I have been using HID kit from DDM/Apexcone since 2004, they have been problem free for 4 years until the ballast started to die out. They replaced my big ballast with a slim one, and life went on. Great service. Without going into much details on why I have to buy a new kit lately, DDM has silently dropped their prices on all of their HID kits since November.
Prices of HIDs have come down quite a lot, while I was thinking $80 a set is cheap already... and DDM, they claimed they make their own kits in China. They now offer HID kits for $30.
This is what you get for $30:
Yes, that was the kit I have had for 4 years except DDM claimed that they have been improved, and are offering lifetime warranty on them. I know people was being skeptical for a kit that is $30, but after googling at a few forums including my own; this is not a scam, it is rather a quality made product.
When I had the kit, the ballast feels heavy - isn't heavy a good thing? The overall built quality is decent, I don't feel any cheapness of it at all, probably I can probably rough it up a little to see the durability.... Installing it is plug-and-play. They light up right away to full brightness. I have no complaint at all after using for 5 days. The pair of bulbs included give out the same color and brightness, which is very important.
Since I have been using the slim ballast, for $50... you get the same kit but with a much smaller ballast:
DDM claimed that the slim ballast is full digital and perform better. I had their earlier "water-proof" version for a little more than a year, and it is still working strong. I don't think this new slim kit I ordered should be anything less superior. The current slim model doesn't look very water-proof to me, but they did a good job sealing the ignitor and the ballast, so further water-proofing should only involve little epoxy.
I did a group buy for 5 kits for the office, and so far no one is complaing... for USD$30 a set with lifetime warranty and some nice zip-ties and heavy duty double sided adhesives? What else is there to complain?
BTW... my 6000k looks a little too blue compare to my old bulbs... so if you don't want to attract too much attention, 5000k should be just the right white. I also ordered a set of 3000k for the fogs, but I won't be able to install until later, but they look great when I was testing the bulbs.