HID headlight is now purple?!?

[szh]

Hi, all.

Looks like my front left low hid bulb has turned purple in color as of this morning. Quite weird looking color! Now needs replacement, I guess!

1. Anyone else experience this? Unusual to see it not just die, but to change color like that! Almost bright enough, but I am concerned it may die soon enough, so better to replace.

2. It is an HID D2R bulb, I know. Any recommendations for specific brands that have worked well for others?

3. The service manual shows a complex replacement procedure. Gotta remove the grille, the fender protector from inside the wheel well, two more screws, then remove the entire headlamp assembly to get to the bulb. Has anyone ever been able to do this more simply?

Z

[szh]

Forgot to mention... My car is a 2003 M45 ... Y34 chassis.

[Kadrian21]

My 2006 m45 did the same thing your low beam light is about to go out I had to go to the dealer because no shops around here could do it $356 at the dealer bulb is $225 here in Dallas Fort Worth but you can find them way cheaper online I only go to the dealership because I'm selling mine in February and I want to keep records

[Ilya]

This is normal. I for some reason always notice it on Acuras lol...specifically 00-03 TL's lol.

Yes, it's a pain to change the bulb on the Y34/Y50/Y51 M.

I recommend a set of nice Osram's from TheRetrofitSource.com.

[szh]

This is normal. I for some reason always notice it on Acuras lol...specifically 00-03 TL's lol.

Yes, it's a pain to change the bulb on the Y34/Y50/Y51 M.

Dang! I will probably end up getting the dealer to replace them, since I just don't feel like messing around with all that work.

I recommend a set of nice Osram's from TheRetrofitSource.com.

Thanks. I will buy them myself then - probably do both bulbs while I am at it, since the price is not too way crazy for the bulbs themselves. The labor at the dealer will be costly though - argh.

Z

[szh]

My 2006 m45 did the same thing your low beam light is about to go out I had to go to the dealer because no shops around here could do it $356 at the dealer bulb is $225 here in Dallas Fort Worth but you can find them way cheaper online I only go to the dealership because I'm selling mine in February and I want to keep records

Dealer prices for labor here in the Bay Area are very high.

My dealer at least will let me to buy parts elsewhere and then do the work for a charge ... the result if having bought three Infiniti's from them in the past 25 years.

Z

[Ilya]

Usually if the light fails right away, it's likely the ballast...in my experience. If it starts to fade or change colors, it's the gas in the bulb going bad.

It's not crazy hard on the Y50/Y51...just gotta remove the front wheels and the wheel well liner to get access to the back of the housing. Annoying, but not crazy.

TRS should have the bulb you need. If it's D2S, go with the one that Larz posted about a couple of weeks ago.

[szh]

I think the D2S may be too hot a bulb for the Y34? Isn't is 55 Watts instead of 35? That may cause the ballast to fail.

Z

[szh]

Looks like RetrofitSource has the Morimoto and Phillips in a D2R size ... nothing from Osram that I can see so far.

Also the Morimoto appear to be in three Kelvin colors: 4500, 5500, and 6500. Which one is stock color ... hmmm.

I will look further ...

Z

[szh]

Also, while I have the headlamp assembly off, maybe it is worth also changing the high beams.

If you all feel the same, which 9005 bulbs would you all recommend? Are there LED versions of the 9005 available by any chance?

Z

[Larz]

Seeing as you must basically dismantle the car (thanks, Infiniti!) You would do well to change all the bulbs.
Headlamps: Phillips 85126 (4300k) matches OEM but MUCH better in every
High Beams: Osram Night Breaker 55w (also MUCH better but compatible with OEM setup)

Before I upgraded to the Osram cool blue intense bulbs I had Phillips 85126 and they were great!
I have had Osram Night Breakers in my high beams for years - VERY pleased.

And ... MOST imprtant - only buy from The Retrofit Source ! One of VERY VERY few companoies who still buy direct from the factory.
80% (estimated by market experts) of bulbs sold on Ebay, Craigs, Amazon, etc are FAKE.

[SL33P3RM45]

Thought I'd add my experience with these bulbs. I had my drivers side low beam headlight go out on my y34 with in the first few thousand miles of ownership. When it went it turned to a very faint purple color putting out maybe 25% of the original light as the other headlight. When I called the dealer they gave me an OEM bulb cost of 249.99$ which is just out rageous for a single bulb. I found a local shop that specializes in HID lighting and got 2 4300k bulbs for about 150$. Installation was a breeze. Passenger side bulb was as simple as twisting the the bulb housing from the inside of of the headlight assembly and just putting the new one in. The driver side required removing the battery to get enough space (due to the length of the bulb and the bulb housing) to remove it. You most certainly do not have to remove any parts to change the low or high beams on a 2003-04 M45. Unfortunately I just checked and that shop recently closed. To bad. They had a great selection and had working displays of all of there bulbs so you could see the bulb color difference side by side.

You are talking about the main low beam headlight correct? Just look inside the hood and you will see the round capsule that houses the bulb. Just twist and it will come undone.

Replacing the fog lamps however does require removing the front wheel and the inner wheel well splash cover to get to it. I replaced mine with HIDs when I replaced my headlight bulbs but have a serious issue with those new bulbs reflecting light in all directions within the bulb lens reflector. It turned them from a "directional" light housing to more of a "flood" light housing so I blind everyone on the road so I no longer use them. I will revert back to a standard bulb again and try to get some that match the OEM 4300k headlights. I can't stand the old outdated yellow appearance of the stock ones.

[Ilya]

Looks like RetrofitSource has the Morimoto and Phillips in a D2R size ... nothing from Osram that I can see so far.

Also the Morimoto appear to be in three Kelvin colors: 4500, 5500, and 6500. Which one is stock color ... hmmm.

I will look further ...

Z

D2R vs D2S is just the bulb 'base'...has nothing to really do with wattage really. You can find 35w D2S bulbs (what most luxury manufacturers use stock). See below.

Also, while I have the headlamp assembly off, maybe it is worth also changing the high beams.

If you all feel the same, which 9005 bulbs would you all recommend? Are there LED versions of the 9005 available by any chance?

Z

I'd definitely do that. I wouldn't use LED lights though...I tried some in my motorcycle and they were utter garbage. Like, USELESS. Can post the picture for you but LED bulbs do better when they are in small places and only meant to light up small areas like trunks, etc. IMO.

Seeing as you must basically dismantle the car (thanks, Infiniti!) You would do well to change all the bulbs.
Headlamps: Phillips 85126 (4300k) matches OEM but MUCH better in every
High Beams: Osram Night Breaker 55w (also MUCH better but compatible with OEM setup)

Before I upgraded to the Osram cool blue intense bulbs I had Phillips 85126 and they were great!
I have had Osram Night Breakers in my high beams for years - VERY pleased.

And ... MOST imprtant - only buy from The Retrofit Source ! One of VERY VERY few companoies who still buy direct from the factory.
80% (estimated by market experts) of bulbs sold on Ebay, Craigs, Amazon, etc are FAKE.

This. ALL this.

Any of the Phillips bulbs in 4300-4500k would look just like stock.

That isn't the only reason to buy from TRS...their customer service is unmatched. I literally am willing to pay more just because I know if something should happen they will take care of it without question. It's hard to find a business run like that these days.

Thought I'd add my experience with these bulbs. I had my drivers side low beam headlight go out on my y34 with in the first few thousand miles of ownership. When it went it turned to a very faint purple color putting out maybe 25% of the original light as the other headlight. When I called the dealer they gave me an OEM bulb cost of 249.99$ which is just out rageous for a single bulb. I found a local shop that specializes in HID lighting and got 2 4300k bulbs for about 150$. Installation was a breeze. Passenger side bulb was as simple as twisting the the bulb housing from the inside of of the headlight assembly and just putting the new one in. The driver side required removing the battery to get enough space (due to the length of the bulb and the bulb housing) to remove it. You most certainly do not have to remove any parts to change the low or high beams on a 2003-04 M45. Unfortunately I just checked and that shop recently closed. To bad. They had a great selection and had working displays of all of there bulbs so you could see the bulb color difference side by side.

You are talking about the main low beam headlight correct? Just look inside the hood and you will see the round capsule that houses the bulb. Just twist and it will come undone.

Replacing the fog lamps however does require removing the front wheel and the inner wheel well splash cover to get to it. I replaced mine with HIDs when I replaced my headlight bulbs but have a serious issue with those new bulbs reflecting light in all directions within the bulb lens reflector. It turned them from a "directional" light housing to more of a "flood" light housing so I blind everyone on the road so I no longer use them. I will revert back to a standard bulb again and try to get some that match the OEM 4300k headlights. I can't stand the old outdated yellow appearance of the stock ones.

Ahh! That's nice to know...that the Y34 was still the 'old' way of changing bulbs where it was accessible with the hood opened albeit tight squeeze due to battery, etc. That is not possible on the new cars unless you have the hands of a 2yr old and yet the strength of a 15yr old lol. You HAVE to take out the wheel well liners on the 06+. I remember my old 99 Maxima...literally WIDE OPEN access.

Sometimes I think manufacturers do this stuff on purpose in order to 'drive' business to their dealers for simple repairs and jobs like this that the average person (who used to be able to do it before) can't do it now.

[szh]

Thanks for all the great info, guys!

I just placed an order for two D2R bulbs from The Retrofit Source. Although, after a discussion with them (Charles?), I decided to go for the Morimoto XB rather than the Philips 85126 because they were in stock and just over half the price ($50 vs $90 for a pair).

I would not notice the difference anyway and the warranty is the same for both at 2 years. Plus, after 14 years and 188k miles, my car is not in the best of shape (engine now burning oil much more than before), so not sure how long I will keep it on the street. Might as well get the lower cost bulbs ($50 for a pair) for now.

The Osram 9005 Nightbreaker is back-ordered, so will not arrive till the end of January - have to order them separately to avoid delaying the Morimoto D2R bulbs (they can't split an order to ship). Since SL33P3RM45 noted that it is possible to reach the back of the headlight assembly from under the hood, I am going to try to do the low beams myself and see how it goes.

Then, if the high beam bulbs require the headlight assembly to be taken out, then I will still end up not doing it more than once (at the dealer, since I don't want to mess with that)!

Z

[szh]

Passenger side bulb was as simple as twisting the the bulb housing from the inside of of the headlight assembly and just putting the new one in. The driver side required removing the battery to get enough space (due to the length of the bulb and the bulb housing) to remove it.

Hmmm ... I have to go look, but for some reason, I seem to recall that the battery is on the passenger side in my car? Regardless, if that is all I need to take out, great!

You most certainly do not have to remove any parts to change the low or high beams on a 2003-04 M45.

...

You are talking about the main low beam headlight correct? Just look inside the hood and you will see the round capsule that houses the bulb. Just twist and it will come undone.

Most Excellent! Thanks much.

Z

[szh]

Seeing as you must basically dismantle the car (thanks, Infiniti!) You would do well to change all the bulbs.

Make sense ... so am doing that. Although I am going to try the recommendation of going under the hood and see what happens.

Headlamps: Phillips 85126 (4300k) matches OEM but MUCH better in every
High Beams: Osram Night Breaker 55w (also MUCH better but compatible with OEM setup)

Thanks for the info! As noted in my other post, I decided to go with the Morimoto XB instead of the Phillips for now.

Will do the high beams later (the Osram Nightbreaker was back-ordered at The Retrofit Source till end of January).

And ... MOST imprtant - only buy from The Retrofit Source ! One of VERY VERY few companoies who still buy direct from the factory.
80% (estimated by market experts) of bulbs sold on Ebay, Craigs, Amazon, etc are FAKE.

Wow!

The knock-off market is getting annoying ... in all areas. Some time back, my son bought a Nikon grip, with an extended power battery compartment, for his high-end Nikon digital camera and ... it just didn't fit his camera very well and seemed to drain the compartment battery sooner than it should have.

So, we ended up buying another one at a local camera shop to compare. The products were damn close ... but just sufficiently different to make it obvious that the first one was fake! Plus, the battery lasted longer - better electronics on the second one. Needless to say, the fake one went back to the seller.

Z

[szh]

I wouldn't use LED lights though...I tried some in my motorcycle and they were utter garbage. Like, USELESS. Can post the picture for you but LED bulbs do better when they are in small places and only meant to light up small areas like trunks, etc. IMO.

Okay, good. I decided to go with the Osram Nightbreaker Halogens for the high beams ...

I have some Sylvania Ultra Stars lying around in my garage too, but I did not like them on my wife's Acura some years back (they died quickly), so don't want to waste time on those.

Sometimes I think manufacturers do this stuff on purpose in order to 'drive' business to their dealers for simple repairs and jobs like this that the average person (who used to be able to do it before) can't do it now.

Yeah, it certainly feels like that! I remember looking under the hood of my M45 back when I bought it and realizing how packed it all was under the hood. No room for anything.

Z

[szh]

Changed! I had to do the work in daylight, of course, so don't know how these Morimoto XB HID will look at night just yet. From the first looks, I can say, though, that I am glad I got the 4500K color - the 5500K or 6500K would have been far too blue, I think.

After changing one bulb (the now dead one - purple faded to black. ), it definitely looked brighter and whiter than the other old working one on the passenger side.

After changing both bulbs, they look pretty even (in daylight, of course), so will report more on this later.

Luckily as mentioned earlier by SL33P3RM45, I did not have to go through the wheel well as the Service Manual instructions stated. Whew!!

So, for access (to the low-beam anyway - didn't do the high beams this time) on a Y34 chassis (2003 and 2004 M45):

• the driver side (the dead one) was reachable barely. I put my hand through an opening farther back above the wheel well area and then reached forward a small bit. That allowed me room to move my fingers and do the work.
• the passenger side needed me to remove the battery. This was a pain, since I had earlier rounded off one of the bolts that goes on the battery tie-down. Couldn't find my darn metric wrenches ...

Also, unfortunately, the driver side was a bit too inaccessible to take pictures, so cannot show you how it went. Would have taken pictures when doing the passenger side, but by that time, my hands were pretty grungy and I didn't want to touch my phone!

So, only a brief description here:

1. Turn the back seal cap that protects the light electronics - this is a large plastic cap (about 2.5" to 3" in diameter) that rotates just about a quarter turn and then comes off. Remember to be careful when putting it back later so that the rubber o-ring/gasket does not break. My caps were clean so I decided not to mess around cleaning them further.
2. Remove the ballast by turning it till it "unclicks". Before pulling it off, try turning it back and forth to see how it clicks in place so that you know how to put it back - the connector has two slots that mount on tabs on the bulb base.
3. Then squeeze together and unclip two metal hooks (single wire spring) that retains the bulb base - you can see which way they would need to go.
4. This wire spring is hinged at the top, so has to be lifted by the hooks all the way up (needs other hand done from the front of the car) to pull the bulb straight back (you do NOT want to break it inside the lens assembly! Not surprisingly, the OEM was the Philips bulb that Larz mentioned.
5. The bulb has a side wire assembly that goes on the "bottom" when replacing. The bulb base has a notch that fits into a corresponding tab on the top of the lens assembly opening.
6. Clean the bulb with alcohol (no fingers touching the bulb - particular with the dirty hands from removing the seal cap!!) and slide it in carefully to avoid breaking it!
7. Make sure the base is properly positioned (tab in slot - without rotating anymore), squeeze the spring wire connectors and hook them back onto the connector assembly.
8. Re-attach the ballast, push onto the bulb base and turn till it clicks (you learned the feel earlier, right?).
9. Put the back seal cap on - turning it a bit so that a tab goes into the wide opening of the lens assembly. Then, push the cap in (quite a bit), rotate it a quarter turn till it locks in place.

You are then done! Turn on the lights and see how they look.

By the way, after I removed the dead bulb, it cracked and a piece of glass fell off ... I am glad that had not happened inside the lens assembly or while I was taking it out. Would have been a total pain to deal with!

Z

[szh]

A picture of the bulb:



You can see the wire assembly to the left of the bulb in the image (goes at the bottom when mounted), the notch cut in the bulb base (above the word "XB" in the image) that fits at the top of the lens assembly opening, and the two round tabs on which the ballast locks.

Z