HID Conversion
02-05-2005, 09:52 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 192
It only took me about 7 hours, but I finally got it all in and working. 7 hours you might say? Well that counts putting in LED brake lights and turns signals in the rear. Plus another hour or two in troubleshooting since I accidentally ripped the wires out of one of the HID lamps. Oops!
After getting it all put together I took it for a test run. I was disappoined in the coverage. It looked pretty bad. Once I got back home I realized why it was so bad. I only had one light. The driver side was not working. Below you can see my handy work on one of the assemblies. I think this might be to blame. If I turn the lights on and off several times it turns on. It might work the next several times I turn it on and then it quits again. Turn on and off a few times and it works once more. One the bright side, it never turns off on its own once it turns on so I don't have to worry about a light turning off while driving.
Oh one more thing. I put the PIAA Plasma GT's in the fog assembly. They look so-so. If I could do it over I would have saved the money and left the stocks in there.
I used a kit from HID Visual Creations. Its a 9005 kit @ 5000k.
These pics are huge so I will link them.
Yikes, what is that scary machine? Its my poor Maxima with its face ripped off by someone that knows very little about cars.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0186.JPG
See where I circled, what do ya know. The ballasts fit perfectly there.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0188.JPG
I forgot to do the before pics. But since the KIT came with a seal for the wires I decided to drill a hole in the cap that keeps the bulb water free. Again circled.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0190.JPG
Here you can see the mounted ballast. Cleaned the surface. Put down double sided tape. Used the metal mounts that came with the kit and stuck them on there. Then used a rivet gun to secure it against the one side. Used more double sided tape to hold the ballast(and reduce vibration/noise) to the mount and last but not least I used some big *** tie straps to hold is in place.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0193.JPG
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0194.JPG
Ok, now in this picture you might ask. What the hell are those two leads comming out with the spade connectors at the end? This is where my time was wasted. When I put the ballast in the passenger side went in fine. The driver side I had to flip the ballast so it would lay flush, which meant the leads for the bulb were farther from the assembly. I didn't think about it so when I put the assembly in I ripped the wires right out of the connectors for the kit. Oops. Here is my rig job.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0198.JPG
Ok after it was all put together. Here is how it looks shining on my garage. Not bad pattern eh? I drove around town for about 20 minutes expecting to get flashed. Not a single car flashed their lights at me.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0200.JPG
Check these brights out. I can get a sunburn from these suckers. I drove down a backroad and turned them on and I could see a mile down the road, its great.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0202.JPG
Please forgive my dirty car. Winters been rough in the Chicago burbs this year and salt is everywhere. Its sickening I know. I got the car washed earlier in the week but it obviously doesn't get cleaned under the hood. I will do that this spring.
After getting it all put together I took it for a test run. I was disappoined in the coverage. It looked pretty bad. Once I got back home I realized why it was so bad. I only had one light. The driver side was not working. Below you can see my handy work on one of the assemblies. I think this might be to blame. If I turn the lights on and off several times it turns on. It might work the next several times I turn it on and then it quits again. Turn on and off a few times and it works once more. One the bright side, it never turns off on its own once it turns on so I don't have to worry about a light turning off while driving.
Oh one more thing. I put the PIAA Plasma GT's in the fog assembly. They look so-so. If I could do it over I would have saved the money and left the stocks in there.
I used a kit from HID Visual Creations. Its a 9005 kit @ 5000k.
These pics are huge so I will link them.
Yikes, what is that scary machine? Its my poor Maxima with its face ripped off by someone that knows very little about cars.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0186.JPG
See where I circled, what do ya know. The ballasts fit perfectly there.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0188.JPG
I forgot to do the before pics. But since the KIT came with a seal for the wires I decided to drill a hole in the cap that keeps the bulb water free. Again circled.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0190.JPG
Here you can see the mounted ballast. Cleaned the surface. Put down double sided tape. Used the metal mounts that came with the kit and stuck them on there. Then used a rivet gun to secure it against the one side. Used more double sided tape to hold the ballast(and reduce vibration/noise) to the mount and last but not least I used some big *** tie straps to hold is in place.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0193.JPG
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0194.JPG
Ok, now in this picture you might ask. What the hell are those two leads comming out with the spade connectors at the end? This is where my time was wasted. When I put the ballast in the passenger side went in fine. The driver side I had to flip the ballast so it would lay flush, which meant the leads for the bulb were farther from the assembly. I didn't think about it so when I put the assembly in I ripped the wires right out of the connectors for the kit. Oops. Here is my rig job.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0198.JPG
Ok after it was all put together. Here is how it looks shining on my garage. Not bad pattern eh? I drove around town for about 20 minutes expecting to get flashed. Not a single car flashed their lights at me.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0200.JPG
Check these brights out. I can get a sunburn from these suckers. I drove down a backroad and turned them on and I could see a mile down the road, its great.
http://www.doc-tv.net/maxima%20pics/IMG_0202.JPG
Please forgive my dirty car. Winters been rough in the Chicago burbs this year and salt is everywhere. Its sickening I know. I got the car washed earlier in the week but it obviously doesn't get cleaned under the hood. I will do that this spring.
02-06-2005, 07:16 PM
#2
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 192
Originally Posted by huong
Where did you get your HID kit and how much was it?
HID Visual Creations. $265 shipped.
edit NismoMax80***
another aftermarket option:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=358403
02-06-2005, 08:16 PM
#3
If you are interested in replacing OEM bulbs, or converting to HID with OEM parts:
OEM D2S bulbs ($75 pair)
OEM ballasts($249)
OEM D2S bulbs ($75 pair)
OEM ballasts($249)
02-08-2005, 07:47 AM
#4
Originally Posted by DocHolliday
Those DS2's might work fine in the OEM Xenon assembly but the base of the bulb looks like it will NOT work with the OEM Halogen assembly. I used a 9005 conversion kit. If I remember I will take some pics of the halogen bulbs when I get home so you can see what the base looks like. I don't think that will work for the halogen setup.
Also, those ballasts are not the same as the OEM Maxima ballast. According to my companies info(CCC Information Services, info provided by Motor Information Systems) the ballast used in the OEM setup is round and mounts on a round area built into the bottom of the OEM Xenon Assembly.
#5 is the ballast.
Just a FYI so people would not get confused.
Also, those ballasts are not the same as the OEM Maxima ballast. According to my companies info(CCC Information Services, info provided by Motor Information Systems) the ballast used in the OEM setup is round and mounts on a round area built into the bottom of the OEM Xenon Assembly.
#5 is the ballast.
Just a FYI so people would not get confused.
headlight removal post:
http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...9&postcount=10
Originally Posted by DocHolliday
The headlight removal instructions are fine except the last part about taking the assembly apart. That is uneccessary. I was able to mount the bulb and drill one hole in the cap to allow for the rubber weather gromet to plug the hole.
Might want to remove that part so people don't actually open the assembly trying to mount the ballast inside the assembly. Removing the cap that covers the headlight bulb is plenty, and easy.
Might want to remove that part so people don't actually open the assembly trying to mount the ballast inside the assembly. Removing the cap that covers the headlight bulb is plenty, and easy.
06-09-2005, 06:46 AM
#5
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 192
Did the ballast mount change between 04 and 05?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...979073158&rd=1
I recall the ballast mount on the bottom of the 04 Max to be round, I see a bulb, ballast, and projector setup on ebay for a 05 that looks more to be a square.
I was tempted to order this but the mount for the ballast concerns me. Any Max techs confirm?
Pic on Ebay.
I recall the ballast mount on the bottom of the 04 Max to be round, I see a bulb, ballast, and projector setup on ebay for a 05 that looks more to be a square.
I was tempted to order this but the mount for the ballast concerns me. Any Max techs confirm?
Pic on Ebay.
06-09-2005, 10:39 AM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 192
Originally Posted by NismoMax80
complete write-ups on oem and a/m conversions are guess where 
Doc, aren't your a/m HIDs up to par? ask Dues what his looked like when he had them apart.
Doc, aren't your a/m HIDs up to par? ask Dues what his looked like when he had them apart.
I am looking at getting a factory setup because the conversion kit I purchased was CHEAP and its falling apart on me. The ballasts don't consistently start and sometimes the drive side one doesn't turn on at all for a day or two at a time.
Moral of story: Buy a conversion kit with Phillips ballasts or go with OEM parts.
Btw, you don't have to replace the entire projector assembly. Just pop in the AM conversion bulb and find a place to mount the balast. I wrote up a small how to. Will post link in a sec once I find it.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....88#post3645488
Just so people know what I am planning. Since my conversion kit is a POS I am planning on tossing some OEM bulbs and ballasts in my car. I wanted to make sure that the ballasts would mount ok and next I need to head over to the dealer and compare the DS2 bulbs versus a 9005 to see if the base of the bulb is the same for mounting.
If the base is different I will try probably look for a OEM replacement Xenon assembly. If its the same then I will order just the bulb and ballasts like this guy on ebay is selling them to save me some cash.
I don't think the DS2 and 9005's are the same in terms of mounting but I want to double check to be certain. If they are the same it would be nice to save a couple hundred bucks.
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