Best HID Conversion Kits

The first time you ever get in a new vehicle, whether it be one of a friend, a family member, or a rental, people usually go through the basics. Where the air conditioning is, how to adjust the seats, how to use the radio, and how to turn on the lights. Even though it may be daytime, it’s important to know where those lights are.

Many cars are blessed with automatic lights but even then, it’s vital to know how to turn on the brights and anything else.

When people think of car upgrades or modifications, their minds (rightfully so) drift to the sound system, new wheels, new rims, or an exhaust system. Those are things that you can immediately see or hear. You’re more likely to want to show off your new sound system than anything else.

Most people don’t even consider upgrading their lights, even though it’s something they could do easily and immediately. Halogen lights have been making waves for quite some time now and have been steadily improving every passing year.

But even with the waves that halogen lights have been making, there are now Xenon headlight options. You might see these by another name, HID headlights, are they are at the top of their class when it comes to upgrading your headlights.

Below, we’re going to review the 10 best HID conversion kits so you can upgrade your lights and give you the best vision possible.

How We Chose The 10 Best HID Kits

We found every HID kit we could, put them on a giant Wheel of Fortune spinning wheel and spun until we found ten.

While that would have been a lot of fun, our goal here was to provide you dear readers with a solid field to choose from. Instead of picking out the 10 with the highest reviews, we wanted to find some that could work for a wide range of people with various needs, budgets, and vehicles.

Hopefully, you find this list as wide-ranging as we do.  Without further ado, let’s go ahead and get started!

OPT7 Boltzen AC CANbus HID Xenon Conversion Kit

OPT7 has been making conversion kits for quite some time and they have their head in the right place. One thing that we loved, as did many users, was its error-free use. We didn’t notice any hiccups or dips in light while testing these out.

These were built with sophisticated tech in order to make sure that happened. You’re also going to get some high-quality bulbs and ballasts that make sure these are going to last for quite a long time.

With lights, we know that the worst thing that could happen is if they just suddenly decided to give out. You won’t be experiencing that with these OPT7s. Just make sure you install and hook everything up correctly and you’re going to be good to go.

Overall, this is a high-quality kit with great results and as easy installation. It’s going to get everything done at a modest price.

If we had to complain about one thing, it would be that you’re going to have to buy the “optional†resistor kit for complete installation, making it far from the plug and play unit that it is billed as.

Innovited Xenon HID Lights

We can’t rave enough about this package from Innovited. You’ll find just about everything you need here with little fuss. Many people call it the best product in today’s market and after taking a few quick looks at it, you can easily see why.

This unit is super-efficient and is built to last. They also come with a two-year warranty and were an absolute breeze to install. We found that most people could complete the installation in less than 20 minutes so you can spend the rest of your day doing something a bit more enjoyable than installing lights.

A true plug and play unit, it is perfectly suited for most vehicles. With a service life of around 5,500 hours and three times the brightness than your typical halogen bulb, it’s also incredibly sturdy. Shock-resistant and highly resistant to dust, we liked that you didn’t need any extra wires or kits to get it set up.

In the package, you’re going to get an instruction manual, the bulbs, a ballast, and the mounting brackets.

It’s hard to believe that these lights come at such a cheap price too despite their numerous features. If you’re someone who needs to upgrade lights now, then you can’t go wrong with this efficient and sturdy model.

The only downside, which we reached for, is that some vehicles may require a wire extender but that’s pretty normal in plenty of vehicles. Those wires and cheap and don’t complicate installation.

XtremeVision HID Conversion Kit

With a name like XtremeVision, you better be willing to back that up. You can’t make such a claim and then put out a weak product. Thankfully, the fellas over at XtremeVision did the work to live up to such a name and have put out a solid product.

This HID conversion kit, has a DC (direct current) feed and 35-Watt bulbs. These lights definitely shine incredibly bright, but they do put a bit more strain on the wiring for bringing in so much power. The DC power can be seen as a slight detraction, but it’s not the end of the world.

The good thing about XtremeVision is your installation is going to be anything from Xtreme. It’s a simple plug and play variety, meaning you can get these lights installed in no time.

While we don’t usually talk about such a thing, their customer service has been noted to be excellent by plenty of users. They are readily available via phone and email.

Lastly, we will say that you don’t have to yell “XTREME†every time you turn these lights on but if you want to, then that would be pretty rad in our opinion.

Morimoto Elite HID Kit System

Morimoto, Mr. Roboto. Wasn’t that how the song went?

Probably not (we’re car people, not rock stars), but nonetheless Morimoto put out a fantastic product that was expertly crafted and designed. The main draw for this system is its durability as it can withstand just about everything out there.

Users can easily find the ideal unit for their ballast which makes damage-prevention a thing you won’t even have to worry about. The kit also comes with a pair of high-quality bulbs and each one was made by the pros at Morimoto.

It doesn’t come with a huge list of bells and whistles as this system is simply meant to get the job done with no ifs, and, or buts about it. It’s a plug and play style system that’s a breeze to install and very user-friendly. It comes with a variety of mounting options, ideal for those who need to tinker a bit for the perfect fit.

The instruction manual lays out just about everything you need to know, so you’ll be finished in no time and ready to get back on the road.

The only downside to this kit is that it is a bit pricey, coming in way out in front of the majority of items on the list.

OPT7 Bullet-R KID Kit

Another OPT7 product, the Bullet is another kit that is a fantastic option for many. It’s highly functional and expertly designed, engineered to give you the best performance from the beginning moments to the end of their battery life (which is super long).

Many users commented that the lights were just as bright the day they were installed as they are through continuous periods of use. It’s advertised to light up three times more than regular bulbs, meaning you’ll get plenty of value for your money.

The kit comes with an aluminum shell, meaning you’re going to get optimal durability. A nice little touch, this kit comes with a variety of different color options to help you find your optimal style. You can add your own personal touch to the vehicle and wow your friends. Maybe not like that, but you get the idea.

This system also comes with a handy two-year warranty which we doubt you will ever need, but it’s always good to be prepared just in case.

Kensun Slim HID Kit

The best thing about this Kensun Slim HID hit is the amazingly bright lights that consume little energy. These Xenon lights are designed with the latest technology to give you the best performance imaginable.

The kit comes with a two-year warranty and 23,000 volts to make sure you have plenty of hours for your new lights. These lights aren’t going to wear down any time soon and you can count on them for bright fields of view for years and years.

Some studies pointed to these lights being able to last up to ten times longer than your average halogen bulb. It comes with a ballast that is directly connected to your battery and a glass chamber that replaces the filament of halogen bulbs.

With less power consumption and bright lights, this is an ideal choice for the majority of vehicle users.

We have two big gripes with this kit, however. While these lights are a clear upgrade over regular halogen lights, they aren’t going to be as bright as others on this list. Plus, the installation was annoying. Not necessarily difficult, but just annoying. We found the process was made much more difficult for no real reason.

HYB Canbus Slim Digital HID Ballast

Even though we’ve been singing the praises of Xenon lights for the past few product reviews, we’re going to switch gears here and talk about this slim digital unit from HYB Canbus.

This kit is actually a digital kit that provides less brightness and lifespan but comes at a bargain price. It fits in just about any vehicle and is incredibly easy to install. In fact, you could probably leave something on the stove, head out to your vehicle, install these lights, and still have enough time before your pot started boiling over.

The kit comes with just two bulbs that aren’t going to provide you with the amazing brightness you may experience elsewhere, but it’s hard to complain at this price. This system is incredibly compatible and you aren’t going to need any professional help to make sure everything is fitted perfectly. Also, it’s going to last you an incredible 35,000 hours.

It comes with a one-year warranty as well, meaning any issues that come up can be easily dealt with by their professional team.

Any complaints we have about the brightness should be met with a shrug, as that’s what you get with a price like this. If you’re looking for an easy installation and bargain deal, then this is the product for you.

HID Warehouse AC Xenon HID Lights

Warehouse is another brand of lights that routinely create solid products that don’t disappoint. With these lights, they are yet just another addition to a set of fantastic products from years passed.

With previous success and models to build on, this kit is packed with plenty of modern features that make it great for just about any new car. It’s going to instantly boost your performance, being up to five times brighter than your regular bulbs.

This is another set that comes with different color options, letting you add your own little personal touch to your vehicle and installation. They are also incredibly durable, resistant to shock and water damage.

It comes equipped with an aluminum casing that has rumble resistant padding to make it as durable possible. Add all this in with extremely bright lights and this kit really is the complete package.

It also comes with a two-year warranty for any unforeseen problems. The biggest complaint we have about these lights is they tend to run a bit hot, something that is uncommon with the newer kits but can happen.

Xentec Standard Size Ballasts

Part of an even bigger and badder HID system, this Xentec unit blows us away. You’re going to get incredibly bright light from this kit, about 1.5 times as bright as the average halogen lamp.

Made with reduced flickering technology, the ballast is designed to make sure your bulb lasts for as long as possible. Installation can be a bit tricky and we found that most people opted to go with a professional.

It is highly compatible with a whole set of bulbs and is expertly engineered. With a zinc alloy casing and made to be water-resistant, it comes with an excellent cooling feature that will keep your lights shining bright for many days to come.

It comes at a moderate price but with such a tricky installation, beginner DIYers may want to stay away from this kit. Plus, the kit itself is pretty bulky and while the regular lights shone brightly we found the brights to be lacking in power.

Lumenon HID Kit

Lumenon came into this market with a goal: to make the brightest shining light for as little money as possible. Overall, they do accomplish their goal. Operating at 35 Watts and having up to 5,500 hours of services, these lights are said to shine up to three times as bright as your average halogen lamps.

For their price, they’re surprisingly durable and were put through the wringer. Many users complimented their long-lasting ability and how bright they were able to stay without much issue. It’s also an incredibly easy unit to install, as most people were able to get them in their vehicle and working in under half an hour.

The downside to these bulbs is that they only work with a few vehicles. They were not made for the entire market and you may find they won’t work for your vehicle. Make sure you are checking their compatibility before making the big purchase.

Even though they are durable, they do have a much shorter lifespan than other bulbs. They are not the best investment and are a much better short term option as opposed to some of the others on this list. But if you’re looking for a bargain deal, then we can’t really oppose you on that one.

Honorable Mention: OPT7 Bolt HID Kit

Out of all the  OPT7 kits on this list, the Bolt is the most efficient. With that efficiency comes a surprising drop in price. This bulb lasts plenty long and produces bright light with a wide variety of colors.

You’re going to be getting 25% brighter lights than your average halogen bulb and apparently lasts up to six times as long. Instead of using DC, it uses AD tech which has been proven to increase overall reliability and durability.

It does come in a bulky case, but its aluminum casing was created for longevity and durability. With built-in water resistance and rumble padding, you’re not going to have to worry about these hitting the fritz after continued use.

With over 6,000 hours of battery life and plenty of colors to choose from, it’s a solid choice for you and your vehicle.

But why didn’t it make our top 10?

For starters, the price is a bit high for something that doesn’t provide a super-long battery life.

The bulbs do lose a bit of brightness thanks to the efficient methods, but that’s to be expected. The biggest gripe, however, was the fact is that these bulbs do not plug and play. Installation is difficult and for a price that’s leaning more towards the lower end, we expected easier installation.

Things to Consider When Shopping HID Conversion Kits

After running through our list of kits, it’s time to look at some of the important facets of these bulbs. If you noticed, many of these kits offer the same kind of performance. All are around the same price, last about the same, and share similar qualities. Of course, there are some outliers here and there, but there isn’t really that much of a difference.

If you put some of them side by side, you could probably notice something but it’s not like a sound system where you can find the differences almost immediately.

That being said, what should you look at when you’re buying an HID kit? Are there some features that are more important than others? What separates them?

Below, we’re going to run over plenty of basics while trying to answer all of your questions that you may have.

HID vs. LED Lights

If you’ve ever checked out TVs, computer monitors, or heck, even bought a light bulb then you have no doubt seen LED before. They’re quite popular, but how are they different with HID?

Naturally, both systems come with their own pros and cones which we will touch on later but for now, we’ll just stick to the basics.

HID stands for high-intensity discharge whereas LED stands for light-emitting diode. An HID bulb is quite similar to a halogen bulb with a few technical differences.

A halogen bulb is going to have a wire filament that glows with passing electricity and an HID bulb uses a capsule of Xenon gas instead of a wire filament. The gas is ignited by high voltage and through burning it emits a nice and bright light.

An LED light, on the other hand, uses a diode to emit light. A diode is a small electric circuit that’s glow is made to concentrate outward by a plastic cap that is above the diode itself. An individual LED light produces a microscopic amount of light, but since they are so tiny and you can put so many of them together, their clusters produce a great amount of light that can shine brightly.

Why choose HID though?

OK, you might be wondering why we’ve decided to focus on HID anyway. Below are our top reasons for focusing on this option. Let’s run through the top reasons now.

Brightness

HID lights are brighter. Plain and simple, you’re not going to find a brighter light for your vehicle unless two heavenly angels descend and graciously offer to place themselves on the hood of your car to light the way.

Technically speaking, a 35 Watt HID bulb is going to be about three times brighter than your average Halogen bulb. You’re going to be able to see further down the road, notice more obstacles, and have a more pleasant trip with HID bulbs.

They also make you more visible to other users. No matter if it’s raining or snowing outside, you’re going to be seen further away by other road users. They may not be able to make out what kind of car you drive, but they’re going to see you coming from further away.

The majority of accidents happen at night and one way to avoid accidents is to make sure that you can see and that you are being seen.

Less Expensive

We all love saving money, right? No matter where you look, an HID kit is going to be cheaper than their LED counterparts. Despite sounding quite futuristic and cool, the technology behind burning Xenon gas is not anything new.

With all that history, the manufacturing process has been fine-tuned to perfection meaning these lights are much, much cheaper to produce. Cheaper production costs mean cheaper retail costs.

Combine that with the fact that there are tons of competitors out there, driving the price down with plenty of products flooding the market.

Quick and Easy Installation

Above, you probably saw us mention the “plug and play†feature with many of these lights. In the easiest sense of the term, you basically remove your halogen lights, install these lights, and turn your car on. That’s it.

Many people, even those with a YouTube video in one hand and the lights in the other, are able to get their new lights installed in less than 30 minutes. Those with a bit more experience can knock that time down to about 20 minutes or less.

If you take longer to install, don’t worry. It’s just part of the learning process.

More Customization

Many, but not all, HID lights offer customization options. That means you can change the light color to make slight adjustments here and there. LED lights have only four options while HID lights come with a whopping seven.

You can install pink to blue and even Diamond White.

While we’re talking about lights though, there’s a legal ramification. The only legal color you can use in the United States and most countries around the world is white. But, tinting across various light colors is technically Pure White. We could go into a physics or light lesson here, but that seems complicated.

Basically, you’re going to want to check local laws before you make any serious customization. That’s a pretty silly thing to be pulled over and potentially fined for.

Features to Consider

Now that we’ve gone over why we like HID lights, we need to get into the technical mumbo-jumbo which isn’t as exciting but is quite important.

Wattage

All kits will either come with 35 or 55 Watt bulbs. The 35 Watt bulb is quite powerful, about three times as powerful as your stock issued lights on your car. They create less heat and tend to be gentler on wiring, but don’t have the same power as their 55 Watt brethren.

In contrast, the 55 Watt bulbs usually put a bit more strain on wiring and battery.

Current

Here, you have your two classic choices: DC and AC. DC is gentler on the wiring and cheaper, but may not provide as much light as their AC counterparts.

Support

Even though installation may be easy, that isn’t to say that you won’t run into some problems during the process or after. Customer support is big and you want a company that’s going to listen to your issues and try to help you find the quickest solution possible.

Installation

So. we’ve often raved about how installation is pretty easy. There’s really not much else to say about them. Most all kits here come with a detailed installation guide that’s going to walk you through all the processes and wiring.

While the manual is always pretty good, we recommend watching a few videos to get the hang of it. That way, you can see any issues that come up and go back for reference. Plus, it’s always great to be able to pause a video or rewind in case you missed something.

While the majority of kits have everything you need, sometimes you will need longer wires or a resistor kit. We recommend reading online reviews to find out if that was the case or if it tends to be a rarer occurrence.

Remember though, if you find yourself in an absolute pickle then you should take it into a body shop. The last thing you want to do is damage your lights, your vehicle, or even hurt yourself. There’s no shame in taking it to a professional for a bit of help.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, we can’t tell you which lights are going to be best for your vehicle. HID lights are fantastic, inexpensive, and quite easy to install but you should make sure they are compatible with your vehicle before tossing out the receipt.

Read reviews and watch videos to assure yourself of the right decision and then do everything you can to make sure that installation goes as smoothly as possible. Good luck and enjoy your brighter future!