go look on ebay

i'm also pretty sure if you just google it, you will find some other places that are selling them.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DEPO-03-09-NISSAN-350Z-FAIRLADY-BI-XENON-BLACK-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-DOT-SAE-JDM-/350912400235?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3A350Z&hash=item51b4024b6b&vxp=mtr

 

Here's some photo's I snapped quik the other night. Running OEM Matsu ballasts With 2 year old kioto's (Will post pics with Phillips 85122+ when they come). Camera had a hard time picking up the deep purple above the cutoff. The projector's in these things are pretty decent. Maybe I have a lucky set? No hot spots, Glare above the cutoff, dead spots. Nada. Only thing I would improve is the intensity. Which a pair of new bulbs will help a little in my case. As far as quality. I noticed a bit of condensation when I had the lamps running for the first 2 days. It rained for a while today and they didnt fog up. Maybe a little moist air was left from the install? Who knows. For 300$ you can't go wrong!

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

 

I bought the ones off ebay that were posted above. I am going from a 2003 with HID to these. What all will I need to make this swap i.e. different pin connector, new bulbs, it had mentioned something about grounding the ballast if you were going from an 03. Can someone just list off the mods that I will need to do to make these work with my setup. much appreciated

 

One pair of 3157 signal bulbs. That's it. You already have an 8 pin connector. All you do is plug in the plugs and mount the ballasts/connect. You re-use your ballasts/hid bulbs/parking bulbs from your 03 headlights. Its listed all over this thread. I'm pretty sure the ignitor grounds to the projector housing as i've stated earlier. That's how I installed my set. They've been fine.

 

I finally opened up these headlights to install the Sti-R lens. The first headlight took about 4.5 hours, second headlight took about 3 hours. Everything looks good but will have to wait until they're installed to see how they really look. There's just the smallest bit of dust/lint on the lens...couldn't quite get every single spec off but hopefully it won't even be noticeable.

 

Def let us know @the3kgt2. Im contemplating doing the lense.. But in that situation it might just be worth it to throw a pair of FX-R'S in there. Post some pics when your done... BTW did yours have shmere marks on the inner housing? Looks like who ever cleaned my set used windex and didnt wipe it down correctly.. SMH.. Annoying little stuff like that erks me.

 

First..thanks for all the help you guys are sharing...awesome thread.

In my case, I'm in an 04 that came with third party headlights that I don't exactly love...

How do I know if I have third party HID or just standard third party lights? If I don't have to pay $165 for the ballast I may just go for a set of the Depo's, but if it totals over $500 then I probably can't do this right now.

Can third party lights accept either HID or standard bulbs? I know one of the bulbs in my headlamps are not HID as I had to replace one. Does that mean the harness for the headlamp is absolutely non-HID?

Anybody able to clear this up for me?

Thanks again,

Saved

 

Trying to keep this short and sweet for you..

1-Chances are if you checked your "Third party lights" and they didn't have HID Bulbs. You DO NOT have an HID setup.

2- Its always a gamble throwing an HID setup into something that isn't fit for HID'S. It may produce unwanted glare , less usable output , and heat damage to the headlight and projector bowls. In this case the Depo lamps do indeed accept HID'S. But that is because they were designed to. Sometimes projector's are a little kinder to accept HID KIT's but unless you provide us with which headlights you have, we can't really tell you.

3- You should be able to get away with the harness you have now if you decide to go the HID route with the Depo's. I would suggest morimoto ballasts from TRS.

4- Unfortunately the Depo lamps are specifically built WITH an open area for the matsushita ballasts to mount to. They also have 8 Pin connector's for HID equipped z's. You have 6 PIN connectors (Non-HID). If you wanted to save about 100$. You could seal this open hole (where your supposed to mount the matsushita ballast). With some PVC and silicone. In turn you could go the cheaper route and purchase Morimoto 3Five ballasts and bulbs from Theretrofitsource.com. At this point you could mount the ballasts you purchased where ever is easiest for you. Going this route would also save you time time of changing out your 6 pin connectors. As the Morimoto ballasts from TRS connect directly to the 6 pin's you have now. (if you take a look at the backside of the Depo lamps ; you will see what i'm talking about. If you don't have the OEM ballasts to switch over, there would be a large circle left open on the bottom rear of the headlamps. This is what you would have to seal.)
Well I tried to keep that short and sweet! Lol. Hope this helps

 

PearlZz...you are awesome. and thanks sincerely.

I can't say I track all of that as I've never had my headlights out, although I do know I can access them from the fender liner rather than taking off the entire front end. (not that I'm averse to removing the front end, but really that's all I know about my headlights as of yet - other parts of my Z I'm more familiar with but I'm still a beginner level techie when it comes to repair/mods of mechanical and electrical aspects of the car, but I'm a fast learner )

Thanks for the lowdown on what direction to explore..I'm going to research your advice until I fully understand it, and then hopefully do exactly what you're recommending.

I'll try to find out what headlights I have as well.

Thanks again!,

Saved

 

No problem bud!

 

I have a pair for sale. Definitely a huge huge huge upgrade over 03-05s but I am kind of a lighting nut and there are just little things about the output that still bother me that I can't fix without major. You would have to be OCD to notice. I was gonna swap OEM Koito projectors in but they don't fit. I still have the boxes and everything. Gonna make a FS thread but I figured I would give you guys the heads up first. Selling for whatever the retailers are selling for, $315 shipped or whatever, or you can come pick it up from 28031. I played with the headlights a bit but they are back to how I got them.

 

Retrofit a projector in..?

 

Lol. I took these out to compare to the stock lights head to head. I put an Osram Xenarc D2S bulb and a 55W ballast on the Depo vs the OEM 35W Matsushita/"proflector" setup. Long story short I think I am gonna keep them :lol:


^^^OEM

^^^1 Depo, same exposure. Look at the distance


I'm still concerned about that dead spot under the hot spot, but it doesn't seem to be that bad on the road. The distance is excellent compared to the stock setup for sure as is the width. I guess that is all you can really ask for.

 

Your headlights are aimed really high up.. lol.

 

That's just the slope of the ground. My headlights are properly aimed.

 

Here's a side by side comparison



These are a serious upgrade.

 

Hey guys, just got my depos in today.. I also bought some sti-r lenses. How hard is it to take apart the headlights? I know the process with the oven but worried about ruining the lights. Guess I'm trying to ask if it's really as easy to take them apart as they say, or should I just pay a shop to do it

 

I don't think STI-Rs will help much with the Depos. They already come with pretty clear lenses, and they don't have much color in their cutoffs. Plus they might have a different focal length than the OEMs.

 

The oven won't hurt anything, just make sure it's no hotter than 230F degrees. The swap is not hard at all, it's just very time consuming. You need patience and at least 8 hours to replace both lenses, one at a time. You also need to clean the hell out of the lenses before sealing everything back up.

The lenses that come with the Depos are not pretty clear. The STi-R lenses are far clearer. The Depo lenses are not even fully round...they're stepped. I shined a very bright flashflight through both lenses and could see a clear difference. Whether this translates to a better light on the road when it's installed is still to be determined.