SilverSBlack5

Nice to know I'm not the only one w/HID woes. Looks like this guy has it worse off than me:

From: http://www.s2000online.com/forums/sh...?threadid=6043

"Ok guys, here is the problem.

I went up to Orlando today for the Florida meet. It was great. Met a bunch of people. The drive with everyone was unbelievable. Jim, great driving and good roads!

But, on my way home, I got pulled over by a cop. Actually, by the time he came up to me, there were two cars there. He asked me if I knew what I got nailed for, and I kind of said that it could be for doing a few over the limit. (I was doing 78 in a 70, so its not bad)

He said that I am getting a ticket for having illegal lights(HIDs). I showed him the Honda book, and explained that it was a factory part that Honda sells the car with. His response was that he knew, and that all the "Fancy" lights that Honda, Lexus, and Mercedes put on their cars are illegal because of the blue light they generate.

He told me to get Honda to remove the HIDs and my ticket will only be $9. Otherwise, its like $50. Oh, and he told me that Honda should pay my ticket for selling a car with illegal lights. What an idiot!

What the hell do I do. I can fight it in court, but to drive back up there, I will spend more on gas than the ticket is worth.

Not a lot of money, but this sucks.

Advice?"


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I'm working on getting M5 shots


[This message has been edited by SilverSBlack5 (edited 29 January 2001).]

Mattar

I don't know what to tell you I'm speechless ??

Need4Spd

This really sucks. You should write Honda and ask them to defend you in court. It is "their" lights that got you in trouble, after all. I mean, if they sold it to you in Florida, isn't it part of their warranty that it complies with the law? Of course, I doubt it's really illegal, just one good ole boy's interpretation. Now, I'm tempted to start with the Florida jokes what with what happened with the election and all, but I'll just observe that if a state can't figure out from reading the ballot who they really want to vote for, well, I can't be too surprised that a state officer can't figure out what lights are legal and what aren't!

Chris Foote

I'd get that cops name, and sue his *** in court BIG TIME. Does he really think that all these high end auto manufacturers are putting illegal lights on their cars? BAH! They have to be approved by our wonderful DOT!

-Chris

SVTWEB

Not to bust all the responses below, BUT, this officer has no leg to stand on. Nor does the judge, or the states attorney.

Under FEDERAL LAW, a motor vehicle manufacturer can not sell a vehicle in the united states that does not comply the Federal motor vehicle safety laws. The DOT has approved HID lighting for use in all 50 states. As long as there is a DOT# on the head light assy, your car complies, and the cop, judge have no case.

It is obvious that the cop needed to get a couple tickets in before the end of the month.

I'm sorry that you got pulled over, but the majority of the population is a result of allowing people to breed who's end result taints the gene pool.

Go to court and get it dismissed.

SilverSBlack5

No my friends, it wasn't me, thankfully This was another S2K owner. I've only had incessant highbeam flashes, no run-ins w/the law over my HID's (see http://www.bmwm5.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/002453.html ). SVTWEB, I'd agree w/you DOT # == legal. Any way, could this guy counter sue the municipality for waste of his time and the utter B.S. ticket? Especially since he went out of his way to show the officer they OEM lights?

rvacha

This is a joke. I learned a long time ago that the best solution to all these BS problems is to show up in court. It goes like this: "Your honor, the prosecution has no evidence that my lights are too blue-ish. Can I go home now?" A speeding ticket doesn't hold up in court without some tangible proof and this clear red-necked attempt to hassle you won't hold up without tangible proof either. The ONLY proof would be lab-grade photonics test equipment results of your car's headlights. The best revenge is to *waste* thier time in a big way - show up for court.

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143366
'00 E39 M5
'97 E39 540i six speed

Wolf359

I got pulled over for my '00 M5 lights, but didn't get a ticket. I was tearing along a nice, curvy, canyon road here in SoCal, going 45-110, when I came fast upon a coffee-can Acura in the outside lane. I braked to pass him at about 80, then saw that the reason he was going so slowly was a cop about 200ft in front of him, going about 45. I braked again, harder, and managed to get down to the speed limit. The cop hit his breaks hard and pulled me over.

He claimed that I flashed ny high breams at him, twice, and that's why he pulled me over. I showed him the HID lights and explained that I "might have been speeding a little" when I saw him and hit the brakes, causing the headlights to flash. I told him that it has an auto-leveling thingie, but it doesn't work very well.

He had heard of these HIDs, but hadn't seen them before. He apologised for pulling me over, checked my driver's license on his radio, chatted for a minute, and drove off.

He was very polite, and I can totally understand him investigating when he thought someone flashed their highbeams at him. I guess the point is HIDs are new, and there'll be some confusion, but cops are still cops -- there's nice ones, mean ones, dumb ones, all types.

MarkM5Lauderdale

Silver,
I spoke to my salesman about your case the other day. His advice? Contact your dealership immediately! They have a nice group of high priced lawyers whose only job is to make these little annoyances go away.
Don't let that officer sucker you into spending your money. Put it back in the dealerships lap where it belongs.

Mark
'00 Dinan M5
'01 X5 4.4 Sport