Bros, going to share w/you a very "painful" story - of what happened to my HID kit. Basically, my mechanic didn't install the HIDs properly, one HID bulb popped out of the housing. The heat from the bulb was so damn hot, it melted the aluminium projector housing.

I found out halfway driving, when I noticed my left side main beam started flickering, and smoke coming from my engine area (O-o)....


burnt-out housing... 1 day after the light burned out, I could still smell smoke in my cabin area...


there was only 1 thing to do: disasemble the housing. so my mechanic ripped out the left light panel from its socket, and slowly pry open the plastic clear case from the lamp housing (like opening durian)...




u can still see bits & pieces of the HID bulb filament + glass left in there... melted like cheese with the housing....


projector lamp focusing lens... in the background is my IN2 baby on "life support" while we operate on her...

at this point, 99% people would think their housing is f**ked, and have to spend RMXXXX to buy new one. but my mechanic is one smart fella - he manage to replace just the projector lamp housing that melted, with another HID lamp housing (taken from an old Merc). then he basically hot-wire them together....


u can see the right side is the original lamp H11 housing (sawed off the burnt part), then weld in the new HID lamp housing (from old Merc). install a make-shift mounting bracket to hold then both together (piece of metal in the middle). Taadaaa!

After put it back together, ensure all tightly fitted in, and turn on engine - whaddaya know, works like normal. actually, my light now is damn bright... brighter than before (i think it's coz the Merc HID housing is a proper solid steel housing with a proper focusing cup meant for HID lights).

Going to test this out for awhile and see if any problems (so far no issues).

So that's my story for today - heart a bit pain to see my beloved undergone 5-hr "open heart" surgery @ mechanic's "ICU"... but so far, patient 100% recovered

This post has been edited by infinitium: Jun 13 2011, 06:45 PM

yeah, bulb popped from the casing (wasn't screwed on correctly/tightly enough). i guess the bulb filament made contact with the aluminium housing/reflector dish... then slowllllly heated it up. after an hr of driving w/lights on, guess the "melting point" was reached and it melted thru the dish.

scary huh. if i wasn't observant enough, it could have started a fire. then tmrw's newspaper u see front page pic ... one guy jumping out of a blazing Insight on fire (TOUCHWOOD! ).

so if you have HIDs, pls pls plssss make sure your mechanic installed for you correctly. check if you got the right kind of wiring harness (that can support the 35W needed to power most HID kits). and more importantly if the bulb is sitting/locked in the reflector properly.

going to temple this wkend to pray. someone up there loves me.

on a happier note, sharing more photos i snapped of my Hella Supertone horn installs:

1st try (DIY install using existing brackets... horns too close to each other):


2nd try (bring to my mechanic, get a custom harness/metal brace plate, lock both horns on opposing ends, hang from existing horn harness/screw-in point):

scary huh. i see now also sked. phew. thank god didn't whole car didnt become charcoal-grill Hybrid Kebab

well if you find a reputable shop that can do it properly, then i still say you should go for it. HIDs vs standard halogens make a big diff

i don't think you can find it easily in MYS (I cannot find it in any shop @ Penang). Order online and ship it here... it's USD 50 or so. Then either DIY install yrself or ask a car shop install for you.

here's my exact horns order link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002MA03..._rev_prod_title

Note that Hella horns are now Made in India. the earlier batches few yrs ago were made in Germany (quality was better). Germany factory tutup kedai liao. However my India horns seem OK. build quality was good. no physical damage when i received.

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Added on June 14, 2011, 7:30 ambro Sh@rty is right - 4350K should be yellowish, and almost same color as our halogen spotlights lights/low beam. shd not raise any suspicions @ roadblocks.

FYI, my 4350K HIDs from my old car (Myvi) ... used it for 5 yrs, passed hundreds of JPJ/police roadblocks, never got stopped. i just made sure my lights was never shining directly into people's eyes. keep low profile

This post has been edited by infinitium: Jun 14 2011, 07:30 AM

Sharing a new set of photos... from my latest project in IN2 car improvement

This time, i got my mechanic to upgrade the grounding cables. basically, got better, thicker cables... and swap the old grounding cable (from battery to car body out). this new cable now goes from battery -ve terminal... to 2 mounting points on the car:

A) the car body
B) screwed onto the engine body itself (which is solid steel deep down below the engine compartment area)


THICK cables... best for carrying current


cut-out of the cables. nice thick wires...


final connection - replacing the existing thin grounding cables our cars come with.

Benefits of doing this - in long-term, you'll find the car starting easier, and slightly better FC. Think of it as improving the overall flow of current in your car... from battery to engine/body back to engine. the new cable gives less electrical resistance, resulting in some slight benefits.

Didn't take a photo of the mounting point on the engine block - itself. Basically it was screwed onto the exposed metal engine block... deep down, in the engine compartment (close to where the CVT oilstick is). doing this so the grounding is better (ground straight to engine block, v.s. the metal chassis which still has some resistance).

if i'm free and you guys are interested to see where i locked it in, then i'll snap more photos later lah

wonder what H technicians will say, the next time i go in for my service... so many stuff under my hood changed. LOL!

This post has been edited by infinitium: Jun 14 2011, 07:42 AM

sorry lah bro if i scared you - don't be scared OK... i'm sure mine is isolated case. you just need to make sure that your HID installer LOCKS IN the HID bulb securely... so it doesn't drop out (that what happened in my case).

as long as the naked filament doesnt make contact with the soft Al housing, then you are OK.

on a related note, i am now seriously going to shop for a car extinguisher to put into my car. anyone got one already? what type to buy? (i never do research yet). I know some of the old Merc models come with a dry powder-type (Type C) red colored extinguisher. even have a custom harness built in under the driver's seat to put the extinguisher there.

found one here: http://www.superbuy.my/shop/p-1868-fire-x-...tinguisher.aspx

good to have one... after my Close Encounter with Car Fire case

This post has been edited by infinitium: Jun 14 2011, 07:58 AM

bro, so far no issues - all working fine. the lamp is not overheating, and my HIDs are now fitted in correctly, staying in place. quite happy w/my HIDs... though part of me feels they can STILL be brighter (probably our projector headlamp housing not 100% suitable for HIDs, since it doesn't reflect HIDs 100% completely... am seeing some spillover light at the sides... but that's just me being picky kua

you come into a forum with Insight lovers/owners, and you ask if you should change yr current car to Insight? Errrr... the answer should be fairly obvious to you by now.... (it's like asking monkeys if they want to eat bananas - not that all Insight owners are monkeys).

i am pretty sure 99.99% responses you will get is a definitive yes (no brainer).

you're asking the wrong crowd - if you want a truly subjective opinion, then you should post to general car forums where you get different folks w/different car types weighing in.

but since you asked - yes, buy Insight! buy Insight... buy Insight.... buy Insight... buy Insight....

photos of my HIDs (in case some of our bros here was wondering WTF happened to my HID light quality after my nearly-fry-the-car-on-fire incident )....





sorry aar... quality tak pass a bit... camera phone. the color of the light is off - it's yellowish (4300K).. not blue-ish like it appears in this photo.

so far so good w/my HID set (OEM Philips bulbs). these are ripped off my 5-yr old car, and "transplanted" into IN2... no probs @ all. gotta love the old Philips ballast/build/bulb quality. use so many years, no issues. emang pass!

Penangites - good news. my SA confirms availability of IN2 cars just arrived in his showroom. immediate availability. WHITE n SILVER units only (other colors hv to wait until Sept for delivery).

if you are interested and want a car urgently, pls PM me. will give u my SA contact and you can nego w/him directly.

haha... oi! luckily not mine. *sweat*

u shd have taken pic.. then the owners will walk out wondering WTF you doing w/their car... then you can get to know them, and have a IN2 TTT on the spot

car checklist - someone here once compiled a checklist for IN2. do a quick search and you should find it in V2 thread.

ICE - yes, it will void some parts of yr warranty (not sure which part) but it shd not damage your battery/electronics, as long as you take it to a reputable ICE shop who know what they're doing.

i replace my car amp and speakers (see my signature) the week i got my car. so far, no problems. v happy w/my sound quality now

pls PM me when you have modulo door visor bro... and let me know price too

it was super hot today, so i turn off my ECO button... and drove the rest of the way home w/ECO off. Wow, can feel the difference - suddenly felt like I was driving sports car

(haven't been driving w/ECO off, since I always drive w/ECO on, 95% of the time. good to feel what it's like w/ECO mode off!)

This post has been edited by infinitium: Jun 17 2011, 05:24 PM

yeah man. like turbo boost

was parking in open-air car park today... got 3 hybrids in a row... my IN2 in middle, another white IN2 to my left, and a silver Prius in the right.

of all 3 cars, some passers-by stopped and was looking @ my car (probably wondering if the DRLs i pasang comes w/the car or not ).

not bad. of all 3 hybrids, mine catches their attention. aisehhhh....