Ebay bulbs vs HIDS?
 

Just curious, what is the difference between a cheap ebay 9004 bulb which claims to be 8500K like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BLUE-...m250261045029&

...and a real 8500K HID.

Is one brighter than the other? Is the above link just a gimmick that isn't very bright? Just curious what the difference is, thanks!

8500k is a color definition.
Very different from Lumens (light output)

One is some BS, while real ones are way better.
Cheap bulbs like the one you are looking at require no ballasts and are regular bulbs filled with xenon gas and has a filament inside. They provide crappy output.
Real HID kits need a ballast to power the bulbs. They are not painted ricer blue, and have a mix of salts inside them to provide the color output. These will provide more lumen output.

EDIT: lumens is the eye burning power of the bulbs*

Regular bulbs like that are crap. When you first turn them on they look alright. After moments, they change color and the output sucks. Go to the Group Deals and order some hids!!!!!!!

The term HID shouldn't be in this thread.

One are tinted bulbs that give horrible output and the other glares the ish out of people if you don't do a HID retro-fit.

And for the love of god...don't do 8500k HID's. All you're getting is color, light output goes all to ****. If you want color and decent light out put, 6000k MAX. Else stick with 4300-5000k.

S

Sweet, that is all I was wondering. At first I thought high intensity discharge bulbs only differed in that they allowed for the higher color temperature, but I guess if it is higher lumens that is what I am looking for.

I was just using the above bulbs as an example, no way would I do 8500K. I am just looking for something with higher light output at a slightly higher color temperature than stock.

Thanks guys!

True HID's actually use less power (W) than halogens.

The ebay knock offs will burn your factory housing up also.

+1

Just curious, what is the color temperature on the HID's that come stock with the 2k2-2k3 Maxima?

And also, do all HID kits only work for low beams? I hate to say but that kindof defeats the purpose because I am looking to throw a lot of light far.

Is there a way to angle the bulbs or maybe even the entire headlight assembly up so they work like high beams? I suppose if I did that I could just run with parking lights/fogs on around town.

most stock HID's are around 4300 Kelvin.

If you get single low beam kits, you will only get a low beam. There are some kits out there that have an additional halogen bulb which are marginally more expensive that give you the high beam. Much more expensive are the bi-xenon HID kits, which have either a retracting or pivoting mechanism which moves the HID bulb to simulate the high beam.

the lights you chose should not damage your wiring because they are the same wattage as the stock bulbs but i would still go with hids

if you're wanting the most useable (noticeable) light... then you want between 4000-5000 kelvin color. that is just the color of the light. The whiter the light.... the more useable it is. The bluer or more violet the less you can see. anything above 5000K starts to become blue.

If you use a kit in your headlight you will cause glare (the amount of glare is up to you). There are different kits of different quality. I reccomend a bulb/kit that has the lower part of the bulb covered w/a shield or blacked out. This cuts down on the glare to other drivers. Most good kits these days come w/this.

A retrofit is a whole nother ball game. It's reccomended by all. And since you said you want the most useable light... a retrofit is the ONLY way to go.

Projectors are what control the light. There are two types. Bixenon and single xenon. The bixenon has a solenoid that moves an aluminum shield down to make your projector a high beam.
yada yada yada.... pm me if you want more info