2006 350Z Bi-Xenon headlights
09-11-2006, 05:48 AM
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2006 350Z Bi-Xenon headlights
Does anyone know where I can buy a pair of 2006 Z Bi-Xenon headlights for a reasonable price (besides from the dealer) ? As any of you pre-2006 Z owners probably already know, the reflector/projector HID's suck, especially when compared with the HID's in Acuras, Lexus's, or BMWs.
My friend has an 02 NSX - that's 2 years older than my Z, and those HID's light up the road 100X better than mine, with a cutoff that's insane. His sister has a new Lexus IS, and those blow mine away too. Pretty much any new car with true projector HIDs totally blow away the quality and power in the Z's HIDs. Any info would be appreciated.
thanks...
My friend has an 02 NSX - that's 2 years older than my Z, and those HID's light up the road 100X better than mine, with a cutoff that's insane. His sister has a new Lexus IS, and those blow mine away too. Pretty much any new car with true projector HIDs totally blow away the quality and power in the Z's HIDs. Any info would be appreciated.
thanks...
09-11-2006, 05:57 AM
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I would bet these will be difficult to find. A lot of people are looking for them. Perhaps you can find them off a salvage car (with no front end damage........which might be hard to find).
09-11-2006, 06:28 AM
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Originally Posted by zzzzzz ya
I'ev noticed the HID's not being as bright as I expected, but I don't know if you could do anything about it.
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09-11-2006, 07:03 AM
#8
Originally Posted by efx
buy brighter HID bulbs.
on above.
09-11-2006, 07:56 AM
#10
Originally Posted by MustGoFastR
No such thing; the stock bulbs will be the brightest you 'll find. You may be referring to higher color temp bulbs, which are more blue-ish in color, but they actually are less bright and do not light up the road as well.
As another thought, have you tried looking at Hella or one of the other major HID maker websites to see if they have a full retrofit kit (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness) for the 350Z (2003-2005)? If they had a kit it would probably be a lot cheaper than buying the entire new headlight assemblies from Nissan.
09-11-2006, 08:21 AM
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Originally Posted by sry110
I agree with you here. But another solution that may have some merit would be to purchase new bulbs AND new ballasts. I am not 100% sure on this but I believe the Z's stock HID system is 35 watts. Many aftermarket HID manufacturers (such as Hella, Philips, Xtec, etc.) make 55 watt systems that produce brighter light output when comparing each respective color temperature between the two wattages. The trick would be making sure that the factory stock headlight wiring harnesses are beefy enough to handle the higher 55 watt rating. Also further to what MustGoFastR said, no matter what you end up doing when you swap out your original headlights make sure you get bulbs rated for around 4300K to 5000K color temperature. Bulbs rated in this range will have the highest possible light output (measured in 'lumens' I believe) although they may not look as 'cool' as the higher temperature bulbs. But you also have to remember that much of how the color appears from the outside of the car is due to the size/type/configuration of the projector, not just the color temperature of the bulbs.
As another thought, have you tried looking at Hella or one of the other major HID maker websites to see if they have a full retrofit kit (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness) for the 350Z (2003-2005)? If they had a kit it would probably be a lot cheaper than buying the entire new headlight assemblies from Nissan.
As another thought, have you tried looking at Hella or one of the other major HID maker websites to see if they have a full retrofit kit (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness) for the 350Z (2003-2005)? If they had a kit it would probably be a lot cheaper than buying the entire new headlight assemblies from Nissan.
I'm not that good at fabricating, so I'm looking for a plug'n'play setup... I've been searching, and I've actually found a really cool looking prototype here:
http://clearcorners.com/products/nissan/350zx3/h_lamp4/
This looks like something I'd definitely want, but unfortunately it looks like they aren't available yet. Although, these will probably be expensive!
oh well, I'll continue waiting for the right price and/or kit. Right now I'm not willing to dish out $1300... it's a damn shame there isn't another alternative without me having to fabricate it myself. I really don't know why the hell Nissan made these HID's so crappy - I love the car, but if you're gonna produce something on a car, especially on a higher end car like the Z, at least do it well the first time! 
09-11-2006, 08:24 AM
#13
Yeah, those are sweet as hell, but Clearcorners' stuff is $$$ on top of the cost of the '06 lights.
I prefer the look of the housings of the '03-'05 lights better than '06, but there's no question the '06 lights are WAY better at lighting. Fotunately, I rarely drive my Z at night and when I do, it's in the city, so the car's lighting isn't that crucial. If I had the cfash, I'd get the ;06 lights and do the Clearcorners conversion in a heartbeat, though...
I prefer the look of the housings of the '03-'05 lights better than '06, but there's no question the '06 lights are WAY better at lighting. Fotunately, I rarely drive my Z at night and when I do, it's in the city, so the car's lighting isn't that crucial. If I had the cfash, I'd get the ;06 lights and do the Clearcorners conversion in a heartbeat, though...
Last edited by MustGoFastR; 09-11-2006 at 08:26 AM.
09-11-2006, 09:12 AM
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Originally Posted by sry110
I agree with you here. But another solution that may have some merit would be to purchase new bulbs AND new ballasts. I am not 100% sure on this but I believe the Z's stock HID system is 35 watts. Many aftermarket HID manufacturers (such as Hella, Philips, Xtec, etc.) make 55 watt systems that produce brighter light output when comparing each respective color temperature between the two wattages. The trick would be making sure that the factory stock headlight wiring harnesses are beefy enough to handle the higher 55 watt rating. Also further to what MustGoFastR said, no matter what you end up doing when you swap out your original headlights make sure you get bulbs rated for around 4300K to 5000K color temperature. Bulbs rated in this range will have the highest possible light output (measured in 'lumens' I believe) although they may not look as 'cool' as the higher temperature bulbs. But you also have to remember that much of how the color appears from the outside of the car is due to the size/type/configuration of the projector, not just the color temperature of the bulbs.
As another thought, have you tried looking at Hella or one of the other major HID maker websites to see if they have a full retrofit kit (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness) for the 350Z (2003-2005)? If they had a kit it would probably be a lot cheaper than buying the entire new headlight assemblies from Nissan.
As another thought, have you tried looking at Hella or one of the other major HID maker websites to see if they have a full retrofit kit (projectors, bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness) for the 350Z (2003-2005)? If they had a kit it would probably be a lot cheaper than buying the entire new headlight assemblies from Nissan.
Thanks for the back-up.
09-11-2006, 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by DropTopZ_NY
I'm not that good at fabricating, so I'm looking for a plug'n'play setup... I've been searching, and I've actually found a really cool looking prototype here:
http://clearcorners.com/products/nissan/350zx3/h_lamp4/
This looks like something I'd definitely want, but unfortunately it looks like they aren't available yet. Although, these will probably be expensive! oh well, I'll continue waiting for the right price and/or kit. Right now I'm not willing to dish out $1300... it's a damn shame there isn't another alternative without me having to fabricate it myself. I really don't know why the hell Nissan made these HID's so crappy - I love the car, but if you're gonna produce something on a car, especially on a higher end car like the Z, at least do it well the first time!
http://clearcorners.com/products/nissan/350zx3/h_lamp4/
This looks like something I'd definitely want, but unfortunately it looks like they aren't available yet. Although, these will probably be expensive!
oh well, I'll continue waiting for the right price and/or kit. Right now I'm not willing to dish out $1300... it's a damn shame there isn't another alternative without me having to fabricate it myself. I really don't know why the hell Nissan made these HID's so crappy - I love the car, but if you're gonna produce something on a car, especially on a higher end car like the Z, at least do it well the first time! http://clearcorners.com/products/nis...ap/Image09.jpg
These dome lamps look great, especially turned on while driving my DB-Z!!!
09-11-2006, 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Art Vandaleigh
Does anyone have pictures of the 06 lights at night compared to the 03-05? I have not seen the 06 lights yet in action.
I could put 10.3 Megapixel camera to use
09-12-2006, 08:35 AM
#18
I can't do a photo comparison, but I can tell you that I test drove a 2004 Z w/ HIDs at night and I thought it just had standard halogen bulbs....and that was compared to my car at the time (mazda6) which was running a 35 watt / 5000K HID conversion kit through its stock halogen projectors. Compared to the 2004 Z HID lights my HID conversion kit looked much better, which doesn't say much for the 2004 Z HID's. Now the HID's on my 2006 blow both of these way ouit of the pond. The beam pattern is adequate (although I am considering adjusting them to get the cutoff just a bit higher) and the high beams light up a dark road very well.
Another advantage of the 2006 bi-xenon design is that your headlight color appearance remains roughly the same when the high beams are on and off, since it is using the same bulb in both settings. I believe the previous Z model year HID's had xenon bulbs/ballasts for the low beams, then standard halogens for high beams, and I believe the lows stayed on with the highs (correct me if I am mistaken). If so you end up with a white/yellow mix with your highs on, which in my opinion is kind of hokey.
Another advantage of the 2006 bi-xenon design is that your headlight color appearance remains roughly the same when the high beams are on and off, since it is using the same bulb in both settings. I believe the previous Z model year HID's had xenon bulbs/ballasts for the low beams, then standard halogens for high beams, and I believe the lows stayed on with the highs (correct me if I am mistaken). If so you end up with a white/yellow mix with your highs on, which in my opinion is kind of hokey.
09-12-2006, 09:13 AM
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Originally Posted by sry110
I can't do a photo comparison, but I can tell you that I test drove a 2004 Z w/ HIDs at night and I thought it just had standard halogen bulbs....and that was compared to my car at the time (mazda6) which was running a 35 watt / 5000K HID conversion kit through its stock halogen projectors. Compared to the 2004 Z HID lights my HID conversion kit looked much better, which doesn't say much for the 2004 Z HID's. Now the HID's on my 2006 blow both of these way ouit of the pond. The beam pattern is adequate (although I am considering adjusting them to get the cutoff just a bit higher) and the high beams light up a dark road very well.
Another advantage of the 2006 bi-xenon design is that your headlight color appearance remains roughly the same when the high beams are on and off, since it is using the same bulb in both settings. I believe the previous Z model year HID's had xenon bulbs/ballasts for the low beams, then standard halogens for high beams, and I believe the lows stayed on with the highs (correct me if I am mistaken). If so you end up with a white/yellow mix with your highs on, which in my opinion is kind of hokey.
Another advantage of the 2006 bi-xenon design is that your headlight color appearance remains roughly the same when the high beams are on and off, since it is using the same bulb in both settings. I believe the previous Z model year HID's had xenon bulbs/ballasts for the low beams, then standard halogens for high beams, and I believe the lows stayed on with the highs (correct me if I am mistaken). If so you end up with a white/yellow mix with your highs on, which in my opinion is kind of hokey.
09-12-2006, 09:17 AM
#20
Originally Posted by efx
Actually, for the 06's low's and highers are pretty much the same light usage, I think theres a mechanism that blocks half the light and when the brights are turned on, it increases the amount of light shown... (basically moves the light up. I dont see a white/yellow mix, same amount of light as the low, but covers more surface area.