To DDM or To Not DDM

[BMW4LIFE]

So I read like 2 hours worth or DDM Tuning parts and their quality and about some guy named Habbie that keeps talking crap about how "jim" the owner of DDM is a fake and all his parts are cheap and so on..........

Now I am still interested in the HID kit that they have for $70 (55watts) but I wanted to post a poll to see how many of you guys have purchased or would purchase from DDM or how many of you guys will not or regret purchasing from him

thanks!

[Russell]

My 55w 4300ks seem to work fine. However, their customer service is best acquired through a phone call. Often slow e-mail response.

I think they are a bit overwlemed with the response to their price structure.

[632 Regal]

never heard of em

[winfred]

i am sporting the ddm apexcone 35 watt small ballast 4500k's in my h4s on the e30 and new 4500k h3 bulbs in the fog lights with ballasts i salvaged from the yard, they got here quick enough and aside from getting hosed double on shipping with the lamin-x i ordered too instead of getting everything in one box it worked out well for me

the only thing i noticed with the kit is on the adapter for the h4's the one pin was in the wrong hole but i have been taking connectors apart for years so moving the pin was easy

[BMW4LIFE]

another concern i had was the 'low beam' indicator

does anyone have a problem with that on their e34?

if so i noticed that they sell something for 30 bucks that fixes that...is there anything cheaper than that i can use?

[BMW4LIFE]

another question.....

it seems as though you guys like the 4300K why not the 5000K?

what does the OEM NEWER BMW use?

thanks!

[bad_manners_god]

ALL cars from the factory that use Xenon/HID are 4300K (The most amount of light output, but not as cool looking as the 6000K or 8000K)

Much cheaper....a Resistor in a parallel circuit, extremely easy to DIY.

When I put HID's on my E34, Sometimes I would get the Low Beam Indicator and sometimes I wouldn't. I didn't really care.

[Russell]

How can 8,000k purple low output lights look cool-seriously The high the K the lower the usable light 8,000k would seem rather dim compared to whiter light of 4,300 k HIDs.

[Russell]

There are low beam error fixes available bedies ddm's BOW eliminators. Just search this and other fourms. One that works involves resistors. http://www.bimmernut.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39793&highlight=low+beam+fix

Also see posts by russiankid. He did the same fix, better soldering and photos.

[bad_manners_god]

How can 8,000k purple low output lights look cool-seriously The high the K the lower the usable light 8,000k would seem rather dim compared to whiter light of 4,300 k HIDs.

I had 8000K Low's which are actually called "Iceberg Blue" and had the 10000K High's which are called "Aqua Blue"

When I pulled next to a 2003+ X5 at night, my lows were over-shadowing his lights. He signaled me to open my window. So I opened it and he starts shouting. "Where the F*ck did you get those lights. I paid 600$ at the dealer and there not even strong as yours!" I replied, "Got them off ebay for 80$"

His mouth dropped and put his window back up furiously.

[Russell]

I had 8000K Low's which are actually called "Iceberg Blue" and had the 10000K High's which are called "Aqua Blue"

When I pulled next to a 2003+ X5 at night, my lows were over-shadowing his lights. He signaled me to open my window. So I opened it and he starts shouting. "Where the F*ck did you get those lights. I paid 600$ at the dealer and there not even strong as yours!" I replied, "Got them off ebay for 80$"

His mouth dropped and put his window back up furiously.

OK what K are the purple and dim lights? Perhaps I was confusing the 8 and 10k lights for the purple "ricer" lights. For that matter, I dislike the excessivly blue lights as they seem to bother my eyes. I just want better light not style points. Anyway, just my opinion. :)

[BMW4LIFE]

OK what K are the purple and dim lights? Perhaps I was confusing the 8 and 10k lights for the purple "ricer" lights. For that matter, I dislike the excessivly blue lights as they seem to bother my eyes. I just want better light not style points. Anyway, just my opinion. :)

you have a right to say that the blue lights hurt your eyes....as there has been a study as the more color your headlights put out the faster your eyes will get tired!

purple worst
blue next
and so forth

DOes anyone know the lumen count for the 4300k (55W) and the 5000k (55W)?

thanks

[bad_manners_god]

OK what K are the purple and dim lights? Perhaps I was confusing the 8 and 10k lights for the purple "ricer" lights. For that matter, I dislike the excessivly blue lights as they seem to bother my eyes. I just want better light not style points. Anyway, just my opinion. :)

The really deep blue is 12000K....almost getting light shade of purple.

15000K is pink and 30000K is purple, green, orange...whatever ricer color you like.

[shadowpuck]

thought i'd post up my thoughts since i went through a bunch of this not too long ago for both of my cars; apologies if you already know all of this! :)

i've bought lights both from DDM (on my e36) and one of the other main companies - umnitza (my e34). i had no real problems with either. the lights from DDM required some minor tweaks to the wiring - once again, no big deal.

make sure the assembly you are using will correctly focus or throw the light from the HIDs. having no headlights at all would be only slightly worse than unfocused lights with HID intensity. fortunately, when i read up on this months ago it seemed as if all the ellipsoid style lights will handle HID no problem. also, be sure to align the lights when done.

when i installed the HIDs on the e34, i had the low beam error issue. i fixed it by using this writeup: http://www.bbesound.com/bmw/hidinstall/

that worked perfectly and i've had no problems in the year or so i've had them in the car. other than a manual tranny conversion on the e36, this was easily one of the best upgrades i've done to either car.

as to the "temperature" of the lights, on both cars i specified as close to stock as possible. i think i ended up with 4300k on the e36, and 5000k on the e34? it was somewhere in that ballpark. i was interested in usable light output, which appears to fall off quite substantially as you go up the kelvin range - according to the reading and research i did at the time...

both of my kits are the 55w variety.

i used the aiming procedures mentioned here - http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html - that site has almost more than you ever wanted to know about lighting!

[russiankid]

Have two of their kits, no problems.

[BMW4LIFE]

okay so i did a lot of research and found like 3 different things to make the low beam thing go away....

now i am not too great when it comes to doing this electrical things...is there anything else or something cheap (but still very effective) i can just purchase and plug and play?

thanks!

[bad_manners_god]

okay so i did a lot of research and found like 3 different things to make the low beam thing go away....

now i am not too great when it comes to doing this electrical things...is there anything else or something cheap (but still very effective) i can just purchase and plug and play?

thanks!

Use wire taps to keep it clean and easy for you

[Russell]

okay so i did a lot of research and found like 3 different things to make the low beam thing go away....

now i am not too great when it comes to doing this electrical things...is there anything else or something cheap (but still very effective) i can just purchase and plug and play?

thanks!
The BOW device from DDM works in some situations. If you buy your HIDS from DDM call them first. They are may have advice or new products that are plug and play.