HID Lights? Legal Or Pull Me Over Now?
 

Well a friend of mine gave me a set of HID head lamp kits for my car. The light kit is the kind that replaces the stock bulbs with a Xenon arch lamp, ballast and ignitor. The color is 6000k white/blue. The kit was a Xmas present and was purchased from carhidkits site, so I do not want to offend my friend by never trying them, but at the same time I do not want to blind others on the road or get a FAT TICKET. What are the penalties if it is not legal? Heck, what is the legality of these light kits? I live in CA if that has any bearing.

WHich S40 are you using? 1st gen or 2nd gen? 6000K isn't bad, although it is significantly whiter then normal, it isn't blinding. My best bet if you are the 1st gen that you aim them slightly lower so you are not blinding as bad. If it is the 2nd generation, go for it.

HID kits are legal... Some kits have a label "for off road use"..... That's their way of covering their butt in case you were to get a ticket. They don't want you coming after them.

they are perfectly legal.. they are a factory option on many cars produced today. If it is a 35 watt kit then little or no attention will be required. if it is a 55 watt kit you will definitely want to tilt the headlights down a bit. once installed have a friend drive in a similar type car to yours in front of you at night, varying distances and checking the rearview. they can quickly tell you if the lights are blinding and in need of adjustment.

Actually, most HID kits are NOT DOT APPROVED. OEM parts if your car came with them from the factory you can use them, if they did not, they are not DOT legal.

bingo

I guess i was being a bit too general in my statement. It is usually the reflector design in the housing that determines the legality of the kits, which is why most aftermarket kits in standard halogen reflectors spit light all over the place rather than having the nice sharp cut off points that the factory hid's /housings have. I can't say that i have seen a DOT stamp on any bulb kit, but i have seen the 55w kits say off road use only. This is why i say to aim them low and have another vehicle double-check it.

Nice post
 

Nice post and we will look forward for your future updates.

Thanks
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