why are the hid kits so expensive?

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by turboed13b

i am talking about retrofits i am not saying the 900 dollar kits suck they are just way overpriced. i can make my own for 1/3 the price and sometimes cheaper. yeah i know there is labor involved but is it really that much to bump up the price so much?

From what I have read the retrofits are expensive because,

OEM parts
The way the housing has to be modified to get a clear cut line, unlike if you were to just drop in bulbs and spray light every which way.

This takes either your own headlights, someone else to donate or you buy a set to experiment with, this all cost money.

The ones I have seen use OEM lights and ballasts from BMW or similar and these lights are very expensive, usually in the 300 dollar range a piece, so double that and your at 600 add some labor and the person making them is at very little or no profit at all. You can make your own to maybe save a couple hundred dollars, but then you are back at square one where someone else has already done the trial and error. What if you screw up your housing? Then you must buy another(which is not cheap) and there goes the savings you planned. To me for a QUALITY set of functional HIDs 900 is a steal.