Ok,
Not really. This is every 02-03 owners idea of a bad time.
I went to the dealer for their $50 in radio shack wire which they call a harness repair, since they took the clips but oddly didn't just cut the wire harnesses off.
My parents are adamant that I do a halogen retrofit since they don't want to give the thieves another chance.
However I understand that the wiring is different. How different I can't tell.
I can't do HID, xenon, headlight, hood lock, data dots, and other searches similar because its disabled. I basically started going page by page, but after 50 pages with the slow load time, it became a waste of time.
Being not 'new' to online forums I know how annoying it is to post an old dead topic which has been discussed before, but the car has been undriveable for a week, and it would be nice to have headlights. I had the car 16 days before they took the lights. The paper tag was still on the car.
I'm not a fan of the hood lock idea because at least with this device NOT on the car they can remove the headlights without damaging the car (like they did this time). I've seen gashed hoods and fenders for more hasty thefts.
The HID projector imitation lights with the halos are an idea, but requires custom wiring (which I can do since I"ve done a halo BMW HID setup on my sentra), but looks like HID so it defeats the purpose to go from crappy HID to worse halogen (H3).
I have no idea what the beam patterns are like on any of the maximas short the 4th generation (which my sister has) and the HID on mine.
Anyway, if anyone has pictures of the wiring harnesses for halogen cars or the pictures of the back of a halogen assembly i'd be grateful.
Also if someone could explain what the data dots is and how it works that would be nice. 1 dealer here has heard of it but doesn't do it themselves. Another dealer down here never heard of anything at all, and when your lights get stolen they just put new ones on.
I'd like to put the HID back on just because the car came that way, but won't if there is no reliable way to keep them on the car.
Otherwise I"ll go halogen, or aftermarket halogen, but need to know how the wiring is different.
Specifically low beam, high beam, turn signal (since on HID they are 3 separate clips, and for halogen its probably 2 (low/high and turn).).

Seth

 

That sucks. Just get AE lights.

 

welcome to the Club man.....im like the leader of it

happend to me 4 times
-J

 

It looks like the thieves in South Florida are a little more considerate than the ones in the Northeast. At least they did a clean job and did not FUBAR your hood and fenders. I live in NW Florida and I hope I never have to experience that. I'm glad to have a garage but that does not help when I drive the car to the mall or store somewhere.

 

that sucks big time seth.
i'm moving to tampa area this summer. how big of a problem is HID theft in FL? does it only happen in south fl?

 

i'm lucky this doesn't happen down south in Louisiana (knock on wood) If it does and i catch them, i'll compliment their azz with .45 lead. You can never have anything nice nowadays.

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald...al/7688586.htm

 

That is terrible to hear. Well, if you decide to go halogen I can tell you go ahead and get the AE lights...they look good (not as good as the HIDs, but good enough), and if you put the right bulbs in you will get good visibility. Yeah HIDs are cool but not having them is not the end of the world, and worth it for peace of mind, I suppose...good luck.

 

Well,
The point would be to get lights that don't look like HID so they don't get stolen again. It would be dumb if they stole halogen HID imitations so I won't give them the chance.
What I want to know is what the data dots are and how they 'prevent' thefts.
Also I'd like to see the wiring for non HID maximas so I know what I would have to do to convert the car.

Seth

 

The ballast is sprayed with DataDots and relocated...ie. more damage would be done to the car before the bastards realize its more trouble than its worth...

Get the AE headlights....You'll sleep better at night adn enjoy movies a lot better...

 

It's almost guaranteed that theives will f up your car even more trying to steal the headlights that have the data dots recall done. I'm kind of regretting having it done. If they're going to take 'em anyway, at least have it so there's minimal other damage to the car (as on yours).

 

That was your car I saw at Maroone the other day? I was like wtf?!

Thats just not even right..

 

man, that doesnt look right, that just looks like a person with their eyes poked out and the rest of whats left hanging out.

 

About this HID theft. Can some kind of link to the car alarm system be attached to the headlights? So for when the headlights get messed with, the alarm will sound off and hopefully deter the jacka$$es attempting to get some free hid's?

 

im sure theres some kind of wiring you can do. I would just like the car to explode....taking the theives with it.

 

After this happened to me twice I just put in the AE lights.Seems to be no solution to this problem.

 

maybe the new projector lights migh be a solution. They are cheaper, so theives may think they arent worth stealing.

 

Well,
Here's the plan. I assume what you all mean by AE lights are the halo HID imitation lights which are H3's all around. THey look to be decent looking headlights with a crappy beam pattern. Unless someone has a picture of the beam at a wall to show me otherwise.
Since actual light ouput is more important than looks, this is a reason to go plain 2000 style halogen.
As far as looks, these look like HID to the untrained eye. Anyone stealing maxima HID is an untrained eye (they are D2R, seriously, you can't do anything with D2R, D2S is the way to do a retrofit...but I digress). Since these lights will look like HID, the odds are someone will take them out, realize that they aren't what they want, and leave me with no headlights again. So this is reason 2 to go with 2000 style halogen.
Regarding the hood locks and the data dots.
A thief is a thief is a thief. So if they really want the lights the'll just mess up the car in the process of taking them. So I'd rather they just took the lights and left the body in 1 piece.
Honestly, I'd rather just get HID again and take a chance, but my parents think otherwise (since they are paying, they don't want to pay $500+ just to have it stolen again).
So I'll just get some silverstars to put inside the halogen reflector and go to radio shack or discount auto/pep boys to get the harness for the halogen.

Seth

P.S. I'll sell the HID repair kit that I bought on ebay.

 

If your car gets out of the shop in time, stop by our Meet this Saturday..

 

Guys,
If you're gonna convert the HID headlights to Halogen, I suggest you change the rear clear lights to 2000 or 2001 model. Replacing the headlights without changing the rear lights defeats the purpose of having the lights stolen since thats how thieves target the vehicle.

My two cents.
Titot

 

Wow...their getting better at stealing those lights.

There seem to be no dents in the fender.....are you sure they were stolen? Did u just take them out for the pic?......If not then they must have been good.

 

it was only a matter of time before it hit Florida and I am guessing all you Los Angeles guys are next...garage it!

 

I got me a MOD like that.....................

















But it's temporary...................

 

Shop? I aint gots no money for no shop. My shop is the craftsman toolkit in the trunk.

Seriously though, I got silverstar 9003's and 1178's and 2 used headlights from am '01. One unit is missing the retaining clip for the bulb, but I can make one out of a large paper clip. (I could do HID from some string and a stick of gum, but they'd steal that too).
The only thing I'm missing is the 9003 socket and the 1178 socket which pep boys don't carry and the dealer probably doesn't either (unless you buy the whole unit of course).
That's my current dilemma.

Seth

P.S. They did no visible damage yet. I have to put the new units in to see if there is any hidden damage to the frame and fenders. As of now it seems they were couteous theives.

 

clearing the headlights??

 

I think what some of the members meant by AE light is the 2001 Anniversary Edition Headlights which are halogons and not HID lookin

 

where do you guys park? i mean fuq...i have seen threads regarding stolen hids way too many times...have you guys considered chainning a pitbull to the max at night???i am getting 2k2 lights in a month or so, my dawg will be on constant patrol,,and my 50 cal is all cleaned and ready to go

 

i disagree. if no one installs the anti-theft brackets, the lights will remain easy to steal and thieves will continue to prey on the easy target. with more people putting on the brackets, they might cause some damage but at the same time they'll realize that it's not quite so easy anymore and maybe just maybe this problem will reduce.

i urge everyone in the forum with the HID lights to take steps to secure their lights. minimum, do the datadots recall. consider paying for the anti-theft kit (see courtesyparts.com if you've never heard of this). or do like me and install a custom HID anti-theft prevention/alarm system.

MAKE THEM WORK FOR IT. if my lights get stolen and there's damage, well that's what i have insurance for.

 

Noooooooooooo, not miami

 

I meant the dealer

 

Hmm,
I still stand by my don't spend extra money to stop them from stealing it because in the end they'll steal it anyway.
Insurance DOES NOT cover the lights getting stolen after 1 time. And your rates will go up. So why tell them? Besides they only cover whatever is on top of your deductable.
Either way I'm not giving them another chance.
As soon as I get 9003 female adapters I can put in my 2001 halogens.

Seth

P.S. Checkout the sequel in the next thread.

 

My insurance covered my stolen headlights plus damage all 4 times
-J

 

Really,
I have state farm. What insurance do you carry? (and my family's been members forever with little to no claims ever).

Seth

 

I deleted this because its in bad taste, although very informative for your own protection.

Seth

 

now why teh hell would you post a how to on opening our hoods to steal our headlights

edit your damn post and delete that pcture and info for the sake of all of us
-J

 

i second that

 

Simple,
So you owners can know the flaws in Nissan's design and compensate on your own like protecting that hood latch cable.
Best thing to do is get an aftermarket grille that you can't poke through, or somehow put a cover over the cable so it is inaccessable.

Seth

 

Here's a hint newbie....people here don't like it when an org member PUBLICIZES the way to break into our cars, steal our lights, open our hoods, etc. etc. etc....

There are alot of "visitors" to this site that may get a bad idea if they know how to break into the neighbor's maxima....

I know you mean well and you're trying to help, but it won't matter. The only way to protect everything on your car: Put it in a concrete bunker with 2' thick steel blast doors, and NEVER take it out....

how-to's are great. How-to's on doing "bad" things are not so great.

 

I agree. But I think that this is a growing problem and it wont matter if we have it or not because the info will readily be available elsewhere. I dont think it should be here, but if it is, we can learn to steal headlights, so if our get stolen, we can steal them back.

 

Class Action....