add, please feel free to post up! As for the kits... if anyone want one then there not many left so get them now as Im not going through the expense to buy-in again
EK9turbo
nice write up! 
