HID headlight brainstormer

[sabreuk]

been searching the tinternet as i was thinking of doing a hid conversion on lux now after some heavy reading on rules and regs of hid i found that if fitting hid kits to vehicles that was not supposed to have hid lights there are a couple of issues to consider for the mot rules that take affect for 2011.
1:l it will be illegal to have hid lights fitted to original headlights due to beam pattern and glareing blobs reflected off original reflector
2: if fitted hid lights need to be fitted with ec98 approved headlights if you are intrested in this look up hid rules .gov website its mind numbingly boring
3: headlight washers need to be fitted so as to make sure beam pattern is not disturbed by general muck.
4: and most interestingly they need to be self levelling.

now apparantly the rangy p38 gets around this issue by having auto self levelling airbag suspension. the rule clearly states that it has to be auto self levelling so my original idea was to fit the old switch that moves your lights up and down for towing and the other bits aswell but its not auto so depending how pedantic the tester is he could fail hid lights on that alone.

my question is HOW CAN WE MAKE SELF LEVELLING HEADLIGHTS FOR THE SURFS?

any ideas or brainstorms are welcome im even open to sarcasim on this as i think it could help all of us out who want hid lights.
the pics below are two types of ec approved headlights for the gen2 surfs that meet the regs except 1 SELF LEVELLING.

[james-r]

Im interested in the HID kit, which ones have you been looking at?
Just for the record i doubt my mot tester would give a monkeys, when he tested my truck earlier this month he only checked that the bulbs actually worked not the light direction or anything like that

[sabreuk]

im intrested in the normal crystal headlight kit mate im not to keen on the projector style as i think it would look a bit goofy on the lux, could be wrong but i havent seen them fitted. the mot thing is ok for this year the rules are changing for 2011 which is why i mentioned it which came from a head tech i know very well who does a lot of mot testing i mentioned hid kits to him and he told me bout the rule changes hence why i bored myself silly on rules and regs to see if he was right or not unfortuantly he was right so i was going to treat myself for crimbo then got this bombshell so go plasma gauges and clocks which i posted the other day. but to fit properly we gota think of a way to make the lux headlights self levelling then there will be no issue if it does come to light then there wont be any dissapointments or refitting old lights.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Reading 'between the lines' I think the new regulations are trying to stop people fitting HID kits to their standard headlights, i.e. standard glass/plain reflector. I guess the projector beam type would be OK??.
Love the black ones in those photos.

[sabreuk]

agreed bush on the regs its becoming a ball ache and a headache to fit hid to vehicles that arnt supposed to have them fitted the gutting thing is yanks get away with the self leveling but the rest of the regs stand for them aswell but i would like to see the projectors fitted to a surf to se what they look like. from the pics think it would make my surf look like it had black eyes (literaly lol) but might look diff fitted, hence why i prefer the crystal ligths. ill try find a pic of them fitted and post back here.

[sabreuk]

found one dont look to bad realy might change my mind afterall

[TonyN]

4Runners have adjustable headlights...

Is it really worth all the effort?

I've never not be able to see at night with decent normal bulbs.

[sabreuk]

very true tony mine are more than adequate with the bulbs i got in but it seems to be a trend thats taking off like lexus lights did and there seems to be a fair few peeps asking questions on them hence the original post with what i found on rules and regs, there will be peeps out there that want them fitted. on the 4 runner lights are they self levelling or manualy leveling if its the later we are half way there its just a case of getting them to move on there own. if they are self leveling already then yay i got the answaer to my question.

[TonyN]

Not auto, they have a leveling switch on the dash, like any 'normal' UK car (they have to have them fitted to sell a new car in the UK), its just the imports don't have them like the lack of foglights.

[sabreuk]

ah ok so we now have a method of the lights moving up and down, now we gota think of how to make them do it them selfs, i was thinking mercury switch or gyro stabilisers off an rc car or something attached to some sort of sensor. any therorys or better ideas???????

[BUSHWHACKER]

ah ok so we now have a method of the lights moving up and down, now we gota think of how to make them do it them selfs, i was thinking mercury switch or gyro stabilisers off an rc car or something attached to some sort of sensor. any therorys or better ideas???????

http://uk-mkivs.net/forums/p/157332/1038039.aspx

[sabreuk]

aweasome well done bush mate nice find, well theres the answear to my question and the the remedy for anybody wanting to fit LEGAL hid headlights for 2011. hope this helps you all in one way or another.

[markp2]

I have a retro-fitted HID kit on my Gen 3. Done about 600 miles at night so far on lanes, B roads and motorways without anyone flashing me or getting upset. The lights are a big improvement over the standard ones.
I will ask my MoT station tester next year if he is bothered about the HID kit. If so, it is a 10 minute job to put the old bulbs back in for the test (I keep them in the glove box as spares).

[Albannach]

Seems to be a hell of a lot of hassle for such a small gain.

[tonupteabag]

at the minute there are some "ce" approved kits starting to come through which have passed certain tests and have been deemed usable in the uk and european countries but we will have to wait and see what happens next