Z32 HID lights

Discussion in 'Non Technical' started by r33k, Mar 6, 2023.

  1. r33k

    r33k 'I reek of Englishness'

    I've just bought some 55W H3 (snipped the tab to get them to fit) LED HID's from eBay, very disappointed.

    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151861666360

    Can anyone recommend a good HID kit? I fear these bulbs are too long therefore the light isn't focused properly.

    Not sure if LED is an option these days? ( I doubt it)..

    Thanks
     
  2. NI85

    NI85 Active Member

    LED are only good if they made specific for the car intended. Otherwise as I've found, H3 only means it's keyed to the H3 socket and doesn't guarantee actual light housing fitment.

    I had bought eBay item 224457562063 HID kit back in Dec 2021. I chose the 35watt (4300k colour) vs 55watt as Low beams are lower wattage.
    The arc point of the HID is the same location as the normal globe. The 35watt is less likely to blind on coming traffic vs 55Watt since the light housing isn't properly designed for HID. Though poorly aimed headlights of new cars are terrible with their stupid bright lights.... I don't think rego checkers actually check headlight aim.
     
  3. rob260

    rob260 Administrator Staff Member

    Always been happy with my HIDs. Once upon a time you could get a set from Jaycar easily enough although I don't know if that is still the case.
     
  4. IB

    IB ?????

    You shouldn't have to snip anything to make them fit. Maybe you have them upside down? Installing them incorrectly would reduce the effectiveness.
    Have you cleaned the projector lens lately?
     
  5. MintZ32

    MintZ32 Active Member

    There are a massive range of LED's available and quality and design varies quite a lot. Probably worth going with something like the Morimoto 2 stroke. It has been designed as an LED that replicates the original H3C globe so that it functions correctly in the Z32 projector. They have also been tested and vetted by a great number of enthusiasts who care about the performance of their lighting upgrades. Whilst I haven't personally installed these yet they are exactly what I intend to buy in the coming weeks. Below is a quick comparison of the best performing LED's on the market. GTR lighting is supposedly the best, but they don't make a globe to suit out cars. :)

     
    geron likes this.
  6. NI85

    NI85 Active Member

    To: MintZ32, The LEDs that you're looking at. Just be sure the Heatsink area doesn't actually foul with the globe's latching spring movement. As the (be it cheap) LEDs that I bought had fouled at that point, and due to the large size of the heat sink stopped the dust boot from fitting back on.
     
  7. MintZ32

    MintZ32 Active Member

    Thanks @NI85 Definitely an issue with many of the bulbs, the Morimoto's have the driver located in a section of the loom which takes most of the bulk out of the unit. So, I'm expecting it to not be too much of an issue.

    Part of what got me started looking into these was that when I bought the car some years ago the previous owner had installed LED's already, what confused me what that the output was appalling, to the point that they're not much better than a set of parker lights. With a quick google search of the brand I learned that they were an AliExpress brand that could be had for about $25 delivered. Im sure they're far from cutting edge at that price.
     
  8. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    I replaced the low beams with LED (I think it's 5000K version or 4300K I can't remember) with the fans on the back and there's no mucking around, it's a plug and play job.
    I believe the High Beams are PIAA+130% but can get Phillips or Osram nowadays that are much brighter than STD.
    Having said that, I found the LEDs were aiming too high and the High Beams pointed too low.
    Long story short, I adjusted the low and high beams to factory specs as per the manual. In this case, the LED's had to be lowered and the high beams had to be adjusted higher to my liking really in order to project well into the distance.
    This process needs patience but the end result IMO was WOW!
    The low beams have a great spread and not just pointing up in the sky and blind everyone, hehehe... and the Hi Beams provide a good overall spread of light into the distance but can also see down low.
    While at it, with lots of enthusiasm, the spot lights were also upgraded from 35w to 55w and there's nothing more that needs to be done, the Z is

    Overall, the lights are so good that it's really not necessary to even turn on the spotlights. Out in the sticks OK why not? but I've hardly used them since upgrading while cruising out and about really.

    I suggest to try and stick with one colour range ie, 4700K or 5000K or whatever you like for all the lights for consistency. Even the parking lights and they all look the same colour and the car will have a modern appearance at night!
     
    MORBOOST likes this.
  9. geron

    geron National Petroleum Equipm

    Oh, parking lights were also fitted with 'good quality' (expensive) not the 0.50c version LEDs and just them being on, they are very bright and almost like having the spot lights on.
    The 55w normal spot light globes are brighter though, once the spot lights are turned on.
     

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