How do I change the fog lights?

Forum for Infiniti M35 and M45, and Nissan Fuga owners.
xxxalpinexxx80
Posts: 121
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:54 pm
Car: m35

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I got a conversion kit for my fog lights, the link is below. I just wanted to know, should the conversion work fine? And how do I change the fog lights? Can i Easily just unscrew the plate underneath the car and change them?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... OTORS:1123


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mcrews
Posts: 905
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:31 pm
Car: 2002 Q45 Sport
Location: Sacramento, Ca

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the link is dead.
were they 35w or 50w ballasts on the conversion kit?
50w will be to hot for the plastic fog light body.
Also, while it might seem 'brighter', understand that a lamp w/ a halogen bulb has an entirely different reflective body(the inside of the lamp) than a Xeonon bulb.
When they sell these 'plug n play' kits, all they are saying is the the bulb will fit......ie the base of the xeonon bulb is altered to fit the notches of the halogen bulb.

Everyone takes a picture looking AT the car. wrong. The picture should be of the light pattern on a wall at 25 ft.
Xeonon bulbs need to be in a projector type of lamp.

this is a projector fog lamp. the is a curved optic lens, The body is metal:
Image

this is a halogen fog lamp, shorter body, no optic lens;
Image

you want a pattern that looks like this, with a cutoff. otherwise you'll blind the other drivers and get less light on the road.
Image

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mexillis
Posts: 2418
Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 2:28 am
Car: M45s
Location: SOVA

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is that picture of your fogs on the wall? In the 06+ Ms the fog lights dont even shine ahead like that but more so on the ground.

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Ilya
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Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
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Yeah that's Mcrews Q setup, which doesn't help the OP as the M and Q are completely different. We do not have projectors in our fog lights nor is there an option to get them. Unless you retrofit them yourself, which is usually not worth it.

OP...click on the FAQ thread on the first page of this forum or the link in my signature and look at the lighting section.

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mcrews
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Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:31 pm
Car: 2002 Q45 Sport
Location: Sacramento, Ca

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Well, actually it should help alot, really.
1. HID conversions in non-projector housings don't result in a better fog lamp. The light shoot all over and in the eyes of on coming traffic.
2. That is why the halogen bulb has a cap on it and HID bulb do not. THe reflective portion of the lamp is designed by computer to maximize the halogen bulb w/ it's cap.
3. HID bulbs don't have a cap so the light is going uot in a 240degree arch, side to side AND up and down.
4. the 'hot spot' (where the light is generated in the buld) is farther down the bulb on the HID.
Image

IF the hot spot were in the same place then at least the light would reflect close to how it is suppost to. But you still have the issue of no cap on the HID shooting the light uot at 240 degree arce up and down.
5. THe reason HIDs are usually in larger lamps is because the get hot 1500 degrees hot. The reason HIDS projectors (which tend to be smaller than lamps ) are made of metal is so the don't melt.
Forget that I did a projector. :cool:
The facts above apply 100% to what the OP asked "I just wanted to know, should the conversion work fine? " :)

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Ilya
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Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
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I know exactly what you are getting at as I probably know HID and projectors as well as anyone as I ran a retrofit on my Maxima. That is besides the point.

Your post does nothing to help him as he is not replacing the actual light assemblies and/or looking for an in depth explanation of where HID is best applied. It's a universal fact that HID is best used in a proper projector made for such 'technology' as opposed to a reflector housing.

To answer his question you should have said, 'Yes (or no), the conversion kit will (will not) work fine.' and that's it. Going into an explanation about projectors, shields, cutoff patterns, etc. just adds to (evidently) his already confused outlook on upgrading fog light lighting. But that brings me to my next point...

Alpine, that item you purchased will NOT work in your car. Why? Because you bought HID bulbs for a car that does not have an HID ballast for the fog lights (see the first bullet in the ad - does not include ballast). You will need an entire HID setup in order to run those bulbs you just purchased. I suggest you return the item you bought and instead go to http://www.ddmtuning.com and purchase a 35w, 8000k (personally I wouldn't go over 6000k but that's just me) H11 HID kit from them. Many members on here use them (including myself). For installation instructions, like I said, please reference the FAQ thread that is stickied at the top of this forum or the link in my signature. It was created to make such questions like this easily accessible to everyone as it's been covered many many times.

Now...if you want more useable light...

As Mcrews points out, it (going HID) will not give you any more useable light. Most people alter the look of them for looks. Simple as that.

If you want more light, you will need find a projector that will fit into your fog light housing and either retrofit it yourself or have someone do it for you. But like I said, usually, it is not worth it.

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mcrews
Posts: 905
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2005 7:31 pm
Car: 2002 Q45 Sport
Location: Sacramento, Ca

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mexillis wrote:is that picture of your fogs on the wall? In the 06+ Ms the fog lights dont even shine ahead like that but more so on the ground.
That wall picture is my low beam HID. I posted that so you could see what a HID should look like.

Here are my projector fogs w/ halogen 9006 bulbs (there are no mods, in fact they are about 30 minutes uot of the box in this pic.) I had not aimed them yet the passenger side is off:
Image

Here are all three. the high beam (eom Halogen) are in the middle very bright ovals. The passenger side is high. the low beams (eom D2s HID) are pretty much right on the money. THen the fog projector (eom 2006 BMW 530i halogen 9006) is a couple of inches lower than the line created by the low beam.
Image


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