zeroecko

I just bought a 2003 350z. I drove it last night and the lights are the worst I have ever seen. Lows are impossible to see, I think they are too low, Highs are up in the sky.

I believe the lights are this brand as they look exactly like this
http://www.topgearautosport.com/part..._with_LED.html

Does anyone know how to adjust this brand before I take the bumper off. I am nervous about taking it off because it is aftermarket and I don't want to scratch/crack it, haha.

I suspect I will have to remove the bumper, but wanted to ask first. I checked if it has the adjustment that the stock ones have, and that is a big no.

Furthermore, if you have or have had these before, do they just suck and I should invest in new ones?

Thanks!

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Yes. Get yourself a set of these, and read the installation thread about them. These are just about identical to the later BiXenon lights that came on the '06> cars, so you'll have great vison with them.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEPO-BLACK-D.../401234309373?

zeroecko

Sweet. Thanks for the recommendation. Great price on them! I think I'll go with them.

thanks

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Search for the DEPO thread and make sure you can do the wiring. If your car didn't originally have the HID lights, it's not just plug-n-play, but the result is well worth it.

zeroecko

Out of curiosity, can anyone tell me if this looks like the bulb or the ballast being bad? Not sure how to test but don't want to buy the ballast if it's not needed. It's worth noting that both lights are the exact same brightness.

thanks

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I don't believe those are HID's. But, either way, the way you can check for a defective part is to substitute one part for another. In other words, swap the bulb from the right headlight to the left, or the ballast (if those lights have one) right for left. If the problem follows the moved part, there's your answer. In this case, since both lights look the same, that won't work, but as already stated, it's the norm for these useless headlights.

BTW, HID lights will flicker or just a split-second when you first turn them on, before they reach full brightness. Halogens just turn on without the flicker, and you should be able to see that difference easily.

zeroecko

Thanks. I guess I will pull the bumper off this week and look. So it's possible they put halogens in place of where hid lights were supposed to go? Haha, I'm curious how they drove like this. Haha

Regardless, thanks, and I'll put some good headlights in.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

It's tough to tell from the pictures, but it looks like there's an H1 halogen bulb in there, and that wouldn't easily interchange with any of the HID (D2S or D2R) bulbs. It's pretty easy to pull the bumper off, and if you haven't done it before, there are YouTube vid's showing the process. I can do it in about 10 minutes now, after having done it several times. Hopefully, the wiring on your car hasn't been screwed up by any previous owners. Depending on the trim level, some '03 cars had halogen and others had HID.

92K1500

iTrader: (1)

You need to know if you have halogen or HID before you buy the DEPO housings. They use a different bulb size and if you have halogens you'll have to get ballasts as well.

I believe the DEPO housings are a D2S bulb size. I'm about to be ordering new bulbs for mine because I don't like how blue they are.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I don't think he's got HID bulbs or ballasts with those headlights, so my concern would be the wiring, as already mentioned.

zeroecko

Thanks for all the info. I am going to pull the bumper off and look this week. After the info you guys provided, I am certain it is halogen. This is the performance model, which I verified as it has VDC, but according to what I read, should have xenon. Either way, I will find out later. Thanks again!

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Performance Trim did include HID headlights, but they're not the same as the later BiXenons, which are a big upgrade.

92K1500

iTrader: (1)

If you have factory HID then the DEPO will be a plug and play kit as long as you get the correct bulbs. Hopefully those cheapo housings have the ballasts on them.

If you have a halogen car you can still use the DEPO lights but you'll need to seal up the hole in the bottom where the ballast goes and you could just use a HID kit. Morimoto is a decent brand to use.