Great jswift2000, we are all looking forward to your pics. Keep us posted.

 

Price?

What price were you quoted?

 

$499 with shipping.

 

what was the mounting kit that came with the lights? velcro? something easy?

 

I will let you know when I receive them but since its the same kit offered by lavalighting.com (offered as a group buy a month or two ago) I would imagine it has the same mounting options. I plan on using screws or zip ties.

 

Slightly changing the discussion, but Consumer Reports just put out a couple of pages on HID lights as part of it's April auto issue. (By the way, the MDX did very well in all respects such as reliability, owner satisfaction, etc.)

They had some interesting things to say on HIDs:
- Owners tend to love them. A lot of that is because of increased light to the sides rather than to the front.
- Quite a few people are complaining about glare, and CRs conclusion is that there generally IS more glare due to several factors, including sensitivity to the blue color, the sharp cutoff causing a "flashing" effect for oncoming drivers, more wet weather glare from reflections, and extra glare from the extra lighting to the sides. It tends to be worse for drivers over about age 50.
- Not all HIDs provide better straight ahead lighting than stock halogens. They particularly noted that the Audi TT HID lights were pretty bad (200 ft. visibility on low beam, vs 400 with a lot of others), in the same range as the worst halogens (Chrysler Sebring, Pontiac Grand Prix).
- The best Halogens they tested were on the Mazda Protege5, with a 600 foot range and no glare problem. (Three times the range of the HID-equipped Audi TT).
- They didn't recommend HID conversions that use the stock headlight assembies. They aren't designed for the higher light ouput, may cause more glare, and results may not be as expected or desired. They are also illegal, technically. (Any HID bulb using a standard halogen base, to allow plugging in to a halogen socket).
- They weren't impressed with the concept of blue-tinted halogens. However, they didn't seem to investigate alternatives such as Silverstars.
- They didn't give results of all 41 vehicles they tested, or say what those vehicles were, other than pointing out the best/worst.

 

$499 with shipping.

i was actually anticipated to have this hid factory installed
with my new 2003 but a bit disappointed.

 

I was hoping there were going to be xenons on the 2003 but acurs decided to wait. Who know why. About the consume reports article - I guess I would tend to agree with the article except for the xenon lights in a std headlight housing. Aren't the CL, RL, TL, nissan maxima, altima, etc using a std headlight housing instead of projector headlights? If anyone reading this thread has installed a xenon kit can you please post your feelings and observations? I would have to imagine that the install does make a difference. I'll let you all know how it goes when I do the install.

 

I was hoping there were going to be xenons on the 2003 but acurs decided to wait. Who know why. About the consume reports article - I guess I would tend to agree with the article except for the xenon lights in a std headlight housing. Aren't the CL, RL, TL, nissan maxima, altima, etc using a std headlight housing instead of projector headlights?

No, the CL, RL, TL, etc. are using reflector based Xenon headlamps which have been specifically designed for the Xenon bulbs in mind. By "standard" headlamps, this is in reference to headlamps which are designed for halogen bulbs only. Since Xenon bulbs need to be oriented a certain way, the halogen reflectors are really not very good a providing a good beam pattern.

 

No, the CL, RL, TL, etc. are using reflector based Xenon headlamps which have been specifically designed for the Xenon bulbs in mind. By "standard" headlamps, this is in reference to headlamps which are designed for halogen bulbs only. Since Xenon bulbs need to be oriented a certain way, the halogen reflectors are really not very good a providing a good beam pattern.

in other words, just replacing the currently installed
halogen bulbs of mdx to personally purchased xenon bulbs
wouldn't get the maximum performance out of them?

maybe i should stop thinking about replacing them...

 

CR also mentioned that one company was producing HID kits which included the bulbs and the reflector housing, but I think it was just for GM products.

 

Xenarc

CR also mentioned that one company was producing HID kits which included the bulbs and the reflector housing, but I think it was just for GM products.

It is produced for late model Ford & Chevy pickups, and manufactured by Sylvania. They also manufacture an auxillary HID driving light kit.



http://www.eautoworks.com/html/lbu-Light~bulbs-Sylvania~HID~Light~System.htm

 

in other words, just replacing the currently installed
halogen bulbs of mdx to personally purchased xenon bulbs
wouldn't get the maximum performance out of them?

Using aftermarket xenon bulbs in housings designed for standard bulbs is not "optimal." Certainly not as optimal as using xenon bulbs in housings specifically designed for xenons.

While xenons in halogen housings are not optimal, you'll obviously still get some benefits. And possibly some drawbacks (e.g. higher glare). The actual result will vary from vehicle to vehicle, and from bulb to bulb.

Also, most contemporary true xenon configurations now have:

1) Auto-leveling.
2) Bi-xenons, not just low-beam xenons.
3) Headlamp washers.

The auto-levelling helps aim the bulbs optimally and reduces glare (it's also quite cool; you see the pattern move as you move up and down a hill). Auto-levelling is much more optimal in SUV's with the bulbs mounted up higher. The bi-xenons usually use a projector design with a "shutter" that go into high-beams, and is not only great looking but is extremely effective when you turn on high beams on a dark country road. Finally, the headlamp washers help when you're in bad weather. Having dirt on the headlamp lens is worse when you have xenons, and makes the glare worse.

I hope that when Acura finally adds xenons to the MDX, that the xenons will be better than what you find on the TL, CL, etc. I hope they're projector beam bi-xenons with auto-leveling and headlamp washers!

 

1) Auto-leveling.
2) Bi-xenons, not just low-beam xenons.
3) Headlamp washers.

thanks!