Official Lighting Thread

Forum for Infiniti M35 and M45, and Nissan Fuga owners.
Partysan7
Posts: 359
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 5:28 am
Car: 2008 M35
Location: NJ

Post

Any suggestions on the LED parking light bulb from V-Leds ?? I deffinetly want the 6K but dont know wheter to get 360 style or Forward style ?! Any info appreciated, thanks

PS. Would the 360 style output too much light that would reflect inside the housing and possibly not have a good effect with my stock hid bulb ?


dcman43
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2011 1:51 am
Car: 2007 infiniti m 35

Post

this post is for ilyakol with the 07 infiniti m 35. this is about the lowbeam headlights.i also have a 07 infiniti m35 and i am going through the same cituation that u did with my driver side hid's.about a year and a half ago i got new high beams and about a month after i installed the high beams i noticed that my driver side low beam xenon was flickering on and off. up until now i have had problems with it not turning on for months at a time and then some times it will stay on and run perfect and so on and so fourth. i am tired of it and i want to replace the hids completely. i have already purchased the xenon kit i was just trying to figure out what that $35 harness was and where did u purchase it.
thanks

rdmpe
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 3:39 am
Car: 08 M35 Tech

Post

mym wrote:Found this on google http://www.iscenem.com/forum/threads/12 ... 02#post602

Looks like my08-10, the assembly cannot be disassembled.
Well that is pretty annoying! I'm tempted to just cut it open then glue it shut again...
Anyone know of options to replace the front fender light assembly with some white LED assembly? I haven't found anything...

rdmpe
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 3:39 am
Car: 08 M35 Tech

Post

Partysan7 wrote:Any suggestions on the LED parking light bulb from V-Leds ?? I deffinetly want the 6K but dont know wheter to get 360 style or Forward style ?! Any info appreciated, thanks

PS. Would the 360 style output too much light that would reflect inside the housing and possibly not have a good effect with my stock hid bulb ?
I put these in, but they are 5K not 6K http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulb ... 8-1-2.html . The color is SO much better than the stock bulbs. Not much brighter as far as I could tell but I haven't checked it out in complete darkness.

DaytonJohn
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:35 pm
Car: 2011 Infiniti M37

Post

I have a question, has anyone tried switching out the W5W parking light bulb with an LED bulb on a 2011 M? I want to do this to get a brighter and whiter light to use as a DRL but I don't know if I need a CAN BUS type LED or not. Will a non CAN BUS bulb cause an error warning? Any help will be greatly appreciated and any recommendations on specific LED bulbs are welcome. Thanks.

DaytonJohn
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:35 pm
Car: 2011 Infiniti M37

Post

Also, any advice on how to physically get to the parking bulb will be helpful. It looks like it is going to be a major pain in the butt. Thanks.

itzonlytone
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:09 pm
Car: m35

Post

Has anyone with stock hid ran 12000k bulbs and have pictures of said results?

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

I know you're going to get all defensive and tell me to screw off because I'm a hater but here is my $0.02 (and I know my HID's).





Don't go higher than 6k. At WORST 8k.

This isn't a Honda Civic. No need to put green, iceberg blue, purple, red, or any other color HID bulb in there. Infiniti /= rice.

Also, in case you wonder WHY I'm hating....

The higher you go in kelvin (12,000k = 12,000 kelvin), the less light you get on the road. It might "look" bright, but your lumens are greatly diminished the further you go from 4300k (which is the closest kelvin temp for natural light - thus why a lot of manufacturers use 4300k).

What does this mean? In a rain storm, when visibility is ALREADY poor, you're not helping your case and might end up hurting yourself or others and someone who drives a lot, I definitely do not recommend it and will hate on anyone who finds the need to put 12k bulbs in their car.

6000k is the highest you should go.

itzonlytone
Posts: 38
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:09 pm
Car: m35

Post

I probably should explain everything I have to say from now on. I have hid experience also. I usually run 5ks and nothong more. If you know hids like u really do then you should know why they use orange in a parking garage and street light s. Im going for appearance alone, and yes I have an extra set of lights called fog lights that can be used in certain weather conditions. Thanks for the info but I have known this before hid has become a popular accessory on vehicles

Form versus function is what you would like to argue and I like the appearance of purple with a white car. That is form. Function is my fog set that calm.be used in the weather conditions your worried about. I do not live in the country our fun areas, any uses of hid in city areas is purely cosmetic. And u bashing on honda civics and what not does not do anything for my opinion, my previous car is a ITR. So as the ITR saying goes, I do what I want with my car.

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

Fog lights are useless on this car and many others. Just sayin. I have 3000k fog lights and they don't help a single bit in bad weather. Same thing with my old Maxima. Had 6000k fogs and then 3000k fogs and they were just as useless.

Do what you want. You're on a car forum (thus public opinion will be offered whether you want it or not). Call me 'devils advocate from now on', but I say it how it is. Getting 12k lights is silly. Enjoy.

User avatar
MOWellsinVA
Posts: 257
Joined: Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:09 pm
Car: 2007 Infiniti M45 Sport (Obsidian Black w/ Graphite interior)
Location: Henrico, VA

Post

I want to replace my hi-beams bulbs (original halogens) with Silverstars, but am having a bit of trouble removing the current bulbs. It's a pretty crowded space in there to get a good grip on the bulbs to remove, and I can't really see what I'm doing. How much force should it take to remove the bulb, and can I assume that they would twist out counter-clockwise, or pull straight out, etc.? Obviously, I don't what to break the darned things just by trying to force them to go the "wrong way"!

EniGmA1987
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport

Post

So my car has the OEM projector lighting with D2S bulbs, and I want to buy a kit from DDM Tuning but the guy selling it got it with H1 bulbs since his car had the OEM Halogen's. Will that kit work on my car fine and it can use the H1 bulbs? Or do I need a kit from DDM that has D2S bulbs?

zerg711
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2010 10:23 am

Post

IlyaKol wrote:Fog lights are useless on this car and many others. Just sayin. I have 3000k fog lights and they don't help a single bit in bad weather. Same thing with my old Maxima. Had 6000k fogs and then 3000k fogs and they were just as useless.

Do what you want. You're on a car forum (thus public opinion will be offered whether you want it or not). Call me 'devils advocate from now on', but I say it how it is. Getting 12k lights is silly. Enjoy.
Everyone has their own taste and as long as they think it's cool we shouldn't question what they do. On the flip side, if you post on an internet forum expecting feedback from people, there will be some disapproval and sometimes a "WTF"

I personally ran 6k, 8k, and of course, 4.3k. And recently LED fogs. I have to say LED fogs look cool but I don't think it helps one bit in visibility.

I can live with 6k in my headlights, but I had a hard time seeing with 8k bulbs at night. I had to say 8k did look cool, but wasn't practical.

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

I'll be switching from DDM 6000k 55w (low beam) and 3000k 35w (fogs) to Morimoto 6000k 50w (low beam) and Morimoto 3000k 35w (fogs) within the week or so. Already got my low beam stuff but I'm going to wait until I have it all so I can do the install all at once.

Will post a review when I'm done. Supposedly you get more lumens, etc. however...the total kit cost me $350. Definitely not as cheap as DDM. DDM is good for those who just want HID lights, but not for people who are "HID Whores" such as myself hahaha.

EniGmA1987
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport

Post

Alright so all of you people who have changed out your ballasts to DDM Tuning HID ballasts and bulbs must be crazy a** mofo's. I am attempting to replace my ballasts and bulbs tonight, and it has already taken 3 hours and I think it will take many more. Because not only does it seem like you have to take apart the whole front end to get at the ballasts to get the wires out, but not a single connector for lights in the whole car is anything close to the connectors on the DDM Tuning kit. It seems like I am going to have to cut the connectors off and solder them to the input terminals of the DDM harness by hand and tape the **** out of it to make it waterproof. So how the heck did the rest of you do this?
EDIT: and also, how do you get the old wire out INSIDE the headlight and run the new wire? It seems like you have to bake the headlight and take the whole thing apart to do this. Did all of you who upgraded to the 55w ballasts just say screw the weathersealing and leave it open or something?


I took some pictures to show the connectors. This first pic is the connector on the car that goes into the OEM ballast that is supposed to hook right into the new ballast.
Image




And this is other connectors nearby on the headlight:
Image



and this one is of the DDM Tuning ballast and wiring harness connections
Image

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

I just swapped my DDM kit for a Morimoto setup from TheRetrofitSource.com ($$$ but worth it - much brighter).

The DDM kit comes with rubber grommets around the wires.

Cut a hole in the plastic 'cap' for the low beam light. For the size of the rubber grommet.

As for the wiring issue...why are you replacing the ballasts? From what I can gather, all of us who install HID's are with cars that didn't come with them, so all the plugs work fine. Your issue is you have OEM ballasts and wiring, thus pretty much any kit you buy will require customization.

EniGmA1987
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport

Post

IlyaKol wrote:The DDM kit comes with rubber grommets around the wires.

Cut a hole in the plastic 'cap' for the low beam light. For the size of the rubber grommet.

As for the wiring issue...why are you replacing the ballasts? From what I can gather, all of us who install HID's are with cars that didn't come with them, so all the plugs work fine. Your issue is you have OEM ballasts and wiring, thus pretty much any kit you buy will require customization.

Mine didnt come with any sort of grommets :frown:
Have to replace the ballasts as that is the entire point of doing this for me. One of the ballasts is bad and I havent had my left headlight for about a year now.

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

You don't have something that looks like this (circular black piece in the lower right of the picture):

Image

Either way, I think your setup needs to be completely custom.

OR

You can call these guys up and see if these work. I believe they will as they are OEM from our manufacturer and look pretty close to what's in your pics). Sell off the DDM kit (or return it saying the plugs don't work - you will probably have to pay restocking):

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=147

Image

Personally, I'd get the ones above from TRS and then add these bulbs to the package to make a NICE OEM kit...but it's going to cost you.

Phillips 85122+ Bulbs (regarded as the best OEM HID Bulb on the planet): http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... cts_id=148

or

Morimoto 3Five Bulbs (great brand in the HID world): http://www.theretrofitsource.com/produc ... ts_id=1250

So...you're looking at $170 (ballasts) + bulbs ($45 or $95 depending on which you buy). But you'll have an OEM like HID setup on your car without any spliced wiring, etc.

I just got rid of my DDM Kit and replaced everything with:

Fogs - Morimoto 3Five Ballasts and 3000k Morimoto 3Five Bulbs (35w)
Low Beam - Morimoto 5Five Ballast (50w) and 6000k Morimoto 3Five Bulbs (35w)

Love these so much more than DDM.

Logan00
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:19 pm
Car: 2008 Black M35x
Location: NY

Post

Since I am not familiar with these type of lights, am I right to assume that whenever our lights go out we need to replace BOTH the ballasts and the bulbs? I am used to replacing just bulbs; my previous car was a 2000 Maxima so I never had to worry about HID's.

IlyaKol, your solution above seems the "easiest" to install then going to DDM, but seems to cost more. How much did you pay to change over everything to your setup above?

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

Logan00 wrote:Since I am not familiar with these type of lights, am I right to assume that whenever our lights go out we need to replace BOTH the ballasts and the bulbs? I am used to replacing just bulbs; my previous car was a 2000 Maxima so I never had to worry about HID's.

IlyaKol, your solution above seems the "easiest" to install then going to DDM, but seems to cost more. How much did you pay to change over everything to your setup above?
For first part:

It depends on the symptoms of your light problem. If your lights are flickering, etc. it's usually a sign your ballast is dying. If your lights are discolored, it's usually a sign your bulb is dying. Then there is a mixture of the two, etc.

2nd Part:

I spent about $350 to completely replace my HID's top and bottom. But these are HIGH-quality parts...not some mass produced stuff in China. It's OEM like quality.

Poirot
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:46 pm
Car: 2007 Unbria/Bourbon M45 Sport
Location: Stuck somewhere on 495

Post

Dealing with the fog lights. I know they are pi$$ poor. I proved that fact to myself while parking at work on morning. This kinda reminded me of my '95 Maxima SE. The fogs were worthless until we re-aimed them, as they were pointing waaaaaaaaaaaaay too low. After adjustment they were fantastic. Is there any way to adjust the fogs on the M to be a bit more useful?

Poirot

Logan00
Posts: 183
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:19 pm
Car: 2008 Black M35x
Location: NY

Post

IlyaKol wrote: For first part:

It depends on the symptoms of your light problem. If your lights are flickering, etc. it's usually a sign your ballast is dying. If your lights are discolored, it's usually a sign your bulb is dying. Then there is a mixture of the two, etc.

2nd Part:

I spent about $350 to completely replace my HID's top and bottom. But these are HIGH-quality parts...not some mass produced stuff in China. It's OEM like quality.
I am not having any light problems I am just getting information for when I do need to change/replace mine.

Knowing that I don't have to replace the ballasts everytime I change the bulbs makes me feel better.

Also, is it the same process to add the ballasts to the fogs (I don't believe our fogs currently have them) as it is for the DDM kit?

Thanks

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

Poirot wrote:Dealing with the fog lights. I know they are pi$$ poor. I proved that fact to myself while parking at work on morning. This kinda reminded me of my '95 Maxima SE. The fogs were worthless until we re-aimed them, as they were pointing waaaaaaaaaaaaay too low. After adjustment they were fantastic. Is there any way to adjust the fogs on the M to be a bit more useful?

Poirot
They are adjustable I believe. I haven't bothered because on my 99 Maxima even after adjusting they still sucked...but I believe I did see an adjustment screw when I was in the area last week.
Logan00 wrote:
I am not having any light problems I am just getting information for when I do need to change/replace mine.

Knowing that I don't have to replace the ballasts everytime I change the bulbs makes me feel better.

Also, is it the same process to add the ballasts to the fogs (I don't believe our fogs currently have them) as it is for the DDM kit?

Thanks
Yes, same process.

EniGmA1987
Posts: 2256
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:13 am
Car: '06 Infiniti M35 Sport

Post

I got the new lights in today, I was waiting on one more LED strip since I had accidentally broken one when I was working on the car last :/

I could use a bit more help if any of you know this. Here are some pics I took, and it was like this before I replaced the lights but just seems a bit more noticeable now that I am actually looking at the light output and all that:

Image



Image



Image






As you can see in the pics, the lights are higher on the left side than the right side of the light pattern. And the right light has it worse than the left one. its almost like the cutoff pattern is crooked inside the light. Is there any way I can straighten out the cutoffs? I also need to significantly raise up the lights... I was about 30ft away from the wall in two of those pics and the light falloff wouldnt even be up to my waist if I were standing over by the building :(

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

Cutoff is ALWAYS going to have a 'step' on real HID projectors. So you are fine there. This is done so there is more light in the woods, etc. (passenger side) than there is on the driver side (oncoming traffic).

Your left side does look crooked, which would suggest perhaps your bulb isn't seated properly. It should be more like a gradual line from lower left to upper left...step...then from upper right to lower right.

If your bulb is seated properly, then you may have an issue with your projector which I highly doubt. I'm guessing your bulb isn't seated correctly.

Here is an example of a 'proper' cutoff beam pattern (off my 99 Maxima with Acura TL Bi-Xenon projectors and ZKW-Replica clear lens):

Image

Image

Image

infinitiJoe
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 17, 2012 8:51 am
Car: Infiniti M35X

Post

I have an 2009 M35 with the stock HIDs. I bought some 8000k blubs off of ebay and a HID kit for the fog lights also 8000K.
I wanted to get some taughts on if i should make the change or leave in the stocks. I like the bluish look but dont want my car to look like a civic. What do you guys think?

User avatar
Ilya
Moderator
Posts: 9800
Joined: Fri Apr 23, 2010 11:20 pm
Car: 2011 M56x but I spend a lot of time on my 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan S. Former owner of a 2007 M35x. Also take care of my wife's 2016 QX60.
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post

Shoulda went 6000k 35w. Plenty blue, but not completely useless.

User avatar
ferrarifrancis
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:02 am
Car: 2007 PEARL WHITE M35X AKA PROJECT X
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Post

IlyaKol wrote:I'll start:

Car Model: 2007 Infiniti M35x
Low Beam: H1 6000k 55W Digital HID Kit from DDM Tuning
High Beam: 9005 Sylvania Xtravision Halogen Bulbs
Fog Light: H11 3000k 35W Digital HID Kit from DDM Tuning
Interior: No other work but planning full LED upgrade
Exterior: License plate lights and reverse lights converted to LED - rest coming soon
Other Information: I had issues with my low beam flickering and having issues starting. DDM replaced one of the ballasts and then I still had issues so they told me to buy a $35 harness that went from the battery to the OEM connections and then went to the bulbs. This fixed all of my issues and I've been fine since.
Pictures:

Low Beam Before:

Image

Low Beam After:

Image
Image

High Beam Before:

Image

High Beam After:

Image

Rear of the car:

Image

Other (55W 5000k Top Picture/55W 6000k Bottom Picture):

Image
Image
Last edited by ferrarifrancis on Sun May 20, 2012 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
ferrarifrancis
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:02 am
Car: 2007 PEARL WHITE M35X AKA PROJECT X
Location: Alpharetta, GA

Post

06M4.5 wrote:Car Model: 2006 M45

Low Beams: 6000k D2S hid bulbs

High Beam: oem stock

Fog lights: 6000k 35watt hid kit

Interior: all upgraded to SMD led's (front map lights, rear map lights door lights, under dash lights and trunk lights).

Exterior: all upgraded to SMD led's (front parking lights, side marker on fender near door, front & rear turn signal, lic plate & back up)

this pic shows signal, parking & headlight all on the same time
Image

this shows the side marker light near door (no yellow)
Image

this shows rear signal, lic plate & back up bulbs
Image

door & under dash lighting
Image

front shot
Image

front parking light only
Image

Man how did you get the yellow out of your sidemarkers??????????

DoN_BLaZe34
Posts: 1723
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:40 pm
Car: 2007 M45 Sport - Sold
2006 FX45 - Traded
2014 Q70S 5.6 - Sold
2017 Q70L 5.6 - Current
Location: Jersey

Post

Are you referring to the parking lights?


Return to “Infiniti M35 and M45 Forum”