HID's in a non HID housing like ours can give you more light but not necessarily useful light.
FWIW, I have smoked lenses. My HID's are a compromise, When I could see best on low beam then hi beams were useless. And vice versa.. Sooo I have the low beams adjusted a bit to the low side so I don't blind oncoming cars.
There are a couple people who have retrofitted a projector housing into a stock lens to make full use of the HID bulbs. There's a write up if you search for it.