Anyone here running 55W aftermarket HID kit on their Z? The OEM 35W is fairly weak I think, and the hybrid reflector/projector headlamp on the 03-05's probably doesn't help either. So i've purchased a 55W 5000K kit to replace the stock. I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this? How much brighter is it? I'm asking because I havent received yet...


Also anyone have any pics as to where the stock ballasts are located? Hopefully this install will be easy, i'd like to just add the 55W ballasts and not remove the 35W in case I sell the car.

 

The ballasts are held in by three screws under your headlight. Once you get those off, it'll have the igniter wires held in by one little screw as well. I've never tried to remove one with the headlight still on the car, so my guess is you'll need to remove the bumper and headlights. Maybe i'm wrong though? Good luck!

 

Ahh thanks, are the ballasts attached to the headlamp or to the body? Also think there is room to mount another ballast nearby without removing the OEM?

 

Here's the bi-xenon headlight flipped over. The dark gray box with the barcode on it is the ballast. No way can that be removed while the lights are on the car.

 

is there a significant difference in light output between our stock 35w and aftermarket 55w?

 

Cesar from Lightwerkz posted this comparisson pic(s) on a HID enthusiast forum: http://www.high-intensity.org/forums...read.php?t=455


It looks to be a fair bit brighter. I'm quite certain the HIDs in my 04 are the original capsules so they are kinda dim. I'm expecting 40-60% light output increase after upgrading to 55W, but we'll see what I get. New 35W bulbs would probably get me about a 20-25% increase.

I'll take some comparrison pics myself and inform you all once I know. I posted this thread mainly to see if anyone else had experienced this and to find out where the OEM ballasts are mounted.

 

That is just a bulb comparison; there is no mention of wattage.

 

Ooop, sorry, wrong copy & paste. It's here: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=40182

But it appears you have to be a member to see, i'll put the pics in this thread:







I'll take some pics once I get my 55W kit, i'll set everything on the camera to manual to get as accurate a representation as possible. From what I understand though this does shorten the life of HID capsules, so they wont last as long as they would on a 35W ballast.

 

hmmm this is pretty interesting. whered you get your kit from??

 

I just installed 55w kit on my G35 with projector lights. Car is still being worked on in the shop right now, but the guys at the shop say they're very bright.

 

thought about getting these too looks pretty good from those two pictures

 

Looks like its gonna bit a bit of time before I get the 55W kit, some supply issue apparently.

Like I said though, I will post before/after pics once i'm done.

 

A friend of mine upgraded his stock 30w to a 55w on his S4 and it made a huge differance Im going to do this once I black my headlights out.

 

so does the new ballast mount right where the old one does?

 

^^ I would assume so, but never messed with one. If it doesn't, you'd have to leave the stock ballast in or you'd have a big hole to cover up and allow for moisture to get it. Not good.

 

I think you *might* be able to put the 55W ballast in place of the OEM 35W... Maybe, all ballasts are different size and the screw holes on the Z headlamp may be in different spots than any 55W aftermarket you buy. I'm not sure, havent taken the headlamp out yet..

Personally, I hope to just double-stick tape and zip-tie the 55W ballast in another location, hidden... I want to leave the OEM stuff in there if I can in case I end up selling the car (don't know why I would but yeah...)

 

The 55w ballast doesn't fit or really mount in the OEM ballast location. On my G35, I mounted them next to the headlights behind the front bumper.