You're right, retro fitted HID's in halogen headlights, even (Crystal style inserts with globe shields) is illegal in all states. Upping the low beam halogen above 55W is also illegal. That was told to me direct from Vehicle Standards which I deal with on a fairly regular basis. Also have an old school mate who works for them making vehicle standards policies and he can vouch for it too.Originally Posted by Bigrig
I personally hate the !^^$##!! things in headlights, they are blinding. The only reason you see better is because yes, the light is 10X brighter, and people think wow they're amazing, but in a lamp designed for halogen globes the HID's throw the light out in all directions including oncoming traffic. No amount of adjusting will stop it because the lamps reflectors and lenses can't direct the light correctly from an HID globe.
There are new aftermarket inserts out now that have a collimator (the small round prism looking dome that houses the HID globe) and have reflectors that direct the light properly on the road (just like factory HID's) and it has a proper cut off line in front of oncoming drivers so it doesn't blind them. The vision and light is actually better than from just wacking them in a halogen housing and you get better vision of the road without blinding oncoming drivers. These are the only legal retrofit HID's I know of and should be used with HID kits.
Cheers, Bordertech
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