Has anybody ever noticed that on our 03-05' Z's, the HID low beams seem to be a little bit more yellowish in color than other cars with HID's? I was sitting next to a Lexus RX350 at a stoplight tonight, and the Lexus HID's were more white/bluish colored. I get the same when I pull up next to BMW's, Audis, and even several Infiniti models. What is the deal here? I thought all OEM HIDs were supposed to be about 4,300K or something close to that number.

And Im pretty sure its not something wrong with my Z, I pull up next to other Z's and the HID's look the same. Grrrr......

 

yeap thats because the 03-05 headlight isnt a true projector like the cars you mentioned

ive switched to the 06 bi-xenons, and they have a bit more color than the 03-05, so the projector does flicker white/yellow/ice blue, but the light on the road is still yellow to me. Its not white like the cars above despite using the same 4100-4300 kelvin globes

i believe that is because they are bi-xenon, and thus have a more open projector which lets majority of the light out, same thing thats happening with the 03-05 lights with its reflector housing. The low beam only projectors like on the Hondas and Euros have tighter cut-offs which filter out most of that yellow colored light

 

I put 8000k HID bulbs and everyone always comments on how great they look. Especially the blue headlights with my PPW Z.

Pic of my Z

The stock bulbs (4600K) are a yellowish-white, 6000K are a whitish blue, 8000k are a bright blue, and 10000k are a purplish.

Hope this helps!

 

yeah 8000K may look great, but you're effectively now putting out less output than halogen globes

 

When i was putting my 8k bulbs in i put 1 side in and turned them on.... wow the stock bulb seemed to look like it was from 1970 8000k are WELL worth the money

 

i went from Raybrig 6000K HIDs to the oem 06 Bi-xenons and yellow/white light against a black road lights up alot better than purple/blue light against black - hence why the lumens output decreases as you move away from 4100K

 

where do you get different bulbs from and what size is it?

 

8K looks good, not sure if they put out less light though. I was considering going 8k myself

 

Xtralights.com is a good place to start. You just pick your car and it tells you what you need. I am pretty sure all HID bulbs are the same size though, correct me if i'm wrong. And yes, TiPIACE, you are correct. The 8000K bulbs definately aren't as bright as the stock 4600K bulbs. Especially with my 35% tint on the windshield . I just use the regular headlights then if it becomes hard to see, jus flip the brights on.

 

I have an 03 and my headlights are stock...they are very bluish/purple. No yellow tint to mine at all?

 

there are 2 types of HID bulbs, D2R and D2S....the Z' bulbs are D2Rs
goto http://plasmagarage.com, they seem to have pretty good pricing...the higher the K, the less lumination...they look nice, but you don't see as well...

 

2004 NISSAN 350Z (With HID (high intensity discharge) headlamps)
Low beam headlamp
HID-D2R

High beam headlamp
H7
H7ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: The Whiter and Brighter Halogen
H7XV XtraVision Halogen Upgrade: Up to 20% Brighter
H7CB Cool Blue Halogen Upgrade: White Hot; Super Cool; 100% Street Legal
H7LL Long Life Halogen: Lasts two and a half times longer

Parking light
168

Front turn signal
992 (7440A)

Rear turn signal
992 (7440A)

Tail light
7443

Stop light
7443

High mount stop light
%COM

License plate
168

Back up light
7440

Front sidemarker
168

Rear sidemarker
168

Map light
DE3175

Trunk/Cargo area
168

 

So you're telling me that when you first turn on your headlights, they turn blue and stay that way after 5 minutes?

 

i'm sure it's not that blue. I think the reason why his might appear more bluish/purple because the longer you use HID bulbs the more bluish/purple it will get...this just means that they are about to burn out.

 

Heres a comparison shot of the stock 4300k (drivers side) vs 6000k phillips (pass side) fully warmed up:



This is the 6000k bulbs fully warmed up. Light output is noticably less than stock, but not so bad that it is unsafe. If you want the bluish color but want to retain the benefits of why we have HID lights in the first place, 6000k is the best trade off.



Cant forget the reflection off the garage door shot! Left - Stock Right - 6000k

 

Agree. Different temperature (measured in degrees Kelvin) bulbs will give you a variety of colors, but not necessarily put more light on the roadway.

 

^That looks amazing. Nice work.

 

i had a HID kit on my 05 headlights with 6000K Philips Ultinon globes (from xenondepot.com) and switched to the Raybrig 6000K HID kit because i compared them to my mates Z and the Raybrig were alot brighter and whiter - and they did look very cool, the kit lasted an hour when advertised on the 350 tech Aus classifieds

since the 06 bi-xenon projector puts out ALOT more light than the 03-05 headlight, i have been tossing up whether to try the Raybrig 6000K globes again. I just cbf messing the headlights up after spending a whole night adjusting the beam height the way i like it and i know it will be harder to see this color light on the road compared to oem

heres the color output of the Raybrig on my 05 halogen headlight....as you can see cutoff when putting xenon globes in the halogen headlight aint the best

 

I should've gone with 6000K. The 5500K I have are okay, they're just white mang! Where the **** have you been?

 

Im pretty sure that the reason the 03-05 Z HID's are a little bit more yellowish has nothing to do with the type of reflector. Many Lexus and Infiniti models dont use a projector housing at all, and their HID's are whiter than my Z (slightly). I honestly think it has to do with the HID balast and bulb that Nissan is using in their OEM headlights. Im tempted to just buy a set of stock Phillips D2R bulbs and swap em' out to see if it makes the color look more like the other OEM HID systems on the market.