Converting Hid To Back To Halogen

[diabolique]

Hi guys,

Been a while since I've been on here, so howdy to all the new and old faces.

I've got a bit of an issue. After 3 and a half years of owning my V, I got pulled over on the freeway and got slapped with a yellow sticker for having HID lights without the necessary 'protection'. I bought the car from Sydney with these on and upon bringing it to WA it went over the pits in O'Conner and passed registration without any issue. They are 4000k HIDs so brightness wasn't the problem, rather, they are not "self-levelling" nor do they have "washers" and therefore are deemed 'illegal' by virtue of ADR 13 and a few bits of legislation. I won't rant on about the cop's conduct, but let's just say he wasn't a pleasant chap.

I wasn't speeding nor have I had any major prior run-ins with the police. He refused to believe it was factory fitted nor did he believe that it passed pits so I've lodged an official complaint with the department of transport and an 'investigation' is being undertaken by them as I refuse to pay the inspection fee for something which should have been picked up over the pits.

Here's my dilemma, I took off the wheel and the splash-guards, got access to the headlight housing to find that the halogens which I bought won't simply "plug n play" into the existing HID housing (duh! ) I'll be ringing my mechanic on Monday to see what he can do, however, in the meantime does anyone know or has anyone attempted to convert their HIDs back to stock halogens? (I don't imagine there'll be a lot of people). I've read various articles about hacking away at the wiring loom, by-passing the HID ballast etc but it's all Greek to me so I won't venture up that road. Any suggestions guys? Does anyone know of a place/website where I can get OEM wiring and ballasts to put the halogens back in?

Plan on selling the car over the next couple of months so don't want to spend too much $$$.

Many thanks in advance!

Tarun

[The Max]

You don't need ballasts for halogens. The reason why is because HID lights require a really high voltage to initially excite the HID lamp and then maintain a moderately high voltage to allow the HID lamp to continue to operate from that initial jolt.

Both voltages are far too high for a 12V halogen. Therefore, you have no option but to cut the 12V wires going into the HID ballast and connect them to your halogens. Thereby taking the ballast out of action altogether.

I don't know about retrofitting the halogen bulb in the assembly as I haven't yet converted mine back to the factory HID (as it was converted to halogen for ADR compliance, as it's meant to be).

I agree the ADRs are ridiculous to say the least though. Thankfully mine has the auto-levelling system but no washers so if worse comes to worse, I could always stick on a couple of fake washers if it becomes an issue here in NSW.

[sonicii]

If you can track down a compliance workshop in your area, they should be able to tell you how to do it, as they should do it on every V35/36 that comes into the country.

[Deep Dish V35]

just take the bulbs out and convince them your fog lights are now your only regular and high beam....

[diabolique]

Cheers for the feedback guys.

After posting this I managed to dig out an old box sent by the previous owner which contained the halogen headlight cradles to hold the H1 globe in place (which was a start). After a couple of hours, a crimp tool, some spade connectors and electrical tape, I managed to secure and mount the halogens in. Problem solved...for now.

They look like absolute crap compared to the previous HIDs but just need to clear inspection and back in they go

Edited September 16, 2012 by diabolique