Is there such thing as a quality HID kit for $400? My friend needs to upgrade his base 350Z. He doesn't care if it's not purple. As long as it's HID. I believe the standard is 4300K. That would be fine.

Thanks,
- Mike

 

Yes, you can pick up the phillips HID kits everywhere for about $400 new.

Have him/her look on partstrader.com - under the honda section (which is most popular) he should be able to even find used ones.

A bud of mine sold his HID kit for $200 ... mint condition. Looked identical to my Zs lights.

 

I have HID on my Z, but the High Beams are H7 Halogen. The yellow from the High Beams distort the HID and it looks really gay. I bought a set of PIAA Jpan Bulbs Plasma Spark Blue and they look great. Its just like having HID for the fraction of the cost. They are a 55w bulb producing 100w rated at 7500k. Check it out!

 

Well, most companies sell those higher "K" bulbs because people dont know better and think the more blue the color, the better. Going with a lower 4300K bulb would be the wisest choice, IMO.

As for retrofitting, I cant really say if its a good idea. Typically, retrofit kits do not conform to DOT-specs and technically, there is a good chance the headlight will be illegal. Thats just the nature of retrofit kits.. they cannot compare to OEM HID and usually emit more glare and emit an uneven lighting pattern.

If perfection is what your friend is looking for, try to locate a set of OEM HID headlamps. Of course, he'll pay bigtime for these lamps.. but with some searching at the right yards, you may get lucky.

With retrofit kits, I definately wouldnt skimp and buy something too inexpensive.. it could be risky. I would check with autolamps-online.com or someone more known. Remember, all of these companies selling HID kits are selling illegal products.. they are just not allowed for street use in the US.

 

Check out - europeanautosport.com

They are having a special for the 4100K kit for $399 shipped in H7 bulb size. This is an awesome deal.

They carry kits made by XenonTechnologies which use genuine Philips bulbs and balasts. I've had my kit for months with no problems.

Since the headlight housings are designed for HID, I have no glare and defined beam pattern.

 

call Z1performance, they have 2 wrecked Zs, one is fresh. good chance you could atleast salvage a set of ballasts and bulbs from them even if the housing is damaged. OEM is always good.

dont expect a great deal, might be more than 400, but if you call him up and offer it, he might take it.

 

Thanks for the replies.

 

I personally would stay away from 4000K kits. Why? While they may perform better, they look awful. You will be disappointed in having spent $400 for HID's that project a stockish type color. Step up to the 6000-7000K HID's. They perform and look great. This is what I did. I have a 7500K McCulloch kit. I'll try to get pics so you can see.

 

I currently have a McCullouch 4700K kit on my FD, and it puts out much more light than the 7000k I had before. Higher K is pretty, and much more colorful and "blingalicious" but not as bright or useful for illuminating in front of you.

 

I feel you Rich, FD's are SO plagued with poor lighting its rediculous. What headlamps are you running? Most of the FD kits use really poor quality lighting components. Some of the RE Amiyama (sp?) kits even use driving or fog lights for headlamps -- what a JOKE! I've seen a few kits using the 90mm Hella HID headlamps, those are the ONLY ones I would ever consider for the FD, especially since they are typically DOT-compliant. And of course, the higher the K the less the light.. its that sacrifice for aesthetics vs performance, pick and chose wisely folks. Or you can be like me, have one 4300k bulb and one 6000k bulb! Hey, my original 6000k bulb burnt out and I didnt feel like changing a bulb that still works! Ghetto, maybe.. but its fun running up behing other cars.. confusing them with my oddly colored lights. ha!

 

I have a set of Lumiko 7k hids for sale. I have a set installed on my base and they look sick, much better than stock hid's. The kit comes with everything you need and it is all plug and play, no cutting of any wires. Also comes with a 1 year warranty... Email me if intested, I can probably email pics if you want. Cost is $425 shipped.
jays350z@aol.com

 

I am running the stock pop-up headlights/housings with the 4700k HID H4 Bulbs. Here is a comparison photo of HID in a pop ups vs a popular sleek headlight upgrade for the FD, side by side on my garage door.



Now considering the HIDs are ~$500 and the sleek lights are ~$1200, its a no brainer for me.

.... Although the sleek headlight car would smoke me in a car show , which car do you want to be in tooling around mountain roads at night?

 

Check out www.misterjung.com ....a few of my friends have their kits, they look great. And for those not happy with the stock HID's you can buy upgraded bulbs for cheap, I'm actually picking up some 6000K bulbs tomorrow.

 

The image says it all..... As for color temp, well it seems a matter of taste so who cares, if you like blue - go for it.

PS - anyone noticed the difference in light output from the 35W HID kits vs the more normal 32W ? The boost in the bulb output at 35W should be noticible - according to the theory.

 

Rich, it looks like the lighting pattern from your retrofitted FD headlamps is not too defined. I know there is a company that retrofits FD's to use the ever-so-popular 90mm Hella headlamps -- that would be your best choice should you want PROPER lighting for your vehicle. Their kit is flush mount and has the 2 90mm lamps mounted behind the glass.. pretty nice, but of course, pricey.

If only I could remember the name of the company... hmmm.