2004 G35x headlight upgrades

[garygbnj]

My wife wants more light. I did the headlight cover restoration. Worked great. Covers are like new (no more foggy appearance). Are the oem headlights HID? Is there a reasonable way to get more lighting performance (both brightness and distance)? Recommendations please.

Thanks

[SD_M45]

I am not familiar with those headlights but your best choice is a Retrofit (if youre current assemblies dont have projectors in them)

Paired with a 55w HID Kit output would be what youre looking for.

[audtatious]

HID was optional on the sedan and I'm not familiar enough with the packages to know what included HID. I'd suggest you look at the bulbs themselves to determine if the low beam is Xenon or not. If it is HID then the factory bulbs should give you the best distance as the kelvin level is closest to sunshine. You can try using different kelvin levels to see what you like....I use 6000k (vs 4300k factory) as it seems to highlight the white lines on the road better. BUT, 6000k has less lumens than 4300k so there is a bit less light output. If they are the original HID bulbs then I would say it's time to replace them as over time they will lose some light output.

If you end up with a halogen system then I would suggest sourcing out Xenon-based headlights from your model instead of simply doing a retrofit. While more expensive that way you know it will work and it should be more "plug and play" and will have less glare towards oncoming traffic.

[garygbnj]

I checked the original window sticker. The car came with hid oem. I spoke with Kenny at Candlepower. He suggested, which I bought, Osram ralleye h4 to replace the high beam 9003. I am a little confused. I believe Kenny stated that the h4 had a low beam and high beam intensity. If the 9003 bulbs were high beam only then why would they and the h4 have a low and high beam intensity? Or are they also on in the low beam setting?

[garygbnj]

The car has 160k. Any estimate of what percentage degradation has occurred to the hid oem lights?

thanks

[audtatious]

Quick search finds this: http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthr ... -with-time

If the vehicle does have HID then I would sure consider upgrading the bulbs as the vehicle is 8 years old. I'd suggest Phillips brand.