HID LIGHTS ON 2015 JOURNEY CROSSROADS

[Justin77]

Hello, Has anyone installed hid lights on their 2015 journey, i bought a 6000k hi/low beam kit from speed daddy on ebay but am wondering how hard it is to install, i watched some youtube videos which made it look easy, just plug and play. My other question is do you have to take the headlights out? I ask because the fuse box location seems to make it hard to reach the drivers side headlight bulbs. Im hoping the hid lights help as my journey has headlights which, to me, are quite dim and make it hard to drive at night.

[Justin77]

got the passenger side low beam done and it didn't flicker or anything but i couldn't figure out how to reach the drivers side low beam as the fuse box is in the way. the fuse box has handles like it should move or something but I'm not sure how. also where did you guys mount the 4 ballast? any help will be appreciated.

[carritt11]

I was able to install without removing the fuse box. There is a wire harness connector just to the front of the fuse box that is attached by rivets that can be pulled out to make the bend a little easier. For the ballasts I snuck them into a hollow spot in the fender well and taped them down, keeps them out of the way of anything.

Edited July 25, 2015 by carritt11

[Justin77]

i figured out how to reach the low beam on drivers side, got both low beams done then reversed it as couldn't find a place to mount all four ballast, (2 on each side). i didn't think about taping them in the fender, how long has the tape been holding up?

[carritt11]

Good electrical tape will hold until you peal it off. I've used it on past vehicles where I didn't have a good place to fasten. These have only been on a few weeks

[Justin77]

Went to home depot and got some 3m double sided tape and electrical tape, thought i had it made, everything worked fine on low beam but when i put high beam in the headlights started flashing like crazy

[carritt11]

Do you have relays for them both? If not you will need them. I had my high beams set up as HID but I lost the DRL feature and with THE HIDs I've done in the past for previous vehicles I've never needed to use the high beams so I took them out and put them in my fiancee's car.

Edited July 26, 2015 by carritt11

[Justin77]

Thanks, I didn't have relays, just what came in the hid kits, ill get relays and try it again.

[jkeaton]

HID's in stock housings is a bad idea. But whatever. Blind people as you will.

[carritt11]

Good thing they teach drivers to not stare at oncoming headlights in drivers ed.

[Lobitz68]

HID's in stock housings is a bad idea. But whatever. Blind people as you will.

Agreed. Drives me nuts, but I try not to complain... Some people want the artificial "look" of high end lighting without spending the money to do it correctly and actually get high end lighting.

[Justin77]

Agreed. Drives me nuts, but I try not to complain... Some people want the artificial "look" of high end lighting without spending the money to do it correctly and actually get high end lighting.

How do you do it correctly?

[Cody Chornobey Powley]

Be a man and buy projectors. Only uneducated people run hid in reflector housing cause "blue" lights are cool. go to www.theretrofitsource.com where you'll find what hid light is all about

[jkeaton]

How do you do it correctly?

You use the proper projector housings designed for HID's.

[Lobitz68]

How do you do it correctly?

As stated already, you buy projectors designed for HID bulbs and retrofit them into your current housings.

No glare, superior lighting, and instead of getting the "look", you get the real thing. High end vehicles with HIDs don't have blue lights, that blue you see is caused by a combination of your angle to the lens and the shield in the lens that is blocking all of the glare. Correctly installed HIDs (in projectors) will give you no scatter, more concentrated light, a more intense beam and superior lighting all around. The difference is so remarkable that anyone who has done it correctly would never own another vehicle without it...

[bramfrank]

As stated already, you buy projectors designed for HID bulbs and retrofit them into your current housings.

No glare, superior lighting, and instead of getting the "look", you get the real thing. High end vehicles with HIDs don't have blue lights, that blue you see is caused by a combination of your angle to the lens and the shield in the lens that is blocking all of the glare. Correctly installed HIDs (in projectors) will give you no scatter, more concentrated light, a more intense beam and superior lighting all around. The difference is so remarkable that anyone who has done it correctly would never own another vehicle without it...

Actually, HIDs are available in a wide variety of colours ranging from 3200K (yellow) to 9000K (purple) and HIDs color temperatures rise as the bulbs age. You don't want to do a straight retrofit because, beyond the fact that it isn't street legal and can be dangerous to others on dark roads at night (which is why conversions aren't legal), your reflectors can pay the price by melting and burning.

Even projectors require SAE/DOT approvals to be street legal - not that you are likely,to be stopped and ticketed for this, you COULD be stopped and ticketed for this!! Chopping up your reflectors to fit projectors could get expensive if you are given a 48 hour equipment violation ticket by a police officer looking to meet his quota.

If you want more light you can install approved auxiliary driving lights or you can buy REAL (emphasis on that term, because there is a lot of fake crap out there, even stuff supplied by usually trustworthy brands) HIR bulbs and install those in the conventional reflector. Unlike blue-died 'high output' fake HID bulbs, these things put out almost twice the light of the stock bulbs for the same input power.

The same issues impact LED conversions as well, so I suggest you save your money unless you want to do it properly.

Edited July 28, 2015 by bramfrank

[Lobitz68]

Actually, HIDs are available in a wide variety of colours ranging from 3200K (yellow) to 9000K (purple) and HIDs color temperatures rise as the bulbs age. You don't want to do a straight retrofit because, beyond the fact that it isn't street legal and can be dangerous to others on dark roads at night (which is why conversions aren't legal), your reflectors can pay the price by melting and burning.

They are available in many different colors but all OEM applications (the one's people attempt to mimick) are within a very tight range of that color spectrum, usually the very light yellow (off white) to bright white part of the spectrum.

Done using approved equipment, I see zero risk of burning or melting a lens. The bulb isn't generating enough heat to create these issues and the lenses are designed to to work in high heat areas. I have seen this in low wattage fog light applications, where the lens was not designed to be used in that type of environment, but it is far from a common issue and is a non concern when dealing with headlight reflectors or lenses.

I also fail to see how properly tuned projector lenses (that meet all DOT approval criteria) could be dangerous to others on dark roads. My projectors are lined up below passenger car side mirror height and have almost no glare above that line whatsoever. Compared even to the OEM halogen setup, my lights are far less dangerous to any other drivers.

Even projectors require SAE/DOT approvals to be street legal - not that you are likely,to be stopped and ticketed for this, you COULD be stopped and ticketed for this!! Chopping up your reflectors to fit projectors could get expensive if you are given a 48 hour equipment violation ticket by a police officer looking to meet his quota.

All OEM projectors are stamped DOT approved as well as all OEM housings. Obviously modifying them could take away that designation, but I find it hard to believe a cop would take the time to get that one right. Regardless, the projector route is still a million times better than shitty made bulbs placed in a reflector housing that scatters the light everywhere. I will take that chance all day every day.

If you want more light you can install approved auxiliary driving lights or you can buy REAL (emphasis on that term, because there is a lot of fake crap out there, even stuff supplied by usually trustworthy brands) HIR bulbs and install those in the conventional reflector. Unlike blue-died 'high output' fake HID bulbs, these things put out almost twice the light of the stock bulbs for the same input power.

Viable option, but doesn't perform even close to as well and doesn't provide the "look" that most are after.

The same issues impact LED conversions as well, so I suggest you save your money unless you want to do it properly.

[bramfrank]

You didn't quite read the post the way I intended it to be read;

- By conversions I was referring to drop-in HID bulbs, not projectors. NO conversion is street legal without lab certification, which makes it cost prohibitive to legally put a 900x based HID bulb into a journey's reflector and they most likely WILL blind oncoming traffic on dark roads late at night.

- For reference, that 'tight range' of the color spectrum' is 4200K - but HIDs come in various temps from 3200 to 12K

As long as whatever you put in doesn't blind people, isn't a ridiculous color that is obviously not SAE/DOT approved and so on you aren't 'likely' to have a problem. But if a cop sees your vehicle as being markedly different from others of the same model on the road ad if he is looking for something to ticket you for, rest assured that he will hit you up with an equipment violation and a 48 hour report ticket. A ticket is a ticket as far as his sergeant is concerned.

Quality auxiliary lighting can perform better than many conversions, because the housings and reflectors are purpose built. HIR is a great alternative - no, the color temp is 3200K so they don't do the 'whiter than white' thing, the light output is excellent (almost double that of the stock bulbs) and they take full advantage of the stock reflectors because they are designed as direct replacements (but for the small mod you need to do to one of the mounting tabs on the bulbs).

[Lobitz68]

You didn't quite read the post the way I intended it to be read;

- By conversions I was referring to drop-in HID bulbs, not projectors. NO conversion is street legal without lab certification, which makes it cost prohibitive to legally put a 900x based HID bulb into a journey's reflector and they most likely WILL blind oncoming traffic on dark roads late at night.

- For reference, that 'tight range' of the color spectrum' is 4200K - but HIDs come in various temps from 3200 to 12K

As long as whatever you put in doesn't blind people, isn't a ridiculous color that is obviously not SAE/DOT approved and so on you aren't 'likely' to have a problem. But if a cop sees your vehicle as being markedly different from others of the same model on the road ad if he is looking for something to ticket you for, rest assured that he will hit you up with an equipment violation and a 48 hour report ticket. A ticket is a ticket as far as his sergeant is concerned.

Quality auxiliary lighting can perform better than many conversions, because the housings and reflectors are purpose built. HIR is a great alternative - no, the color temp is 3200K so they don't do the 'whiter than white' thing, the light output is excellent (almost double that of the stock bulbs) and they take full advantage of the stock reflectors because they are designed as direct replacements (but for the small mod you need to do to one of the mounting tabs on the bulbs).

Thought you were talking about the conversion... still not "legal", but better performing and safer. Also, BMW is releasing a 5000k light these days (that would be the pure white), which is why I said "tight range", but I believe most do use the 4200k off white bulb.

I have used HIR and they are certainly the way to go if you are not interested in doing HIDs the correct way. The light output is much better, just doesn't give that color band that people associate with high end vehicles and that most people are after when they mistakenly buy blue or purple lights.

[Justin77]

Hello,

Now I'm more confused than ever LOL. Ill start by saying i don't want blue lights , i want white light which was why i bought the 6000k color. Also, I didn't know about needing special headlights, i thought you just threw the hid kits in stock housing and you'd be set. Im not after any special look, just want to be able to see at night, the headlights on my journey crossroad suck and are my only complaint about the vehicle. What do you guys recommend that'll brighten up the lights without blinding other motorist?

[Lobitz68]

Hello,

Now I'm more confused than ever LOL. Ill start by saying i don't want blue lights , i want white light which was why i bought the 6000k color. Also, I didn't know about needing special headlights, i thought you just threw the hid kits in stock housing and you'd be set. Im not after any special look, just want to be able to see at night, the headlights on my journey crossroad suck and are my only complaint about the vehicle. What do you guys recommend that'll brighten up the lights without blinding other motorist?

HIR bulbs are you best bet for plug and play (i.e., take out your old bulbs and put in the new ones). The best light output (opinions vary) is going to be obtained by retrofitting a HID projector into your current housing and using HIDs. The reason that the projector doesn't blind oncoming traffic is that the projector regulates where the light goes, focuses the light and provides a very sharp cutoff line that minimizes light glare above that line. (see HIDPlanet.com and TheRetroFitSource.com for examples of installs and the components used to retrofit your lights).

The reason that HIDs glare when you put them directly into a halogen reflector housing like what the DJ has is that the reflector lens was designed to focus light coming from a halogen bulb. On a halogen bulb the light is created by a filament that basically gets hot by creating resistance. The light emanates from that filament which is a set distance away from the reflector lens. HID bulbs create light throughout the entire bulb by igniting gases. Since the light source is not the same distance from the reflector as the halogen (filament) bulb, the reflector tends to scatter the light all over the place, creating bright and dark spots in the beam pattern and throwing a ton of light up into other people's eyes where it is not useful.

Opinions are like A-holes, everyone has them and they all stink. But, for my money the best light output (keeping safety of others in mind) is going to be a properly retrofitted HID light. If you're not up to the challenge of that, HIRs are the way to go. A lot more lumens that a standard halogen bulb and the install consists of cutting a small tab off of the bulb base and installing it directly into your housings. Nothing additional to install at all.

[jkeaton]

Hello,

Now I'm more confused than ever LOL. Ill start by saying i don't want blue lights , i want white light which was why i bought the 6000k color. Also, I didn't know about needing special headlights, i thought you just threw the hid kits in stock housing and you'd be set. Im not after any special look, just want to be able to see at night, the headlights on my journey crossroad suck and are my only complaint about the vehicle. What do you guys recommend that'll brighten up the lights without blinding other motorist?

I believe it's been stated a few times in this thread. Proper projector housings or HIR bulbs.

[Justin77]

Thanks y'all, i think ill try the hir bulbs first.

[Justin77]

searched hir 9005 and hir 9006 in google, ended up finding something by hella called optilux super white bulbs, ordered them since i know hella makes a good product. Hopefully they are brighter than stock. out of curiosity does anyone know name of fog light bulb so can order matching bulb for them?

[Lobitz68]

searched hir 9005 and hir 9006 in google, ended up finding something by hella called optilux super white bulbs, ordered them since i know hella makes a good product. Hopefully they are brighter than stock. out of curiosity does anyone know name of fog light bulb so can order matching bulb for them?

They don't make HIR bulbs in our size (hence the trimming of the tab. Whatever you bought aren't HIR bulbs. They only come in a 9012 and a 9011 size. The 9011 will fit the 9005 bulb slot and the 9012 will fit the 9006 bulb base...

http://www.hirheadlights.com/FAQs.htm