Then why did an H3 HID bulb mangle my friends eBay projectors?

 

because what people don't understand is that HID capsules run hotter than halogen bulbs. the 35W is the equivalent energy required to run the bulb. another ~8W to run the ballast so the total power consumption of the ballast + bulb is around 43W. (compared to the halogen 51W-55W for low beam).

HID bulb emits light by first igniting the Xenon gas to heat up the capsule enough to then ignite the salt crystals in there. the difference is that there's no wire (which emits more heat than light). air is a lousy conductor so although the HID capsule runs hotter, it doesn't radiate heat as efficiently as a wire filament.

the problem with H3 is that it's a small halogen bulb to begin with. the housings themselves are small (to save space). stick and HID bulb in there, it'll still get pretty d@mn hot. and as most aftermarket projector are made of crappy quality plastic, melting is not only possible, but quite likely.