HID Conversion on a 12GS (pictorial)

Hey Jason,

You are welcome to come by and assist/watch if you like.

Jim

Are you guys putting lenses in these too or just swapping bulbs? I did a hid conversion in my Vw bus a few years ago. I pulled it out in a month. Withou the lens the light is just a scatter all or the place. Yeah it was bright but the reflector tech didn't match the bulbs output pattern. I was lighting street signs 2 block down even when the light was properly aimed. The lens collects and focuses the light as well as provides acut off to protect other drivers. My high watt h4 bulbs put out a cleaner brighter light than the Hid kit did.

I know it is a long thread, but go back to the first few posts and your questions will be answered.

There is some dispute about the shape of the reflector, but most agree it works fine. The "lens: is clear, it is all reflector.

Jim

OK, 5 years after I installed my first HIS in an R1200GS I have done it again. The basics are the same. The HIDs are now cheaper and smaller. The ballast is almost the size of a slim ballast, and I got the kit with two HIDs for only $27 off E-bay. No issues installing them, actually they were even easier, and they work without a fault in my 05 GS.

The photos will not come with descriptions, because you can get the info on the first few posts.




























Jim

PS Please do not quote the whole post if you have a question or comment. Just select the appropriate photo.

I've had 4 DDM Tuning 55 watt HID's (5K & 4.5K) installed for about 2 months now in the headlights and OEM fog lights of my 2012 R1200GSA and this what I've experienced.

The good: awesome lighting, much better than and much more light especially in dark back roads where you really need it. Very bright in the daylight and attention getters for potential drivers who might otherwise pull out or turn in front of you. I would only get flashed at night if I had the fogs on with lo-beam headlight. No melting or heating problems of the OEM equipment with the 55 watt in. For several weeks I had no LAMPF!...until...

The bad: several weeks into the install I noticed the low beam was not coming on or would come on after restarting my motor and eventually failed to come on. Swapped it with the hi-beam and got it to work. Then one of the fog lights went out. I ordered two extra 55 watt ballasts and bulbs. I replaced both failed ballasts and all was good in the world...until..

The ugly: So originally I put in the ugly as failure of 3 of the 4 installed ballasts while I was on my 2000 mile trek...BUT...now that I'm back and had a moment to test them...well, they all worked!! Seems I need to wire them directly to the battery because for some unknown reason the ZFE has decided to shut off the extra power they need to start up. My bad :/ Which is kinda weird since they used to work with stock wiring but now they don't.

Conclusion: I know some people are getting their DDM Tuning 55 watt HID's to work with stock wiring but after a while it was insufficient on my 2012 GSA. The remedy seems to be a wiring harness coming off the battery.

DDM Tuning was very prompt getting me an RMA and the lifetime warranty means I can send as many back as I need to but the thought of screaming through a dark night on a back road and my lights suddenly going out is a bit disconcerting. DDM will be getting 2 out of 6 ballasts returned when I get home...it's not good Goose...time to punch out!!!

Most of the 55 watt ballasts I saw were some form of the China imports with few exceptions including DDM's. I'm now looking at the Morimoto's from Retrofit Resource but I'd pay 5 times as much. They're made in Japan and hopefully not a China import in a different wrapper!!

I've scanned through most of this thread and it looks like currently FutureVisionHID ($250+ for a pair...gack!) has the best review followed by the Morimoto's ($150/pair). Although the 35 watt ballasts seem to be much more reliable all the way around...if I could just get over the power of those 55 watters...I'm slightly addicted to them now :d

Anyone else have a better source for 55 watters????

I have the Morimoto's 5-five's mounted and installed on all my GSA lights. I'm quite impressed with the Morimoto's...they're a little smaller than the DDM's but only slightly thicker and do not have a separate igniter. The 4300K lights are impressive at night. I tried using the Morimoto error cancelers (they call it "Standalone CAN-BUS") but they didn't work on either the lo or hi-beam. So far the stock BMW aux. fog light plugs will power up with the ballasts as does as the hi-beam plug (no relays needed for the time being and no LAMPF!). The lo-beam LAMPF! error shuts down the power after a few seconds even when connected to the Morimoto however when the lo-beam plug is attached to a relay it stays powered despite the LAMPF!. FYI, the Morimoto's power up significantly faster when it's attached to the battery by a relay. The lo-beam was the only lamp giving me a LAMPF! so I tried load resistors to see if that works. The common 6-ohm 50 watt nor the 6 ohm and 18 ohm 100 watt load resistors did the trick, BUT, even with a large aluminum heat sinks they got too hot, so now I'm looking for a suitable add-on 10 watt light which is enough to cancel the LAMPF!.

To conclude, what worked was...Morimoto 5-five's, a relay for the low beam and the low beam plug powering the relay and a 10 watt light (I just added a small marker light to the rear of my motor) and no canbus eliminators. A set of aux lights connected to the lo-beam would work as well.

I don't think the Future Vision 50W ballasts are going to be compatible on your low beam side.

WebJester has done some valuable testing regarding the parameters on the low beam...

The newer Morimoto's are close to that upper value. I can't say whether they would work without using a relay and a load resistor or not. So far on my setup, they haven't let me down once I got the load resistor value right and my connections tight.

There currently may be more options out there. Don't know...

Anyway - always keeping an ear open to new ideas and information on what other people are doing.

JVB, which kit did you get? There are a zillion on eBay and they vary in price.

Right now I'm waiting for HIDSRUS to send me a new bulb, but it may be the ballast that is the problem and it may have to be replaced too. This is warranty stuff. I may just spend $30 and get a new set. My 55W DDM high beam has worked for about two years without a problem. It has always been a low beam issue, 35 or 50 watt.

IMO this is absolutely, positively NOT a CanBus issue. It is a ZFE issue AND not only do the ZFE's vary each year, but IMO they MUST vary in production units. I believe that because on a bunch of these threads DDM's will work for one person and not another. WebJester's info is excellent. IMO when you read most of the threads on the HID failures, it supports my theory that the ZFE's cut off is not totally the same from unit to unit.

I have this kit, and it has worked flawlessly for the last two weeks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28100821825...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_5611wt_1340

In my experience the 55 watt lights have many more lampf issues than the 35 watt kits. I find the 35 watt kits still produce much more than stock H7s.

Jim

I just installed 35w DDM kit. Light output seems considerably less than 55w I had on my Tiger? Went with 35W to avoid LAMPF issues.

Another way to deal with the LAMPF issues would be to run aux lights from the low beam circuit and power the HID through a relay.
When I was playing with HIDs, I thought about the same solution webjester described- modifying ZFE's current sensing shunt. But I don't think ZFE is serviceable. On the pictures it looked sealed.

Thanks Jim, I got the kit and it has worked very well. Totally agree about the 55w being more trouble, but not on high beam. From what I have experienced the ZFE senses current and/or voltage on low beam but on high beam it seems only to sense if the light is burned out or missing.

The 55 on high is great because it definitely pumps out some light; however, IMO way too much for low beam. I rarely get flashed on low beam by oncoming cars. I'm sure that would not be the case if I could get a 55 to go around the ZFE.

Has anybody install a HID on the 2013 GSW?

thanks!

OK - quick question, JimV - what are you using for the clear headlight guard? Is that homemade, or bought?

Home made from polycarbonate.





Jim

Hey Jim, How's the kit held up over the past couple months that you've had it? I'm shocked to see a HID kit for $24. I just thought it would be some major expense.

I use it every day, still no issues.

Jim

I put in a ddm tuning kit and took it on a 2000 mile test run. I like it a lot.

Yep, I've had my DDM Tuning HID in for about a year and 12,000mi. I know I paid under $30 shipped for it and I wish I bought it when I first bought my bike.

Anybody?

It is an H7, same as the old Hex and Cam heads, be the first!

Jim