It may be better than stock halogen, but then you made 2 mistakes. The first one was painting the reflector portion. I don't care what anyone tells you, the stock 03-05 350Z headlight is a projector/reflector hybrid. Close to 50% of the straight forward light output is from the reflector portion. The projector lense serves to evenly disperse the light, but the reflector bowls to each side help project the side emitting light from the bulb, forward. When you painted it, you completely got rid of any advantage the side reflectors served. The second mistake was putting a HID kit in a stock halogen headlamp. Yes, there is a projector, but halogen and HID projectors are designed VERY differently. The way that HID bulbs and halogen bulbs emit light are very different, and acts very differently. You should have bought an OEM hid headlamp and painted that.


This statement is also false (which I see you later corrected). But the 03-05 are a reflector/projector hybrid. I've spent many hours looking at the difference in light output between having only the projector, only the reflector, and then both together. The reflector plays a major role in the distance that the stock HID housings project. The side light from the bulb is emitted to the reflectors, and then the reflector projects it straight foward.

If you've ever parked your Z about 20 feet away from a uniform wall, you will notice that to the side of the light pattern, there is a faint blue line. That is a cut off line that is the effect of the cutoff shield in the projector. As you look closer to the center of the light pattern, you will notice the cutoff fade away and a less defined line take over. That is where the reflectors project the light. Painting the reflector portion of the lowbeam is very ill-advised.

Either way, I'm glad you guys are happy with the modifications you have done to your respective Z's. They all look great, but just try to do a little bit of homework before whipping out the paint cans.

-Acree

 

Hey thanks for all the pics and info guys! all look amazing and i'm learning a lot. too bad painting it all is an issue because this looks sick!

 

If you get 06' lights you can paint it all

 

how much are those running for?

 

$1300 from performance nissan. If you want to see what they look like, click the link in my sig.

Or just go to www.mrzipps.com The cover page is my car.

 

$1300!!?!?? cot damn.

 

I made no mistakes. I did my research. 1.) HID's project most of their light straight forward. 2.) The reason why HID retrofits are illegal is because of the reflectors. Since the stock headlights are designed for the stock halogens, putting a HID in causes the reflectors to produce glare and blind oncoming traffic.

So since most of the light is projected forward, and the reflectors are what cause glare....painted the reflectors not only gives me the look I want, but it is also a smart thing to do.

HOWEVER, I will say this. I did all this before the 06's came out. Had they came out I would have bought them and painted the whole thing without sacrificing any light output. Wait...actually that's a lie. I don't think I would have dropped the bills for the 06's. I can see fine the way mine is and I saved what was it above...$1300 for new lights. Yeah, I like my way.....

Thanks for your concern though....

 

The 06' headlights are on sale at the moment... $1175.00


Guess there not on sale anymore since they got removed from the page lol...

 

I did not know that on the 03-05s they had two different housing for HIDs and non-HIDs.. Good info.

 

Well I guess igonorance is bliss. You need to visit hidplanet.com and read up on halogens vs hids. When you say that the reflectors cause glare, that ONLY applies to a full reflector headlight that was made for halogen. The reflector portion of the 350z headlight does not differ between hid and halogen headlamps, it's the projector itself that is different. The fact is the stock reflector was made for HID. I've never seen glare when driving head-on towards a 350z. You DID make a mistake when painting the reflector because you have successfully made the headlamp put out less light than it would have if you had never touched it. I'm not trying to get your panties in a twist. I'm just trying to give you the CORRECT information.

-Acree

 

So what exactly is the difference between the HID housing and the halogen housing? I'm guessing it's the projector lens itself.. How do they differ?

 

Good question. I know that the HID projector has a different bulb base than the halogen. If I am not mistaken, the HID projector has a fresnel lense, and a different internal reflector setup than the halogen, and the halogen has a clear lense. I wish I had pics of the halogen projector.

-Acree

 

id love to have some 06 lights but the price is wayyy too high

 

I made no mistakes.

You're right, you didnt make any mistakes. That is why your lights are so powerful and why you see so much at night. /sarcasm


I did my research. 1.) HID's project most of their light straight forward.

No, you didnt do your research. HID does not project most of the light straight forward. A quality lighting pattern has even light distribution, but you dont care about that.


2.) The reason why HID retrofits are illegal is because of the reflectors.

Wrong again. Lexus IS and many other cars come with reflector based HID headlamps. HID retrofits however, are illegal because people like you, dont research before they buy. And, companies who manufacturer such products are making flawed products.


painted the reflectors not only gives me the look I want, but it is also a smart thing to do.

Painting the reflectors is never the smart thing to do. Too bad you cant press "control-z" and undo, eh? :-)


HOWEVER, I will say this. I did all this before the 06's came out. Had they came out I would have bought them and painted the whole thing without sacrificing any light output.

No, you wouldn't... because you already cheaped out and got a the base model halogen headlamps.


Wait...actually that's a lie. I don't think I would have dropped the bills for the 06's.

Exactly. :-)

 

 

or 1150 from me

 

go to www.ricks2k.com and look at the difusers for the 350z. those are mine. and he has a guy that he uses to do them if you arent comfy doing it

 

Precisely what s13 said. Those guys have been messing around with this stuff for WAY longer than I have.

-Acree

 

Oh boy. Everyone's gettin in on the action now.
I'm not here to argue, just share my experience with my headlights.

Here are my points:
With my entire headlights painted I CAN SEE AT NIGHT. I agree it isn't as good as if I didn't paint the reflectors, but again, I promise you I can see.
My only purpose of the post was to say you don't have to spend upwards of $1K to get the 06' headlights if you want to paint the whole light. Thats all. Just wanted to put that option out there.

 

i want to have my headlight houseings painted also but im just afraid that when they are re-sealed that water and moisture might get in and mess up the headlight.... has anyone had a problem yet???