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Fitting aftermarket HIDS! (D40)

11K views 36 replies 10 participants last post by  landmannnn 
#1 ·
Last year I bought a set of HIDS from http://www.hids4u.co.uk. I paid £279 for them and at the time they had free delivery.

The kit came with very simple to follow instructions. Not really that much harder than changing a bulb really.

In the kit you get:
2xballasts
2xmounting brackets and screws for ballasts
2xXENON bulbs
2xHarness.

The bulbs are basically a direct replacement for H4's (in our case). They provide low and high beam as a normal bulb would.

Remove the plug on the end of the bulb at the back of the headlight and then the rubber that fits over the back of the headlamp and then undu the clips and remove the bulb itself. I would reccomend not touching the glass of the bulb, put it in a box and keep it as a spare.



The instructions do tell you to insert all the bulb assembly and then fit over the modified rubber surround afterwards. I didnt do it like this. You can unclip the bulb away from the shield. I put the shield alone back into the headlamp unit, this secures with the same clips that the original bulb secures with. You need to make a big enough hole in the rubber cover for the back of the bulb to sit in. I just did this with a stanley knife. It will still have to be waterproof so make it a tight fit. You will see that the back of the bulb is quite wide and not perfectly round and has a cable running from the back of it. I put the bulb into the rubber by putting the cable through the hole we have just made and pulling through. This was so the bulb didnt touch the rubber and get damaged. The rubber should be a tight fit around the plastic of the bulb. I then put this assembly (bulb and rubber) back into the now in-situ shield. It is tight but can be done. It will only fit into the shield one way (its like half a baynet cap bulb). Lock it in place by twisting it in. You will see from the picture above that the harness that comes with the kit isnt that long so you will need to place the bracket for the ballast within this distance. I fixed the ballast to the bracket first and then found a place for it. On the right side I chose to affix it using a headlamp securing screw and on the other side I could only find a screw and space on the rear side of the battery. It is tight, especially on the right. If I need to change any of the bulbs I have to move the ballast first. Not a big deal for me as I always have tools with me but a better place should be found.

Connect the original plug that powered the old bulb to the harness, this then connects to the ballast to power it. The supply to the bulb is already wired to the ballast.Connect this to the cable that comes from the bulb and then one last cable to connect up from both harnesses (see pic above). No mistakes can be made cabling up, all plugs have only one place to go.

You will see from one of the pics that back of the bulb protruding through the rubber of the headlight. I have never had a problem with the lamps misting up inside but I would guess its important to get this as tight as you can. I used the rubbers from the X-trail and put the D40 ones on the X-trail when I sold it just so I didnt have to cut a second set out. I will at some point buy 2 of these rubbers for when I put the original H4's back in.






Use cable ties or tape (or whatever you prefer) to keep all cables tidy and out of the way of any moving parts. Where the power feed to the old bulb (the 3 pin plug) connects to the kit, I taped this up to minimise water ingress to the connection.

Test the system and away you go.

You will probably find that the sidelight bulbs are now yellow compared to the headlight bulbs. I have replaced mine with LED replacements which are bright white.

I did have this kit in the X-trail but removed it for sale. Not cos I thought it was a bad for a buyer but cos they are brilliant. Much more light on the road and gives the car more of an individual look.


Steve
 
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#3 ·
chunk said:
Now that is what I call a "how to"! 8)

I am an absolute technical dunce, would you say it was worth the effort, Tomo?
What effort is that then?

Attatch ballasts to brackets and fix brackets to car?
Plug in a few wires?
Cut a hole in some rubber?

I used to buy these "super 30% and 50% brighter headlamps from Halfords and the likes. They do look a whiter light but not that much improved over standard H4's

These are 6000K bulbs, over twice the brightness of normal H4's

When driving in traffic, signs are reflecting back of my lights rather than cars that are 200 yds in front of me.

When the weather improves (ie its dry) I will take some pics of the beam at night on a country road or something.

Just look at the hids4u website for pics and stuff.

Remember that you can remove these within minutes if you change car so your not wasting £280 on one car.

Steve
 
#4 ·
Tomo said:
What effort is that then?

Attatch ballasts to brackets and fix brackets to car?
Yep, that'll be the effort then....... I sell Datacenter Software. I buy a car, I certainly don't change anything but tyres and oil within warranty, let alone a Xenon install!! :lol:
 
#5 ·
seeing the kit laid out in the first pic, makes it all look straight forward to install.
Fantastic Write up :)

Just recieved a email back from them and this is the direct link to the one we need

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=44

when you order use code " Navara" for a club Discout, many thanks to Ian the Director of HIDS4U for the discount.

brian
 
#6 ·
Tomo on the first picture you are showing a 3 pin male connector that goes into the existing h4 bulb supply, was there one or two of these as the picture is only showing one ballast.
 
#8 ·
Hi Brian, yes I know that there are two ballasts.

I was meaning the three pin block connector in the picture that goes into the lights as the kit I have only has one. I'm trying to see if it's the same set up.
 
#9 ·
Its everything in this Pic X2
This pic shows a complete set up for One Side of the Vehicle


 
#11 ·
Just to let you guys know that I had a bulb blow on me this morning. I didnt want to drive in the dark with only one working so I put the halogens back in before I set out. What a difference, Ill never go back to halogens if I can help it.

Anyways, had the kit just under a year and spoke to Chris and Pete at Hids4U and as the bulbs and ballasts have a 2 year warranty (and they keep stock of spares, unlike other suppliers) the bulb is now packaged up and gonna get posted out tommorrow for test and replacement.

So another company with good service.

Steve
 
#13 ·
I suppose it could be an issue but considering that Tomo has had them a year, I would have expected it to go sooner.

I have a mountain bike one which is 13w = 40watt halogen which can run of 12v dc current. There is a warning with these that the bulb life is shortened everytime it is switched on and they need to be kept cool to stop the bulb overheating. This may not be an issue with car hids.

The auto function I would imagine would be similar to switching the lights on so it may have just been bad luck.

A two year warranty is great as these bulbs can be expensive to replace but considering that the Hids direct kit is only £120 delivered I could buy 2 sets for the price of one.

These hid kits are coming down all the time, a bit like electrical stuff so I wouldn't be supprised if they were under £100 in a years time.

Lets face it if hids direct can sell these inc delivery for £120 how much is he buying them for.
 
#14 ·
Scary, with regard to the Auto lights you mentioned......

I do try to switch the auto lights off when I park the car. Then when I turn the key to II for the glowplugs to go out the lights dont come on. If I left them on auto then the lights would come on for 2 seconds and then quickly cycle off and on while the engine starts. I would reccommend this to anyone using HIDS and auto lights.

The HIDS have been in the d40 since October, before that they were in an XTrail for 6 months. I, in honesty wasnt that carefull when I re-installed them in the D40, especially on the passanger side which is a pig to get the things in. Good chance that I knocked them while doing the install.

To anyone buying the HID kits from whatever supplier, it may be an idea to order 2 new headlight cowls (covers)..... ie the one you have to cut to get the bulb through so that when you sell the car you can take the HIDS out, or when you get a failure you can put the halogens back in as a temp measure until the HID bulb is replaced.

Steve
 
#15 ·
Scarey, that will be weather dependant as I don't have a garage and if I did chances are the Nav wouldn't fit anyway.

I'm going to take some photo's of the standard light pattern and then I'll take a photo of the Hid as a comparsion, assuming I don't bugger it up.

These ones are slightly different in as much as they take the power direct from the battery and the light switch is used as a relay. At least that's how it looks.

I'll give you all the sp on them as soon as I can.
 
#16 ·
How to Fit a Hid-Direct Headlight Conversion (D40)

The following is a how to converting your standard H4 headlights to a Bi-Xenon or Hid system.

This is a relatively easy process requiring minimal tools or technical knowledge and should take approx 90 minutes from start to finish.

Tools required.
A torch so you can see what your doing
15mm socket for the battery.
10mm socket for the ballast backet mounts to headlight.
10mm spanner for connecting the battery leads
Small crosshead screw driver.
Stanley knife or scissors for trimming the rubber

The instructions state that you need a 23mm hole saw, this is not required for the D40

There is a club discount for this kit in club news for £120 next day delivery including vat.

It's the best upgrade I've fitted and well worth the £120.

The kit supplied comes with everything required to convert your lights.

The following items are supplied in the kit.
1. 2 x H4-3 Hid bulbs with a choice of either 4300k,6000k or 8000k.
2. 2x Ballast with brackets for attaching
3. 1 x Wiring harness
4. 4 x Zip ties

The quality of the kit is very good and if I was going to nit pick the only thing would be the brackets for the ballast which could be thicker.

The process is quite simple for changing and the only slightly difficult part is the passenger side, which has restricted access due to the airbox.

The procedure is as follows.

1. Remove the battery clamping bracket and move the battery back towards the bulkhead. By doing this you get far better access to the drivers side bulb.
2.Locate the driver and passenger bulb power connectors an disconnect them. Don't yank them just try to give them a wiggle as they can be a tight fit.
3.Remove the waterproof light rubber surround. This will give you access to the bulb.
The rubber could be tight so use two hands on either side and push it off.
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4.Unspring the bulbs on both sides by pushing the spring down and up. It should loosen easily. Carefully remove the standard bulbs, remembering not to touch the glass as this will reduce their live span.
Store the bulbs in a safe place should you want to or need to replace them.
5.The Hid bulbs supplied have a baynet cap fitting and due to the restricted access it is best to seperate the bulbs for fitting by twisting.

The bulbs can only be fitted the one way supposedly, but I manage to fit the passanger one the wrong way. It had to be the hardest one after all.
6. Attach the metal casing of the hid bulb into the vacant headlamp bulb socket and retain it with the spring clip.
7.The rubber can actually be fitted over the bulb base without cutting, but becomes a real pain in the ass when you try to fit the rubber and bulb into the head lamp as you have to reconnect the bulb to the holder by twisting.
The solution is to cut 6mm of rubber off the narrow part and fit this over the bulb base. I used a little fairy liquid to slide it over.


8.I started with the passenger side bulb first as I knew that this would be the hardest to fit as the space is tight.
It is possible to manouvre the Bulb and rubber into place although this may take a few attempts to accomplish.
Once the bulb is located inside the headlamp twist it to lock it in place and push the rubber in to the surround to seal the headlamp.
Important. The bulb has a top and bottom, the wires leading out of the bulb must be at the bottom. If it's at the top then you have fitted the bulb holder incorrectly.
The drivers side is the same but alot easier to do.


9. Now fit the ballasts and brackets to the truck after ensuring that the wiring harness is long enough to fit in your desired location. I found the the headlight brackets were ideal.
I didn't fit the ballast into the brackets the correct way but turned the ballast through 90 degrees as it would have fowled the battery if I didn't.



10. Begin with the passenger side part of the harness and run it on top off the radiator and underneath the radiator mounting brackets.
Connect up all the plugs and ensure that the harness connector is fitted correctly as there are marks on the ballast which tell you positive and negative. You can't go wrong in wiring the rest of the plugs as they only fit one way. Tidy up the cables and that the passenger side done.


11. Find the bulb three pin connector on the drivers side that you disconnected from the old H4 halogen bulb. Connect this to the three pin connector supplied in the wiring harness.

12.Connect the drivers side ballast the same as the passanger side, again the plugs can only go one way.

13. Route the wiring harness towards the washer bottle and Jam the relay between the bottle and the other side. Not very technical but it works.


14. Fix the fuse box with a zip tie to the coolant expansion tank, there's a hole already pre-drilled.


15.Wire up the power connections to the battery with the positive and Negative leads supplied. There are two screws supplied in the kit which can be used. Tidy up any loose cables and test the lights.

Job Done :D :D

Here's a before and after look at the difference in light from the headlamps as you will see the Hid kit is alot brighter and uses less power.




 
#18 ·
As long as you have an H4 halogen bulb then it shouldn't be a problem.

This system uses only one of the bulb power connectors which powers it as a relay.

The light takes a couple of seconds to reach full brightness as all hids do and the hi beam is instant even when you use the flasher.

I'm well pleased with the outcome. :D

Once Dunc has fitted his, he'll confirm.
 
#19 ·
Thats a great how-to, but i find it strange that this kit only uses one of the 3 pin plugs from the standard headlights to power both. Why didnt they use both like the Hids4u kit? Seems quite a bit more wiring to do than the hids4u kit as a result.

Counteracting that of course is the fact that they are half the price of the hids4u kits!!

Interestingly I couldnt seem to get the ballast and bracket on that location on the drivers side, so put it the other side of the battery. I could only get the passanger side mounted on the headlight bolt. Never mind.

Excellent How-to.

How do you find them at night now?

Im currently running the standard H4's as Im a HID bulb sent back for warranty replacement and noticing a HUGE loss of light from them. I seem to be using high beam a lot more now whereas before I could keep it on low beam with the HIDS.

Steve
 
#20 ·
I don't really know why the kit was designed this way using a harness but it works. I suppose it's a bit like positive and negative ground horns, different ways of wiring but they both work.

There is probably more in this kit compared to the hids4u one and at half the price.

The quality of the product from what I can tell is very good and I can only realy nit pick on the thickness of the ballast brackets which could be a bit thicker. But hey, they work.

Wiring wise the only extra bits are running the harness between the lights, a 10 min job and connecting the positive and negative to the battery.

I was going to buy the hids4u one until I saw this and thought that there no way it's twice as good. The seller can even supply replacement bulbs, if you want to buy them, they are £68 a pair.

The light difference is amazing and I would not want to go back to normal H4 bulbs as there is no comparison.

Overall, I'm well pleased with this upgrade and at £120 it's well worth the money. On what I have saved, I can get a set of Avo adjustable shocks. :D
 
#21 ·
I see........... didnt read the bit where they are powered from the battery using the existing 3 pin plug to activate the relay(s). Seems a strange way of doing it when they could eliminate 2 relays and loads of wiring.

The Hids4U kit is 100% plug and play, uses the existing bulb leads to power the ballast and then the bulbs. Given the choice of the Hids4u kit and the Hids-direct one I think I would still prefer the plug and play approach even if they are more expensive, especially as my motor is a company car. It literally takes 10 mins to take out the whole kit and 10 to 15 mins to re-install it if needs arise. I think when I first installed it it took longer but that was due to decisions on where to mount the ballasts etc.

But, where price is important, 120 notes does seem very very good, especially compared to buying a set of silverstars that can cost £30 if not more.

Enjoy them............ they will look even nicer in a set of projector headlamp units if and when they get made for RHD D40's.


Steve
 
#22 ·
Hi Steve, you pays your money and you take your choice I suppose.

I could have the whole thing dismantled in the same time as you and re-attaching would probably take 10 mins longer than you at the most.

The initial install took 90 mins as I wasn't in a hurry.I wanted to be sure that the install was correct and neat plus I was taking photos and notes for the how to.
There really isn't anything to the harness apart for the connectors to the ballast and the battery connections.

Why anyone would really want to take this out and re-install beats me as even if both bulbs went you would just disconnect the hid bulbs and refit the halogen ones. You would leave the ballasts and harness in situ waiting for new bulbs.
The only time to re-install would be to a different vehicle and this would take longer as under the bonnet would be different.
 
#23 ·
I went for the 6000k kit as this seem to be the most popular.

The ones available are,
4300k Bright white
6000k Bright white with a touch of Blue
8000k More blue

I was going to get some spot lights for the Nav, but I am now having second thoughts due to the amount of light coming from the hids. Amazing. :D
 
#24 ·
they are powered from the battery using the existing 3 pin plug to activate the relay(s).
I wonder if this is so there is no interuption of power when starting the engine. There's a post somewhere about HIDS saying with auto lights this can be a problem of 'on off on' in a short time space?

any thoughts?

you guys who've fitted this kit do they go out when you start up?
 
#25 ·
Good point!

Didn't think of that as I switch my lights to side lights before turning the ignition key. This way you bypass going from auto to side then dipped from the off position.

I certainly don't think that having them on auto lights at start up would help the longevity of the bulbs due to the on/off/on scenario in the hids4u set up with the bulb not being fully warmed up in the hids4u system.

I will check the Hids-direct one tonight.
 
#26 ·
Davc, you named that song in one.

I tried the lights tonight on auto before turning the ignition key and guess what?

The light stayed on with no flickering off. There was no on/off/on mentioned in other posts.

So I guess this is an advantage of the hid harness.

When fitting, start with the passenger side first as it's the hardest part.
 
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