How to change halogen bulbs to xenon

[FiBS]

Hey guys,

Just picked up my 2010 EX35. Anyone know how to install xenon's on this EX? Sales tells me that the techs have to heat up the existing kit in order to remove it and change the bulb. Anyone have any info on this?

Thanks in advance!

[ramprun]

you can order a plug and play hid kit that connect to the oem wires. i just install one yesterday and will post instruction later this week. the one i bought is Digital HID and Digital is the brand. i bought it for 159 dollars from ebay. i think their website is retrosolution.com

[FiBS]

Wow, sounds great. Thanks and please post instructions!!

[FiBS]

Wow, sounds great. Thanks and please post instructions!!

[bokingwen]

Here is the link to the instruction on how to install HID on the EX. I belive I have the same HID as ramprun. I bought my HID from Ebay been using it for almost a year and they are great. The only thing is I chosed the 3000k instead of the 5000k, if I have to replace my exiting one I will get the 5000K because I think bright light!

zerothread?id=387954

[ramprun]

Here is the link to the instruction on how to install HID on the EX. I belive I have the same HID as ramprun. I bought my HID from Ebay been using it for almost a year and they are great. The only thing is I chosed the 3000k instead of the 5000k, if I have to replace my exiting one I will get the 5000K because I think bright light!

zerothread?id=387954

Actually FiBS, I used bokingwen's procedure to install mine. so the instruction does work.

bokingwen, do you have 35w or 55w kit? i have 55w kit without relay wires and my car has trouble starting the engine and only one bulb would lit up. if i turned off the auto headlight, started the car first then turned on the headlight, it works perfectly but it a pia to remember to turn off and on the headlight. i want to hear about your experience with the kit. anything strange after installation.

[AWGD8]

Here is the link to the instruction on how to install HID on the EX. I belive I have the same HID as ramprun. I bought my HID from Ebay been using it for almost a year and they are great. The only thing is I chosed the 3000k instead of the 5000k, if I have to replace my exiting one I will get the 5000K because I think bright light!

zerothread?id=387954

I think 5000K is the best compromise for looks and brightness.

I have DDM.TUNING.COM HID KIT 35w with 6000K. It`s bright w/ a hint of blue. I ordered a 5000K spare HID kit in case this one retires. I have the kit installed for a year now. My only problem is I bought a wire harness instead of direct plug to the OEM light harness. Problem was the relay switch they used is a cheapo. During winter season, the terminal on this relay gets corroded and this make my HID not to fire on one side. Sometimes it`s ok but i won`t trust it at night. So I decided to replace the relay switch to Bosch/Tyco and covered it with electrical tape . So far so good. I think it`s ok to just plug a 35W Hid kit to the OEM harness instead of using a wire harness (feed from the battery).


Modified by AWGD8 at 1:48 PM 12/9/2009

[AWGD8]

Actually FiBS, I used bokingwen's procedure to install mine. so the instruction does work.

bokingwen, do you have 35w or 55w kit? i have 55w kit without relay wires and my car has trouble starting the engine and only one bulb would lit up. if i turned off the auto headlight, started the car first then turned on the headlight, it works perfectly but it a pia to remember to turn off and on the headlight. i want to hear about your experience with the kit. anything strange after installation.

I don`t think it safe to use 55w kit without a relay harness.

The normal 35W KIT Fully digital, draws less than 6 amps at start up and 3.4 amps at normal operating temperature.

55W Kit is higher... your stock wires might not keep up with it and then no fire on the bulb...

I have a relay harness on my 35W kit and there was a time it only fires one bulb and my remedy was to start the car and then turn the headlight on and it works for awhile . (`till i found it was a relay harness connector getting corroded). Not sure about your problem with the 55W. It looks like your KIT is drawing more power and depriving the important part of the car system to start up.

I believe, it is a MUST to install a relay harness w/ a 55W HID KIT so it gets the juice directly from your battery and not from the headlight system etc...With your remedy, seems like when the car is running the hid gets the juice off your alternator...that`s why both lights fire up!

I got mine for $20 at DDMTUNING but had to change the switch to tyco/bosch....


Modified by AWGD8 at 1:55 PM 12/9/2009

[ramprun]

hey thanks AWGD8. what would your suggestion be for a quality relay harness? do you have a link for the switch from tyco/bosch you were talking about?

[AWGD8]

This one is a little expensive but looks like they are using a high quality parts. (TYCO/BOSCH) and WATER PROOF fuse holder etc... You have to let them know what end connector this goes too. Depends on your HID kit terminal...

http://www.lightwerkz.net/prod_harness.htm

I bought my harness from

http://www.ddmtuning.com/index...&pg=1

the reason why I bought it from them is that I`m using their DDM Slim digital HID KIT too!

[bokingwen]

Actually FiBS, I used bokingwen's procedure to install mine. so the instruction does work.

bokingwen, do you have 35w or 55w kit? i have 55w kit without relay wires and my car has trouble starting the engine and only one bulb would lit up. if i turned off the auto headlight, started the car first then turned on the headlight, it works perfectly but it a pia to remember to turn off and on the headlight. i want to hear about your experience with the kit. anything strange after installation.

I have the 35w kit with a relay and I have zero problem with it. It works fine with the auto on off. I bought the relay with the kit however I didn't do the acutal ordering, my buddy ordered the HID for me. I think he brought the the Kit from ebay along with the relay.

The main reason I spend the extra $ on the relay is I don't want the after market HID F up the electrical on the EX. Since the EX have so many tech and electrical stuff in it (I have the tech package). If you ask me I think it is worth to spend the extra $ on the relay.

[JCL622]

I have the 35w kit with a relay and I have zero problem with it. It works fine with the auto on off. I bought the relay with the kit however I didn't do the acutal ordering, my buddy ordered the HID for me. I think he brought the the Kit from ebay along with the relay.

The main reason I spend the extra $ on the relay is I don't want the after market HID F up the electrical on the EX. Since the EX have so many tech and electrical stuff in it (I have the tech package). If you ask me I think it is worth to spend the extra $ on the relay.

it is always worth it to add the relay for the extra layer of protection.

when i did SMT LED bulbs in my TL for turn signals i relayed, even for simple things like CFFL rings (angel/demon eyes) i relayed.

pure and simple, when you're gonna mod, do it safe, do it right.

and for posters above, anything above 7500k becomes very blue blue, and looks nice, but u give up on visible light. as in it does not cut through as well. In the TL i upgraded my HIDs to 5700K D2S and with ZKW lens it was INSANELY good. I'm still trying to look through the schematics on the EX and see if i can do the same thing.

alot of you ppl like to get 9000k+ bulbs, and i can tell you from expereince....when it rains or when it's foggy...i can't see anything.....

[ramprun]

just bought relay harness from the same site for $20. i hope they include a schematic of how it hooks up. Will it need to be connect to the ballast only or will it need to be connect to the oem wiring as well?

[ybe4094]

For what it's worth, if you compare the EX35 headlamp schematic for both halogen and xenon configuration of the car, you notice that they use the identical wiring harness to supply the power to the Low Beam bulbs for both xenon and halogen lights. The xenon version of the front lights has the HID Control module (this is basically the ballast and igniter) but the wiring harness that feeds the HID control module is exactly the same wiring harness that feeds the halogen lights directly. The only concern is the actual wattage and quality of the third party ballast you intend to install. You will be OK if you select the 35W ballast. The wiring harness is designed to support the 55W halogen bulb. The steady state current of your xenon lights will be significantly lower than the steady state current of the halogen lights. The circuit has the 15A fuse and the relay already built in the car. As long as your inrush startup current is lower than 10A you should be OK without using an external relay harness.

Please refer to pages 89 and 260 in the factory service manual located at http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/EX/2008/EXL.pdf

[ramprun]

i am relieved to hear that the wiring for xenon and halogen are the same. i tried to look at the diagram and was very confused by it. i just take your word that they are identical. that should save me money on aspirin or tylenol.

[bokingwen]

I agree with you for that the factory harness will support/works fine with the HID. My only concern and reason of getting the relay is I don't trust the 3rd party HID light.

[ybe4094]

That's fine. But for exactly this reason the car has the 15A fuse built in. It's OK to include an external relay while connecting the HID lights. The reason I made my post is to show that the relay is redundant from electrical engineering point of view. It will simply overcomplicate the circuitry by introducing extra components (the relay itself and connectors), which always have some probability to fail. Thus, the total reliability of the circuit will be reduced. Just my 2 electrical engineering cents
Modified by ybe4094 at 9:42 PM 12/11/2009

[AWGD8]

That's fine. But for exactly this reason the car has the 15A fuse built in. It's OK to include an external relay while connecting the HID lights. The reason I made my post is to show that the relay is redundant from electrical engineering point of view. It will simply overcomplicate the circuitry by introducing extra components (the relay itself and connectors), which always have some probability to fail. Thus, the total reliability of the circuit will be reduced. Just my 2 electrical engineering cents

Modified by ybe4094 at 9:42 PM 12/11/2009

I agree! I think 35W HID kit is ok to plug directly to OEM headlight harness without problem. I have problem with the RELAY harness itself than the actual HID kit.

[ybe4094]

You are absolutely correct in your assumption that the 35W HID kit is ok to plug directly into the OEM harness. Actually, if you would look at the owner’s manual you would notice that the OEM HID bulbs are rated at 35W. The whole concept of an external relay harness was introduced when people started installing HID lights into older cars made prior to approximately year 2000. Being an electrical engineer, I concur, you have to have a harness if you install HID lights into, let's say, a Buick LeSabre 1994. But the EX35 has already been designed to be compatible with the 35W HID lights. As far as using higher wattage HID lights, you have to be careful. Yes, you could potentially overstress the wiring and even overload the battery if the 55W ballast has very high inrush current at startup.

[ramprun]

i guess i should have gone for a 35w instead of 55w. i was being greedy because the price for 55w is the same with 35w kit. to tell you the truth, i was expected the kit to be very bright like the picture they posted on their site but i felt a little let down when i compared my light to a a car with halogen light. i cannot see if my headlight is brighter than the other car.