|
Generally speaking, HID kits are illegal because they tend to create a lot of glare in reflective headlight housings. The focal point for a stock halogen bulb may be different from the focal point of a Xenon bulb, so the optics and physics of the reflective surfaces inside the headlight are changed. Think of it as losing focus on a camera: more blurry = more dispersed light. This is where projectors come in. They will focus the beam produced by the HID bulb and they have a shield to produce a sharp cutoff to reduce/eliminate glare. Currently, there are no prefabricated projector headlights of the 06-07 Civics, so many people are doing retrofits with TSX or S2000 projectors and MDX or custom shrouds. Alternatively, a lot of people are going the Plug-n-Play route simply because it is very easy to do.
The stock setup for the lighting is very simple: A wiring harness connects to the back of the halogen bulb.
OEM Wiring Harness --> Halogen Bulb
The new Plug-n-Play setup adds a few components:
OEM Wiring Harness --> Ballast and Igniter Unit --> HID Bulb
My kit had separate ballasts and igniters, so my setup looks like this:
OEM Wiring Harness --> Ballast --> Igniter --> HID Bulb
Everything plugs together in such a way that you cannot mistake one plug for another (like plugging in a USB plug to a speaker socket… it’s not gonna work). You do not have to take the headlight apart, or take it out of the car; you’re essentially changing the bulbs. But this modification does require the bumper to be removed for easier access to the wiring. All in all, it look about 2.5 hours because I took my time making everything neat and hidden under the hood (you can’t see any HID components when you pop my hood). It’s quite an easy mod, even for a beginner.
|