So i have a pair of genuine 2K Xenon headlights that i'll be installing soon and im just wanting to know whats different between them and standard headlights, appart from looking sooo much better thanks:br:
Differences are: They are more expensive! The light emitted on low beam is more intense, thus allowing you to see in front of the vehicle at night. The wiring circuits must be modified so that the low beam lights stay illuminated when the high beam is activated.
And apart from all those advantages, they are illegal to use. https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/F2009C00579 See 6.2.9 - no more than 2000 lumens allowed. And 5.15 - colour has to be white. Too much heat might melt a thing or two as well. Good luck.
If these are the genuine Nissan 2k lights I would have thought they wouldn't have needed any mods or worrying about melting anything?
2K lights won't melt anything, unless you do something stupid with the wiring. The light is white. There is no similarity between 2K lights & putting an aftermarket HID kit in the common projector headlights.
Every time I see you post I think about how close I came to doing all I could to buy that car - but the potential grief from the missus was to hard to ignore. So glad it went to a good home
I had a missus when I bought it, I'm now single. Depends on which way you want to look at it on who made the smarter choice.
To the best of my knowledge, the 2K headlights are not in any way illegal - provided that they are the genuine factory items, unmodified in any way... I say this only because I have been running a set of these 2K's on my '89 for about 8yrs, and in that time I have had my car both comprehensively looked over by a certified automotive engineer, as well as over the ACT pits (where it was gone over with a fine-toothed comb), twice... Not once was I ever questioned about my 2K lights... Not even when they were tested at the pits... Nor have I ever had any heat or melting issues... Not even having wired them up so that low and high beams go on when switching to high beam... They really are massively better, and there's no way I'd ever go back to my 90-96 stockies ever again...
I'm mainly curious what's inside the the low-beam unit, this is the shade from an early type JDM left hand projector, this combined with the shape of the reflector bowl and lens controls the spread of the light emitted. I'm just curious how much/if they changed to suit the HID bulbs.
The problem is just that they were never batch complied here, they're properly designed OEM units so I would assume they meet all standards and would pass fine if present when complied or if inspected by an engineer but technically they're a modification with a part that isn't ADR certified. The law is also explicitly non-specific about what lighting modifications actually require inspection. For a polite, inoffensive driver in a respectable looking car they'll probably never be an issue, if you spent time around paramatta and had stance nation decals on your car you'd probably cop a defect for them.
From what I have researched the 2 normally recognised factors needed for Xenons/HID's are auto levelers and Headlight squirters/washers. Ironically the 4X4 I got my engine from for my 4X4's engine swap had both these but was still fitted with factory halogens - I figure it was an option on that vehicle. I am pretty sure the 2k Z has the levelers but not sure about the washers. That aside the other bit of info I have seen several times is that a vehicle can not have Xenon's retro fitted after its first rego in Australia, even if it is an conversion with factory gear (such as 2k lights in our case). basically if it was first registered with Halogens it can only ever have Halogens. Am happy to be proven wrong here and will add there are a few threads in this forum detailing how to get the most out of our halogens legally. (or for the most part of it legally)
Interesting how the high-beam reflector looks about as "expensive" as the very cheapest SCA driving light ...... I know, having bought as couple ... And apologies to RynoDrifter, I thought (silly me) that he was talking about 2K Xenon globes, not the entire headlight assembly. Novice mistake.
Correct that levelers and washers are required. The 2K lights have neither. The Evo's that came from japan had HID's with in cabin manual levelers and no washers. No go - must be removed during compliance (hardly ever happened though). Only 100% legal way to have 2K lights is as Jono has done - factory fitted on a personal import. If you get pinged for it you would have to have a very knowledgeable inspector.
And yet the stupidity that is our design regulations demands safety etc, but when a product comes out to help with such things as poor or i should say abysmal lighting on vehicles, they want too poo poo them because some jerkoff sitting in an office with no knowledge or qualified training and has no clue, gets to decide because it makes him important. And as Chrispy says, you would have to have a smart inspector to even know the difference . Wish i had the dollars for the 2k head lights .
The reasoning behind the rules are sound, but maybe a little excessive. HID's in a reflector low beam is a good example...
Thats a fair call if the globe is an H4 Hi/Lo beam type fitted to older vehicles like the ubiquitous 4wd blinding everybody. The way the HID goes about shifting beams is to move a metal shield fore and aft and the slot that is cut into the shield to allow the high beam allows a lot of light while on low beam to hit the reflector at odd angles which generates so much light scatter and the appearance of being on high beam from afar. Cover over that Hi beam slot and the light doesnt scatter any more than a halogen but of course, no hi beam. Hardly an issue with a pair of driving lights as high beam. Try, say an H7 light with an HID and the problem goes away as the reflector is designed to carry a globe with no metal beam shield underneath. If the HID is made even part reasonably, the light emitting bead is in the same position as the filament of a halogen globe so you have a nice bright light without the scatter issues of a HI/Lo H4 HID. Another trick to put plod off his game is to choose HID's with a very low colour temp that emits yellow(ish) tinged light (2k and below) closer to a halogen. It might be "cool" to drive around with 6k or higher colour temp with that wanky blueish colour but thats the sure giveaway to some dumb fornicating roadside pig who thinks 30 minutes of instruction in a classroom qualifies him as some kind of mechanical engineer, to wheel you over and play vagina. E
2K Xenon's (which first appeared on Z32's built in October 1998) use the same bulb in high beam as every other JDM Z32 built from July 1989, which is a 12V x 55W halogen bulb. US spec Z32's use a 12V x 65W halogen bulb for the high beam. In the standard headlight assembly the low beam bulb is a 12V x 55W halogen bulb. The Xenon's use a 12V x 35W Xenon bulb & the light cut off plate is different than the type fitted to the standard headlights.
