Hello, I have a damaged headlamp on my rx8. The lense is damaged and the reflector is in pieces but not the bulb nor the leveling motor. I was wondering if I can buy a non HID unit and convert it to work exactly as my HID unit. The reason why I do not want to purchase the HID is because they sell it 550 $ per unit and the halogen is 275 $.

 

The short answer is yes, but the lens on the non HID unit is not the same as the lens on the HID unit. Technically it is "illegal" (federal thing) to run HID bulbs in non HID unit, although it not enforced from what I have seen in any municipality that I have ever heard of. Different states different laws. They will cause glare which is extremely annoying for oncoming drivers, and it will not look the same when your viewing your vehicle from the from with the lights on.

 

The short answer is no, the housings are completely different in several ways and cannot be made to work with each other.

However, you can get halogen headlight units and then buy and aftermarket HID kit for the halogen RX-8 headlights (DDM Tuning: HID and LED Lighting / DDM HID Kit, 35W, H7, 5000K) and it will work. You just use the existing wires to run the kit but there will be plugs that go unused due to the fact that you are not using the stock height adjustment system, etc.

That is what I did and the DDM kit works just as well as the stock headlights except you lose the auto leveling feature but I haven't noticed a difference because of that it in terms of drivability or usability in the dark.

My new headlights All said and done it cost me about $500.00 (I got a good deal on new OEM halogen headlight assemblies). But at normal price it shoudl run about $600.00 all said and done. My buddy (grungepup) just replaced his HID's with new OEM units and it ran him $1300.00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/8163356291/

 

lol I stand corrected. For all that effort though I would just go back stock HID.

Completely different topic, What is the brand of Rims you have on your car 9K?

 

It depends what you want as an end result. If he just wants to replace one headlight with a used replacement assembly then he should be able to find one for $300.00-$500.00 depending on the condition.

But, replacing both with halogen units and installing an HID kit is childs play and no more work really since the bumper will have to remove one head light anyway. And for the minimal additional cost gets you two new headlights and bulbs.

My stock HIDs worked just fine but were almost 9 years old and even getting them polished once a month was not enough to keep them looking nice due to the oxidation so replacement was the only option.

 

Thanks guys for all the replies! I used to have a civic 2007 and I just replaced the ballast and the bulbs to get HID but I do not want that. I want to conserve the oem look. Where can I get these HID rebuilt kits?