hello! i want to switch to hid as i feel like the halogens have low lumens and hid are relatively cheap to get so i was wondering if you guys recommended 55watt or 35 watt for a 2003 hummer h2?

i did some research and it seems like most people go with 35w because 55w only provides a little more light at the expense of heat and lower life.

also should i get the hi low option or not really needed?

thx

 

i used these they have been working great fo 10 months so far

 

I feel like with the higher prevalence of cost effective LED options, HIDs aren't really that big of a thing anymore. Given their issues with reliability versus LED, the issues with HIDs are just not worth it IMO. You can fit most any 7" round LED lights in the H2 housings with some slight modifications. If you do run HIDs if is essential to run a relay harness for long term stability and longevity.

 

I also feel that (even with most of the drop in LED's as well) if you are going to put in HID bulbs than you need to get some projector housings as well so you are not one of those people that are blinding everyone else. With reflector housings designed for halogen bulbs you will be creating giant floodlights, great for you for up close (horrible distance) visibility, blanding for everyone else. HID capsules when used in headlights are supposed to have a projector lens with a cutoff bar inside which does not allow the light above the bar out so that they are not blinding other drivers.

If you want to do it properly I'd suggest doing a bunch of research on it. Halogen reflector housings are just not designed for HID or even LED bulbs. There is a reason the main brands like Phillips, Sylvania, etc do not offer LED replacements for halogen headlight bulbs. That is because the headlight housings are not designed for them. The main brands do make LED's for every other light on your vehicles though and they even offer HID replacement bulbs for vehicles that came with them (because they know the housing was designed for it). All aftermarket HID bulbs are HID capsules made for actual HID headlights (D1S, D2R, D3S, etc) and either acquired before they are made into HID bulbs or cut off of those other real HID based and then carefully fitted to the wrong bases so that they will fit on non-HID housings. Also - the cheapest Chinese HID ballasts are absolute garbage. There are proper ways to retrofit HID to halogen housings and top notch ballasts, etc for it but it is not simple or cheap. I've personally taken a common cheap HID ballast and powered it up with a good HID bulb and then powered the same HID bulb up with a top quality Hylux aftermarket ballast and the difference was staggering.

To be honest - since we have 7" round headlights I'd personally suggest a good quality LED 7" round headlight. There are VAST differences in the quality of them though. The cheapest (as is usually the case) Chinese ones all over Amazon and eBay tend to be useless garbage. The top quality ones are going to cost you and either way it will probably take a minor bit of pretty easy cutting of the headlight buckets that will never been seen (and the originals can also still be put back in) to install them but it is well worth it and the easiest method.

I just saw a new video literally a couple of days ago on some of the myriad of the 7" round LED headlights that are out (and there are a number of others that are also excellent not mentioned in the below video).