Hella Celis

[clark]

Hey guys,

Been looking around at new headlights for the Golf. I'm liking the look (and the price) of Hella Celis. I've just got a couple of questions.

First of all - are they legal in Australia?
Second - Where have people bought them from before? I've seen them at ecstuning.com, but is there somewhere in Australia I can pick them up?
Lastly - whats the go with levelling motors, I've checked previous threads and there are people saying you've got to have them, and people who say you don't technically need them.

I guess the final thing is, does anyone reckon that I'm barking completely up the wrong tree with these lights? Should I be looking at something else?

Thanks heaps,

Alex.

[Manaz]

You can get them with or without HIDs. There's certainly no issue with the non-HID version - HIDs are a different kettle of fish, with a Golf you'll probably get away with them as there was a Mk4 Golf that came with them from the factory (the R32), but then you'll need to add the self-levelling setup, which is a requirement as per the ADRs - but don't take my advice, go read the ADRs for yourself - after all, you're the one who will be judged by your compliance with them

[clark]

Great, thanks Manaz.

I'll definitely go read the ADR's. My next question is, what's the difference between HID and non-HID?

I'm assuming HID will be more expensive, are they worth the extra money?

[Lorenz]

Just be careful with buying headlights from countries that are LHD as the headlights are often setup to point in a different direction to our RHD ones.

[BI65ND]

Hids run off their own power source to power them and consequently are a lot brighter than std bulbs. If u don't have an r ull need to wire the hid kit to the battery where the std bulbs plug straight in. If u have reflector style head lights hids are inappropriate because the extra light reflects off them and goes all over the place but they're suited to the projector headlights.

[MoonSha]

Hids run off their own power source to power them and consequently are a lot brighter than std bulbs. If u don't have an r ull need to wire the hid kit to the battery where the std bulbs plug straight in. If u have reflector style head lights hids are inappropriate because the extra light reflects off them and goes all over the place but they're suited to the projector headlights.

HIDs run off the same power source as anything else in the car, they use a ballast to increase the voltage to the amount required to arc. They can be plug and play and the majority of the ebay kits aren't going to require any extra wiring.

They only work in lights specifically designed for them because the HID bulb produces light over a different area to filament bulbs. They will work just as poorly in halogen projectors, the only difference being less glare to other drivers up close.

[TazzyVR6]

I've bought two sets of these, one set for my Mk4 and one set for my dad's Mk3. Great lights, they never came standard with HIDs and I think I read somewhere people have trouble with them when they do put them in? Look great though!

[clark]

It would seem Manaz is suggesting that there is both a HID and non-HID version. So, as long as I buy the HID set-up (if thats what I decide I want), the lights (should) have been designed to for HID technology so there shouldnt be issues?

What I'm getting out of this, is that it's a bad idea to try and retrofit HID to other headlights. But I'm not planning on doing that, so I think I'm ok.

Other quick questions - what will I notice if I go down the HID route? I'm reading that they produce brighter (and sometimes whiter) light. So I'm hoping I'll be able to see better at night. What about maintenance? Do they fail easily/often in your experience?

Thanks for your time guys

[MoonSha]

If a light specifically states it's designed for use with a HID bulb, therefore taking a d2s bulb, it should work perfectly. If it's not using a d2s bulb I kind of doubt it was actually designed for use with HIDs.

And with HIDs without auto-levelling motors you can expect lots of fingers in rear view mirrors and constant reaching for the manual-levelling dial to stop blinding the poor person in front.

[Manaz]

HIDs run off the same power source as anything else in the car, they use a ballast to increase the voltage to the amount required to arc. They can be plug and play and the majority of the ebay kits aren't going to require any extra wiring.

They only work in lights specifically designed for them because the HID bulb produces light over a different area to filament bulbs. They will work just as poorly in halogen projectors, the only difference being less glare to other drivers up close.

The arc of an HID bulb sits on a different plane to the stretch of a filament, hence the difference. HIDs in projector lenses designed for filament lights aren't as bad as HIDs in reflectors, because projectors stop a lot of the "spray" of light that occurs with reflectors, and the blinds are used to shape the beam. But yes, still not quite as good as if the projector lenses are designed natively for HIDs.

It would seem Manaz is suggesting that there is both a HID and non-HID version. So, as long as I buy the HID set-up (if thats what I decide I want), the lights (should) have been designed to for HID technology so there shouldnt be issues?

What I'm getting out of this, is that it's a bad idea to try and retrofit HID to other headlights. But I'm not planning on doing that, so I think I'm ok.

Other quick questions - what will I notice if I go down the HID route? I'm reading that they produce brighter (and sometimes whiter) light. So I'm hoping I'll be able to see better at night. What about maintenance? Do they fail easily/often in your experience?

Thanks for your time guys

Not sure if there are natively HID versions, but there are certainly conversion kits. As I noted above, they're not perfect, but they're a long way better than HIDs in reflectors. Will check the details and get back to you.

HIDs produce more light overall because they're a much more efficient light source. When properly focused, you'll get brighter and longer headlight beams than if you were using reflectors or projectors with filament bulbs (in decreasing order of improvement). With good quality equipment, they should fail less often, because there's no filament to burn out like there are with filament-style bulbs.

If a light specifically states it's designed for use with a HID bulb, therefore taking a d2s bulb, it should work perfectly. If it's not using a d2s bulb I kind of doubt it was actually designed for use with HIDs.

And with HIDs without auto-levelling motors you can expect lots of fingers in rear view mirrors and constant reaching for the manual-levelling dial to stop blinding the poor person in front.

That's exactly right on the HIDs - if the headlight assembly is natively HID compliant, it will have D2S fittings in it, and they generally have a space for mounting the HID ballasts.

Aside from annoying/dazzling other drivers and thus being dangerous, you simply don't do HIDs without the auto-levelling unless you want unwelcome and unpleasant attention from the police.