Well i got it all in the title But this is my question. I would love to do and HID conversion on my new accord, and this seems like a fairly straightforward way compared to installing custom housings etc.

 

While it is possible, you might have to do a little trimming of the CL/TL reflector. I've seen one person that has done this, but it was quite a long time ago. To be honest, I would like the look of a stockish reflector over the look of most retrofitted projectors (personal preference), but the performance of projectors wins hands down. Having owned a 3.2 CL, I can say that I was not very impressed by the light output. Other cars with factory HIDs and reflectors, like the IS300 or even the last gen Acura RL, have a much better light output.

 

they dont blind people, because they designed the "reflector" larger than halogen reflector. It's all in the design!!! headlights are not all the same. LIght bulbs have a "focal" point or an ARC. It's all math!!
http://www.mvlc.info/glossary.html

 

It's not that they are larger, but that they are designed to spread the beam more evenly and also to reduce the amount of light output above the cutoff line. The reason that halogen headlights have a focal point is that they were designed that way, in order to place the "limited" amount of light where it was needed most. Some light is designed to shine above the cutoff in order to illuminate road signs.

The problem when putting HIDs into ANY housing made for halogen bulbs, is that you are essentially overpower the reflectors/projectors. There is too much glare b/c you have increased the light output beyond what the housings were designed for. Too much light will be focused directly in front of the car as well.

HIDs were not designed to shine brighter directly in front of the car. They were originally designed to increase the light output out to the sides, where, for example, pedestrians might be standing.

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I forgot to address this in my last post... It can be more straightforward than retrofitted projector housings. The easiest way is to get a 9006 HID kit, and replace just the reflector itself. Although this sounds easy, it entails a little more work than it may seem.

 

having come from a '98 accord to a 02 cl type S I think the light output is great compared to the previous car....

 

Ya but philadd was comparing the cl/tl hids to other HID lamps, not stock halogen accord lights......