woody6212

The age old discussion of HID's again huh...Hopefully not... I was looking to see who was satisfied with their HID setup and what they were running.... I see all the group deal posts about $50 HID kits and $160 HID kits, bi xenon kits, dc2, H3... I wanted to go through the group deal but there seems to be like 2 or 3 choices and wanted to know who bought from which vendor and how it turned out.. I'm looking to get a set for the headlights of my 01 and possibly for the fogs too depending on your expeierences but I'm running OEM black housing headlights and was considering the smoked fogs too to finish the look and figured the HID bulb wouldn't suffer much through the smoked fog lens... So any opinions on which kit is the best plug and play for the money, obviously I'd rather pay $50 over $160 so who's happy with the cost and quality they received. I was thinking 6k for headlights and fogs... Feedback? Pictures of 01's...Complaints of glare?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

55watt at 5k in a 5.5 housing

Loved it.

aw89maxSE

iTrader: (3)

when I had maxima, I went from the projectors that were on there when I bought it to stock headlights with hids installed (bad idea) to 5.5 gen 4300k hids....those were the best

nalc

iTrader: (11)

Well, as far as lighting performance, HID in fogs is completely pointless. They won't really light up the road at all,, except for the few feet right in front of your car. They're on the car to look pretty, and to make tons of glare.

IMO the best bet is to get the 02-03 factory HID setup. It's not great, but it's definitely better than a PnP kit in an '01 with casper shields. Plus, you retain high beam functionality, and it's legal, and IMO the quad round headlights look nicer than the goofy trapezoidal 00-01 ones. Make sure you use Philips 85126 or 85126+ bulbs, and you can use the factory Matsu****a square ballasts if you can get them, otherwise ebay kit ballasts work fine.

Czerkas

iTrader: (1)

wow I havent been on here in a while, but it seems that noobs dont even TRY to b.s. their way to a higher post count anymore ...

Grand_hustle17

iTrader: (22)

D2R 8K i like it a lot

mannetti21

iTrader: (3)

FWIW, I have the infamous Ebay halo lights (non-projector) coupled with the $50 HID 6000k heads/fogs and I am enjoying much better night vision than with the halogen housings/Silverstar bulbs.

Do be advised that the HID kits (or at least the one I purchased from the GD section) is NOT exactly plug and play. It will require, what I would consider, significant modification to any housing that has a cap over the bulb. Also, the fog housings need to be drilled out which was quite the PITA.

Here's one of my posts that describes it a little better, and you can also check my album for pics of the final lighting results.

http://forums.maxima.org/7038002-post483.html

Grand_hustle17

iTrader: (22)

my headlights are also EBay... i've touched em and all and the still turn on beautiful as ever lol

DallasDrift

I am, brand new Philips 4200K D2R and 3000K H3 fog light kit from DDMtuning.com

mannetti21

iTrader: (3)

not to mention about $400 cheaper lol...and the notorious HID glare really hasn't been an issue. I had someone drive my car while I drove theirs, and there wasn't any blinding glare from behind or when they were coming at me head on.

808MAX-SPEC

iTrader: (7)

Been so busy and dealing with maintenance that I haven't finished my retrofit project.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

I did my retro for $200...gotta know how to shop

PulsarGTS

iTrader: (6)

I'm gonna try this setup soon. My bulbs need to be replaced anyway so why not upgrade.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

its about 30% brighter...never got pics...but i did of my other lighting setups or at least most of them

FlipCpt45

iTrader: (6)

But the DEPO 2k2 Headlights are POS.. Right? lol

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

oem 5.5 housing - 4300K

nissandrvr98

iTrader: (3)

OEM Housing, 6k phillips D2R bulbs
2500K yellow fogs(oem housing)
OEM HID's tho no question

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

I'm still Stock on the Headlights.

Bought a set of 6k hid's for my fogs from the GD section-can't remember which one- and I like them alot.
A BIT glary, but i think the lighting output is still better than the OEm's.
Agreed though....not really plug and play -- some modification of the housing and wiring WAS required to suit my need for a clean install, but it wasn't hard.

If I changed ANYTHING - I'd TRY and find a 5k temp for both my FOGS and my HEADLAMPS so they matched...but leave the housing and everything stock.
Just my 2c.

woody6212

Okay so I guess what I'm hearing is that a couple people have tried the $50 setup and liked the outcome but it did require more than just plug and play and needed some drilling or fitting ect.... Are these group deals a name brand or brand X type of deal because for $160 for a basic HID plug and play I might as well hit up ebay and get a set from there right?

Sorry I should have had a different title so I wouldn't get reemed for the HID discussion to Group Deal HID's or something...My bad.. sorry guys...thanks for the feedback though...appreciated...

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

sorry if im a ricer, but i have 6Ks in my halogen AE headlights and i love them. maybe w/ 02 headlights they would be better..but i'm more than satisfied.

mannetti21

iTrader: (3)

Neither of the group deals are "name brand", but then again, neither is Ebay. And come to think of it, I wouldn't go as far as to say there are any exceptionally reliable "name brands" in aftermarket HID kits.

And why give a percentage of your money to Ebay when you can support an org sponsor and get the same quality?

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

truth...not to mention, you forget after a few months who you dealt with to get those HIDs off of ebay..at least you can say you bought them off of the org and be able to get in contact w/ your seller

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

Bought mine from Operatic's deal...
FANTASTIC c/s and so far (1.5 yrs) great product!

Had one bulb burn-out prematurely, and he replaced it NO QUESTIONS ASKED under 1 yr warranty.

Agreed that I'd MUCH rather purchase thru a .org vendor/member than go thru ebay, even to save 3x the $$$.

Your choice - but I highly recommend these!

**Color /temp is totally subjective, so get what you like -- within reason / local laws.**

gr

nalc

iTrader: (11)

Umnitza makes a decent kit. It's the same Chinese stuff as everyone else, but he threw in a 9004 connector free of charge, and shipping was fast, and he's an org sponsor. My 4300k bulbs were both actually 4300k, they weren't mismatched or anything, and 6 months later everything works. If you have to go aftermarket, the $50 kit is a good deal.

woody6212

Don't get me wrong if I would rather support the .org members myself, that was part of the reason for the thread just trying to figure which of the group deal HID kits would be best. Obviously each have their own advantages and disadvantages and what I was sayin is if I could get the $50 dollar group deal kit and its comparable to $160 kit, I just didnt see the point in spending the extra $110 bucks if I can get a complete HID setup for $50 bucks... Or is the $50 dollar kit gonna require me to buy connectors,bulbs,harnesses ect and do drilling, soldering modifying?

M1RAG3

You probably dont glare b/c your projectors are aimed properly. Everyone who DOESNT have ebay projectors seems to talk smack about glare-this glare-that without any real knowledge as to how the projectors actually work or how to make them work better. I have 55W H3 8000K HIDs in my projectors right now and the combination of these HIDs with the TSX lenses I have is excellent. It was a b*tch to retro fit the projectors to both 1) work with the HIDs and 2) work with the TSX lenses...but in the end it was worth it.

I dont think the OP has ebay projectors but I am just providing some extra information.

nalc

iTrader: (11)

so you're using the ebay halogen projectors (probably H3?) with rebased bulbs, and you put TSX lenses on them? Why not just replace the whole projector with something decent? The lens will give you a better cutoff and maybe some more center intensity, but the halogen projectors already have plenty of center intensity, and lenses won't add width, which is what you need.

M1RAG3

I already had the H3 HIDs and I said screw the extra $$$ for D2Rs. The TSX enses DID add width to my beam pattern...So I dont understand exactly what you are talking about (clarify?)....my cutoff is excellent and as opposed to the crappy, diffuse, and quite narrow beam pattern from the standard ebay projectors my beam pattern is sweet. I even wired the "high beam" to my foglight switch (I dont have foglights) so I can theoretically have HIDs and high beams on at the same time...thats more than enough output IMHO....

woody6212

So is there any feedback from any .org members who are currently running the $50 group deal HID setup... Happy? Alot of modifying or plug and play? Happy with the quality and light output?

mannetti21

iTrader: (3)

http://forums.maxima.org/7038002-post483.html

woody6212

Ya I did see that link there but it looks like he's also using the Halo projectors from ebay which may haven't different fitment issues than stock... He had commented on how the bulb cover wouldnt fit over and the foglights require drilling and both of these don't apply... Puttin em in Black housing Oem headlights not H3s.. So i was looking for some feedback from some 01 owners who tried the $50 kit to see if they had any problems.

Sorry for the edit but just saw your email so okay...