Hid Conversion On Elise S1

[fentuz]

I drove a new civic and a 10 years old Clio in the dark and it made me realise how poor the elise lights are… I 'm having a look at various kits. Most of these kits are about £150ish and under £80 for ebay jobby (but not sure of the quality)

I norrowed my search to 3 kits:

 

 

 

• Hurricane HID (eliseshop)
• EP HID Kit2 (Elisepart)
• 35w (HID4U -> managed to get a 10% discount making them attractive as they sell lots of them for various car without MOT issues or so they claim)

My main concern is the MOT and other driver annoyance... what about MOT compliance? I read that H4 work in reflexion hence the small mirror on top of the standard bulb. Are they a mirror on the kit so that the beam pattern is not modified?

 

A couple of years ago, I tried some Phillips blue vision thinggy (as I though it would be more suitable for MOT etc...)and after a while, the connection and wire insulator started to melt. I believe they were pulling too much current. Elise S1 wiring is not the best…

I read that the kit is 35W rather than Std bulb (55W) which should then pull less current (for the same voltage, P =U*I ) but is it and issue somewhere else? Could you let me know about fitting and current issues?

On S2 (H1 bulb), when fitting the kit, you need to change the fuse from 10 to 15 amps. In this case, I believe there is more current draw? If there is more current draw on S2s, should it not be the same on S1s?

 

P (W)U (V)I (A)Fuse 10 ampsS1H4 Std Bulb55124.6??? H4 HID35122.9???S2H1Std Bulb55124.5810 H1 HID??12??15

 

Ta

Bill

[dobbo]

I ungraded the wiring after the relay to the bulb holder and have run 80W/100W bulbs for a few years now. No evidence of burning / melting and the difference is amazing. As an example, when we did Cat and Fiddle a few years ago, at night, I had to drop it off main beam coming up to corners as the reflections from the road signs (chevrons) were so bright !

 

Never had any issues at MoT, although the brightness has been commented on (not of the test form though...).

[Wild]

I've just fitted some 55W ones to my S2. They were about £150 too, cheaper Ebay ones may be OK but I can't really comment. The ones I got have a two year warranty and appear to be well made so hopefully won't melt anything or burst into flames.

 

As long as you don't alter the levels (assuming they're correct to start with) they shouldn't be annoying to other drivers. MOT wise they should be fine if you go to a Lotus friendly MOT station. I think it's a grey area as to legality.

 

Fitting wise it's an easy job once you get past the corroded screws in the wheel arch liner, rusted fixings holding the lens cover on and rusted nuts holding the headlamp assembly in

 

I think changing the fuses is recommended because of the initial current required when the balasts are switched on.

 

 

[dobbo]

re changing the fuse - I take it you mean change it to a slow-blow fuse, not increasing the fuse rating ?

[Wild]

No just changing the standard 10W ones for 15W ones.

[fentuz]

I ungraded the wiring after the relay to the bulb holder and have run 80W/100W bulbs for a few years now. No evidence of burning / melting and the difference is amazing.

 

Upgraded wire? is it just a thicker wire? how does it affect electrical properties?

[Martin R]

Bill, thicker wire will carry more current (amps ) .

 

Power ( watts ) = Voltage ( 12v ) x Current ( amps )

In a DC circuit which a car is. You can transpose the formula to work any out as long as you have the 2 others.

As an example a 55w lamp at 12v will use approx 4.5 amps.

However in a hid lighting circuit on a car, you need to know how its wired and the power that the ballasts use to calculate the ampage being used.

I suspect they are wired in parrallel. Therefore if im right you need to add the 2 x ballast power ratings and divide by 12v to calculate the currrent in the inital wiring from the fuse holder to relay and on to the first light. The wiring from the first to second light will only carry half the amps if they are wired in parrallel.

 

HTH

[fentuz]

Bill, thicker wire will carry more current (amps ) .

 

Power ( watts ) = Voltage ( 12v ) x Current ( amps )

In a DC circuit which a car is. You can transpose the formula to work any out as long as you have the 2 others.

 

 

That's what I thought (can remember the basic U=RxI and P=UxI). What are the solution to upgrade the wiring?

What I'm trying to understand is : are these kit drawing less that 4.9A???

 

If the balaste was simplified to a buld (or resistance), would we get similar values to the std bulb or better?

 

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h4-35w-proplus-bi-xenon-hid-conversion-kit.html

 

 

 

 

[Martin R]

Bill, this would suggest to me the HID kit draws less current and you need to do no wiring upgrade.

 

http://www.elisepart...conversion-kit/

 

 

I think you probably need kit 2 ?

 

Edit, 35w per ballast would work out at 3 amps each.

[fentuz]

That's what I read too but on the wiki done by Yvo, yvo mention the fuse change for S2. Some S1 owner said they need to upgrade wiring etc...

 

unfortunately I cannot find data and litterature....

[Martin R]

Bill, the fuse change would be because you get a current surge on switch on as in one of the posts above. Explanation of a ballast

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_ballast

 

 

Its designed to limit the current. I would be very suprised if Geary has got it wrong.

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Did mine dipped and main with the Elise Shop group buy a couple of years ago. Fantastic difference, still not as good as in other cars - but that's down to the positioning of the lights and the fact they don't have shaped reflectors to spread the beam out.

[fentuz]

Right… All sorted.

 

 

The HID conversion using the HIDS4U 35wproplus kit was very easy.

 

 

I fitted the Left side on Saturday. Right side was not working (dip OK, full was flashing)

 

It has been rechecked today and issue was as I expected… wrong wiring (polarisation) done by that “Lotus specialist” based in Sheffield (near Stoke tiles…)

 

 

Anyway it passed the MOT. Head lights were a little low as the car ride height went from (130R 130F) to (125R 115F)

 

 

[LivinLaVidaLotus]

Ah yes, the same one that told me that all exhausts but the Lotus official ones caused some loss of power or torque when I enquired about what ones they sold, even the likes of Miltek etc. apparently. Needles to say I didn't bother. They've done a couple of bits on my car (pads and sorted an issue with a de-threaded under-tray fixing), but for everything else I don't use them.

[MilesH]

Glad you got it sorted Bill