[Eric335]

Alpine HID Angel Eyes Kit

Hello everyone! Today i have a review of the new Alpine HID Angel Eyes Kit purchased from:

http://www.alpinemss.com/product_p/hidan.htm

Contact Alex @ Alpine if you need any help, tell him Eric sent you! (He was VERY helpful during ordering AND installation)

Installation

I received the kit in a small box, only about 3 days after i placed my order. The kit was packaged well, with no visible damage to report. I opened it up, pulled up the Alpine website, and followed their instructions on the videos.

The videos that Alpine has currently have one extra step you dont need to do (the grounding you dont have on the new kits). The parts are identical to the old videos minus that one bit.

The install was a breeze, except for putting the new bulbs into the housing. I got them in, but i didnt grasp the "twist and push" concept for a while, it was a pain until i looked at the other bulb and saw the three prongs that had to slide in. Light number 2 went in much easier (15 minutes). Besides getting the bulbs snug into place, the installation was easy. It took me about 2 hours (with about 45 mins dedicated to the bulbs). Knowing what i do now about the car, id say it would take me 30/ 45 mins to do it for someone else (or if you've been changing the angel eye bulbs before).

The kit was seemingly well put together, with secure wiring and "idiot proof" connections (You cant mess the connections up, only certain ones fit with others).

I ended up zip-tied my wiring down my own way (in case i need to take it out for an emergency dealership visit). Ill attach photos. If you see anything "dangerous" as in a wire that should not been near something that will get too hot, just tell me please! I opened up the hood after a 30 min drive thru florida heat and the kit as very hot lol

Here are some pictures:















The Results!

Well, i installed them at around 7 PM. I hit the "unlock" button, and only the right side went on. I was baffled, so i opened it back up, heard the right side ballast humming along, but the left side was not. So i unplugged the ballast, replugged the harness -> ballast connection snugly, re-fired, and they were both on!!!

It was semi-dark out, in the garage, and the lights looked amazing! My first thoughts were that i was very impressed. They were relatively even and very very bright. They had a white with very very slight blue to them (im glad i went with 8000k, i almost might order 10000k to have too).

Today, i got to experience them in the light of day. One experience i had was at 12:30 in cloud-less Florida sunshine on blacktop at McDonalds. What i noticed was that the rings were barely visible in that intense sunlight. Then again, it hurt to look around b/c it was so bright out. So i drove home and when i was in 20% shade i turned the car back on and i took some pictures! Heres the results! Scroll below the pics to hear what they look like in reality, these pictures are not exactly what they look like in person .


Before you view them, know this: They are NOT green in any way at all, and these photos show a much bluer/greener light than in person. In person they are pitch white with a slight blue tint










My thoughts on this product:

The lights looks great when looking at them dead-on at an even level with the headlights. Unfortunately, when you look at them from nearly any angle during the day, the outside ring of one or both of the headlights will look nearly un-lit. The inner rings are definitely brighter than the outside rings. At night, the outer rings also look lighter, but you can tell they are well lit.

My question: How do i fix this? What can i do or manipulate to make the outside rings more even?? That is my only complaint

Other than that, the install/product is working great! Will update as time goes on! Nighttime pics later tonight hopefully!



Thanks to Alex @ Alpine!

-Eric

[lpphreakx06]

Very Informative, Thanks For The Review.

[Alex@Alpine]

Hey Eric

Thank you for your great review, the reason the inner ring is brighter is because the factory Angel Eyes housing, if you pay attention to even a stock E92 the inner ring is brighter, so when going with such a bright set up the inner ring is more noticeable. But if you walk about 15-25 feet away from the car they will look almost even, it is only when looking closely at them they look not even, and no one really walks up to your car and looks closely it is mostly passing drivers and people walking who view your bright noticeable angel eyes coming

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Hey Eric

Thank you for your great review, the reason the inner ring is brighter is because the factory Angel Eyes housing, if you pay attention to even a stock E92 the inner ring is brighter, so when going with such a bright set up the inner ring is more noticeable. But if you walk about 15-25 feet away from the car they will look almost even, it is only when looking closely at them they look not even, and no one really walks up to your car and looks closely it is mostly passing drivers and people walking who view your bright noticeable angel eyes coming

thanks Alex! yes i agree that after 10 ft or so, they all look even and nice


i went to a ricer meet (well, ricers and only a few nice Evos/335i's) and when i was driving thru, some highly modified Acura owner was like 'sick lights bro' lol

[persian54]

looks great

[youmeill]

Thank you for your great review, i agree that after 10 ft or so, they all look even and nice

[rollinstone157]

Looks great! I dig the daytime brightness...but is it overpoweringly bright at night? That's my only concern.

Also, you should get some LED turn signals for this car! It would look much nicer when the headlights are off (no egg yoke look!). Go with the HPB 7.5W ones if you do--brightest on the market!

And another tip--you got black kidney grills from what I understand. You should spray your lower grills gloss/matte black to match! It's cheap to do but it will make the front of your car "flow" much more nicely.

I like the car so far though!

[E92ML]

The kit I bought from Camaross stopped working and he hasn't been returning my messages.

Alex, it looks like I might need to buy one of your sets soon!

[Motastic]

camarro's just left all his customers stranded like a POS, and never would ship on time nor reply to messages in a timely manner

[Bagelfast]

Great review

what is the deal with HID's stain and yellow the RINGS from the heat of the HID.. Ive seen a few HID owners complain of this after extensive use of HID's as angel eyes.

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

Looks great! I dig the daytime brightness...but is it overpoweringly bright at night? That's my only concern.

Also, you should get some LED turn signals for this car! It would look much nicer when the headlights are off (no egg yoke look!). Go with the HPB 7.5W ones if you do--brightest on the market!

And another tip--you got black kidney grills from what I understand. You should spray your lower grills gloss/matte black to match! It's cheap to do but it will make the front of your car "flow" much more nicely.

I like the car so far though!

Hello again!

At pitch night, it is not overpowering at all! I love it at night! Ill be the first to admit the even-ness durign the day/night is moderate at best, but this is the problem with most kits. After about 10 ft or so, or if in the oncoming lane, they look great. My kit is the 8000k and im very happy with the color. Its majorly white with a very slight hint of blue at night. Its nice. Although ive heard 8000k is less bright than 6000k. I bought both so ill have to try the 6000k out when i have the time

Also, the turn signals, what is it that they repalce exactly? Not too sure. Just the actual orange turn signal light?

And as for the grills, i painted my lower grills last weekend xD didnt turn out as good as i wanted tho... i left the overspray paper on the car while it dried and it caused some of it to rip off when i took the paper off im respraying them when i get some time to myself lol other than that, i agree, looks much better

Originally Posted by E92ML

The kit I bought from Camaross stopped working and he hasn't been returning my messages.

Alex, it looks like I might need to buy one of your sets soon!

Originally Posted by Motastic

camarro's just left all his customers stranded like a POS, and never would ship on time nor reply to messages in a timely manner

Sorry to hear, i havent heard good things from camarro's either. Alex is a very pleasent person to work with tho, i highly recommend him!

Originally Posted by 1LUMI335

Great review

what is the deal with HID's stain and yellow the RINGS from the heat of the HID.. Ive seen a few HID owners complain of this after extensive use of HID's as angel eyes.

No yellowing (that i can tell) as of now. I PMed Alex about that and he said not to worry about it due to the bulb construction being both plastic and glass, and he rattled off some other reasons why his would do that, i cant remember them lol
but if u have more questions about his kit, just ask him. real nice dude.

[Exterminador]

I have read that the car needs to be coded properly inorder for the Alpine Angel Eyes to work.

Can anybody give more information? I am considering them but don't want to have problems.

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by Exterminador

I have read that the car needs to be coded properly inorder for the Alpine Angel Eyes to work.

Can anybody give more information? I am considering them but don't want to have problems.

Zero coding required, plug and play error free.

Send me a email or PM with questions alex@alpinemss.com

Thank you

[mapleridge]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Zero coding required, plug and play error free.

Send me a email or PM with questions alex@alpinemss.com

Thank you

Hi Alex.

pm'd you a week back and no reply. Was wondering if there is any bulb color close to amber and I am also wondering about the yellowing of the rings. I was advised against an hid kit again today because of the yellowing. Can you explain?

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

Hi Alex.

pm'd you a week back and no reply. Was wondering if there is any bulb color close to amber and I am also wondering about the yellowing of the rings. I was advised against an hid kit again today because of the yellowing. Can you explain?

No amber option or close to it, sorry, LUX has a nice amber option.

Our HID bulbs have copper filling to keep the heat down, also our ballast idle at less amps then standard, yellowing of anything is due to age, heat can cause aging faster then normal, other then sending $1000+ this is the closest you can get to the new LCI look.Hope that helps.

Email me if you have more questions alex@alpinemss.com

Thank you

[mapleridge]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

No amber option or close to it, sorry, LUX has a nice amber option.

Our HID bulbs have copper filling to keep the heat down, also our ballast idle at less amps then standard, yellowing of anything is due to age, heat can cause aging faster then normal, other then sending $1000+ this is the closest you can get to the new LCI look.Hope that helps.

Email me if you have more questions alex@alpinemss.com

Thank you

I guess a person could use these until the yellowing is bad enough and then do an oss or ls3 install to cover it up and spend that $700.

[Alex@Alpine]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

I guess a person could use these until the yellowing is bad enough and then do an oss or ls3 install to cover it up and spend that $700.

Not these, please do not compare generic HID Angel Eyes with ours, through out time we have improved, and used none DC ballast.

[Pete Schweaty]

Looks great. Thanks for the review. How is the output compared to LED angel eyes like Lux or MTEC.?

[mapleridge]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Not these, please do not compare generic HID Angel Eyes with ours, through out time we have improved, and used none DC ballast.

I misunderstood your post. I thought you meant that all rings will yellow and hid's are hotter and speed up the process. It wasn't clear what you meant. Do you mean that if there is no yellowing present that your kit will not artificially yellow them quicker?

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by Pete Schweaty

Looks great. Thanks for the review. How is the output compared to LED angel eyes like Lux or MTEC.?

For light output:


Alpine>LUX>MTECH


but LUX and MTECH are LED so they are not really meant to compete with the HIDs

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by mapleridge

I misunderstood your post. I thought you meant that all rings will yellow and hid's are hotter and speed up the process. It wasn't clear what you meant. Do you mean that if there is no yellowing present that your kit will not artificially yellow them quicker?

I was confused by the post as well

So far i havent noticed drastic yellowing, but after reading the horror stories i believe ive been making myself see yellow honestly though, i believe there might be*slight* yellowing, although i cant say for sure if its just my eyes, my head, or reality. Unfortunately, im 3000 miles from my car and cant take photos.

For now, im happy. i plan on OSS if these go yellow, which i dont think they will (soon, anyways)....


Also an update:

All ballasts working so far, no codes thrown on behalf of the Angel Eyes.

[Eric335]

Originally Posted by Alex@Alpine

Not these, please do not compare generic HID Angel Eyes with ours, through out time we have improved, and used none DC ballast.

Alex,

you do know OSS and LS3 are extremely respected high dollar LED conversions, and not a generic HID kit....?