Nah, you'll find if they have real HIDs, they'll have washers, they often pop up out of the front bar.

Otherwise they're fake/illegal.

As for wiring them up, the plug into the headlight loom straight up. some kits need a direct feed from the battery, but they'll have wiring for that too.

hi guys, question - why do the factory ones have washers? im confused as to why its actually needed and if you dont have them then its illegal

The high pressure washers are there to remove dust and dirt from the lens.
The reason for it is because HID (xenon) lights are so much brighter than halogen and the dust/dirt will cause glare to oncoming traffic.

I'm really beginning to hate cars with HID kits in them. As soon as one is behind me, my rear and side mirrors are adjusted so I dont have that awful glare in my eyes.

From reading the other thread about HID lights, the only way to half do it right is with a special shield over the bulb to try to recreate the halogen light output shape. I've seen some bi-xenon bulbs where this shield is actually moved to change from low beam to high beam.
The proper way to do it is with projectors.

The beam patters are completely different comparing HID to halogen globes - i personally hate the after market s**t - mate has them in his EL XR and they cause s**t of glare and really arent that bright - i turn my factory HID's on and I have alot more light output, and the e46's arent known for the having the best HID projectors.

thanks madxf, i thought that might be the case but wouldnt have thought the dirt would have actually caused that much of an issue, yeah im planning on getting the bi xenon and will adjust the reflector accordingly

you'll never be able to adjust it right!

what he said.