So I bought some projector headlamps off ebay and other than having to take them out to adjust the aiming screws they seem ok. I got them all set and aimed with a sniper unit and they are awesome. Great beam pattern and really good cutoff. I then bought some H1 hid bulbs from HIDextra, and they came in like 2days, which is sweet. The problem is that the HID bulbs are terrible in the lights. Not even close to as good as the stock halogens. There is a huge dark spot in the middle of the beam and the light pattern is terrible. I tried putting them in the high beam socket and they are awesome. Any ideas as to why this would be? Fitment is a bit of an issue but they seem the same in each socket.

 

do you have a link to the headlights?

 

I have done extensive research in the past week and HID bulbs are not going to perform as well in aftermarket projectors that are meant for halogen bulbs. The output is worse. You can try to modify the cut-off shield and possibly get a little better output, but i would stick some Silverstars in there and call it a day.
Aftermarket projectors are specifically made for Halogen bulbs not HID's. I have seen many pics of Aftermarket projectors made for haolgens and they are just cheap bulk made products that have an inferior design. They are not made for HID lighting unless you modify the cut-off shield. i believe you trim a little off so it can be lowered to let more light pass. Even then, the projectors are not quality and do not disperse the light even at all. If you pull up to a wall, you will see specific beam patterns the same as Halogen reflector housings.
Quality projectors specifically made for HID bulbs have a very wide spread beam pattern and the light is not concetrated in one area as your aftermarket projectors do.

Retro fitting better projectors is not an option either as there generally isn't enough room inside the housings. Also, halogen projectors housings use cheap lenses that greatly effect lighting output.
I was gonna go the same route you did until I started doing research. Now I am gonna do a straight up retro using my factory housings.

 

What year dodge do you have? I have a '06 and I have the projector light with hids and my beam is awesome. I wouldn't change it for anything.

 

Custom retro is the way to go. Isnt that right Dog?

 

By retrofit you mean take a factory hid unit out of a different vehicle and insert it in the stock housing? That would probably be the best option since some have the shutter system and you get the hid low and high beams. I was just trying to get out of it cheep, sigh. Never enough money to do it right but always enough to do it twice Any way thanks for all the help you guys.
For what its worth I went to the projectors because my stock lenses have what looks like salt spray from driving in the winter, all over the inside of the lens. But the projectors are great with the halogens so I guess I'll put the hid bulbs in my reverse lights or something

 

There are many cars that have been coming stock with halogen projectors. my wife's Sonata has them and I must say they do very well with halogen bulbs. Now, they aren't HID's, but I gotta tell ya, when she is behind me, they have the same type of flicker and are freakin bright. They have a much more concentrated light along with a cut-off.
As i said before, buy some Silverstars off ebay for cheap and use them until you can have time and money for a custom retrofit.
For a Bi-xenon retro, it is going to cost me $380 in materials not including install. I could go cheaper, but I wanted OEM stuff as it will last longer and has better ouput than aftermarket.

 

Yeah, I'm just going to keep the halogens in the low beam sockets and put the HIDs in the high beam socket. I won't be able to flash people but its an ok solution.
I do have the stock housings laying around so maybe I'll try and take them apart and put a decent projector in them like what weedahoe or dirtydog is doing. That would be a nice winter project I suppose. Sigh, I wish I had seen Weedahoe's post about his HID project before I bought these junk units.

 

Post up a picture of your projector headlights, because I put hid's all the way around in my truck, highs, lows, fogs, and backup lights, and my headlights are great in my opinion!! And everyone I know is telling me that they love the light output on my truck.

 

Aftermarket projectors & HID's = terrible output.

If you think you have great output, you just cannot imagine how true HID's would look compared to what you have right now. The difference is huge!