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HID on Pilot?

136K views 441 replies 97 participants last post by  mrl112 
#1 ·
Anyone install HID head light system on Pilot? I have it on my Lexus and would like to get the same thing for my new Pilot.
 
#2 ·
HID on Pilot

:) Actually I was looking for that, as for now I do not believe there are available for the Pilot as, yet. As you all know once you sign a paper with the dealer and bring the car home, you are on their $h!t list. I went to dealer want to adjust my head light, they told me "NO" it is fine, ask the tech to seat with me while driving at night he's agree that the head light was very weak. Dealing direct with Honda, and I was told by Honda that "If the dealer didn't find anything or weak head light there's nothing they could do". I went back to talk to the tech he said he did not see anything wrong with the head light. And I know from my heart, the tech just want to keep his job by keeping his mouth shut.

SS EX-L RES #35211
 
#3 ·
haknuman59
I had a similar problem. Not that they were too weak but the fact that they were too high. Once I ask them to realign them and bring it down a little, they seems to be better.
 
#10 ·
better headlights

to all pilot owners...

i am a new member and considering getting a pilot. i own a toyota sequoia. i have had the same problem with lights that i consider weak and off white. this issue has been discussed on sequoia forums and the issue of hids has come up.
my solution was to install replacement xenon gas bulbs in place of the oem bulbs. i did this for the headlights and the foglights. i can tell you that they have made a huge difference. both sets of lights are not only much brighter but "pure" white. with these bulbs i no longer am considering hids, and the price of the bulbs that i got on ebay was only $15 per pair and i installed them myself.

good luck,
chris
 
#11 ·
Silver Lining?

Saw a news report that theives were ripping out headlights to steal HID parts for resale? Maybe we're the lucky ones not having them yet.
 
#12 ·
My headlights seem pretty good

I am pretty happy with the headlights on our Pilot. Maybe we just got lucky and they were adjusted correctly at the factory.:D
 
#13 ·
PrG said:
I think CATZ now has an affordable line of HID light sets on the market ...

A good site for info and to call for info:

http://www.hids4less.com/www/index.asp

Called them a few months ago ... they were very helpful ... I just couldn't justify myself to drop $6-800.00 on a set.

PrG
I've heard really bad things about the units sold by them, so I wouldn't recommanded them.

I however can get Hella HID units with phillip bulbs for around $365 USD. I'm thinking about ordering one myself.
 
#16 ·
copperpoppy said:
What's a HID head light system?
I had HID lights on the car I traded in for the Pilot. They were awsome ... I could see considerably better at night then I had in any other car I'd driven. Also, they seemed to pick up roadsigns and other 'reflexive' objects extremely well (no more being surprised by some bike off to the side of the road).

BTW, The NHTSA is looking into ways to possibly reduce glare from (1) high-mounted headlamps on light trucks, (2) headlamps with high intensity discharge (HID) bulbs, and (3) fog lamps and other auxiliary lamps on the front of vehicles ... who knows what they'll come up with.

Personally, I love HIDs ... I've never been bothered by HIDs in oncoming traffice ... and I sure hope the NHTSA doesn't do something silly like ban them (or place a height restriction on them so they'd effectively be banned from SUVs)

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2002/05/06/headlight-complaints.htm
http://www.4x4wire.com/access/notices/sema/sema_headlights.htm
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/PriorityPlan/Index.html
 
#20 ·
Hello to all Pilot owners!

I have been reading up this forum for quite a while now. I have to say that I really learn a lot of things from all the Pilot enthusiasts on this board (thank you! you guys rock!). It is the "research" site that makes the wife and I finally decided on the purchase of the Pilot. We are now the happy owner of a 2003 SandStone EX-RES!

Anyways, I think it is my time to "contribute"..

How it gets started
===============

I saw a guy selling his HID kit for Civic online and I jumped on it before we even received the Pilot! The guy warned me that they tried to install on a 03 Civic but it didn't work. However it works fine with the older Civics. I purchased it anyways. :eek: Knowing that if it fails on the Pilot, I still have another candidate for it still anyways.

What does the kit come with?
======================

The kit comes in and it includes some harness, Hella HID ballasts and the modified Philips D2S bulbs with H4 base and a metal shield (more to this shield later).

I plugged the kit into my old Civic (heh, the backup candidate) and it works just fine without any modifications.

An important side note
=================

I read a while ago that the newer Hondas have that "ground activated" or "negative activated" headlight systems.

So when it is time to install the HID on the Pilot, I first hook it up directly to Pilot and try my luck. Surely not, there was no such luck. :(

I played with the kit a bit and it turns out that I just have to redo the pins on the connector and re-organize the polarity. It works like a charm! Wifey likes it a lot! :D

The harness pin re-organization may not apply if you purchase a kit that's made for the Pilot. But for the folks out there who want to buy used kit, it may be a nice bit of info to know. :)

The Real install
============

As for the installation, I took off the plastic panel that's around the hood latch. This will expose a large empty area behind the grill. Look around and there is actually some support structure behind the grill that you can put the ballasts. The support structure is nice enough to have one on each side. There you go; just put one ballast each side on the support. I used some 3M foam tape and zip ties to secure the ballasts.

The hid bulbs are easy to install since it's already modified for H4 sockets. install the bulbs and test fit the connector. The Hella ballast/connector has very thick cord and wierd direction. Depending on your situation, I had to dremel some plastic in the back of the headlight housing to make it right. (I know it's hard to imagine, I will post up some install pictures when I have a chance.)

The road test..
===========

Love that bluish light when the headlights first turned on :D !!
The HID is brighter than Helogan (sp?) bulbs. The Pilot headlight housing may be designed very well. I actully compared the light output pattern with one HID and the stock light bulb. To my surprise, there is really no obvious intrusion compared to the stock light bulb. We have been driving with the HID for quite a while now, no one flashed us at all. So I guess it's not blinding the oncoming traffic.

I would like to mention about the metal shied that comes with the modified H4 type HID bulb. I believe it is there to shield off any unwanted light source that will be reflected to the oncoming traffic. IMO, this may be there as a precautious mean; especially for the headlight systems that are not designed well from the factory. I will be interested in reading other people's experices that do not have the shield on their HID systems.

We love the HID and are very satisfied with the result, though with this basic kit, we no longer have the ability for high beam. I will be working on wiring a Hella driving lamp on the bumper some day.

Thanks!

Derek
 
#23 ·
Installed HID 6000K Bi-Xenon

I had mine installed before yesterday HID2K 6000K Bi-Xenon (Dual Low-High Beam). The cost for HID Kits + Shipping come to $789.49 installation, $0.00. It is a PnP the hardest parts is here to mount the ballast.

________________________________________________________________
:cool: 2003 Pilot SS EX-L RES,Fog Lights with Lower Trim,Crossbars for Roof Rails,Half Nose

Mask,Rear Splash Guards,Running Boards,Rear Back-Up Sensors,Wheel Locks,Auto Day/Night

Mirror,Wood-Grain Trim Panel—All Interior Trim,EX Emblem, VTEC Emblem,Gold Exhaust

Finishers,AutoShade Ventvisor,Fender Flare, Signal Mirror, Co-Pilot GPS, Head Light using

9003 Bi-Xenon HID
 
#24 ·
I have had a HID kit (from HIDKITS.com) on my CRV for about 3 mounths. All I can say is once you go HID you can't go back.
The only problem was when I put them on the Pilot they would not switch to hi beams.So I am waiting for hidkits to send out a new kit.
I will post pics when I get it.

Ken
 
#25 ·
Your probably got an older model

NYR1Pilot

May be you got an older model. I had HID2K/9003/6K model with come with both low & hi-beam. Also if I want to go back to regular head light, no problem, all I have to do is switch the bulb and unplug the HIDKITS and I'm back to regular.


________________________________________________________________
:cool: 2003 Pilot SS EX-L RES,Fog Lights with Lower Trim,Crossbars for Roof Rails,Half Nose Mask,Rear Splash Guards,Running Boards,Rear Back-Up Sensors,Wheel Locks,Auto Day/Night Mirror,Wood-Grain Trim Panel—All Interior Trim,EX Emblem, VTEC Emblem,Gold Exhaust Finishers,AutoShade Ventvisor,Fender Flare, Signal Mirror, Co-Pilot GPS, Bi-Xenon HID
 
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