HID Conversion? (UPDATE)

As the Canadians on this board already know, HIDS are not available for any of the Canadian models including the XLS.  I have previously done a HID conversion on my motorcycle but am wondering how complicated it would be to pull this off on the Outlander?  Any thoughts or input would be appreciated...

For HIDs, to have them work at their fullest ability, you need to have projectors. If you look at cars that people swapped HID kits into the standard head light housings, you will notice the whole headlight is flooded with light. The light isnt clean and crisp compared to a proper head light housing that is made for hid lights.
 
Check your head light housings and then see if they make a plug and play application for 07 outlanders. I wouldnt put a HID head light set up into a standard housing. Theres tons of info on the internet showing how to retro fit Projectors into standard head light housings.

Yeah I should have been a bit more clear as I am aware of the HID conversion issues from my previous m/c experience- I guess my real question is two-fold:
 
1)  Does the US HID housing assembly fit in the Canadian models - I would presume so and I am not sure if the factory service manuals for Canada and US are combined in one manual or separate - if someone has access to the FSM that would be a useful piece of information to know. 
 
2)  Is the US HID system available for order from Mits?  Again having the FSM would be invaluable in identifying the actual part numbers.
 
At then end of the day, the cost/benefit of a factory replication/conversion in the Canadian models may not be justified and it may be necessary to go the projector route.  Also if anyone with the US kit can answer the following questions, it would be much appreciated:
 
1)  What are the specs on the HID system - bulb size and output?  Where are the ballasts mounted, assuming they are not self-contained?
 
2)  I am presuming the HIDs are low-beam only and the high beams are halogen?  Can anyone confirm or refute?
 
3)  Any info or knowledge on the electro mechanics of the auto-leveling feature would be much appreciated.
 
Thanks for the assistance.
 
Rich
 

UPDATE - Okay good news and bad news.  A factory HID retrofit is possible and the headlight housings are the same regardless of model (HID, Non-HID).  Conversion requires acquiring the factory headlight mount hardware, ballast/ignitor units, factory wiring harness, auto-leveling sensors for front and rear, access to MUT-III to reprogram ECU.

Bad news - Conversion requires acquiring the factory headlight mount hardware, ballast/ignitor units, factory wiring harness, auto-leveling sensors for front and rear, access to MUT-III to reprogram ECU.

Big $$$$ to do it the "right way".  Probably not feasible IMHO.

another HID thread.... just what we needed... lol

Even if you don't go with the factory HID's you'll still need headlight mount hardware, ballast/ignitor units...blaaa...blaaa. It's not a bad deal if you have money. I put HIDs on my '03 Outlander...headlights and fogs.

Hey at least its not a "what type of oil is best" thread - lol.

lol, I know right...

Just buy an after market kit and wire it up yourself. It cant be that hard. I dont see there being any difference in buying an after market kit and the mit kit beside price. Also why do you need a fatory wire harness and to reprogram your ECU? Your just putting different lights in.

The factory wire harness is only useful for a factory retrofit although you could do without but it would be a pain in the ass (in addition to connecting ballast/ignitors, there are connections for the autoleveling motors and sensors).  The autoleveling sensors require ECU programming.  As you note, aftermarket kits do not require nor include either.
 
The primary function of HIDs is safety (as opposed to bling bling) and current law requires all new factory installed HIDs to have autoleveling in order to avoid blinding oncoming drivers.  While aftermarket HIDs without autoleveling are currently legal, all it takes is for some accident or politician to start echoing the winds of change. 
 
A factory retrofit will give you the best protection all around but as you rightly point out, is not a requirement.

The aftermarket HIDs are going away because of certain laws. Find one soon.......
It's probably the best way to go if you don't care about projectors....which will be just too much.

^ Because idiots dont put in the right housings spraying beams of light all over the place not where it was intended. This would be the cars that when they turn on their head lights the light actually lights up by the driver side door.

quote:

ORIGINAL: antlip

^ Because idiots dont put in the right housings spraying beams of light all over the place not where it was intended. This would be the cars that when they turn on their head lights the light actually lights up by the driver side door.

I did that on my '03 Outlander and it wasn't bad...the light was pretty focused. It really depends on the car's housing. I'm in the process of putting HIDs in the fogs now so I'll let you know.
 

Have you found a kit that works in that size?  would love to hear your progress.

i put 8000k 9006 bulbs in my 07 and i leave the lights on al the time so i get a 12v to the ballast insted of only 10v for the daytime running light then when i shut the car off the lights go off i have the xls 4x4 model

The Fogs/DRLs are 9006? We need a bulb list.

no the low beam are 9006 and the high beams are 9005 not sure what the fog are

That's a change from the 1st Gen.