My passenger side headlight is hazing beyond repair, both externally and internally. It is also building up moisture, so I just want to replace it. I have a 2003.0 with an aftermarket HID kit that was installed by the previous owner. I'm can't tell if my headlights are OEM Xenon or OEM Halogen. I would assume that it is OEM Halogen, which is why the previous owner purchased an aftermarket HID conversion kit. It is also likely that my car could have the xenon headlight and the previous owner just replaced the ballasts with aftermarket ballasts. But I would like to make sure before I drop money on the wrong headlight. If someone could explain how I can tell which headlight I have (HID or Halogen) it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

post some pics...i honestly reccomend just buying a new set of hls,theyre all over driver in the fs section and average a price of 120.00-200.00 for a set..or u could upgrade to projectors( i have some fs) ud be better off than messing with a non oem ballast setup

 

I gotta check those out... do you have a picture?

 

unless he did a retrofit for the 2003/2004 style his projectors will not fit in the 2003 size

 

Easy. Turn your lights on and walk about 50 feet in front of your car. If the lights glare into your lights, then you have an aftermarket HID kit in a halogen headlight.


Another way to tell is to pull the fender liner or look under the hood for aftermarket ballasts. They would usually be hanging ina spot that doesn't look OEM.

I've seen aftermarket HID kits installed in the halogen headlights. There is a pretty big difference in glare compared to OEM HID. I can tell a difference out on the road.

 

just post a pic of the headlights turned on and we should be able to tell if they are halogen or hid.

 

They are HID if you look at it, but im talking about the housing. Im wondering if my housing is halogen or xenon. The HID kit is aftermarket on my car, so I can't tell if I previously had xenon and they were replaced, or i have halogen and the HID kit just fits in the halogen lamps.

 

That sounds like a good idea, can you expand on what you mean by "glare"?

 

Now that I think about it, I do have a lot of glare. Do the stock xenon headlamps have built in glare shields or something?

 

If u have factory halogen u can buy the black housing headlights from ebay for 175 bucks, they're very nice. I agree with mustang about the glare, I have hid top and bottom and when I stand in front of my car it glares a lot but fortunately it doesn't glare other drivers when sitting on another car. I drove in front of my car and doesn't glare at all. Is only when I'm standing up.

 

IMO, the blacked out headlights look nice on black color cars, but not so much on my silver colored car. I'm relieved though, now I can just buy the halogen headlamps and throw my aftermarket HID kit in there. Saving money FTW!

 

The reflector is totally different. The focal points between a halogen filament bulb and a HID arc tube are different, so as a result, the reflector shape and glar shields are different between the two. As a result, you can't interchange the bulbs without changing the beam pattern.

Glare is tough to describe over the internet, so perhaps that's a poor way to tell what you have.


I'd pull a fenderliner and either pull the bulb out, or look for aftermarket ballasts. A quick look at the bulb will tell you if it's factory. The factory bulb is a D2R. It will have a painted glare sheild on the top



The halogen bulb is an H1 bulb. So you would have an aftermarket H1 HID kit in your headlights. It will look something like this and most likely won't have the glare sheild on the top.


Look at the bases and for markings specifically.

 

Thanks Mustang, I have the bottom H1 for sure, so I'll get the halogen replacement lamps.

 

ohh i know,i meant whole assembly

 

The outside of the headlight, bottom will say D2R or H1 in the lens.