I just purchased my 02 Maxima and the Factory Hid headlights only shine out to like 20-30 feet and then nothing. All I've read about HID lamps improving visibility I would think I should be able to see better. I have to drive with highbeams on to see. Can anybody help me out here?

 

Many things could cause this. Its possible the lights are aimed low. Drive up to a wall and adjust the vertical aim as per factory manual instructions. Also the bulbs are probably quite old and lose brightness over time, treat yourself to a new pair of real philips d2r bulbs. And lastly, the factory hid reflector setup on the 5.5 gen isn't really that great.

 

Measure center of light from ground. Measure 25 feet from front of car to a wall or something solid. Measure from ground up on the wall, marking 2" less than the measurement of the height on center of headlight.
Top/cut off of beam on wall should meet at marking. This is also clearly outlined on Shift ice's website.

 

So it sounds like all I need to do is adjust my headlights and maybe get some new bulbs. Thanks for the help, also is there a certain type of reflector that is better than stock if I were to change the reflector?

 

A friend of mine replaced his old original factory hid bulbs with new ones, and it did make a noticeable improvement.

OP, change your bulbs first then report back. Also as other's have said, check to make sure they're aimed correctly after you install new bulbs. It doesn't take much to throw the light pattern off. Just a few turns of the adjustment screw can have them throwing the light pattern way off from where it needs to be.

Also, if the headlights are dingy and foggy looking, get them cleaned up and polished out. Fogged up headlights block alot of light as well.

 

^^ All of this

 

Y'all got it covered.

 

Yup... move along now...

 

Which one of these does your headlight look like?



or



The first headlight is for 2000 & 2001 Maximas, but a few people have installed them on their 2002 & 2003 Max's back when HIDs were being stolen off their car.

 

The bottom pic is the one I have on my car.

 

i wasn't to happy with my headlights either at first so i upgraded my fogs to hids. 8000k makes a good difference at night

 

Looking at that link I don't see anywhere that says Philips or where you can enlarge the image to look at the bulb, and OEM is 4200k not 5000k. Also, I've read a lot recently about the large number of fakes on the market. If it were me, I'd stay away from that site.

Here's one site I found that discusses the differences in real vs fake Philips HID bulbs - LINK

 

You werent happy with your headlights, so you upgraded your fogs.

Cuz that makes a lot of sense...and sure helps the OP out a lot, thanks for contributing!



to the OP: Do what has been suggested earlier. New bulbs, properly aimed, with a clear and clean headlight housing.

 

The phillips bulbs are being counterfeited like crazy so its likely you got one of these. I recommend everybody looks at this before buying and "phillips" bulbs. http://www.hidbulbzrus.com/vs.pdf. THey are fairly difficult to tell with online pictures but a reputable site will take large and close-up pictures to prove they are real. If they are cheaper than about $80 then you are buying a fake

 

I hear 30,000k is even better.

 

What car did you come from? Coming from a BMW with projectors and driving my 7th gen with projectors I can tell the difference in output when driving my 5.5 gen. If it wasn't so expensive I would have somebody retro fit my headlights. My output stinks! Even with new Philips bulbs.

 

Like everyone said, new bulbs can make a big difference.

When I first bought my G, I noticed that one HID was considerably dimmer than the other. I popped open my headlights and found that one was the original from the factory, and the other had been replaced (noted: finger prints inside the passenger headlight). I bought a cheap pair of 5000k bulbs from HID extra, and even though they're cheap knock-offs, they vastly improved light output.

Now all I have to do is find the time and place to re-aim them. The cheap bulbs tend to scatter light a little bit more than the Philips bulbs do...

 

Hmmm...and actually...after reading about those "fake" Philips bulbs on the market versus the real deals, I may just save up and order a set of real Philips bulbs, and see how much better they perform.

 

Alot of times the picture is a real philips but the bulb they send is not. I have a cheap HID in my car now but I know its cheap lol. I would be pissed paying $50/bulb and come to find out they are fake. I research random stuff like this lol

 

TRS sells the genuine ones, a little more than that legit eBay seller but still great deal and customer support

 

I forgot about them... TRS is the place to go for anything HID. It might be a bit more expensive, but the customer service and care is well worth it.

 

TRS = The Retrofit Source?

I don't see D2R... only D2S

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/index.php?cPath=27

 

You can also find great deals on Philips OEM on Amazon as well.

If you don't see what you want on the TRS website, just call them. They'll hook you up - guaranteed.

 

i have everything done but still they just aren't bright enough. i also had cheap hid's on my previous car and they were much better.

 

 

I had this problem a while ago, but it wasn't bulb related. The lens got foggy from UV rays and weather and general use over the years. (Dirt roads are bad for this). To fix, I bought a $30 headlight polishing kit from Canadian Tire. Took about 20 minutes per headlight, and significantly improved the brightness. Consider this before you drop $80+ on bulbs.