Oncoming drivers flashing High beams at me

[altimacruiser]

I was out one night this weekend and the entire trip to the next town oncoming traffic was flashing me constantly and then they gave me a courtesy flash after I flashed my high beams at them and they realized that the low beams are white and only look like brights but its okay its just a little annoying sometimes because I am trying to enjoy my drive and then I get blinded by other cars and then they are the ones to blame. Anyway dont want to whine about it but just wmnted to see if its happening to other drivers.

[nismofool]

hasnt happened to me yet, hope it doesnt.. i dont want to get annoyed by oncomin traffic and their highbeams!

[guitarmn07]

It has happened to me too. If you have the HID Xenon lights, they are brighter than standard bulbs. People flash me when I'm out on country roads, but in the city, they do not. The HID's appear to look like your brights, but they are not. I'm sure you've seen other cars with HID's and they look like they have their brights on too.

I read an article about HID's and how they look 'different' compared to the old fashioned lights. HID's are more white, whereas the old lights have a yellowish tint. People would tend to stare at the HID's b/c they looked different and they weren't used to them... I find myself doing the same...

Xenon lights are on the blue end of the spectrum and the tungsten lights are on the red end of the spectrum. Red is considered a 'soft' color. That's why the gauge colors are red/orange. It's puts less strain on the eyes. Not to mention that the HID's produce more glare.

[SHIFT_2.5S]

Would be interesting to compile a statistical report on how HIDs cause accidents.

[guitarmn07]

Would be interesting to compile a statistical report on how HIDs cause accidents.

According to the article I read, dated 2001, there was no HID's related accidents. But that could have changed since then.

[bembol]

First I thought, they were warning you of a Speed Trap.

I got Flased/High Beam twice, which saved me at the end from a Speeding Ticket.

[CoupeSlate]

AMEN!!!!i cant tell you how many times this has happened to meit is most annoying

[generic808]

Never had a prob with my 5000K yet. They look like factory HID's so I never get flashed.

[prlwhitecoupe]

You probably getting flashed because your HID's are causing a glare into on coming traffic. Vehicles that are equipped with after-market HID's cause glare because the existing reflector housing is not meant for HID's but rather for Halogen lighting. There was a report on this as well out of the U.K., but it also makes me wonder in the case of our Coupes since it seems that Nissan doesn't use any projector housing, but the same housing for the HID's on the 3.5 version. I'm just mentioning this as a possible cause.

Here is the report:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yVuSSdZNsZw

[LongBeachCoupe]

I agree... combined with a slight "spray" as far as the light is concerned... plus 5% user error as far as bulb placement... and you get some angry people out there... This is where i think the cops would bust balls... not because its "blue-er" light...

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Some of you might be experiencing glare or being flashed (and not in the good way ) simply because these bulbs aren't meant for the headlight housing. The factory kit has no issues because they are using a D2R bulb which is meant for a reflective housing. There are two types of factory HID bulbs, D2S and D2R. D2S is used in a projector style headlight and the D2R is used in a reflective headlight.

Perhaps you might want to take a look at how they are aimed if you continue to experience this.

[rjdmmfl1]

Tyler, I think you hit it right on the head.. the D2R bulbs have a reflective shield on one side that protects against glare. The conversion kits lack this shield, unless you get a TRUE CONVERSION KIT which has a rebased D2R or D2S bulb. When I pull my wife's sedan (aftermarket HID kit) into the garage next to my coupe (factory HID's) I can see the near perfect cutoff line from my headlights, but hers has a noiticable haze at the top. I don't know if this haze is what causes the glare, but it may be... any thoughts???

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Yup, your absolutely right Robert. Those of you looking to get the absolute best out of your HID kit would be to use a rebased D2R bulb into an H11. The cutoff it optimal.

What I would reallllly love to do and I think I'll be doing this in the spring, is a projector retrofit

[rjdmmfl1]

http://www.HIDretro.com does them, and that would be a great idea (I thought about this earlier), however, the problem is, unless you're gonna do it yourself, it's gonna be hella expensive! like around $1000.00

scratch that.. just checked, HID retro went out of business!!
Modified by rjdmmfl1 at 3:33 PM 12/3/2007

[SHIFT_COUPE]

Yea I'd plan to do it myself