HID Lights from the UK

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Simon B
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HID Lights from the UK

Postby Simon B » Mon Feb 19, 2007 12:09 pm

This was being discussed on the OME suspension thread but as NV Steve pointed out we were probably drifting OT.

I've looked into the suitability of UK spec HID lights for the US and apparently European Legislation states that all HID lights sold there have to be adaptable for use driving on the right or vice versa. This fits in with my experience of 2 cars there, a VW and a Land Rover which both had switches on the lamp body to change the beam pattern for use in Europe.

There's a bit more talk about it on this forum:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/ ... =i&t=17428 .

I guess this means that the Nissan Units sold in the UK should be suitable for use in the US. I e-mailed Nissan but they said I would have to contact my local dealer for more information and pricing which i'll certainly do when I get chance. Hope this is of use to you all.


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Postby blink32 » Mon Feb 19, 2007 12:43 pm

This is definitely a help. Now that I've got this info I have a british friend here in the states who hopefully still has contacts in the UK he can talk into visiting a dealer or knows someone who has a pathy with HIDs. This would be an awesome windfall if it turns out to be this easy.

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Postby jorgecar » Mon Feb 19, 2007 12:44 pm

Simon,
Thanks for following up!

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Brit
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HID

Postby Brit » Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:23 pm

Hi

Hopefully I'll be able to help you guys out when I take delivery of my Pathfinder in March.
Technical information seems to be seriously thin on the ground over here, but I'm assuming that as the tech. spec. for my vehicle says 'Xenon' headlamps that means they'll be HID's ?
From what I've seen they certainly look like HID's. I know they have both a self-levelling and power-wash feature which I'm told is a legal requirement (over here anyhow) for HID's. They were certainly a very 'white' light when I saw them on the test drive, almost like a 'daylight' light if that makes any sense :?
Anyway I'll know more in March when I finally get my hands on it !!
But in the meantime if I can help in any way, let me know.

Ian.

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Postby blink32 » Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:44 pm

Ian,

thank you for the offer. You most certainly are getting the HID version of the Nissan lights if you got the Xenon ones. If no information comes forward until yours is delivered I'll definitely be asking for details on your lamps. I'm starting to get somewhere on a German board. But no difinitive information yet.

Tony

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Postby Fofiddy » Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:43 am

Keep us Posted Blink. I'd be down for the order myself I have a buddy that is a parts manager that if he can order it can get it for close to dealer cost. Hopefully they are an exact fit with the 08 as well since that V8 is looking mighty temping if the fuel figures aren't out of control. Too bad it will be a full time 4wd system, I was dreaming of smoke shows.

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Postby blink32 » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:38 am

I most definitely will. I'm interested to find out how it all works. From the German board they are saying it might require a new switch above the head light housing. I know if its anything like the Murano there is a physical change in the reflector that takes place in the headlight when you go from low to high beams. You can hear it. Hopefully its just a new housing and some sort of "energy pack" to modify the power.

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Brit
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HID

Postby Brit » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:03 am

Thought this may be of interest to you -

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/default.asp

Haven't had chance to have a good look myself yet, but it seems to have quite abit of information on there regarding conversions to HID.
Hope that helps.

Ian.

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Postby blink32 » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:16 am

What concerns me about companies like that is they don't seem to be taking into account the reflector within in the housing. Unless I missed it they are giving you bulbs and balast's but do nothing about changing the reflector. They do appear to be a very quality kit and offer a reasonable refund/exchange policy though.

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Postby blink32 » Tue Feb 20, 2007 12:26 pm

No definitive information yet but, guys on the Germany message board are really trying to help. I got a hold of a guy who works for a dealership there and tomorrow he will be checking the schematics and find out what we need to retrofit with. Over there they apparently need automatic vertical height adjustments and light washers (all would be cool to have but I can deal with out both) to go Xenon. I'm hoping he can find just the housings and connections.

Another guy is waiting for Carnival to end and he will visit the dealer and do the same thing. Get information and maybe pictures. Hopefully this thing will come to fruitation fairly quickly. I'm wondering if we'll have to order from overseas or if the part numbers will work here. IIRC BMW puts a limit on certain parts, IE: if it wasn't a US spec part you can't order it and if you don't actually have a vehicle that had that piece you can't order a "replacement" part. I doubt Nissan is that anal but you never know.

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Postby blink32 » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:44 pm

Well, Good and Bad news.

From the German board the headlights are physically the same and will fit. I haven't gotten any details on the plug connections and if they are the same as the halogens or if that part of the wiring harness was replaced upstream. It was also brought up that the computer may not correctly recognize the lights. I don't think this would be so much an issue with the computer as much as it would be a less sophisticated component see that the resistance is incorrect. Like the way signals usually operated faster when a bulb is out.

That was the good. The bad is the dealership charges 900 Euro (roughly $1182) per headlight, not including shipping. No idea if that includes any kind of tax if required. I had expected to pay dearly for the lights but not that dearly. More in the $600-1000 range.

I'm going to hold out that our UK members will be able to snap some photo's of the connections, check on parts prices and verify that there is some sort of simple switch to change the reflectors for LHD . Maybe it will be a reasonable cost. I can't imagine that it would be cheaper for Nissan to make two completely separate lines of head lights rather than integrate a switch to make it compatible. Time will tell I suppose. Maybe the 09 Pathfinder will come with them?

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Simon B
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Postby Simon B » Thu Feb 22, 2007 2:51 pm

I've just received this e-mail back from a UK dealer I asked about retrofittting HID lights:

"I am told by my service department that the cost of retrofit is prohibitive as it involves replacing most of the cars ecu etc, with regard to the question of the headlamps in Europe I am still waiting for the reply but will keep you updated"

This isn't great news, but I imagine that the ECU controls the self levelling function that apparently the HID lights possess. It might be possible to set this manually instead. I'll let you know when I hear back about how to switch betwen LHD & RHD. I've also asked another dealer the same question so hopefully i'll get some more info

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Postby blink32 » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:52 pm

Simon B wrote:I imagine that the ECU controls the self levelling function that apparently the HID lights possess. It might be possible to set this manually instead. I'll let you know when I hear back about how to switch betwen LHD & RHD. I've also asked another dealer the same question so hopefully i'll get some more info
Do the UK laws also require the headlight washers like in Germany? I could live without either feature depending on cost of the headlights themselves.

Thanks for the update.

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Simon B
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Postby Simon B » Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:45 am

blink32 wrote:Do the UK laws also require the headlight washers like in Germany? I could live without either feature depending on cost of the headlights themselves.
Yes, its an EU law that headlamp washers are fitted but I can't see why you'd need them. They're usually pretty ineffective.


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