Hi everyone!
I was wondering... Why do Acura,BMW,Infiniti,Lexus,Mercedes,etc HID lights/lens look sooo WHITE??? Their HIDS are sooo darn WHITE & BRIGHT! My cousin has an 05-06 Acura TL and her lights kill the 07 HID Maxima lights. Why is that? You guy's know what I'm talking about???

 

Are you sure you have HIDs?

Xenons are not standard on Maximas...

 

Yes. I have the ballast underneath the headlight along with the Osram Xenarc 4300K D2S bulbs.

 

The color has to do with the kelvin scale. If they arent white enough for you. You might want to move up a bit in the scale.

 

The "k" value is your problem.
If you want white you should be aroung 8000k or even 10000k if you want a hint of blue.

 

No

4300K is OEM yellow/white. Same as mercedes.
5000K is pure white
6000K has a visible tint of blue
8000K is blue.

The "blue" color that you see is the light shield at the cutoff line. You have the same effect. You dont need a "blue" bulb for that.

Imo, blue bulbs = less light = ricer

 

I know the more up in color the less lumens. But I still see a huge difference. Maybe because the projector is not all the way up front like on the 04-06 Maxima's. Most cars have their projectors up front. The 07-08 Maxima is kinda back there. Is it true that the 4300K bulb will turn itself to 5000K after it breaks in? Maybe thats the problem I'm having. I have BRAND NEW Osram Xenarc Bulbs @ 4300K. Maybe a week old.

 

I do notice what you are talking about, but you should have went up to 5k or 6k for the super white (hint of blue) look...

 

The TL has the best bi-xenons in the business, they're better than the Maxima bi-xenons.

By color, are you talking about the light, or the cutoff? Because Maximas are usually considered to have a very colorful cutoff. Acura, Nissan and the other brands all use 4300k bulbs, so the actual light should be similar.

If your bulbs have less than 100 hours of use, they'll look kinda yellow. If you have Philips 85122 bulbs, they begin at 4300k and colorshift to 5000k by 100 hours. If you have Philips 85122+, they will stay at 4300k always.

How is your headlight plastic looking? if the headlights are scratched up and yellowed, that will reduce output and make it yellower. Try wetsanding then polishing and clear-coating the headlights, if they're noticeable worn.

Don't buy aftermarket higher kelvin bulbs. Stick to Philips/GE/Osram. Probably Philips makes the bluest bulbs, especially if you have a color-shifted 85122 (or a 85122CM, which is a pre-colorshifted 85122)

 

projectors have to do with the look too.

Acura by far has the best projectors in the industry with the sharpest cut-off lines and the widest angle. On that note, our Maxima OEM projectors are good as well, especially the highs, however our cut offs arent as sharp nor as wide.

 

Well I'm talking about the color when your looking at the headlights and when they light up the road. They look yellowish in both ways. My headlights are like brand new. No discoloration from sunlight or anything. I guess I gotta get some more hours on them. Get them to change colors.

 

I think you have expectations that are not based on OEM HIDS. Maxima HIDS are good oem hids and they look nice and work nice. If you want the blue bulb/light look, go aftermarket 6000K or 8000K bulbs, but that is not OEM porsche whatever bulbs, thats honda civic color.

 

EPIC

 

what about the 9012's or whatever the stock bulb is. How can we get that brighter? and please don't tell me upgrade to HID ballasts and 8000k bulbs or some similar crap. That is a huge waste of money IMO. The stock bulbs are bright as it is, but would be better if there were options.

 

 

Are they 9012 or 9011? If they're 9012, then you can mod a 9011 to fit, which will be brighter. If they're already 9011, then that's the brightest halogen bulb on the market already.

 

upgrade to 4300K HIDS. 8000k is crap.

 

I have to agree that Honda/Acura stock HID is superior to the Maximas. Having seen it side by side, i can tell ya it is. I dont know if it has to do with the headlight style but it shoots a brighter and wider beam. I will try and get a shot when I visit my in laws again.

 

S2000 and TL have some of the best headlights on the market. Maxima projectors are mediocre, towards the bottom of the totem pole. Muranos, M35/45, and FX35/45 all have good projectors, so I dunno what's up with Maximas.

 

This is what I did on my max. Hardly any modding needed for the 9011...however I did run into something odd. The 9011's have the element in a different configuration (exactly opposite to be exact) than the 9012's. After doing the swap, my lights seem to aim to the left a bit. Definately noticed a difference in brightness, however is there an easy way to get to the Horizontal adjustment screw to correct the headlight aiming (other than hiring out the job to a local leprechaun)? Or should I try to mount the bulb in upside down so the filament is in the same orientation as the 9012's?

*-don't mean to threadcrap or hijack the post...I can't post a new thread yet