Maxima-Ness

So its been a while since Ive been around here, but my D2R bulbs are going yellow and Im looking to change them. Before I start off my asking, I want to put it out there that I have searched endlessly for the past week on this topic, both on the forum and google. With that said, I can say im more lost now than when I started looking.

The only thing I know for sure is that I need H3c bulbs for my fogs. I guess my questions are what kits are worth throwing down money on. I know Umnitza is all about the Prolumen kits, and everybody and their mother now makes a hid kit, so with all the cross-talk its hard to tell whats quality and what is junk.

As far as kelvins go, Im kinda stuck between 5000k and 6000k. I know stock is 4300k, but I want something brighter and maybe a bit more blue-ish. Does anybody have pics of theier 2k2 or 2k3 with the 5000k or 6000k to share?

Another concern is the correct beam pattern and aiming of the new bulbs. I dont want a scattering of the light; id prefer a nice tight beam that just doesnt throw light out everywhere. Also, I would like to buy a matching (kelvin/color) set for both my D2R's and fogs. Is that do-able?

So what have you all purchased for your cars that has lasted and been a quality purchase that you would buy again and again. Im looking for something plug-n-play for the fogs, and the D2R's are all set to go from the factory of course. I like the look of the Philips Ultinon, but I dont think they are street legal...which brings me to my next issue; I dont want to attract the cops. For some reason I attract them like flies even with nothing illegal on my car, so it may be asking for too much, but does what Im looking for and the terms DOT or "street legal" even go together?

thanks in advance

Armon

iTrader: (4)

Keep in mind that once you go above 4300k, higher numbers = less output. A 6000k bulb is about 25% dimmer than a 4300k bulb.

Also keep in mind that quality counts. A 4300k Philips bulb will be brighter than a 4300k no-name brand bulb.

ptviperz

I got my HID fog kit from Operatic over in the group deals section and 6 months later they still look great. Fast delivery and a good price.

My sig are 8K and they are too blue for me, I'm going to go with 6K's in the headlight and the foglight. Operatic has both sets of lights for $60/pair I believe. He can tell you what bulb you need. 6K's look very nice and white.

See above, it's defintely do-able. Good luck!

ptviperz

I'd like to see a lumen measurement that supports that statement. I'm sure there is a slight reduction but I don't believe 25%

Armon

iTrader: (4)

As a general rule of thumb, 4300k bulbs have a 3200 lumen output whereas 6000k bulbs have a 2400 lumen output. And these are from reputable manufacturers who have tighter quality control standards. A kit bulb will probably be even lower.

Go to www.hidplanet.com/forums and read up for yourself if you don't believe me.

maxximaa

iTrader: (10)

both 8k.
fogs are regular H3, a bit tight but works. couldnt get any easier than plug and play.
cops can only look, they got better things to do around here plus im not the only one.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Sorry, My info is different, The info I've researched says 6000K has the highest lumen output!, 3600 lumens! I don't know what kind of budject you're on, but check out Xtralights! Their product is high quality! They offer the top of the line Japanese product analog or digital or for those trying to save money they have a chinese brand! I'm running 8000K upgraded Hid bulbs and an 8000K foglight kit! My personal perference were those beautiful bluish lights! Your maxima has HID headlight housing so the glare is not as bad as the halogen housings with HID bulbs! I did adjust my headlight beam down about 4" from 30' for a just in cause factoid! My suggestion would be to find a wrecked Max with foglights and use the foglight housing harness to make a Oem plug N play! with really good connectors! I also know that that Tirerack sell D2R from Piaa and Hella! Both are probably rather expensive! I had a connector come loose will installing my ballast and igniter harness and I simply called my sales rep, and sent that back to them and received a replacement in about 2 days! There are lots of site out there...I've got some $130 6000K HID's in my 86.5 Hardbody pickup from Xenonlink, check these out.... Hidworld, Xenonlink, Gpworld, xtralights,MobileHID, etc.... Good luck! You can have good lighting for a pretty cheap price but you get, what you pay for!!!

Armon

iTrader: (4)

someone has lied to you my friend





4200k = 3200lm

5800k = 2400lm

25% of 3200 is 2400.

Therefore, 6000k bulbs are generally 25% dimmer than 4200k bulbs. Those kit bulbs are probably 30% dimmer or more.


Just for fun, here is a 10000k bulb.



10000k bulbs are 42% dimmer than 4200k bulbs!

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=559504

That is with 5k in fogs and headlights, from operatic here on the boards.

ptviperz

And here is something I believe

http://www.buyhidlights.com/mobile-9...k-p-16039.html

4300 - 3200 lumens
5000 - 3000 lumens
6000 - 2800 lumens

These figures look realistic to me, I mean I have 8K fogs and the things light up the road pretty damn good. By your estimates of -25% my 8K should be at least -50% as bright as 4300K and I'm just not buying it.

nlmaxima

iTrader: (10)

I know that HID is far superior that halogen lights. I have wasted enough money on higher Kelvin halogen bulbs to know that the higher the kelvin the less I could see on a dark country road. If safety is not a concern to you then go with a higher Kelvin but do realize that if your state has laws about the kind of bulb you use and you are not using the correct bulb I hope your insurance company is real nice to you if you are involved in an accident at night.

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

My 5k bulbs are mostly white... I promise you, I can see the road just fine.

Armon

iTrader: (4)

1) You believe a website which is simply trying to sell a product, which doesn't even say what kind of brand bulbs it uses, versus an actual spec sheet that is put out by a reputable manufacturer, with the justification being that the figures "look realistic" to you? I'm not going to argue with you over what you SHOULD believe, but think for a minute about whether that is reasonable or not.

2) I miscalculated what I said about the 10,000k bulb - it is only 42% dimmer (it's 58% as bright as the 4300k bulb, so thats where the 58 came from). So that means your 8k fogs are somewhere between 25%-42% dimmer than 4300k bulbs. I'm just stating facts here - this point is not really up for debate.

3) I'm not trying to convince you guys that 4300k is the only way to go. For some people, the blue color is worth the corresponding loss in luminous output. But there IS a trade off, so don't trick yourself into believing otherwise. Remember than you can "see the road just fine" with even halogen bulbs, so that really doesn't tell you what bulb is the brightest.

In the end you have to balance output versus color and decide what is most important for you. The question is really "which bulb do I prefer" and not "which bulb is the brightest" (because the second question has been affirmatively answered by the folks who manufacture the bulbs themselves).

amomaxima

iTrader: (7)

running 6k
love them hated the yellow of 4300

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

To be totally honest, it seems like all bulbs have the same output. The problem seems to be that since the higher kelvin has a darker COLOR to the beam it looks like there is less light on the road. In actuality they are all doing the same thing. I say this because ive put 4300k, 5000k, 6000k and 8000k to the test in my headlights. Your eyes are playing tricks on you...use a camera.

Armon

iTrader: (4)

Again, luminous output is an objective measurement of light intensity. Neither eyes nor cameras can be as accurate. The only way your eyes are playing tricks is in making you think all bulbs have the same output!

I drove next to an i30 with 8000k headlights a few weeks ago, and my OEM headlights drowned his out. But maybe he thinks his look prettier, so to each their own.

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

Do you have a 5.5 gen? If so, you would understand that the headlights give a MUCH better output than an i30's...oem hid or not.

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

For the OP..it is said that h3c bulbs die out quickly. I myself had a pair for about a year and they didnt die out on me so who knows. Like was said before, you can also just buy regular h3 bulbs and bend the shield down a bit inside the fog housing. Regarding which kelvin to get just keep in mind that they all colorshift a bit after a while so what you are getting with new bulbs wont be the same after lets say a year...then again depends how much you drive with the lights on.

Maxima-Ness

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess. It just seems like it turned into an argument about numbers and percentages about lumens... Not that I dont care, but I dont care.

So far Ive got one very enthusiastic person (dude, thats a lot of exclamation points) yelling about some chinese brand. I do not want cheap chinese crap.

Im not after the brightest light. Thanks for those who actually posted pics of their lights (or others). I like the 5000k pics. What brand are those?

Back on topic, what brands are out there other than the prolumen and no name kits?

BTW, mine is a 5.5 gen.

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

You can always go phillips for reliability purposes. Have you checked out the forums on www.hidplanet.com? If not, do so.

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

Stock vs 6k


6k vs Stock


Stock vs 6k


The 6k were from a prolumen kit and the stock are phillips. At the moment i have stock on the car. I have 5k and 6k bulbs so if you want any pictures for comparison let me know.

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

Like I said in my post, I got them from operatic here on the boards (check the group deal section). He's gotten ALOT of good responses and probably 30% of the members here are using some of his lights.

Here's another pic straight on at them. I love them being mostly white with a little blue shift at the edges.

Mr. Blue Sky

iTrader: (1)

the animosity that is in here toward someone who is stating well known FACTS about lumen ouput, that any well versed HID person knows, is why I stick to HIDplanet.com for reliable info on HID systems .

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

Lumens
The human eye is more sensitive to some colors than it is to others. To account for this variation, scientists measure light in "lumens," which takes the amount of radiation (in watts) that is present and adjusts it to the human eye's selectiveness. For example, if we were in a room illuminated by 100 watts of invisible radiation (such as ultraviolet), the light bulb's output is zero lumens.
The human eye is more sensitive to green and yellow than to blue and red. Five watts of pure green light has more lumens (appears brighter) than five watts of pure red light.

Mr. Blue Sky

iTrader: (1)

ok, so that is the definition of lumens. They do not just go by eye and then say
"this looks like a 3200 lumen bulb, what do you think bob?" They use devices to measure lumens of the bulbs from many different positions and average it out(to take out the error of the eyes perception of the brightness of the light). That is what ANSI has as a requirement, and many trusted bulb makers(i.e Phillips) use those averages in their lumen numbers(unless it says peak lumens, which is just the highest amount of lumens it will put out).

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

So who's getting some green HIDs so they have enough light output without being yellow!?

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

Ill buy them for you if you use them

Armon

iTrader: (4)

This guy.



Look at that baby light up the road!

choiiiiiiiiiii

iTrader: (20)

^ ew wtf

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

Those look bad.

kzoosho

iTrader: (16)

3000k is the best for fogs 4300k best for headlights as far as output. If you want to get into colors then output is sacrificed for the desired color. None of the colored bulbs will give you the best output but to each its own.

ShIft_uR FacE

iTrader: (4)

Id rock those...today only tho

sparks03max

iTrader: (7)

it looks like they tried to use a flash on that camera when they took the pic, my bet is that they'd be alot brighter if they'd taken the picture correctly.

umnitza

iTrader: (20)

A bit late to the party, but we do have some nice feedback on our kits.
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hlight=umnitza

ghostrider17

iTrader: (6)

I'm still on OEM headlamps(4300k) with 6000k H3c's from operatic in the fogs.
So far I've fried one bulb in 6 mo., and was quickly replaced under warranty by operatic.
I can't comment on long-term reliability of the Chinese kits (i have another 3 bulb set in my motorcycle as well) but for the price difference of these vs. the Euro manf., you could replace the WHOLE system once per year for three+ years for the same price of ONE euro made system.
It's your choice.
If I had my choice - i'd go with 5000k to 6000k. I prefer hi-output (lumens) but also like the light to be a bit blueish.

One thing is for sure: buying and replacing filament style halogens is a waste of time and money! I can't remember how many PIAA's I replaced in the past 4 years....but they all gave lousy output, looked yellow, and did NOT last.

good luck.

gr

RickyBobby

has anyone tried d2s in their maxima instead of d2r? i was gonna use my dremel to notch a d2s and compare

umnitza

iTrader: (20)

Actually, we sell D2C, it's a universal bulb if you want them.

dineth00i30

i got 8000k's and 3000k on my car. i first got 3000k ( custom yellow by operatic) for my fogs with sylvania headlights( which really didnt look yellowish ), and on a rainy day fogs would light up the road so well i see people starring at my car and now i have 8000k headlights with them and i dont have one complain about them. they look amazing, and the light output is really way better than halogens and for my eyes, more than enough light to bright up the road for me. but on a rainy day it is kind of worrthless to have them on other than to let other motorists know that im coming but as i told you i have my fogs to help me see good on rainy days.

so my advice is if any of you are looking to have a little show and a little practicality go with my setup but keep in mind this is my opinion and taste and your RESULTS MAY VARY.