How to install HID's through the wheel well. (DIY w/pics)

[generic808]

So I finally get around to making this little how-to on the HID's. Sorry guys for taking so long and thanks for your patience. I had to redo the wiring on the ballasts and now they're up and running. I posted pics of the finished product in another thread (an end to the HID saga) so check them out.

X-Light H11 5000K



First, always disconnect the negative terminal of the battery when working with power


Remove wheels. Always chock your back tires for safety.


Underneath the bumper, there are 3 screws on each side which need to be removed. Not the clips, just the screws.


Inside the well, you'll find about 8-9 clips that have to be removed. Remove by using flathead screwdriver and wedging the pins up, once exposed, pull out.


Carefully pull out wheel lining (2 pieces) exposing the space behind the headlight housing.


This is what you'll see at this point.


Remove stock bulb by disconnecting harness and twisting counter-clockwise, making sure NOT to touch the bulb in case you need to use it again.


Put new HID bulb in place by inserting and twisting clockwise until it locks in place.


Connect harness to new bulb.


Now connect bulbs to ballasts.



Find a place to mount the ballasts.


At this point I was rushing because the rain started coming again. I forgot to take a pic of my mount point on the passenger side. I used two existing holes in the frame where I ran wire ties through. Tied the mounting plate against the frame and that was it. The pic above is where I mounted the driver's side. It's on the frame also; I just used ties. Thought about drilling holes to mount is solidly, but the rain was coming down so I rushed and just tied it. Don't mind the messy wires. I just took a pic of where I was mounting, then I cleaned it up with ties.

Just reverse the process with the shield, clips and screws. After putting everything back, mount wheel and lower the car. Reconnect the battery terminal and there you go

Well, that's about it. Easy, huh? Again, sorry I took so long to make this how-to. I hope it'll help some of you guys out. I just wanted to do this because I believe it is the quickest, easiest way to install HID's on the Alitima. I took my bumper apart last week, but this just goes to show you that it isn't necessary. Let me know if you have any questions.

-eric

*edit: Just a couple of pics so you can see the finished product.

Passenger side with HID and driver side with stock bulb. Just to show you guys the difference in color between the two. Can't really tell because it was broad daylight, but just to give you an idea.


Diamond white


The lights are blue for the first 15-20 seconds after firing up. Then they brighten to a nice white.

[jasonMA]

great job!

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Very nice Eric! I'll turn this into a How-To for our article page

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Very nice. I recall you saying that I won't need to remove my wheels, right? Once again, great pictures and walk through.

[LongBeachCoupe]

yeah... just get one of those scopes they do surgery with... lol..
i think the wheel needs to come off man.. unless you take the bumper off instead lol

[generic808]

Very nice. I recall you saying that I won't need to remove my wheels, right? Once again, great pictures and walk through.

No, I'd highly recommend wheel removal. Another guy on the forum did it without wheel removal, but I would recommend doing it because of the needed space. You really need to get in there when trying to reach the bulbs. I wouldn't want to be cramped for space and accidently touch my bulbs when trying to squeeze them in there. And besides, you can do your oil change at the same time. When installing the passenger side, your car is set up perfectly for an oil change. Kill two birds with one stone

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I'm not an expert at removing wheels and such, and won't be able to lift my car.

[Shift_Perfection]

what happens if u touch the stock bulbs?

[SHIFT_COUPE]

what happens if u touch the stock bulbs?

If you touch any headlight bulb, the oils from your skin get on it and the lifetime of the bulb may decrease. HID or halogen.

[nismofool]

thank you eric for the brilliant/simplicity of your step by step directions and pictures to follow, lots of help! lookin forward to doin this soon myself!

[josiskrazy]

very cool, thanx for the guide...

that last picture makes your car look like its sittin on 3s.

[generic808]

very cool, thanx for the guide...

that last picture makes your car look like its sittin on 3s.

I know, it was raining when I was taking pics so I just parked the car wherever, not realizing I ended up on a storm drain

[BlackNWhite]

Sorry if this is a supid question... but what do the ballasts connect to, if anything...

[generic808]

The ballast runs between the factory harness and the HID bulbs. It's a little box/device that is required to control the starting and operating voltages of electrical gas discharge lights.

[D-Roll]

Good write up mang! My HID's are on their way

[generic808]

The ballast runs between the factory harness and the HID bulbs. It's a little box/device that is required to control the starting and operating voltages of electrical gas discharge lights.

Oh, sorry. I thought you had installed them already? My bad

[generic808]

D R I V I N G __I M P R E S S I O N S :

As with everything, I always give my driving impressions. I must say, these lights are absolutely fantabulous! I lined up my car next to my gf's car which has Sylvania SilverStars and there is NO comparison!! I always thought SS were a pretty decent, white halogen bulb. In fact, I'd say they are the best halogen's available. But, compared to the HID's side-by-side, it's like night and day.

When first firing up, the light is pretty dim and very blue. After about 15-20 seconds, they reach full brightness; it's a nice diamond white with a very, very slight blue hue. It's EXACTLY how I wanted them because I personally hate cars driving around with those 7000K+ blue lights. It gets pretty irritating to me.

The road is lit up like never before. Even on a congested freeway with at least 30-40 cars around me, they stand out. I would flick them off and on and it's suprising what they light up. EVERY SINGLE road reflector up to 1/8 mile ahead is illuminated. All road signs up to 1/8 mile is reflecting right back at me, very brightly. The light cuts through rain like knife through soft butter. It's simply amazing! And the best part? It doesn't blind other drivers. I followed my gf home for 15 miles and she said it didn't blind her at all. She said it seemed like her headlights weren't even on because mine lit up the world.

Anyways, enough praising the HID's. I think everyone should get them for their cars. Not only for the awesome look, but for the safety factor. I'm sure no one will miss my car from now on Bad vision in heavy rains? A thing of the past.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I'm ready to buy, but I am not an expert at removing my wheel and don't know if I can get this done by myself in my garage.

[generic808]

If you can't do it yourself, have a friend help you out. If you take it to a shop, be sure to tell them to go through the well because it is the quickest way; they charge labor by the hour, so you don't want to end up spending too much for installation. Hourly labor rates are usually $80-$100 and it should only take an hour, so anything more than that would be a rip. If I lived near you, I would've helped you out. Well, I still can if you want to ship your car here Good luck.

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Eric, I added your writeup to the article page.

http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=294364

[generic808]

Cool. Thanks Tyler!

[rjdmmfl1]

Eric, great write up... I have stock HID's on my car, but I'm gonna put these on my wife's...thank my dude!

[rjdmmfl1]

Eric, I have a question, you never really told us what happened with the wiring! What's going on with that? What did you have to do to make them work? That's critical info that we all need if we're gonna get these lights!

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Eric, I'm shipping my car out to you next week. Please take good care of it.

Perhaps you can take a vacation to LA.

[generic808]

Eric, I have a question, you never really told us what happened with the wiring! What's going on with that? What did you have to do to make them work? That's critical info that we all need if we're gonna get these lights!

The way the harness connected to the factory harness was backwards--heard this was a common theme with aftermarket kits--so I just cut them off and rewired. Because of the clips on the harness, it didn't allow me to just reverse them. All is good to go now. I don't know if all are wired this way, or I just got a dud. But like I said above, the kit is of good quality and if I had to buy again, I definitely would go the same route.

[generic808]

Eric, I'm shipping my car out to you next week. Please take good care of it.

Perhaps you can take a vacation to LA.

Bad timing I guess. After I moved back from LA, I would visit there every single month. The reason I came back home is because I got homesick. And now I miss LA. Kind of wish I never left Oh well, everything happens for a reason, right?

But yeah, if you don't have them installed by the next time I fly there, I'll be more than happy to help you out.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I might just end up buying the kit and waiting for you to visit. I can give it a show by myself but I don't have anything to raise my car so that I can actually remove the wheels with a torque wrench for easy access.

[rjdmmfl1]

Shift, you can go to autozone or discount auto parts, or Kragen, or Wal-Mart for that matter and get a 2-ton car jack lift system for about 50.00! I think these are a must have for any car enthusiast!

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Shift, you can go to autozone or discount auto parts, or Kragen, or Wal-Mart for that matter and get a 2-ton car jack lift system for about 50.00! I think these are a must have for any car enthusiast!

Thanks for the suggestion, but I never lift my car and don't want to fork out an additional $50 just to install HIDs. I'll think of something...

[rjdmmfl1]

I feel ya, I never had one, until I started doing almost all of my own installs...I've literally saved multiple thousands of dollars over the years by doing my own installs...

Like the Avic-D3 install and all of it's features and accessories, they wanted 1400.00 for everything... I did almost everything myself, and now I only have to pay $200.00 for them to do both rear monitors

[skafia]

Nice writeup, thanks!

[ohjay]

do you have a pic of the light pattern across a garage door or any other flat vertical surface. Just want to see if there is any glare when using the stock headlight assembly with hids.

thanks.

[240Armadillo]

Is this a 2007 exclusive kit or did you buy per a recommendation?? Are all the kits the same??

Thanks?/////

[generic808]

Is this a 2007 exclusive kit or did you buy per a recommendation?? Are all the kits the same??

Thanks?/////

Most HID kits are universal. The 07-08 Altima's require an H11 bulb set-up. Whatever vehicle you're installing them on, just make sure your bulbs are correct and you're good to go.

do you have a pic of the light pattern across a garage door or any other flat vertical surface. Just want to see if there is any glare when using the stock headlight assembly with hids.

thanks.

When I have time this weekend--probably Sunday--I'll try to get pics up. There is no glare. They look factory, trust me on this. That's the reason I went with 5000K, because I wanted my lights to look as factory as possible. I think it's been accomplished. I'll never have to worry about getting hassled.

[generic808]

I feel ya, I never had one, until I started doing almost all of my own installs...I've literally saved multiple thousands of dollars over the years by doing my own installs...

When you think about it, just changing the oil at the dealership costs about $40 when all the materials needed, costs less than $20. After 2-3 oil changes, you paid for the jack and jack stands. Then you have to figure the installation costs of an exhaust/headers/HID's and you're looking some $$$.

When I first bought this car, I was just going to pay someone to install my sub amp and speakers for the first time, because I was just tired and didn't have the time. That was until I found out that they wanted $350 for installation!! So I ended up doing it myself and saved enough money for an intake and a few good meals

For me, these "laborious" things are fun! I enjoy do-it-yourself projects, and saving money is just an added bonus.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

I agree. I also enjoy DIY projects, but with school, work, and other stuff, I just don't seem to have the time. I also don't have a very large garage and not much space to work with. I have a reliable mechanic that does oil changes and inspects everything as need for $25 (including oil and filter).

[generic808]

That's actually a really good deal you got going on with your mechanic for $25. I spend $14 for 5 quarts of Castrol and $7 for the filter. I could go the cheap route with Mobil 1 for $10 and a Fram for $4, but I've only used Castrol and I'll stick with the OEM filters.

[wrigler31]

The way the harness connected to the factory harness was backwards--heard this was a common theme with aftermarket kits--so I just cut them off and rewired. Because of the clips on the harness, it didn't allow me to just reverse them. All is good to go now. I don't know if all are wired this way, or I just got a dud. But like I said above, the kit is of good quality and if I had to buy again, I definitely would go the same route.

generic808, could you show us about the rewiring the harness process? My X-light wouldn't fire up the first time, and after toying around with the wire (reversing the connector...), it still acts dead . Thanks for the great tutorial, generic808

[generic808]

generic808, could you show us about the rewiring the harness process? My X-light wouldn't fire up the first time, and after toying around with the wire (reversing the connector...), it still acts dead . Thanks for the great tutorial, generic808

On the harness, there are two different sized clips on each side. On my set, the clips prevented the plug to fully insert into the factory harness. I cut the wire about 2 inches before the harness and reversed the wires, soldered them in reverse, and voila!

I know you can probably wedge the wire out from the harness somehow. I was too lazy and didn't want to chance it breaking. There are these white cylinder type holders holding the wires into the x-light plug. If you can somehow manage to pull them out, which didn't seem too hard, you could just plug them back in reverse.

Another option I thought about was just grinding the little wedge pieces on the x-light harness so they can insert all the way into the harness. Does this even make sense? I'm trying to describe it as best I can, but I don't know if you can picture what I'm talking about.

[generic808]

BTW Welcome to NICO! If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll try to help you in anyway I can. If it means taking my car apart to show you, I'll get around to it when I have time. Just let me know.