Pic request from fellow GTI members...

Randall · Post by **Randall** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:28 pm

Hey All,

I'm not a GTI owner but would ike to ask for some help from you all (please be nice)

I am looking into purchasing a HID kit and would like some pictures of where the ballast are located on the car - if you could do this for me then i would be very greatful

one more favour please, how much are the headlight lenses for the GTI?

Thanks

Rich

PhilGTi · Post by **PhilGTi** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 12:46 pm

Your better off buying some stock Xenon lights off ebay... a left one sold for Â£40 the other day

Randall · Post by **Randall** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:50 pm

Thanks Phil,

Yeah im keeping an eye out for the Headlight lenses but for my car to have Xenon's i'll need a conversion kit > similar to what dino has just purchased.

I just wanted to get a general idea of where the stock ballast are mounted

Rich

PhilGTi · Post by **PhilGTi** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:54 pm

Surely u could just get the 2 Headlight units off ebay then buy the wiring?

bass mekanik · Post by **bass mekanik** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:25 pm

PhilGTi wrote:Surely u could just get the 2 Headlight units off ebay then buy the wiring?

You could- but you would have to make sure that the light units came with the gas ballast as well- chances are they wouldnt as whilst the ballast is located under the o.e. xenon lamp, it isnt acutally part of the lamp unit- they are just connected via a wire.

you wouldnt be able to buy "just the wire" either as it would be an integral part of the wiring loom from the engine bay. would be a case of adapting the wires that are there to begin with.

the original light units are about Â£145 each brand new from VW but im pretty certain that price does NOT include the gas ballasts which would probably cost quite a bit (my guess about Â£150-Â£200 each although i could be completely wrong!) so brand new OE units would be quite expensive.

i think as gti drivers we forget just how much xenons cost on most cars- whilst aftermarket kits can be had cheap (around Â£200-Â£300 for a entry level type complete with bulb but no lense). To give an indication of cost, the standard Bosch Xenon units on a merc S class cost about Â£1500 if bought after purchase of the vehicle itself.

Bmw E46 Xenons were around Â£1300 to buy after the car was built.

generally aftermarket HID kits dont work as well either as OEM designs will always utilise a spherical lenses to get the best out of the HID bulb.

oh- and as a side note- if you are installing HID kits, strictly speaking you should install headlamp washers as well due to it being illegal to have xenons without headlamp washers on ANY car.

ModifiedMadness · Post by **ModifiedMadness** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 7:31 pm

The bloke at VW when I bought mine (car not headlights

) said that for a new pair of headlights it would be about Â£800