HID Tech Help
The Origin of the HID Bulb
The first commercial automotive HID bulbs were first introduced in 1991, as an option on the BMW 7-series.
This first system used an unshielded, non-replaceable burner designated D1 — a designation that would be recycled years later for an entirely different type of burner.
The AC ballast was about the size of a building brick. The first American-made effort at HID headlamps was on the 1996-98 Lincoln Mark-VIII, which used reflector headlamps with an unmasked,
integral-ignitor burner made by Sylvania and designated Type 9500.
This was the only system to operate on DC; reliability proved inferior to the AC systems.
The Type 9500 system was not used on any other models, and was discontinued after Osram's takeover of Sylvania.
All HID headlamps worldwide presently use the standardized AC-operated bulbs and ballasts.
What do the different letters and numbers used mean?
The 'D' stands for discharge, the numbers (1, 2, 3 or 4) designate the type while the last letter ('R' or 'S') is used to determine what kind of application the bulb is meant to be used in.
The 'R' burners – D1R, D2R, D3R, D4R, D5R, D6R, D7R and D8R – These types of burners have an opaque shield covering specific portions of the bulb because they are intended for use in specifically designed reflector headlamp optics.
'R' burners tend to have 300‒400 less lumen than their 'S' counterparts.
The 'S' burners – D1S, D2S, D3S, D4S, D5S, D6S, D7S and D8S –These types of burners are unobstructed by any kind of bulb shield because they are designed for use in projector headlamp optics.
'S' burners tend to have 300‒400 more lumen than their 'R' counterparts.
D1S is a further development to D2S, to increase safety and eliminate the need to mount ballast inside or onto headlamp.
The base of a D1S bulb has an ignitor built in, eliminating the need to transfer 23kV through a cable. The Less components that can be harmed by mechanical impact, the safer it is.
Since D1S is a newer technology compared to D2R/D2S systems, it offers several advantages such as less noise (EMI and RFI) and allows for much longer cable length from ballast to lamp (10-20 ft) for D1S, only 1-3 ft max for D2S past the ignitor.
The D1R/D1S burner is considered less environmentally friendly when compared to it's newer D3R/D3S burner sibling because of it's use of mercury and operational voltage of 85 V compared to 42 V.
If your car uses the D1 series of burners and you would like the flexibility of using D2 bulbs (The D2 burner has the most bulb choices of any burner available) in your D1 application,
An aftermarket company by the name XeVision makes a product known as the XeSparQ which allows you to do just that.
The D2R & D2S were the first mainstream type of HID burners with Philips setting the standard for what HID bulbs could/should be with the release of their 85122 bulb.
The D2R/D2S bulbs have an ignitor separate from the base of the bulb unlike that of the D1R/D1S/D3R/D3S systems which feature built-in ignitors.
Today, The D2R/D2S remains one of the most versatile HID burners because of it's many available bulb options to satisfy a wide variety of styles and tastes.
The D2R/D2S burner is considered less environmentally friendly when compared to it's newer burner sibling, the D4R/D4S, due to it's use of mercury and operational voltage of 85 V compared to 42 V.
The world's first mercury-free high intensity discharge (HID) headlamp system was created in 2004 through a joint effort between Koito, Denso, Toyota and Royal Philips Electronics.
Koito partnered with Philips to develop the mercury-free discharge bulb while also partnering with Denso to develop the ballast needed for lighting the new mercury-free discharge bulb.
Together, these developments led to the world's first mercury-free HID headlamp system that provided bright lighting and long bulb life, equal to that of a conventional HID headlamp system.
Only starting around the year 2009 did some automobile manufacturers start offering Eco-friendly HID bulbs that operated at a lower ballast output voltage than the original xenon bulbs
and did not contain any mercury like that of the original D1 and D2 series HID bulbs.
The D3R/D3S is nearly identical to the D1R/D1S in every way but is considered more Eco-friendly due to it's mercury-free nature and is designed for the lower-voltage ballasts that come on some newer vehicles.
The D3R/D3S bulbs operate on a nominal voltage of around 42 V (A testament to their 50% greater energy efficiency when compared to the 85 V used by it's older D1R/D1S sibling).
The D3R/D3S burners are not interchangeable with D1R/D1S burners.
The Low-Power, Eco-Friendly Generation (D5R/D5S, D6R/D6S, D7R/D7S, D8R/D8S)
D5R & D5S
This is a new category of gas discharge light source with the latest, high efficiency, mercury free technology, providing 2000 lm at 25W.
The main target is middle class vehicles, today equipped with halogen headlamps.
Application in these vehicles without additional installation requirements allows for a higher illumination on the road at lower power consumption.
This is beneficial to both traffic safety and environmental protection. D5S extends the existing range of D1S and D3S categories that have the starter integrated with the light source, where the ballast is a discrete component.
In the case of D5S however, the ballast is integrated with the light source, too. A high voltage connection is thus avoided; only a 12V input is necessary.
D5S is very compact, which results in less volume and build-in depth of the headlamp under the hood. The low volume may also be attractive to motorcycle headlamps.
D6R & D6S
This is a new category of gas discharge light source with the latest, high efficiency, mercury free technology, providing 2000 lm at 25W.
The main target is middle class vehicles, today equipped with halogen headlamps.
Application in these vehicles without additional installation requirements allows for a higher illumination on the road at lower power consumption.
This is beneficial to both traffic safety and environmental protection. D6S extends the existing range of D2S and D4S categories, where the starter and ballast are discrete components.
Hence components can be replaced each when necessary.
D7R & D7S
D8R & D8S
The D8 bulbs are the latest generation of HID burners characterized by their high energy efficiency.
They operate at 25W and thus produce less lumen than an average 35W HID bulb (2000 lumen vs 3000-3400 lumen).
The D8 series is believed to replace low-end halogen systems as a more energy efficient option.
My HID kit does not turn on
If you install your HID kit and they do not turn on you may have reverse polarity. This means the power and ground wires on your vehicle's harness are reversed. What you will have to do is plug the harness connector into the ballast backwards. You will be plugging in the connector from your car into the kit backwards. This will not harm the vehicle or the kit.
Check all fuses, plugs and grounds
Swap driver side ballast and passager side ballast with each other (If the problem stays on the same side it is the bulb and if it moves it is the ballast)
Note: Reverse Polarity is an issue with the cars wiring not the HID kit. Some cars come from the factory wired in an orientation that is reversed when compared to the HID kit. When using stock halogen bulbs, polarity has no effect; therefore, some manufactures will have the power and ground wires opposite of the HID kit. Some manufactures will have reverse polarity more than others. A lot of Chevy's (Silverados), GMC (Sierras) and Chrysler's have reverse polarity. Also if your vehicle comes with a high low bulb all in on (9007, 9004, h4, h13) you should always us a Bi Xenon HID kit to prevent a lot of minor problems like flinkering and slow start up. We always recommend running a wiring harness on ALL HID kits to get the power directly from the battery and not from the switch.
HID Troubleshooting:
Flickering / One Side Working / Not Lighting up / Intermittent firing Flickering: If both sides are flickering it can be caused by a few things. More than likely because the car can’t supply enough power to the ballasts on startup. You can check this by connecting the adapter cables on the bulbs to the battery with the bulb and ballast connector. If the kit fires up without any problems you will probably need a wiring harness. If your car has Daytime Running Lights (DRL) if could be caused by the car quickly turning the lights on and off to give the effect that the halogen bulbs are running at half power. If the flickering is caused by the DRL you can try a wiring harness or have the DRL disabled (NOTE: disabling the DRL may not be legal in all areas, check with local laws before doing so). The flickering can also be caused by the car’s self-check system to see if there is a working halogen bulb connected. This can typically be corrected with the Bulb Out Warning Module.
Neither light turns on: They is almost always a symptom of reversed polarity. This can be checked by reversing the connector on the input side of the ballast. It can also be tested by connecting the bulbs and ballasts and using the adaptor cables on the bulb to get power directly from the battery.
One side doesn’t light up: This could be caused by a bad bulb, ballast or wiring. The easiest way to check this is by swapping the bulb and ballast one at a time to the side that works to check that each component is functioning as it should.
Intermittent firing: If sometimes one side does not turn on or it takes multiple tries for the HIDs to turn on, you may have a power issue. We would recommend trying a wiring harness. This will allow you to wire the kit directly to the cars battery. Sometimes if you bump your fuse by 5amps (we use 30amp fuses) that can help as well. If the problem stays with one particular side, we would recommend swapping the bulbs or ballast from left to right and see if the problem follows. If this is the case, you may have a bad bulb or ballast.
If you have the HID Harness installed and is still getting intermittent firing, double check your power and ground cables. Make sure the terminal is touching the "threaded" part of the bolt and not just the head of the bolt.
Cars that commonly have issues with HID kits Here is a list below of vehicles that commonly have specific issues when installing HID's. This list is NOT all cars that have problems. We are updating the list as we see patterns with certain makes and models. ***We DO NOT guarantee these tips will work 100% but these fixes are what most customers have used and shared with us to solve some of these common problems when installing HID's on these vehicles.***Please email us at StrictlyHIDs@gmail.com or call/text us at (909) 646-0982 for more help. We are open 9am-9pm 7 days a week PST
Vehicle Listing:
- Acura Integra (94-01): Low beams - reversed polarity
- Acura MDX (Most models): Low beams - reversed polarity
- Audi (Most 2002+) – May need Bulb Out Warning Module
- Audi A4 (2002-2005): Fog lights - reversed polarity
- BMW 3 Series (E36, 1992-1999) – May need 2200 micro farad capacitor if OBC reads a bulb out
- BMW 3 Series (E90, 2005-2011): Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or ECU flashed to turn on the Xenon shutter
- BMW 3 Series (E90, 2005-2011): Fog lights - May need Bulb Out Warning Module
- BMW 5 Series (E39, 1996-2003) – Low beams and fogs may need Bulb Out Warning Module
- BMW 5 Series (E34, 1988-1995) – May need 2200 micro farad capacitor
- BMW 5 Series (E60: 2004-2010) - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or ECU flashed to turn on the Xenon shutter
- BMW 7 Series (E38, 1994-2001): Fog lights - Reversed polarity
- BMW X3: Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module
- Cadillac (Most models) – Has reversed polarity
- Cadillac Escalade ESV/EXT (00-06) - When turning on the fog lights, the relay for the fogs also pulses the rear windshield wiper and slightly moves it up and down once
- Chevrolet Corvette (C5) – Typically needs a wiring harness
- Chevrolet Silverado – Has reversed polarity
- 2007-2013 Chevrolet Silverado-DRL Disable recommended by pulling the DRL and the DRL2 fuses under the hood in the relay box on the driver side
- Chevrolet Silverado - 2014 1500 New Body needs Bulb Out Warning Module
- Chevrolet Suburban/Tahoe/Colorado – Has reversed polarity
- Chevrolet Tahoe/Suburban (00-06) - When turning on the fog lights, the relay for the fogs also pulses the rear windshield wiper and slightly moves it up and down once
- Chrysler 300 series (2005-present): Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or ECU flashed to turn on the Xenon shutter
- Chrysler PT Cruiser (2001-2007): Low beams - May need a wiring harness
- Chrysler Crossfire: Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or ECU flashed to turn on the Xenon shutter
- Dodge Charger (2006+) - Reversed polarity into Bulb Out Warning Module
- Dodge Caliber (2007-present): Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module
- Dodge Ram – Most 99+ will need a 100 ohm 25W Resistor. Email us for details
- Eagle Talon - Reversed Polarity
- Ford Fusion (ALL years) Needs wiring harness
- Ford Explorer 2011+ 5 GEN needs Bulb Out Warning Module
- GMC Canyon - reversed polarity.
- GMC Sierra - Low Beams have reversed Polarity
- 2007-2013 GMC Sierra-DRL Disable recommended by pulling the DRL and the DRL2 fuses under the hood in the relay box on the driver side
- GMC Sierra - 2014 1500 New Body needs wiring harness and a Bulb Out Warning Module
- GMC Jimmy (95-06) - High and Low beam have reversed polarity.
- GMC Yukon/Yukon XL/Denali (00-06) - When turning on the fog lights, the relay for the fogs also pulses the rear windshield wiper and slightly moves it up and down once
- Honda Accord (Most years): Low beams - have reversed polarity
- Honda Pilot (1st Gen: 2003-2008) - Low beam have reversed polarity
- Hyundai Sonata/Elantra/Veloster (2010+) - Require wiring harness and a Bulb Out Warning Module.
- Jeep Commander - May need wiring harness
- Jeep Grand Cherokee – Needs a wiring harness
- Jeep Wrangler (2007-present): high/low bulbs - May require 220uF capacitor and a 50v-1a diode to address high beam flickering.
- Lexus SC300 (1991-2000): Has reversed polarity
- Lexus (Most models): Low beams and fog lights - Has reversed polarity
- Mazda 3 / Mazda 6 – Typically need wiring harness for 35W HID Kits
- Mercedes Benz (Most 02+) – Needs Bulb Out Warning Module or ECU flashed to turn on the Xenon shutter
- Nissan Armada - Driver side may have reversed polarity
- Nissan Altima (2002-2006) - Fog lights may have reversed polarity
- Pontiac GTO - The fog lights have reverse polarity
- Saturn LS (00-05) - Reversed Polarity.
- Scion (All models, most years): Low beams - Reversed polarity
- Toyota Corolla (03-08) – Reversed polarity, needs wiring harness and Bulb Out Warning Module
- Toyota Corolla (09-Present): Low beams - Reversed polarity. Cars with automatic lights may require full-size heavy-duty ballasts for the feature to work properly.
- Toyota Camry (All years): Low beams - Reversed polarity.
- Toyota Matrix (2002-Present): Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module and reversed polarity.
- Toyota Matrix (2009) Needs wiring harness for DRL
- Toyota 4Runner (1995-1998): Low beams -needs awiring harness
- Toyota Highlander (01-07) - Reversed Polarity
- Volvo (Most years): Low beams - May need Bulb Out Warning Module
- Volvo C30 (2008+): Low beams - May need relay and Bulb Out Warning Module and wiring harness
- Volvo S40/V50 (2004.5+): Low beams - Bulb Out Warning Module and wiring harness
- Volvo S60/V70 (2001+): Low beams - Bulb Out Warning Module and a wiring harness
- Volvo XC90 (2003+): Low beams - Bulb Out Warning Module and awiring harness
- VW Golf/Jetta (MkIV) - Needs a wiring harness
- VW GTi (2010-present) - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or resistors but LBF will be present. Resistors are more prone to solving problem.
- VW Jetta (2010-present) - May need Bulb Out Warning Module or resistors but LBF will be present. Resistors are more prone to solving problem.
- VW Passat (1998-2004.5) - Needs a wiring harness and Disable the DRL (Daytime Running Lights) by pulling the 173 Relay under the dash on the driverside.
- VW Passat (2005-Present) - May needBulb Out Warning Module or resistors but LBF will be present or flashing the ECU to turn on the Xenon shutter(VAGCOM).
Contact Me
Rancho Cucamonga, CA and Victorville, CA USA
Phone: +01 9096460982
Email: StrictlyHIDs@gmail.com