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- Where did you purchase your kit?
- How much did it cost?
- Did you DIY, have a dealer-install, or private party install it?
- Have you run into issues with the ballast and power supply?
- What temperature did you get? Recommend?
- Do you know of any warranty issues (including extended warranty violations?)
- Are there any legal issues in your area (for an aftermarket/Non-OEM kit install) that you've run into?
- Did the install cause issues with DRL
- If not, did you install over the DRL system or in addition to?
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I got my kit for about $404 from xenondepot.com. I got the 4300K for the natural white light.. Any higher causes a bluish to purplish tint and would draw attention from your law-enforcement peeps. They also use Phlips brand ballasts and bulbs, not some 3rd party no-name brand.
I installed it myself. I had an issue putting the ballast on the drivers-side. There isn't a lot of space to work with ther. After I removed the plastic panel underneath the vehicle, I found a lot of free space to put it in. I had to use industry-grade double-sided sticky tape to mount it (3M auto-aclrylic foam tape, high-temperature resistant). On the passenger side, I simply placed the ballast under the headlight housing and secured it using the included double-sided sticky.
As for warranty issues, some folks have spliced their existing H11 connector to tap into a 12volt battery source. I ended up running 2 16AWG wires all the way to the trunk to directly connect them to the battery, as recommended by the manufacturer. They stated:
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HIDs actually operate on 35w whereas halogens operate on 55W. The problem is that the system can draw up to 17A per side upon initial startup. We include a relay harness with the kit so that you do not strain your vehicle’s wiring. Having said that, some cars can handle the initial draw.
Furthermore, by using a relay harness you can assure yourself that your dealer cannot blame the kit should you need any sort of warranty work.
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Note that the factory fuse for the TCH low-beam headlights are 15amps.
Other kits pull power directly from the stock H11 connectors. That worried me because if there were any wiring issues/meltdowns/breakages to the stock connectors, I believe it would void the warranty. I haven't looked at the gauge rating of the stock connectors so I dont know if it can handle over 15amps.
So in my install, all the H11 connectors do is trip a relay so that the HID's are drawing power directly from the battery. If needed, I could always (and easily) put the H11 halogen bulb back. I think I read somewhere that the power draw now on the stock H11 connectors is something like less than 1 amp.
It took me a while to figure out where and how to penetrate the firewall, as well as concealing the wires all the way to the trunk.
There are no issues with the DRL. DRL's still turn on when HID's are off (provided you have the headlight selector to "auto"), and turn off when HID's are on. HID bulbs fire up nicely. As for legal issues, as far as I know and that I've researched, no aftermarket HID kit is "legal". This is due to certain requirements that need to be fulfilled, hence only factory installed HID's are legal. That said, I've seen no posts with people complaining that they got pulled over due to their aftermarket HID's, with the exception being those individuals installing HID's in a halogen reflector housing. This causes the HID beam to be scattered, making it seem like you're driving with your brights (high-beam) on. Since TCH's include a projector housing, there is no worry for that except for a minor "squirrel finder" glare. This is used primarily to illuminate road signs. People claim that this glare is ok with halogen's, but unbearable with HID's. I've experienced it myself and I dont think it's that bad. I've seen misaligned halogens and other halogens producing a worse glare than the HID's.
If I had to do it again, I may go and have it installed by a 3rd party reputable installer. I was quoted $600 for everything initially, but sought to save money by doing it myself. I took me a while to do it myself. It took me 2 months off and on. I probably spent 12 hours total to install. Just be reminded that I am new to it and took things slowly. I could probably do it again in a much shorter period of time now.
Good luck. I would highly recommend getting HID's if you have the means. They difference between them and the stock halogens are tremendous.