mahoney944

I've read through about a million posts all over the web. I decided on an hid conversion using a h4 housing and accommodating harness for the higher load. I can't seem to decide to use the dot hella h4 conversion found on 944online or the hella ecode h4 conversion. Im located in the USA, but I'm not to concerned with the legality of using ecode lights. I just want to maximize vision at night without compromising seeing street signs. I'm not sure how much the ecode lights would take away from things like street signs. Anyone who has done this conversion, especially if you have used both conversion types, I'd like to see what your experience was like. Thank you

V2Rocket

I ran the DOT H4 for about 7 years and switched to the E-codes, they light up the road better without losing sign lighting.

mahoney944

Why did you decide to switch? Also what terrain do you live in

azbanks

I have a whole headlight conversion kit for sale. It is somewhat similar to an IceShark kit. It has all the proper cables to support the electrical demands of the E-code lights. It has a long cable that runs to the battery that includes it's own fuse. Each headlight has it's own ground cable. It plugs into the factory harness for easy installation.
$300 plus shipping.

V2Rocket

flat deserts to hilly areas to snowy mountain towns depending on the day.
the OEM lights are truly miserable in light output. the H4s were better but not by much. the e-codes were better still but you really need much brighter bulbs to see anything.

i have 100w bulbs installed in the driving light position in my foglights and there are areas i need the 100w driving lights, 55w fogs, and 60w pop-up lights to be able to see much of the road ahead, these places are like black holes. and my lights are aimed right too. newer cars lights have spoiled me for visibility.

mahoney944

I'm using 55w ballasts with bixenon high and low true hid 6000k bulbs the light should be plenty. Just deciding on the ecode housing vs the dot approved ones.

mahoney944

The bulbs were also designed for a retro fit in a 7 in h4 conversion light

veleno

You might want to consider these. You get a true projector in a 7" housing and all you have to do is R&R. The benefits of a Bi-xenon, HID, projector, in a 7" housing will outperform the ecode or dot approved housings.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/com...l#.VAsjGufZiOY

PEvans

No one has said it and perhaps it is obvious and you have already done it for your bi-xenon (apology in advance), but the 944 powers the headlights through the main switch. So any modification should begin with adding a relay for the switch with power direct to the lights as in azbanks' kit.

I have the ecodes with 100/90 Narva bulbs, and they light signs fine. Those bulbs are much more powerful than stock and certainly require the wiring upgrade. My harness and wiring is from Rennbay. Taking power from the alternator rather than the battery seems to make a difference but I don't know why. A VAST improvement over stock. I could never have lived with that.

I can't give you a direct comparison between this setup compared to DOT H4 housings, but I would do the ecode with the brighter bulbs without hesitation.

Nod to IceShark, RIP.

veleno

I wonder if it's really needed if you went with an HID kit, which draws less current than oem (35w vs. 55w) and produces less heat than oem (HID vs. sealed beam)?

mahoney944

Yes I'd be using the harness offered on rennbay / 944 online. One thing to remember is that even though they use less power is that the surge on startup, drawing more power

PaulD_944S2

I doubt that the HID surge on startup is nearly as bad as a cold incandescent filament; the filament is like a direct short for many milliseconds.

mahoney944

The hid lights have to arc to start up, because they are gas filled. This requires more power to do so. Also why you need a ballast to run hids. Start up uses more power but after that they run on less power.

Voith

That Morimoto kit looks interesting..

mahoney944

Would anyone with hella ecode lights be willing to post a video of night time driving. Demonstrating hi and low beams? Would be very appreciated.