So, as some of you may remember, I've been dealing with some fog light issues lol.

On my last car (2007 M35x - which I had for almost 5 years), I went through like 2-3 HID kits (including high end ones). For some reason, they just don't last. I'm meticulous with my installation and make sure I waterproof all connections, etc. but somehow moisture still gets the best of me.

So, when I bought my 2011 M56x, I decided I would just get 3000k look-a-like halogen bulbs and call it a day, so I went with some PIAA Plasma Ion bulbs or whatever they were. Those lasted about a year. But I run them FULL-TIME (day and night, when the car is on, they are on).

I then decided to get some LED bulbs and got some iJDMToy 3000k Cree 40w bulbs. One failed within 3 weeks (granted, it was probably defective from the get-go because the bulb base would just spin while the other was fine, etc.)...I found it completely out of the fog light assembly today when I took off my wheel well splash shield meaning it somehow rattled itself loose, and due to the bad base, fell out. Here is the link to the iJDMToy lights...

I've had enough...it's an absolute PITA to get to the fog lights on this stupid car. You need to remove the wheel, the wheel liner, etc. Man, I miss my 99 Maxima which had one little plastic cover with a screw and then two 10mm screw right on the outside...took me 5 minutes to change bulbs.

So...I broke down and decided to get the Morimoto XB LED Fog Lights from TheRetrofitSource.com. My thinking is that the unit is sealed and thus I should no longer ever have moisture issues.

Well, I got them installed but here is my review and some notes:

1) The passenger side, once installed, has the bumper fog light 'frame' (physically part of the bumper, if you've ever accessed the fog lights you know what I'm talking about) cover the aiming screw of the Morimoto unit. I ended up cutting some of it away to allow access to the aiming screw. HOWEVER, due to the location of the window washer fluid reservoir, space is extremely limited. F'in Japanese with their tiny hands...what engineer thought this was a good idea? Dude should get dragged through the street on a rope tied to a Kawasaki Ninja (my other toy lol).

2) I don't know if my Morimoto's are both defective (will be contacting TRS on Monday), but my aiming screws on both only make one full rotation and then 'click' back...so I can't really aim these things. Basically, if I'm adjusting them to go lower, I'll be turning the screw and then it'll click and they'll 'jump' up to where I started. I doubt that's how it's supposed to work, but maybe someone else can chime in? Right now I have them adjusted as low as they'll go, but one is lower than the other.

So, based on the picture below, do you think mine are defective? Or is that just how these new fangled projector LED fog lights are designed to work (beam pattern at or slightly above the low beam cutoff)? The fact that one is lower than the other suggests they are just not working properly though...

Pictures:

Did you run into any issues with the beam pattern? I have a set however noticed after the install that the beam was way off. Been trying to adjust but it's still too high almost mixing in with the high beam. Thanks

That's exactly the issue. I can't get them to go any lower, so they shine above the 'cutoff line' of the low beam projectors. They should be just below it.

I REALLY don't want to redo this effort because it's such a PITA, but if TRS sends me another set I'll swap them out.

This is why I shop with TRS: they are going to exchange them and test the new ones before sending them too me. Hopefully the second set is better.

Wow Ok yeah i probably have the exact same issue, i was able to fix it a bit by using the knob to adjust it, however it still is way to high for my liking. I'm blinding people. So these should really be no adjustment required just install and that's it? Lemme know, I'll be getting in touch with them as well. I do like the light output its great just the aiming sucks.

Thanks,
Niels

Ilya wrote:That's exactly the issue. I can't get them to go any lower, so they shine above the 'cutoff line' of the low beam projectors. They should be just below it.

I REALLY don't want to redo this effort because it's such a PITA, but if TRS sends me another set I'll swap them out.

No, they should be adjustable. The 'LED' inside is on a type of 'rotating plane' if you will...problem is the plane, at least in the 'bad' units, can't be adjusted or if you go too far clicks back. Before I install the new ones I'll do my own testing to make sure I can point them down quite a bit before I bother jacking the car up. I'll report back, they should be here by the end of the week.

Ok cool, let me know how it works out. Indeed don't want to go through the hassle if it doesn't work. Goodluck!

So I got two new lights...one is at extreme low angle and the other is at extreme high without a way to make it lower (same clicking issue where I adjust it lower a bit and then it clicks back to extreme high). The low one would probably be okay, but the fact that I got 3 of 4 that were 'bad' just makes me dislike the product period. So I'm done with trying these...going back to 3000k look-a-like halogens that lasted a year. Maybe I'll get 2 out of them this time.

Throughout the whole process, TheRetrofitSource customer service was TOP NOTCH. Love that company. Have no problem giving them my money again and would recommend them to anyone. The issue is strictly with Morimoto (the maker of the lights).

In case anyone is wondering, these are the H8 bulbs I ran for November 2014 to about February 2016 (didn't realize it was actually close to a year and a half)...so I picked them up again. I run my lights day and night.

http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-18535-Yellow ... ge_o00_s00

This is very disappointing. Thumbs down for morimoto. I think they're (the manufacturer) lucky most people (myself included) don't even realize these may need to be adjusted. Otherwise they'd have complaints galore and many $$$ in returned merchandise. Most just plop them in and get on their merry way.

It's odd because Morimoto makes some excellent HID equipment (projectors, ballasts, etc.)...maybe the stock that TRS currently has is just defective due to some process mistake and this isn't always the case with the XB's.

My first two arrived kind of even aimed (50%)...but I felt it was too high so I tried to lower them and encountered the issue. These two new ones, one was like 40% and the other is like 85%...if that make sense. So if you just plopped them in, people would hate your face lol (Grammas Boy reference).

That's interesting that you've had so many issues, I use PIAA LEDs for my license plates and I love them. I have Höen bulbs in the foglights and they are pretty good. The ones I have are the off-white Xenonmatch, but they sell yellow ones as well. Ones in my car now were in my last car so I've had them probably since sometime in 2012, still going strong.

If I can get 2 years out of the new PIAA's I have coming, that'll be great. 1yr and 3mo isn't *terrible* I guess, considering my usage of them.

total bummer to hear about this. I was really looking for a new fog light setup because one of my lights has a crack in the grass. :/

Ilya wrote: ↑

Wed May 04, 2016 4:48 pm

If I can get 2 years out of the new PIAA's I have coming, that'll be great. 1yr and 3mo isn't *terrible* I guess, considering my usage of them.

Are your foglights set to turn on with the low beams automatically?

CRV_33 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:50 am

Ilya wrote: ↑

Wed May 04, 2016 4:48 pm

If I can get 2 years out of the new PIAA's I have coming, that'll be great. 1yr and 3mo isn't *terrible* I guess, considering my usage of them.

Are your foglights set to turn on with the low beams automatically?

Yep. I run full low beam/fog light anytime the car is running as I have the sensitivity of lights set as such.

Ilya wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:05 pm

Yep. I run full low beam/fog light anytime the car is running as I have the sensitivity of lights set as such.

I normally leave my foglights off by default unless its foggy, raining, or snowing outside. That's just to maximize the life of the bulb. LOL