Need a little help. I bought a HID foglight kit, mini H3 6k color several years ago during a "maximabest" Helios group buy. http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...i-install.html

They have worked great until about 3 months ago when the wife hit a curb and the undercarriage deflector came loose and the ignitor (or ballast) fell to the ground and was drug for many miles.

Hence, where can I get a new set? Who has the best price and easiest plug and play? Racking my brain, I believe I did some soldering to make the Helios kit plug and play.

I tried umnitza, but I guess he couldn't be bothered.

Any ideas?

 

ddmtuning has gotten good reviews from people. others say get the 3Five ballasts from morimoto. I forgot what site they usually plug here, but i found them on ebay for the same price. I just ordered ddm ballasts, hoping they work a lot better than the xentec garbage ones i tried from ebay

 

if your looking for quality, retrofitsource.com. ddm and xentec are cheap, but i believe u get what you pay for with hids

 

All you need right here.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=3958

 

I'm in the works for some DDM tuning kits, there are great reviews all over the forums and web about them.

 

until you need to replace them under warranty! IJS

 

Damn right.

 

i had one of my spares/test ballast replaced under warranty form ddmtuning it took about a week or so... customer service was not bad, at least for me... but you can tell the real difference between the nice mori and the ddm ballasts...

 

How long ago was that? Their stuff is coming from China now.

And there is no comparison between the two.

 

See most of the threads I read were from years ago. If DDM tuning products are now made in China I could see why they might have went downhill. There is also a big price difference between DDM and the Morimoto HID system.

I did read this review which makes me a little wherry.

DDM Tuning in the past has been FAR more reliable and customer-friendly. Before December 2009, DDM Tuning has been extremely helpful if you called them, and all the online orders would be shipped on time. As soon as 2010 hit though, everything went to crap. Constant "backorders" on HID kits without warning, notice or e-mails, and customer service through the phone has dwindled to "yes," "no," or "sorry we can't help you, you'll just have to wait" answers.

Don't get me wrong. The product isn't bad at all. Their prices are great, and fail rate of their 35w raptor kits is only at 17% (which is REALLY low for the price point) over 3 months.

BUT! It seems to me that they've grown too big too fast. Their supply chain management seems to be lagging behind severely, hence the "backorders" as they say, unless they're putting up a front for something else. They sure could hire another guy for dedicated customer service too.

I liked the way you guys were before 2010 DDM, and i have hopes you'll be able to raise your quality and standards to what it was before again. Once i see that i will change my rating to 5 stars.

 

And there's a reason for that Just read the details of the Morimoto kit.

I just bought some 5Five ballasts to replace my DDMs Shipped same day. I should have them early next week.

 

I just read a post from 2011, you said DDMTuning here with no problems. What problems since then have you run into? Besides there parts coming from China or whatever.

 

Still no problems but I don't think they're outputting their true wattage and they take a long time to come to full brightness.

Mine didn't come from China luckily.

 

I got ddmtuning ballasts for cheap, basically swapped my Xentec for these, so its my last ditch effort at running some questionable ballasts before I get the 3Five ballasts. I had to upgrade my brakes this week, so my HID fogs took a backseat

 

ddm recommendations were all over every forum there is, UNTIL the business went to china. now replacements are taking months to get, IF you ever get them. support american! retrofitsource is based out of atlanta ga, and are a great bunch of people. they host public bbq's as "meet and greet", they hold shows/meetings/whatever for all the enthusiasts, and have unparalleled customer service. go check them out on facebook, you may even get a discount for "like"ing them

 

Guess I am looking at the H3C Morimoto Elite HID. Can anyone tell me which wire harness to get? Are the relay's necessary? I didn't use a relay kit with the Helios set.

Thanks!

 

H1/H3 harness with the heavy duty relay.

 

You will never be happy with those HL's will you lol. Im probably getting the 35 kit from retrofitters soon and see how they are. Might actually run by the store and see if I can talk to some people there and figure out a set-up to go with for a one and done HL deal with the kit and projector housings or whatever the one you're supposed to have with HID's is called lol. Switched back to halogen bulbs yesterday after we talked. Just hate how they look yellow...I had Sylvania's ZXE bulbs($60 retail) but when I got the HID kit I sold them so now I just have the 9007 Sylvania Silverstar bulbs

 

I mean, I am happy with them but now that I have these expensive *** OEM bulbs, the DDMs take like 20secs to get to full brightness so I upgraded. The 55W DDMs will definitely go in the fogs though.

I may switch up the shrouds and high beam projectors over the winter but I doubt it.

 

Wouldn't 55w HID's be too bright in fogs, I've seen some cars with HID's tops and bottom and it's just ridiculous imo. They are a little blinding to the oncoming traffic. I'm assuming they probably have the 55w kits.

 

I have projectors in my fogs too.

 

Nice.. I don't think I've seen projector fogs on a max. that would be interesting

 

It's been done a few times and I've done a few for other members on here.

 

That looks sweet man

 

Thanks. Appreciate it.

I also got my new 5Five SS' in and these are my impressions:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...l=1#post511354

 

I just replaced my Xentec BS with the ddmTuning slim ballasts, and the first thing I'll say is they feel so much more solid than the cheap Xentecs off ebay. Second thing I'll say is, the first thing I noticed when I turned on my fogs, there was no flicker of the lights like I experienced constantly with the Xentecs. Obviously have to give it some time before I give a long-term review, but initial reaction is good so far. If these crap out, looks like I'll have to just bite the bullet and get the 3Five, but hopefully it doesn't come to that

 

How long did shipping take? Any problems with the order from DDM tuning?

 

Shipping took 5 business days, I ordered last Wednesday evening, and got them today. No problems with the order. Here's to hoping that I'm not a victim of the rumors and bad feedback! haha

 

ok good info, I think I might order these this week.. The price is right for me.. Seems like you will either spend $50 on the DDM kit or $150 on the H3C: Morimoto Elite HID kit.. Huge price difference there.

 

Exactly. They have a lifetime warranty if you buy the kit, and I figured if I get it right for $50 with ddmtuning, then it's a win for me. I'll be sure to update over time

 

Got my H3C kit today. Hope to have them installed soon. Will post pics.

 

where did you buy from?

 

Just wanted to give my .02 on the DDM Tuning Slim ballasts. I agree with ChrisMan287 about them taking a little bit to get to full brightness, but it only consistently takes mine 10-12 seconds. And man, once they are full power, the 3000k looks excellent. Went out to some country road just to see how they fared and needless to say, if these ballasts hold up, it was a wise decision because I am more than satisfied. The Xentec ballasts never approached this level of light output. My only complaint is that the 3000k doesn't have that golden yellow look I have seen from others on here with 3000k in their fogs. I was reading on hid-planet that this is common, but any suggestions where to get matching YELLOW 3k bulbs? Not greenish-yellow HID halogen looking 3k? BTW, on the forums they said Morimoto also has this issue with their bulbs

 

So the 3000k's from DDM tuning are bright but not that yellow? Do you have any night time pics I could see? 12 secs to light up is not really a concern but the light color is IMO.

 

This should've been earlier. Maybe there was a glitch in the matrix.

With my Morimotos, it took that long but now that I'm using OEM bulbs (Osrams) it takes a bit longer. With the new 5Fives I will not have that issue any more.

Pics will make bulbs look like they have way more color, especially 3000K. No bulb will look super yellow in reflectors. I have read about a few mismatched bulbs lately but I'm not one with that issue.

What you need are yellow fog capsules or yellow lens projectors. It doesn't get any more golden than this.

 

I just stumbled upon these fogs, they look pretty decent. only for the 00-01 I guess
http://www.octanemotorsports.com/00-...-p-101023.html

 

You can easily replicate those with yellow vinyl or stained glass paint.

 

Retrofit. I sent a few emails out and he was the only one to respond, so he got the business. Free shipping with a coupon code too.

 

I will get some pics up tomorrow. I posted in another thread in the I30/I35 section with pics of my 6k and 3k HIDs I had with my xentec ballasts in the fogs. The color output is the same, the DDM 35W ballasts just make them shine brighter, I assume because they are of better quality.

ChrisMan287, where would I find yellow fog capsules? I'm not too handy in terms of ripping apart the housing and having to jimmy something together. But hey, perhaps if you can show me the easiest and cheapest route, it'd be something to consider. Closest I've come was AE Mod on my 97 maxima lol, and I got the glue on the lens and it was a bish to get off.

I think these bulbs are just cheap unfortunately. When you look at them from certain angles, they look white/blue, almost like there is just a yellow coating on them that is coming off the more I use the fogs.

 

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...ts-Yellow-Fogs

Scroll down and you'll see em. I think the ones on the bottom right of the pic are the Lexus capsules. The middle ones are from Integras and the ones on the left are Mercedes IIRC.

Most if not all 3000K bulbs are just 4300K bulbs with an ion coating which makes them yellow. That's why at certain angles they look white/blue.