you are very correct. I however know that most considering this upgrade can harm other drivers without care, and why I would suggest "if" your making this leap aftermarket to "at least" consider the original factory upgrade if made. At least it was designed to work properly with that automobile in that setting if all the parts are exchanged.
I am going to come off as extremely rude so take note, you DONT have a right to put my family in harms way to make your car look cool. If you did not buy a factory HID or your ride did not come with HID's then consider changing bulbs at most to get that cool blue look.
Your gonna hurt someone with a mistake that can take an overwhelming ripple to many families and other people. These lights are dangerous to oncoming traffic and just because you like it doesnt mean that impared driver or senior citizen or just a plain day light driver can quickly reduce focus on your glare and the next person they harm might just be your loved one.
(Off soap box)
Again, I asked the dealer about HID's. He said there is no real difference between the HID system in the Max SV and the aftermarket. They do not dim, they do not move. They are fixed. He said maybe in some upper model cars they do all that fancy stuff, but not in a regular car.
I do not want to look "cool". They have a longer throw with their light. Any HID has a longer throw. They do not send light everywhere if your light unit itself is able to direct the light and cut off the light in an appropriate manor. There are plenty of people I know with HID lights that are aftermarket that are still better from oncoming traffic then some of the new BMW's ect.. Some of those lights are so ridiculously bright; they blind the crap out of you. Especially the ones the move with the steering wheel. They steer the light right into your eyes around a bend. Now for people who dont have the projectors and proper cutoff for the light, yes.. That is dumb. Because it sends light flying everywhere. I don't think that is right.
For my safety, I need to be able to see a longer distance. If you read about the Maxima, there headlamps are bad. Unless you have a very bright light, you basically need to keep your high beams on all the time, and I think that’s worse then a moderately brighter HID light. Im also not going to pay 60 dollars for silver stars that burn out ever 30 miles.
Aftermarket HIDs get a bad rep because of the people who think it looks cool. I would like to have a bright headlight that do not interfere with other traffic, but also allows me to drive with some confidence at night. Like any modification to a car, it need proper adjustment ect. I just don’t see the problem with the lights installed properly. As they will still probably be more dim and less protruding then that of a BMW, Benz, ect..
I also think BMWs and Benz use a 50 W HID, the most I can get is 35; granted the BMW and Benz adjust there wattage on some factors, they wont ever get “more dim” then any standard aftermarket HID.
The lights are truly bad. I get more light with an LED mag light