fog light bulb

[Daddygonz]

What bulb does a 2002 I35 have in the fog lights? I need to replace them.

[audtatious]

It should be a H3

Take some pix of the replacement for an article

[Daddygonz]

Thanks! I was thinking of putting HIDs in the fogs.

[audtatious]

This might help

zerothread/235613

[MetaOrbit]

Thanks! I was thinking of putting HIDs in the fogs.

Not sure what the Maxima fogs are like, but you might want to look into getting a kit with a H3c (smaller capsule) bulb.

The conventional re-based D2S bulbs can be rather long (and the arc is positioned in a different place than would be the filament in a H3 bulb).

I only say this because I've opened my I35 fogs up, and there's not much depth to stick a longer bulb in there without hitting the shield. The smaller HID capsules (I believed they're referred to as H3c) are the perfect size.

Additionally, not to step on Matt's toes, but I'd consider using a wiring harness with some relays if you go with HID fogs so that you're drawing power straight from the battery rather than using the stock fog wiring.

Sure, they use less electricity and are low-wattage, but it's the current draw at startup (when the ballast and ignitor first comes on) that you have to watch out for.

[audtatious]

Whazzup BUDDY!!! Long time no see...

If you follow my link you will see that I used a H3 HID kit and I've had no issues with the ballasts and factory wiring (at this point at least)

[Daddygonz]

I know about the longer bulbs. I've done a couple retro and built a few light harness. I did a retro on my 300zxt and put 350Z projector HIDs. I did conversions on my daughter's Camry and my S-10 PU. I am at the moment working on Lexus RX330 projector to put in my S-10 instead of the conversion I am running now. Here's my Z with 350Z projectors.

[MetaOrbit]

Whazzup BUDDY!!! Long time no see...

If you follow my link you will see that I used a H3 HID kit and I've had no issues with the ballasts and factory wiring (at this point at least)

Yeah, it's been a while

I saw your link; it's a nice write-up, but if you ever get some spare time you might want to hook up an auxiliary wiring harness with some relays. Not trying to be a smart-a$$, just saying, for longevity sake, you might want switch it over to prevent problems down the road. Electrical gremlins are nooo fun to sort out. A better explanation than I can provide can be found here:

http://faqlight.carpassion.inf....html

[MetaOrbit]

I know about the longer bulbs. I've done a couple retro and built a few light harness. I did a retro on my 300zxt and put 350Z projector HIDs. I did conversions on my daughter's Camry and my S-10 PU. I am at the moment working on Lexus RX330 projector to put in my S-10 instead of the conversion I am running now. Here's my Z with 350Z projectors.

Ahhh...so you're no stranger to this stuff.

BTW - are you on HIDplanet? I swear I saw that Z31 pic over there.

[Daddygonz]

Yeah, I am on the Hid planet alot too. I got most of my retro parts from there. I have 3 pair of projectors in my garage for future projects. I was thinking of putting Projectors on my I35. I was going to buy an ebay headlight and do some modes to it. Maybe projectors on lows and high.

[MetaOrbit]

Yeah, I am on the Hid planet alot too. I got most of my retro parts from there. I have 3 pair of projectors in my garage for future projects. I was thinking of putting Projectors on my I35. I was going to buy an ebay headlight and do some modes to it. Maybe projectors on lows and high.

Yeah, I've got TSX projectors in my headlights. Sooo much better than the stock reflectors.

[audtatious]

Honestly, I kinda like my reflector system. If I were to go for a D2S setup I would probably hit up simmsled and have some properly integrated instead of some off the shelf ebay lights that don't have the proper R&D.

[MetaOrbit]

Honestly, I kinda like my reflector system. If I were to go for a D2S setup I would probably hit up simmsled and have some properly integrated instead of some off the shelf ebay lights that don't have the proper R&D.

I'm assuming you mean someone around here who inserts projectors into headlights? What difference though when someone puts TSX or other OEM equivalent projectors into those headlights?

For that matter I'm running TSX projectors in my OEM headlights now and the output is no different than the TSX projectors in my ebay headlights.

[audtatious]

I don't know if there is a difference or not. When you have a headlight manufacturing tech who can build just about anything and would ensure appropriate light dispersion you kinda lean on him (at least I would if I planned on projectors for the Max).

I'm not knocking your choice of projectors at all, but on the other hand I have seen others comment on how bad their light output is compared to factory D2S setups.

[MetaOrbit]

I don't know if there is a difference or not. When you have a headlight manufacturing tech who can build just about anything and would ensure appropriate light dispersion you kinda lean on him (at least I would if I planned on projectors for the Max).

I'm not knocking your choice of projectors at all, but on the other hand I have seen others comment on how bad their light output is compared to factory D2S setups.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the projector unit itself is what determines "light dispersion." The beam pattern is projector dependent. So the OEM projector from an Acura TSX or Honda S2000 will have the same "light dispersion" or "beam pattern" regardless of what the headlight or car it's in (discrepancies in exterior lenses aside).

BTW - when I say TSX projectors, I'm talking about the projector units themselves removed from an Acura TSX headlight. They're regarded as being some of the better projectors out there.

I don't know how much better light you can get than using what an OEM has designed using tons of time & money in R&D. The key in getting good light dispersion or beam pattern, or any of that is using good optics (and of course, good aiming).

[Daddygonz]

I agree with what MetaOrbit said. Light output is determined by what is projecting the light. I chose a 350Z projector on my 300ZXT because of the size of the projector and the great output for such a small projector. And I wanted to have my flip down lights stay in the down position. Going from a sealed beam halogen to a projector HID was like day and night. Just because you have HIDs don't really mean you have good lighting. Next time your beside an older Cadillac Escalade at night check out how bad the light output is in front of him. It might look good coming at you, but the lighting up front is not that great for HIDs. But if you look at the new Excalade, GM got smart and put projectors instead of the reflector style headlight. As far as using ebay lights. I wanted to get the lights with the black housing and halo rings. I was going to replace the projector with real HID projectors.

[audtatious]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the projector unit itself is what determines "light dispersion." The beam pattern is projector dependent. So the OEM projector from an Acura TSX or Honda S2000 will have the same "light dispersion" or "beam pattern" regardless of what the headlight or car it's in (discrepancies in exterior lenses aside).

BTW - when I say TSX projectors, I'm talking about the projector units themselves removed from an Acura TSX headlight. They're regarded as being some of the better projectors out there.

OK. For some reason I was not linking TSX with Acura and was assuming some aftermarket lights.

I don't know how much better light you can get than using what an OEM has designed using tons of time & money in R&D. The key in getting good light dispersion or beam pattern, or any of that is using good optics (and of course, good aiming).

I'm going by the conversations I've had with Matt concerning the retrofit of HID into his Audi and the amount of time he spent working on the conversion to get the light output and beam patterns perfect. If he spends that much time on a retrofit and has all the tools and "toys" at his disposal, then that tells me there is more to it than a simple swap to get it right (of course I've been wrong before ). Hell, he may have been involved with the TSX development.