NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Yup...
Im finally ordering all of my exterior HID and LED lights for the car since i'm about to have everything back from being painted/smoked. I plan to replace ALL of the lights on the car eventually (both interior and exterior) but im just doing the essentials at this time (low beams, high beams, little corner daytime running lights, fogs, license plate lights and maybe reverse lights). I'm going with 6000k for everything after getting all the suggestions from you guys on the other threads. Was considering 8000k at first but i don't want them to be "too blue" and the 6000k is said to be the brightest for light output which is what i want. For the HID's, ill most likely stay 35w on all of the ballasts since the stock ballast on the low beams are 35w. Just makes sense to ensure the colors all match perfect after reading that the higher wattage could cause the color of the bulb to wash out and COULD put too much heat on the housing. I'd really like to go 55w on the fogs for the added brightness but if i cant go 55w on the low beams as well and i plan to always run the lows and fogs together, seems like its prob a bad idea to gamble with the possibility of them not matching unless someone has done it successfully?

My headlight lenses are clear and i had my fogs (amber parts only) smoked dark but left the fog lense clear so light output will be nice and clear on both. Ill be using DDMTuning kits for the HID's and V-LED's for the LED's.

After looking around online, i see a pair of silverstar Xenon halogen bulbs are going to run me $40+ for the pair. For that price, i'd rather just get an HID kit for the high beams even though i was initially planning to keep the highs halogen.

My question is this (and yes i searched)......
Is there a way to put the high beam ballast in the headlight housing somewhere? Has anyone done it??? I don't want to mess with the sealing of any of those 1/4 turn plugs by running wires from the outside in but if i can put the high beam ballast inside the housing, i'm def going to do that.

LMK fellas!!

RRsV

Unless you use your highbeams for several minutes its pointless to get them since it takes several seconds for them to fully warm up and get bright. Id just stick with standard halogen bulbs for your high beams.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

That was my initial plan and thats exactly why i was going to do that. I know HID's have that warmup time so when u need high beams for a short time or a quick flash, they wouldn't be as good. Just seems silly to pay $45 for a pair of halogen bulbs when i can get another HID's kit for the same. Just figured i'd see if there is anyone here who has done HID's in their high beams and how it turned out. And also if that ballast fit inside the housing or not.

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

Order the silverstars off ebay. They're a little cheaper there. I've been sitting on a pair I took off my previous ride before I sold it... just don't feel like pulling the bumper off.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Ok. Ill do that and just stay halogen in the highs afterall. Appreciate the heads up! Prob better that way for the rare occasion i actually need to use the high beams. I just didnt want that nasty yellow factory bulb in there since everything else will be nice and clear/bluish looking.

Edit***
Found the bulbs on eBay for just under $40 shipped. However, i read some reviews and a lot of people say they aren't worth the money over the stock bulbs. Makes me tempted to just buy some cheaper blue bulbs off ebay for like $10 and throw them in since ill rarely use them anyway. I just want that high beam compartment to looks nice and clear/slightly blue when its not lit instead of that dingy yellowish color.

RandallBlackwell

Anyone tried 9011 HIR bulbs for high beam? they are the same dimensions except for the extended tabs, but a dremel fixes it real quick. I work at a nissan dealer and alot of nissans uses these in place of regular halogen bulbs because they give the look of HID without all the ballasts. check this out http://shnu.us/HIR%20Trimming%20A.htm

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sylvania-Sil...731eb5&vxp=mtr

$30 shipped

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Thats interesting. I wouldn't be opposed to trimming a little but i wonder how they'd look when lit or if they would even work on our cars. Do they have a bluish color to them? I'd like a halogen that would match as close to a 6000k as possible.

RandallBlackwell

our nissan bulbs are rated at 5000k which is icy white but some of the after market ones have a heavier coating on the inside that makes them look great in the housings plus the tint of the light is slightly more blue. ill post pics in a few

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Thanks for the link Bud! Those are different than the ones I was looking at. I was looking at their newer xenon xZe bulbs or something like that. Had a little bluer look to the bulb and is said to put out 4300k color. Says they ate as close to HID output without actually being HID. I was surprised though when I read the reviews on them and people said they weren't as good as expected.

Randall... Yeah man, I'd appreciate a pic. A 5000k halogen would be nice.

RandallBlackwell

here is some quick pics of nissans 9011 bulb

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

I don't see why it wouldn't work. The trimming is easy. Could take what u don't need off with a bench grinder in a matter of seconds by just carefully touching it to the wheel at the right place.

How much do those bulbs run?

RandallBlackwell

ive found them for around 13 but nissan sells them for around 60 but cost for me for oe bulbs are around 26. If you do decide to go with these make sure they have a slight colored tint to the bulb and make sure they have a fat glass housing, because the silica and zinc coatings reflect the heat back to the filament to make it heat up more but the design of it doesnt make it any hotter in the housing. i cant say that about the ones that look like regular bulbs. just compare them to the ones i posted

meatyCTS-V

Just for reference, and not because I'm interested or anything...

But how about a link to the part numbers or whatever for the bulbs since we're on the topic?

Not for me, but you know, for future reference for others that are interested in replacing their bulbs in the near or distant future.

Lets keep the knowledge going!

-meaty

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

I googled CTS-V exterior light bulbs and a thread came up from cadillacforum with every light bulb on the car and the part number with it. When I get back home to my laptop, I'll link it.

I'm just trying to decide which LED's to get. The 194's that are used for the LP lights and the DRL's come with many options for LED's ranging from $5 a pair up to $25 a pair. For such an insignificant light, I don't think them being super bright matters so I'm assuming the cheaper 360 degree 5 LED 6k bulbs would work just fine for both. I'm sure they are brighter than the current bulbs in both places.

For the reverse lights, they are $40 a pair because they are the same as the blinker and taillight bulbs so I'll prob just leave those alone since you rarely see them anyway and they are clear and don't look bad.

Only other thing I'm trying to decide is if I wanna stay 35w on the fogs. The headlights would require cutting and splicing to run 55w ballasts and with the way these stock housings integrate the 35w factory ballast, they need to be in place regardless if ur powering the lights with them or not so swapping is pointless on those. But... The 55w fogs would be nice if I knew for sure they would match color wise and just be a little brighter.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

After some searching, seems that the cheaper 360* 5 LED bulbs work just fine for the LP lights and the little corners in the front. No need for a powerful forward emitting bulb as it would prob look a little too bright in comparison to the rest up front and from pics I saw of them in the license plate lights, they light the entire rear of the car all the way down to the bumper and down to the road. That's far too much light back there for my taste and would stand out like a sore thumb. Lol

Are you guys using the ddmtuning slim ballast kit or the raptor kit?

Looks like the difference is that the slim kit is a little smaller with a separate little box as the external igniter and the raptor kit has a little larger ballast but the igniter is built in. The raptor kit is cheaper so if they both work and can be mounted with no problems, might as well go that route and save the money.

Also, is there an additional harness needed to run the 55w kit? I see they offer it but haven't found any info as to whether our cars require it or not.

And I know a lot of u guys are running the HID's in the DIY clear fogs which seems to be when the 55w kit in the fogs is overpowering and too bright. With the diffused stock clear lenses where the light is actually directed at the road and not just every which way like in the DIY clear fogs, does the 55w kit still look like its too bright?

I want the added light output if it's not gonna overpower everything else.

Onefast V

iTrader: (3)

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=82390887025

Thats what I run. Gives a white blueish Color but is much brighter. My recommendation since these are all cheap and the real pain in the *** is the bumper getting pulled would be ti buy all the candidates you like and test them all out

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Appreciate the heads up! I like those and they will look nice in the housing. I'll prob just order those for the highs and be done.

Saw through a search that "pissnuoff" on cadillacforum put some 6k HID's in for his high beams and was able to fit the ballast and everything in the headlight housing down by the factory low beam HID ballast. I was just gonna do that until u posted those bulbs. Just hard to justify spending $40 or close to it on halogen bulbs when a complete HID kit can be had for that. Even if they go out, it wouldn't be a big deal to replace them.

furbe

I have 55w HID 3000k in my high beams. Yes they take a few seconds to warm up the first time you use them but once they are warm they are fine. Flash to pass whatever they work great. Also have 35w 3000k low beams and 35w 3000k fogs that stay on with the high beams. If the fogs are turned off they still come on with the high beams. Seriously bright.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

I placed my order earlier tonight. Gonna be running ddmtuning 6k bulbs on the stock ballasts for low beams, 55w 6k fogs, ordered some nokya 7k bulbs for the high beams that another member suggested I run and sent me pics showing they are a nice hyper white but slightly blueish color and I ordered my 6k LED's for the license plate lights and the little corner lights for the headlights. I can still order an HID kit for the highs. I wanted to but a lot of people said it would be a bad idea and I figured for the little bit i'd use em, I'd be better off keeping a halogen in there. I can always order another kit for the highs tomorrow though if u suggest I do that and it'll work just fine.

I want to do LED's for all the tails, signals and interior lights too but just ordered the bare minimum that I needed tonight.