DDM Tuning Any Good?

[Emeraldage]

I'm looking to get a HID system with a d2s retrofit on the sealed beams. That wide and bright light would help me a ton with night deliveries and I just miss the nice light that actually lights the road. Yes I deliver pizza in a mk3 supra and it's awesome.

I've always seen forums constantly reccomending DDM Tuning, but when I read reviews from elsewhere they're pretty bad, lots of poor reviews. Any experience?

Also a tech question about HIDs if anyone knows, the d2s have that cut of plate inside of the housing, will this wire up to a proper d2s harness and function with your hi/lo control in the cabin?

 

[modmonster2008]

Im running DDM tuning HID bulbs on my supra with no problems whatsoever, just slow on shipping.

 

[hvyman]

The retrofitsource has quality parts. Just need h4 6/7 housing and the morimoto mini projectors fit inside.

 

[Emeraldage]

Yeah I was looking at the retrofit is as well. With the Morimoto kit 160$, d2s projectors 40$, shrouds 15$ + housings 20$? = 235. DDM same stuff but the HID kit is ~60$. My Aunt gave me 200$ for christmas and told me to spend it on something I wouldn't normally buy. And I can't tell if I want to buy this, or I should put it to getting a 3.73 LSD to get better mileage when I have to drive out of town for school every day. Both would have benefits.

 

[Silver MK3]

I just recently did this, here's my thread on it. I personally would go with The Retrofit Source. They have really good reviews, whereas DDM seemed to be hit and miss. What ever you do make sure you do it right and use projectors, don't just put HIDs in Halogen reflector housings. I hate being blinded by people who don't do this the right way.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?187113-Some-Questions-on-Doing-HIDs-the-Right-Way

 

[hvyman]

Ya except the cheap kit is junk. They will prolly fail within a year.


I bought my 89 with a quality retrofit over 6 years ago. Haven't had a single problem. Not even a bulb went out.

 

[Poodles]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: A kit is not a retrofit. You'll look like every other douchebag in his truck glaring people to death with your idiotic blue headlights. Quality halogen or quality HID projector retrofit, there is no in between.

 

[BajaMKIII]

DDM is great if you live in SD. Ive bought kits for multiple bikes and cars over the years and never had a problem with any of them. had 1 bulb burn out on 55w ballast after about 2+ yrs and they replaced it no questions asked. If whatever headlight you install HID bulbs into has glare sheilds inside them you wont get the obnoxious glare just the brighter light and longer beam.

 

[Poodles]

DDM is great if you live in SD. Ive bought kits for multiple bikes and cars over the years and never had a problem with any of them. had 1 bulb burn out on 55w ballast after about 2+ yrs and they replaced it no questions asked. If whatever headlight you install HID bulbs into has glare sheilds inside them you wont get the obnoxious glare just the brighter light and longer beam.

DDM is crap and has always been crap. They're still using the same crap Chinese ballasts and the same crap harnesses.

Also, you're wrong on the shields. It's literally impossible to run HID in a headlight designed for halogens without glare, period (as the standards and specs for both headlights are different for starters)

 

[Emeraldage]

If I was going to get a kit I was going to do a projector retrofit, HIDs would look pretty lame out of a square housing I'd think. I just decided against it because the total would have been around 260$ for bright headlights, seems a bit ridiculous to me for now.

 

[hvyman]

the difference is you havent had a quality hid kit. its a night and day thing. I would never drive a mk3 without one since I've had one. Stock mk3 headlight blow balls big time...

 

[Silver MK3]

the difference is you havent had a quality hid kit. its a night and day thing. I would never drive a mk3 without one since I've had one. Stock mk3 headlight blow balls big time...

This is very very true. It's probably the best money I've spent on my car.

 

[Emeraldage]

Oh that's interesting. I'd think 5000k would probably be the best color. I'd just like to match the sun's color.. So it's between 5000 and 6000. I have a decent bit of money but I'm going to be spending probably 200-400 dollars more with the 7mgte swap coming soon and feel like I should save my money while in college in case something comes up.

 

[Silver MK3]

Oh that's interesting. I'd think 5000k would probably be the best color. I'd just like to match the sun's color.. So it's between 5000 and 6000. I have a decent bit of money but I'm going to be spending probably 200-400 dollars more with the 7mgte swap coming soon and feel like I should save my money while in college in case something comes up.

4300k is going to give you the most light. 5000k is "pure white", and 6000k is going to have a blue hue to it. Honestly I can't even tell that my 4300k isn't pure white. It looks pretty white to me...

 

[Emeraldage]

Well it always will during night time. At noon on a sunny day your eyes will be adjusted to the sun's color temperature and then look at your lights then will give you more accurate reading I guess. Do you know what the newer ford taurus HIDs temp are? I seen one and they looked like the perfect color to me.

 

[Silver MK3]

Most likely they are 4300k. Almost all OEM's are 4300k.

 

[Emeraldage]

Well if I got actual projectors I'd still have the pretty blue effect anyways haha. I was going to get these mini d2s projector pair 40$ amazon prime. Has cut off and all. So if wired correctly when I turn the brights on with the projector retrofit it will take that cutoff plate down correctly?

 

[Silver MK3]

Yes, there is a solenoid in the projector that will pull the shield down to give you high beams. $40 for a pair of projectors is awfully cheap. I would be worried about sub-par parts at that cost. These are my 4300k bulbs in my Mini H1 projectors.

This is below the cutoff line.

And this is the cutoff line.

So you will get a blue effect as you pass through the cutoff line.