Looking to add HID's to Maxima S. My questions is what company makes a better kit? I'm deciding on The Retrofit Source for $150 or DDM Tuning for roughly $80.

I've heard nothing but mostly good reviews about DDM Tuning, but does the Retrofit Source make a better kit paying the extra money?

Any input on what I should go with?

 

DDM Tuning.....I've probably done 30 kits where I work, all the guys in my bay have them, and I've only had problems with one ballast on my foglights. I'm okay with that. Plus the slim ballast are easy to tuck away in any application.

 

I was also torn between 2 kits for my SV which did not come with the HID's stock: the retrofit source and kbcarstuff (formerly xenondepot I think). I wound up going with kbcarstuff's extreme HID kit 4300K with genuine philips bulbs. I paid about $220.00 which is more than I wanted to spend, especially since many people on here get kits from other companies for around $80 and are happy with them. For me, I'm always afraid that you get what you pay for and when I read the reviews for the extreme kit they were all good and the customer service was great, they sent me wiring harness adapters free of charge and it makes the kit completely plug and play, no cutting or splicing wires at all.. The kit seemed to me to be of very good quality and the result looks very OEM which is what I wanted. Here is the link to it:

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme-HID...s-p/xt-4kp.htm

 

I have ddm 5000k 35w slim ballast kit and they are awesome. I have a 2010 S

 

That's the exact setup I was looking for. Any pics with them on?

Also, how was the install?

 

Thanks for the info, I'll check them out also.

 

I don't mean to hijack your thread but I am a little confused on how to choose everything.

Can someone explain how to choose the bulb type, D1R, H1, 9006...there are a lot of options. I am just confused about how you go about choosing one when you are buying an entire kit. I have the premium package with the low beam HID's. I am interested in upgrading the Fogs (highest priority) and high beams (lower priority).

I would imagine that the bulb type refers to size and socket type?

Next, choosing 35W vs 55W. Does the car need to be prepped for that? I don't know what the wire capable for amperage...I would assume it is 12V but again no clue on amps, (but watts are watts and that will come down to what the circuit is capable of handling). I would imagine that the 55w is for high beam(generally more lumen output)?

I under stand the temp vs color thing.

Are bulbs interchangeable. Say i bought a DDM kit, and 1 year from now I needed new blubs. Can I get Phillips bulbs, or anyone else, and use their ballasts?

The last thing is upgrading. Do most manufacturers of aftermarket equipment offer a plug and play harness? or do most people simply cut and splice into the pig tail?

Again I don't mean to hijack the thread but I think that this could help people when choosing a company for all of the particulars.

 

Choosing the bulb: bulb number is usually based on the socket. So if the original was an H3 halogen you should get an H3 HID bulb

I believe 35W is the most common and will be sufficient for regular use. I believe if you went to 55W it might get too hot.. (correct me if i am wrong)

I bought a kit about 2yrs ago for my QX4 and when I sold it i removed the kit and bought new bulbs and everything worked fine.

Usually the kits are very plug and play. They connect into the standard harness that normally would connect to the original bulb.

Hope this helps...

 

pretty much. I figured on the bulb type it was no different than standard bulbs when choosing a type. My biggest concerns are wattage and compatibility.

I would like to do it so long as its plug and play in case there are issues down the road. Speaking of which, the car shouldn't know the difference correct? There are no MIL lights or anything that would happen. I see that DDM sells error code eliminators. When do you need to worry about purchasing that in addition to the kit?

As far as installation, just plug in the ballast/harness adapter to the existing wiring harness, then mount the ballast and replace the bulbs? Fairly straight forward?

EDIT: one more thing. Are there major difference in ballasts between efficiency, lifetime, cycles....?
Another way of phrasing it, are there ones that are better for your cars existing system (wiring, relays, fuses....) and also for the longevity of the bulb (in terms of providing a decent and consistent power source as not to shorten the life of the bulb).

 

I would never do a 55w kit. You have to beef up the factory wiring or you will fry it. The 35w kits are plenty bright and you don't have to worry about any heat issues. a 35w kit will work for both high and low beam, where the different is the high isn't in a projector lens and will reflect light higher and farther.

For our cars low beam is an H11 bulb and the high beam is a 9005 and fogs are H11. Just order the right bulb for your car and everything should just be plug n play.

The good thing about DDM Tuning is the the ballast are interchangeable so if you want to use them in a different car you just have to get the appropriate bulbs (from DDM) and everything will be plug n play again.

 

You won't need any error code eliminators. Our cars don't tell us when lights are out (euro cars mostly)

And yes the install is very straight forward. Just plug in about 4 plugs, put the bulb in and away you go.

DDM offers lifetime warranty on there ballasts but I haven't had one go out yet since they were installed. I find them to be very reliable kits. I will only go with them.

 

+1 on the DDM kits being good. Have had a kit in my retro for years, and it hasn't had any problems yet.

 

I installed XenonDepot/Kbcarstuff kit in 3 different cars, lots of praise from clublexus, how I originally found them.

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Volt-HID-i...Kits-s/148.htm

The kit cost 120, its simple plug and play, the bulbs are rated at 2000 hours like normal standard factory HID bulbs, 3 cars I installed the volt kit, vibration, cold winters, hot summers, still work like new.

If you never installed a plug and play kit it looks weird when you get it but all you do is unplug light, use that plug to plug the end of the kit in, and then stick the new bulb in the socket, then the hardest part/time consuming is mounting the hardware.

 

I highly recommend using a relay harness for the HID kit, if you are going to put it in. The relay harness acts like a new circuit, that will isolate the HIDs from your stock wiring(while getting the on/off signal from your wiring). The advantage of using the relay harness is that if there is a surge, or short circuit in the HIDs, your wiring harness will be unaffected(since the kit doesn't get power from it). This prevents expensive repairs of the stock wiring harness later on. Usually they are $15 for a single xenon harness, and around $30 for a bixenon harness.

 

most 35w plug and play kits come with the relay

 

My lowbeam hid n fogs hid both I used relay on them

 

How difficult is it to remove the headlight assembly to make this upgrade?

What steps are involved?

Thanks.

 

You dont have to remove the headlight, When i first installed mine, I just turned my wheel the opposite direction and installed from inside the wheel well, to me it was a PITA. This weekend I took them out and installed again a little cleaner and with a relay harness and I just took the wheel off and it made it 10x better.

 

after reading this thread i think its time for me to pull the trigger on some hid fogs , the whole look of the hid headlights and the normal looking fog lights has bothered me long enough, than for the pointers to all that have posted

 

Just received my kit from Hidextra.com today. Looks like a good kit, will be probably tomorrow.

 

For ddm tuning what "k" bulb matches the factory hid the best?