Headlights w/ HID's that offer best lighting before retrofit
 

Pretty much what title says, what headlights w/ HID's will offer the least glare w/ 6000k's? I figured I will wait for some TSX or similar quality projectors to do the retrofit, so in the mean time?

Dont do it till you retro. You will glare no matter what you do. DO the retro and dont waste money on hids not needed.

is this stock or aftermarket headlights?

It really doesnt matter which one he runs they are both going to glare. I have the r34 with a pnp kit. It doesnt glare bad but it still glares.

so does it reallymake snee going with aftermarket...more than for the looks.?

I retroed mine but yes its for looks not light output for these.

hmmm, im now wondering if i should really buy aftermarket headlights or go with some cleaner hedlights from a 99 max as mines area hazy.

I have these http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-99...spagenameZWDVW with HID's and the glare is not bad at all. I am sure it's there, but I have never been flashed, ever. The output is good, but not projector quality. Overall, I am very pleased with these lights and the HID setup I use.

waht HID setup do you use.? im looking to get new headlights and wondering if i should stick to the normal 99 style stock headlights or go for the 1 piece.

If you have intentions of going with a projector setup later, don't even bother with a kit. You won't be able to re-use the bulbs, and the wiring and equipment that comes with kits is generally crap anyway (hence why they're cheap).

^^^ Agreed, just wait.

The reason there is low glare with those headlights is it actually blocks some of the light coming out of the bulb. This is the same reason 9007 is better than 9004. The filament is from front to back rather side to side on the 9004. The stock lights and the r34 also have bulb shield that cause the light to reflect back to the back of the reflector then out that's where most of the glare comes from.

if you go with cefiro's or a headlight that uses an h4 filimant h4 bulbs have a factory glare sheild built in.

It will eliminate most of the glare, but there will still be some there.

And at the same time the output will still suck because the reflector isn't set up with the proper focal point and geometry to make use of the light :(

I am just using a PNP 5000k 9004 kit from maximabest here on the org. I'm sure all the group deal HID kits on here would be okay, but I haven't looked into them...

As for the one piece lights, assuming the R34 style, I don't like them that much because they don't seem to flow with the front of the car. That's just my personal preference.

so are you guys saying that stock headlight output is farrrrr better than aftermarket 1 piece.?i have hazy headlights(on the inside) and was thinking of buying a 1 piece pretty soon,but all i been hearing is semi-bad news.

the one piece have awful output. But they look better then stock and are good for a retrofit.

OEM Cefiros actually have an excellent beam pattern, and are somewhat conducive to HID kits (although replicas, such as all the "smoked" 1pc Cefiros, have horrible output). Obviously a retro is a much better way to go than OEM Cefiros and a kit though.

^ What he said. "1-piece" is very vague term here, as there are two styles of that. We have OEM Cefiros (which are pure chrome look only) that have excellent output exceeding the OEM Maxima headlights; we have blackened aftermarket Cefiro headlights which suck; and we also have chrome and black "R34-style" one-pieces from eBay that have worse output than stock.

lol its funny how people say dont use HID unless you retro..sorry but we are not all into ripping apart our headlights and spending 100 bux on projectors then installing them.

I have had a 4300k PNP kit installed in my wifes 98 Max stock headlights with no problems. No people flashing me or anything, yes there is glare but i can see perfectly fine in the rain/snow...no need for high beams. I couldnt see a damn thing with the factory headlight bulbs unless the high beam was on....also tried silverstars with no luck.

If your tight on cash just do the PNP kit in the factory headlight...but dont go with the 6000k your wasting your time..no higher then 5000k

ok,so basically,you guys buy 1 piece headlights to do the so called "retrofit",...which also cost more to find projectors from newer model cars i assume.so this is pure nonesense then,unless you have $$$$ to dish out...correct.?....so just get new,cleaner,clearer sparkly stock headlightss,stick some good bulbs in it..maybe go HID and i shall be good.????

Good for you for not having money? :confused: We're saying what we're saying for the sake of other drivers on the road. Plug and play kits are typically junk and the FACT is the stock headlights aren't meant for HIDs, you WILL blind people. Just because no one is flashing you doesn't mean you're not blinding anyone. Point in case, most driving schools teach not to flash people like that because the only thing worse than one blinded driver is two blinded drivers. Get a clue and stop acting like we're pompous for giving good advice.

Synpa, my recommendation is to either save for a proper projector retrofit, or get genuine OEM Cefiro headlights (the chrome ones, not the aftermarket black ones) and get some Sylvania Xtravisions for them, they will have output much better than the stock 9004 headlights and you won't blind anyone. Later on you can retrofit projectors into those same headlights if you want, easy as cake.

Wow so you are sayin because you did it the wrong way you are going to tell everyone to do it that way? You sir are wrong bottom line.

Where do we find OEM Cefiros? I see so many different headlights on ebay, don't know how to differentiate them. Also, are they the headlights where we have to make cuts to fit them? Thanks.

be warned the cefiro output isnt that great either, i dont know what people are talking about when they say the Cefiro output is so much better, maybe i just got a bad set but......

See all that on the wall that is glare(btw those are not HIDs they are just silverstars):

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...3/100_1091.jpg

wait and do a retro, listen to what this guys are saying i put HIDs in my stock 96 housings look at how bad it was:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...Picture047.jpg

exterior stickies will show u what to cut and how to install

I Ebay the lights i believe most people do to just type in Cefiro headlights U'll get atleast 7 different sellers

That's very odd. Are they OEM Cefiros or the aftermarket ones? Usually the OEM Cefiros are much better than the stock Maxima ones. H4 > 9004 plain and simple, but that's very odd.

What bulb size are these lights set up for? 9004? or something else?

they are the one piece things there beam pattern just sucks *** they are just hopelessly bad

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...3/100_1098.jpg

Those are 9004, same as stock.

Saying "one-piece" is too vague. There's OEM Cefiros, aftermarket Cefiros, and the R34-style light. Yours look like some sort of Cefiro but I can't tell from the picture whether they are OEM or aftermarket. It matters, because the OEM ones are good and the aftermarket ones suck. Here's an easy way to tell...are yours a black housing?

You really should wait and retro when you can...

But if you need to be satisfied NOW; here's my take:

In my stock housing, I've used 8k, 5k, and now 4.3k.
On the 5k and 4.3k, I made a custom glare shield (cut a copper pipe down the middle and JB weld under the bulb base).
On the 8k it was just simple PnP and the glare was horrific.
W/ the glare shield, the 5k looked "OK" but still glared quite a bit.
Now on the 4.3k, the glare "seems" to be more reduced (but probably isn't) BUT the HIDs themselves look like HIDs on cars from before the use of projectors (think old TL, CL, GS400, pre-2003 540i, etc...).

:ugh: Uhhh... I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can keep your stock housing but you should AIM IT DOWN and USE A GLARE SHIELD and USE 4.3k HIDs only (best light output + if you do a search there's a ton of threads regarding the color bleeding and increased glare of the "colored" 6k + HIDs...)

This post is jumbled, I hope it makes sense... :russ:

yea i bought the black ones to match the car

SUGGESTION: = ) SIG... just a suggestion

or go real hardcore back in the day JDM... use regular sylvania bulbs for fogs and headlights with all the correct amber lights... = )

BY THE WAY... GREAT ADVICE this was previous setup in a single piece cefiro... worked pretty good plus i had a city light....(i miss city light.

There's your answer.

:lol: @ 100 bucks for a pair of projectors. A good set of projectors (TSX, TL, FX, S2000) will generally run you $200+

If you're tight on cash, get 9007 Xtravisions and call it a day, you should not be going HID (silverstars do not have great performance, especially not for the price and ESPECIALLY not in the rain). No need to waste a few hundred on a crappy kit that will possibly burn out and definitely blind oncoming traffic. If you want to half-*** things on your car, go right ahead. I choose to do things right instead of belittle the engineering that went into the car, and I advise everyone else to do the same.

There's your problem. They're the crappy aftermarket ones, not true Cefiros. They are garbage compared to real Cefiros (in terms of output and pattern).

I made shields for my 9004 HIDs in stock headlight, and aim them crosseyed like some members suggested. Never got flashed on, but glares are there, to be honest. However, it does light up the road better. BTW, I lost the high beam.
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q24/t65k3/b.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q24/t65k3/a.jpg

Do it once and do it right.

I have HID's and TL Bi-Xenon's and I will NEVER own another car that doesn't have projectors/HID's. It's a day and night difference between projector headlights and non-projector headlights.

Amen. I can't stand riding in a car without HIDs now, I feel like I'm driving down the road with flashlights attached to the front of the car.

Thats how I felt after riding in my friends S2000 with HIDS. I felt like I couldnt see crap when I was driving home in my car.