How to Install HID Headlights - Lighting Up The World

Do you want to greatly improve your night vision? Do you want to really light up your driving world? No matter where we live, all of us can certainly appreciate extra automotive lighting choices. There really is no safety device that's better than prevention and that includes better lighting options. High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights are now being installed in many high-end vehicles from the manufacturer for just that reason. This improved light "movement" has paved the way for aftermarket companies to begin retrofitting HID headlamps into other high-end vehicles.

Vette-HID has just engineered an HID lighting system for your C5 that is a direct bolt-in install with no trial and error involved. The only things you need to do are read the instructions carefully and install the system. The complete street-legal, DOT-approved kit is a plug-and-play installation and includes all the necessary attaching hardware.

The new Vette-HID headlamps provide a brilliant light at 4,200-degrees K, which is color temperature measured on the Kelvin scale. Daylight measures at 5,000 degrees Kelvin. The Vette-HIDs provide light as close to daylight as possible with street-legal components. The white light provided at night is immediately noticeable on the highway. The problem early on with HID installs was improperly secured lamps causing bouncing light beams and no way to properly aim the headlamps. But Vette-HID engineered the fit of the headlamps with proper adjusting capabilities that look and fit like an OE installation. This is not a cobbled together kit that you can't depend on. The polycarbonate lens carries the required DOT notice and complies with U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle and Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108. The Vette-HID assemblies use the original headlamp bucket so the factory adjusters are still used for headlamp aiming.

The overall installation is mainly a bolt-in with some modifications to the original headlamp bucket. None of the modifications are visible, and, if necessary, the original headlamps can be reinstalled without anybody aware that the HID upgrade was previously made.

We were able to do our install... 

   

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We were able to do our install in less than four hours using the new high-tech Primedia installation facility that is fully equipped with Alltrade Powerbuilt rollaway toolboxes filled with Powerbuilt tools. We mainly used their metric sockets, vise grips, and Torx bit screwdrivers for the install.

The install is easy. Without any distractions, you should be able to easily install the kit on a Saturday afternoon.

We did have one difficulty. When we turned on the headlights, we had no high beam on the right side. We quizzed the owner of the car about the high beam, and he said the high-beam bulb had been replaced because the high beam wasn't working, so we knew that most likely the problem was there from the beginning of the installation. We did a quick circuit check and found our OE harness had no power in the high-beam headlamp connector. Thinking back during our installation, we had found a damaged wire at the headlamp connector on the right side that we had taped up. We wondered if it could be a blown fuse. Sure enough, it had a blown fuse in the external fuse panel. Once the blown fuse for the right headlamp was replaced, all was well. Being observant during an install can save many hours of aggravation.

Remember, headlamp aiming is important to get all you can out of your headlamps. It also keeps from aggravating every driver that's meeting you on the highway. When you're finished with the HID installation, make sure to take the car for a correct headlamp adjustment. Everyone on the road will really appreciate it. I know I'm preaching about headlight aiming, but in Florida, we have no regular car inspections so many cars have improperly adjusted headlamps aimed right at the oncoming driver

The first step is to remove...        read full caption The first step is to remove the battery's negative cable before starting the installation. We then removed the headlamp top cover. We manually positioned the door in the mid-position for removal. There's a rubber cover over the manual override knob on the inside rear corner of each headlamp. Manually raising and lowering the headlamps allows easy removal of the bezels and top cover.

We easily removed the OE headlamp...        read full caption We easily removed the OE headlamp assembly using a 10mm socket and ratchet. Once the headlight assembly is out of the way, we scored the aluminum headlight bucket with a sharp razor knife. The scored ribs must be removed to allow enough room for the new HID headlight assembly to be installed.