Are the Headlights normal or HID housings?

[Tylus]

Got to looking at the heads today and it looks like they are HID housings. I've had this exact same style in the past with OEM HID's...makes me wonder if I can go buy some HID bulbs/ballasts and replace the current halogen bulbs..

If my theory is correct, then I'd have HID's in OEM housings that will have the proper light cutoff and won't be illegal, or more importantly blind people.

Thoughts, concerns, ideas? Here is what I'm working with. I can't find any documentation on them at all. The owners manual is next to useless and my window sticker doesn't address it.

 

[NathanJax]

They are halogen housings. Here's someone who put HIDs in the halogen housing and the cutoff is decent...

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61416

 

[Tylus]

Thx for link. Very good cutoff there. Better than the 05 Esky I traded in with OEM HID's

 

[soulsea]

The cutoff seems decent to the untrained eye but it is not. There is waaaay too much glare above it ... you can see it illuminating the entire garage door:



Halogen projectors are designed that way because halogen lighting is progressive and you need some bleed above the cutoff, which due to its low intensity is not egregious to oncoming traffic. Hid projectors have almost no bleed ... here's two examples:





Putting HID bulbs in the new Hoes does not create catastrophic output, but it's far from 'very good.'

 

[Tylus]

I will agree that they aren't ideal. But I can tell you from first hand experience that it's exponentially better than the 05 Esky I just got rid of. I had to aim those things at the ground almost to prevent blinding oncoming traffic. All in OEM HID housings, 100% original from factory to boot

 

[soulsea]

Yup, that's because your 05 Escalade was one of the few vehicles with OEM HID reflector housings. A short lived experiment by auto manufacturers to try to cheap out on the cost of projectors. Even the best ones were slightly better than a PnP kit.

I'd still recommend you just take apart your housings and swap in a set of OEM projectors. I know it's a pita to do, but your output will be exponentially better, you will not glare, and there's no chance of you scorching your bowls (gigitty).