Last Friday evening I drove to Hertfordshire from Folkestone.

The last 30/40 minutes drive was not pleasant!

The reason for this?

I had to change my HIDs back to the original bulbs for MOT some time ago & did not get round to putting my HIDs back!

It just made me realise how poor the original lights are.

Going to pop my HIDs back in this weekend (not that I drive the Z in the dark very often)

Use the force my young padawan....

7 hours ago, arthur said:

Last Friday evening I drove to Hertfordshire from Folkestone.

The last 30/40 minutes drive was not pleasant!

The reason for this?

I had to change my HIDs back to the original bulbs for MOT some time ago & did not get round to putting my HIDs back!

It just made me realise how poor the original lights are.

Going to pop my HIDs back in this weekend (not that I drive the Z in the dark very often)

Was it a straight swap mate?

I drive the Goodwood FOS in the rain at night through country roads and it was stressful! 

For all Zed owners HIDs are a must for night driving!

Yes it is a straight swap which takes 15 minutes 

Worth noting that any awkward MOT tester can fail a car under the latest rules for having HIDs fitted that didn't come as standard. Most won't, but some definitely will. 

You can get around this by hiding the ballasts under neath the nose panel and keeping it looking standard in the rest of the bay. 

Remember to do your research before buying HIDs. You want a set between 4300k and 5000k. Once you get into the realms of 6000k you get more blue in them and less actual useful light. 

There's also been some owners having success with LED bulbs (the expensive ones not the cheap ones). These are a definite MOT fail if spotted but they'd seriously have to go rooting around to know they were there. 

Wise words from Alex there.....!

Remember, the tester has to know that your HIDs are aftermarket to fail the MOT - so hiding the ballasts and sticking to 5000k or below, makes it less likely they will know. 1990s Japanese super-coupes were way ahead of their time and came equipped with many new innovations... So when they see the HIDs fire up, they may just concede they might be OEM ? 

....Unless they read this thread ? 

So generally, the tester will pass it as long as you've HID the ballasts well!

...I'll get my coat...

When I had my Z, I had 3600k HIDs because they're the most effective and the mostly likely to look OEM. When you start getting too much blue, it's an instant giveaway (and looks crap/under performs). Originally I have 5000k and even that was too much for me.

 

The main reason that most Z32s emit poor light from their original halogen bulbs is due to dirt build-up on the inside of the projector lens, it's very much worthwhile giving the insides a thorough cleaning too as it can make quite a difference as awkward as it us. I was very lucky in managing to obtain one of the very last sets of brand new original (non HID) RHD headlights, they'd long since gone out of general circulation, but I knew someone who had a brand new pair boxed in his loft. I ran these very briefly with the incandescent bulbs and they were actually pretty good, much better with HIDs obviously, but not bad as stock.

23 hours ago, Adam D said:

So generally, the tester will pass it as long as you've HID the ballasts well!

...I'll get my coat...

LOL - but essentially, yes ? 

What kits are people recommending? I’ve given up finding some 99 Spec hids for mine now ? 

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/H3-HIDS4U-Stealth-55W-Xenon-HID-Conversion-Kit.html

I bought these last month and seem ok. Ballast cables are not long enough to hide under the nose panel though. Haven't looked properly at hiding elsewhere 

 

16 hours ago, TheRealNips said:

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/H3-HIDS4U-Stealth-55W-Xenon-HID-Conversion-Kit.html

I bought these last month and seem ok. Ballast cables are not long enough to hide under the nose panel though. Haven't looked properly at hiding elsewhere 

 

They must have changed the design then. I bought and fitted that kit a year ago and got the ballasts under the nose. 

Edited October 5, 20223 yr by Lexx

16 hours ago, TheRealNips said:

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/H3-HIDS4U-Stealth-55W-Xenon-HID-Conversion-Kit.html

I bought these last month and seem ok. Ballast cables are not long enough to hide under the nose panel though. Haven't looked properly at hiding elsewhere 

 

You can buy extension leads, or at least you could 5 or so year ago.

I have some somewhere.

2 hours ago, Lexx said:

They must have changed the design then. I bought and fitted that kit a year ago and got the ballasts under the nose. 

So that black plastic box is now silver metal like the main ballast and the total length is about 8 inches. I could get the main ballast behind the nose panel but the placement of the new silver box was directly where the bonnet slam panel is. I couldnt thread/place it anywhere.

2 hours ago, phutumsch said:

You can buy extension leads, or at least you could 5 or so year ago.

I have some somewhere.

If you find them and and want to sell them, please let me know!

Mine has the silver box as well. I've managed to tuck them in amongst the OEM wiring and kinda hide them. I don't have a pic of them though. 

 

The various HID extension types are available on ebay and the like. 

So I bought this:

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/12v-extension-cable-for-hids4u-hid-kits.html

I believe that's the right item for the HIDs, but will update thread after fitting for people in the future 

12 hours ago, TheRealNips said:

So I bought this:

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/12v-extension-cable-for-hids4u-hid-kits.html

I believe that's the right item for the HIDs, but will update thread after fitting for people in the future 

That'll do it..... 

You can hide the ballasts under the nose and all will be fine ?