Hey guys, new here as an official member although I have spent many months on here as a reader. I have a 2003 Sedan with Factory HIDs...I have a question that I am hoping I can get a correct answer to. I have found many topics saying you can NOT buy new headlights (entire housing) that are for Halogen bulbs for our cars that had originally come with factory HID's, as the bulbs will not fit in the housing.

So my question then is, If I want to keep my factory HIDs (Ballasts)..can I simply get an aftermarket HID bulb.. but not in the factory size, but the size that would fit headlights that are Halogen housing which I think is usually an H1? ...don't quote me on that but anyways..

The reason I want to do this is I have factory HIDs.. my headlights are 100% perfect and restored to new on the outside, however they are still cloudy looking, and it is on the inside, it drives me insane because I like my car to look perfect.. so my only option is to get new lights so the lenses are crystal clear again. Since I have factory HIDs..replacement lights are ridiculous in price and not worth it to me. So I would like to just pick up a set of Halogen housing lights which are like 1/3 the price an then use the correct size bulb for them, but and use my factory ballasts.

I know some people switch our factory HIDs to aftermarket HID's (both the ballasts and bulbs) but My thinking is that this isn't even necessary for what I want to do, as if aftermarket bulbs are plug and play with our factory ballasts (they are right?), then why can't I get a different size aftermarket bulb that will fit a halogen housing and retain my factory ballast.

Bing, Bang, Done..and lots of money saved.

Or am I way off on my thinking?

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys, and thanks for the great site!

 

here is how my lights look:

 

Think I found the answer myself.. I didn't realize the plug for the bulb is different than pretty much every other Hid bulb size I've used before, so a different size aftermarket bulb wouldn't work. HOWEVER I did find adapters that allow you to use our bulbs in different housings.. So that potentially could be an option for people. I ended up finding a great deal on a nice used set of OEM HID lights so I snatched them up for $180 shipped. Problem solved for me

 

Much better

Ended up just swapping lenses and trim from set I bought

 

Well done, looks much better! Did you need to remove the lens and black housing separately, via baking them? Or did those two pieces come off together? Thanks!

 

Looks much better. Nice!

 

No they came apart as one piece. There is just a couple screws I think holding the two together if you'd want to separate them but they come apart as one piece when you pry it off after baking. Which I was hoping for since the black is so much better than that grayish color.

 

did you buy an entire new set? or were you able to find just the lens?

 

You can't buy just the lens.. It comes as a complete headlight assembly. This was a used set of Factory HID lights but there were some issue with a few things so I just used the lenses off of them. I have 2 extra HID ballasts now too that came with them in case one of mine ever fails.

 

wasnt sure if you had found some vendor that started selling them . mine are all sorts of messed up. im going to go look for a used set lke u did

 

Don't waste your time on a used set.. You can get new halogen set for like $175 on eBay and just swap those lenses. I paid $180 for this used set which I intended to just swap completely for my current ones.. Plug and play if you will... But they ended up having broken electrical plug and bulb socket so they weren't usable. Rather than return them and buy a new halogen set just for the lenses, the lenses were great still on these and I liked the black insides so much better so I just decided to use what I had.

 

halogen as in ebay brand? is it the same lens? the coupes all have HID i believe (not projector though)

 

Nice! I'm definitely going to use this method on my 04 sedan. Any tips or tricks I should know? Could you give me a basic run down of what you did?

 

There's a thread on here on how to paint the inside of your lights if you search and explains how to get them apart

I baked them in oven on a cookie sheet for 7 minutes at 200* to open them and then place them back together (will not push into place all the way) and baked again for 7 minutes (his direction said 5 when putting together but 7 worked best for me) and after you take them out you press them fully back together. Very simple.

 

Came out nice. A heat gun is only $9 at Harbor Freight if you don't want to put your headlights where your baked chicken goes......