Introduction: HID Conversion Kit Buying Guide
When you're driving at night, you've probably noticed that most cars have halogen yellow headlights, but there are a few that have these gorgeous xenon white HID headlights. HID headlights are synonymous with luxury, but not every car comes standard with HID headlights. Fortunately, you can install an HID Conversion Kit for your headlights or your fog lights to get that same crisp white output and turn heads on the road.
So how do you start? You'll first need to find out your bulb size and that can be approached with several ways. HID Conversion Kits are available on Amazon and you can even pick between xenon white or brilliant blue.
Step 1: Check Osram Sylvania
If you aren't sure where to start, Osram Sylvania's bulb size finder is a great place to get your feet wet. Simply plug in your vehicle information like the year, make, and model to begin. Some vehicles have qualifiers such as with/without factory HID or sedan/coupe that you will have to choose. Osram then gives you the list of bulb sizes for specific parts of your vehicle, such as the headlight bulb low beam, high beam, and even down to the dome light.
While Osram is a very reliable source, it's not always 100% accurate. However, it is a great place to start your search and get to know what bulb sizes are used on your vehicle.
Step 2: Check IJDMTOY for Photos of OEM Bulbs
Check iJDMTOY for a comprehensive and detailed guide to all the bulb sizes. The bulb size finder has photos of all the available bulbs and their compatible sizes. When you find out what bulb size you need, you can shop by bulb size and pick the according HID Conversion Kit available for your car.
There are all sorts of useful resources available on the main page to make shopping for HID kits easier. The hardest part is to see which bulb size your car takes for headlights and the rest is extremely simple.
Step 3:
The most surefire way of confirming your bulb size would be to physically pull out your stock bulb and see what the bulb size is. A physical comparison with your stock bulb and photos from the website is the only way to be 100% that you are buying the correct HID kit.
Sometimes, bulbs may be mislabeled accidentally so it's best to do a physical comparison. There have been instances of Osram bulbs being labeled as H16 when they are in fact H11. The mislabeled bulb was compared to an H11 housing harness and the fitment proves that it was an H11 bulb all along. In situations like these, don't just look at the part numbers at the back of the bulbs. You can do a bit of brief research on what the bulbs look like and purchase the correct HID Conversion Kit accordingly.
Step 4:
After you pick out the appropriate HID Conversion Kit, you can get that luxurious look without having to pay sticker price for a fully loaded vehicle. Installation is very straightforward and you'll get that crisp, sharp upgrade!