Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Hi All,

A few years ago when HIDs were first hitting the scene i held back on getting them put into my R33 S2. I did this mainly because i was concerned about reports they were overly obnoxious, due to the R33 S2's reflector headlight inclosure, to oncoming motorists and potentially even draw attention from the boys in blue. In that time i have had a few different types of normal H1's globes in the car, the latest being Phillips Diamond Vision 5k which whilst looking nice dont really provide much illumination. If its a little doggy or raining, my visibility is significantly impaired.

So here i am a few years down the track to suss out what my options are to improve the situation and if there is a better option...other than going back to yellow tinged lights..

Has there been any improvement with certain HIDs being better suited to the R33 S2 reflector enclosures? Are there workshops experienced fitting them and adjusting to minimise irritant to other motorists? Another option?

Thanks in advance!!

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/426012-hids-on-an-r33-s2/
Share on other sites

Just make sure you adjust the angle and pitch of the light using the screws on the back of the headlights.

Best way to do it is line up head on from a large wall, about 10 meters back and make sure they are aimed slightly to the left and keep them pointing about the same height as the bonnet.

Not sure where you're from but in VIC I am pretty sure they are illegal if not from factory (or at least I haven't passed a roadworthy with them in) but haven't had any issues from police with them.

I got the first generations when they came out about 6 years ago, one finally died a few months ago so I put in 8th generations now. Ballasts are about a quarter of the size but other then that same power, same colour.

HID kit in reflector headlights = forget it. Super glare-y, poor light distribution.

Most cost effective = HID retrofit. Also require the most effort. With the bulb, I wouldn't bother going over 5,000K as it's all wank/ricer after that. Stick with 4300K as you can actually see at night/when it rains. You will get the blue flicker because that is produced by the cut-off shield, plus the light will be whiter. I recommend 'F3' fast-start ballast as they are pretty good for the price ($200 for a kit off ebay, if you go H1 projectors).

If you want to just swap bulbs, try Narva Blue Power (or blue 90/whatever they're called now). Works well for what it is.

Throw relays and thicker wiring on there as well, it helps.

But seriously, OEM is obviously best (if you can get hold of them), then HID retrofit.

HID kit in reflector headlights = forget it. Super glare-y, poor light distribution.

Most cost effective = HID retrofit. Also require the most effort. With the bulb, I wouldn't bother going over 5,000K as it's all wank/ricer after that. Stick with 4300K as you can actually see at night/when it rains. You will get the blue flicker because that is produced by the cut-off shield, plus the light will be whiter. I recommend 'F3' fast-start ballast as they are pretty good for the price ($200 for a kit off ebay, if you go H1 projectors).

If you want to just swap bulbs, try Narva Blue Power (or blue 90/whatever they're called now). Works well for what it is.

Throw relays and thicker wiring on there as well, it helps.

But seriously, OEM is obviously best (if you can get hold of them), then HID retrofit.

Sorry you lost me mate... OEM what?

Does HID retrofit refer to just hooking up a HID kit or also somehow converting to projectors? I don't have patience nor the inclination to stuff around with anything electrical. Anything here will need to be done by a shop.

Rob a HID retro fit will cost you around $1000. I would just stick a good quality halogen in there.

I recently put some Ring Automotive 120% bulbs in my daily, has been the brightest halogen I have used and has a nice white light.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-RING-XENON-ULTIMA-H1-BULBS-120-BRIGHTER-FREE-LED-KEYRING-/350774662729?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51abcc9649&_uhb=1

Rob a HID retro fit will cost you around $1000. I would just stick a good quality halogen in there.

I recently put some Ring Automotive 120% bulbs in my daily, has been the brightest halogen I have used and has a nice white light.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-RING-XENON-ULTIMA-H1-BULBS-120-BRIGHTER-FREE-LED-KEYRING-/350774662729?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51abcc9649&_uhb=1

Thanks mate, I had checked those ones out before.. bright but the white is too warm for my liking. Might consider these or similar for high beams though.

Sorry you lost me mate... OEM what?

Does HID retrofit refer to just hooking up a HID kit or also somehow converting to projectors? I don't have patience nor the inclination to stuff around with anything electrical. Anything here will need to be done by a shop.

OEM i.e. factory R33 HID headlights (would be sweet to get the ballasts as well).

Retrofit = taking apart your lights, putting HID projectors, putting them back together. Costed me about $500 all up including buying R32 headlights and ballasts+bulbs.

Like I said, try looking for factory HID headlights and get them installed. Literally bolt on for instant awesome lights.

Haven't seen that listing before. I got this one:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4300K-35w-Rapid-Start-Slim-Digital-HID-Kit-OEM-White-XE-Instant-On-Ballast-Fast-/400289514421

OEM i.e. factory R33 HID headlights (would be sweet to get the ballasts as well).

Retrofit = taking apart your lights, putting HID projectors, putting them back together. Costed me about $500 all up including buying R32 headlights and ballasts+bulbs.

Like I said, try looking for factory HID headlights and get them installed. Literally bolt on for instant awesome lights.

I have a S2, I think when I checked that out a few years ago it was a bit of a no go option as they clash the S2 bonnet, front bar, sides etc.

So it sounds like there are 2 HID options.... throw in any old HID KID and god knows how average they will splash the beam out. Or do some sort of retrofit of my existing lights to get projectors inside the enclosure, then put HID kit in.. sounds like id be pushing shit up hill finding a shop to do that.

I don't know much about the differences between the R33 series, I just know the S3 have HIDs.

Retrofit is well worth the effort. You will not believe the difference in light output until you see it yourself. You can get the Morimoto H3 projector, which are pretty easy to install compared to other options.

I've been through all this crap, buying different bulbs, HID kits and eventually doing the retrofit. R32 projectors are shithouse, worse than my R31 ones, so I was on a mission to get a setup that enabled me to see at night/during rain.

You can get a cheap kit off ebay, throw them on and drive around thinking you have better lights. Stop at a set of traffic lights, have a factory HID equipped car stop beside you and you'll see the difference.

If you don't want to modify, throw those blue plus 90 bulbs in. I found they do a pretty good job, put them in an N16 and N15 Pulsar (factory wires).

The N16 headlights (H1) 'responded' better to the bulbs as they have a better design than N15 (H4). I expect the R33 to have a design as good as the N16 as they both run separate low and high beams.

I'm not bothered about modifying. If there is a good way to retrofit HID and get a quality outcome that sounds like exactly what i'm after, but I am flat out not interested in meddling with it myself. It sounds like it is possible but perhaps not practical without me doing it myself, which aint happening.

I have two spare pairs of R32 lights which I'll retrofit eventually... Maybe I should branch out onto R33s lol.

20% off is pretty good. The Osrams look to be pretty similar to the Narva blue plus 90, but about $10-20 cheaper delivered lol. I had LED parkers come in about a week from them so pretty good. Grab some Orsam 4000K parkers, you won't be disappointed with them.

Ihave HID high and low beam both 4300k, just went a more expensive rapid start kit for the high beams. Miles better visibility then halogen globes. So it can be done and does work

Dont really get flashed either. Have them setup pretty well but

I have two spare pairs of R32 lights which I'll retrofit eventually... Maybe I should branch out onto R33s lol.

20% off is pretty good. The Osrams look to be pretty similar to the Narva blue plus 90, but about $10-20 cheaper delivered lol. I had LED parkers come in about a week from them so pretty good. Grab some Orsam 4000K parkers, you won't be disappointed with them.

Mate if you branch out doing proper R33 HID retrofits i'll be your first buyer haha.

I ended up buying Osram nightbreakers for high beam, low beam, and fog lights. I got the 4000k Osram LED parkers too. Good site that powerbulbs.com 12 month warranty and customer service by all reports is very good. When I get these all in i'll be beaming out light the colour of the sun I reckon.... huge farking adjustment that will be.

They will be an improvement over standard and blue-tinted bulbs, but don't expect too much out of them, I've been there done that a few times haha. Still, am improvement is an improvement, and I found non-H4 reflectors respond better to better bulbs.

Ihave HID high and low beam both 4300k, just went a more expensive rapid start kit for the high beams. Miles better visibility then halogen globes. So it can be done and does work

Dont really get flashed either. Have them setup pretty well but

Yes HID is heaps heaps brighter and you can point the lights down so it isn't causing too much glare, but put it up against a factory or retrofitted HID light and the difference is huge.

How long does it take to fire up?

I've been using this:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4300K-35w-Rapid-Start-Slim-Digital-HID-Kit-OEM-White-XE-Instant-On-Ballast-Fast-/400289514421

Quickest firing so far. Get ~70% light as soon as it's fired up and 30 seconds later the bulb is warm. I'm using Philips D2S bulbs and they take longer (need a heftier ballast i.e. OEM) to warm up compared to what came with the kit (10-15 seconds bulb is full warm, pretty impressive).

Really hesitant about running HID's - obviously due to being defected, but I cant imagine the light spread is any good at all without a proper retrofit.

Could either or both of you post pics of the light output of your set ups? Keen to see how they look.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • I did end up getting it sorted, as GTSBoy said, there was a corroded connection and wire that needed to be replaced. I ended up taking out the light assembly, giving everything a good clean and re-soldered the old joints, and it came out good.
    • Wow, thanks for your help guys 🙏. I really appreciate it. Thanks @Rezz, if i fail finding any new or used, full or partial set of original Stage carpets i will come back to you for sure 😉 Explenation is right there, i just missed it 🤦‍♂️. Thanks for pointing out. @soviet_merlin in the meantime, I received a reply from nengun, and i quote: "Thanks for your message and interest in Nengun. KG4900 is for the full set of floor mats, while KG4911 is only the Driver's Floor Mat. FR, RH means Front Right Hand Side. All the Full Set options are now discontinued. However, the Driver's Floor Mat options are still available according to the latest information available to us. We do not know what the differences would be, but if you only want the one mat, we can certainly see what we can find out for you". Interesting. It seems they still have some "new old stock" that Duncan mentioned 🤔. I wonder if they can provide any photos......And i also just realized that amayama have G4900 sets. I'm tempted too. 
    • Any update on this one? did you manage to get it fixed?    i'm having the same issue with my r34 and i believe its to do with the smart entry (keyless) control module but cant be sure without forking out to get a replacement  
    • So this being my first contribution to the SAU forums, I'd like to present and show how I had to solve probably one of the most annoying fixes on any car I've owned: replacing a speedometer (or "speedo") sensor on my newly acquired Series 1 Stagea 260RS Autech Version. I'm simply documenting how I went about to fix this issue, and as I understand it is relatively rare to happen to this generation of cars, it is a gigantic PITA so I hope this helps serve as reference to anyone else who may encounter this issue. NOTE: Although I say this is meant for the 260RS, because the gearbox/drivetrain is shared with the R33 GTR with the 5-speed manual, the application should be exactly the same. Background So after driving my new-to-me Stagea for about 1500km, one night while driving home the speedometer and odometer suddenly stopped working. No clunking noise, no indication something was broken, the speedometer would just stop reading anything and the odometer stopped going up. This is a huge worry for me, because my car is relatively low mileage (only 45k km when purchased) so although I plan to own the car for a long time, a mismatched odometer reading would be hugely detrimental to resale should the day come to sell the car. Thankfully this only occurred a mile or two from home so it wasn't extremely significant. Also, the OCD part of me would be extremely irked if the numbers that showed on my dash doesn't match the actual ageing of the car. Diagnosing I had been in communication with the well renown GTR shop in the USA, U.P.garage up near University Point in Washington state. After some back and forth they said it could be one of two things: 1) The speedometer sensor that goes into the transfer case is broken 2) The actual cluster has a component that went kaput. They said this is common in older Nissan gauge clusters and that would indicate a rebuild is necessary. As I tried to figure out if it was problem #1, I resolved problem #2 by sending my cluster over to Relentless Motorsports in Dallas, TX, whom is local to me and does cluster and ECU rebuilds. He is a one man operation who meticulously replaces every chip, resistor, capacitor, and electronic component on the PCB's on a wide variety of classic and modern cars. His specialty is Lexus and Toyota, but he came highly recommended by Erik of U.P.garage since he does the rebuilds for them on GTR clusters.  For those that don't know, on R32 and R33 GTR gearboxes, the speedometer sensor is mounted in the transfer case and is purely an analog mini "generator" (opposite of an alternator essentially). Based on the speed the sensor spins it generates an AC sine wave voltage up to 5V, and sends that via two wires up to the cluster which then interprets it via the speedometer dial. The signal does NOT go to the ECU first, the wiring goes to the cluster first then the ECU after (or so I'm told).  Problems/Roadblocks I first removed the part from the car on the underside of the transfer case (drain your transfer case fluid/ATF first, guess who found out that the hard way?), and noted the transfer case fluid was EXTREMELY black, most likely never changed on my car. When attempting to turn the gears it felt extremely gritty, as if something was binding the shaft from rotating properly. I got absolutely no voltage reading out of the sensor no matter how fast I turned the shaft. After having to reflow the solder on my AFM sensors based on another SAU guide here, I attempted to disassemble the silicone seal on the back of the sensor to see what happened inside the sensor; turns out, it basically disintegrated itself. Wonderful. Not only had the electrical components destroyed themselves, the magnetic portion on what I thought was on the shaft also chipped and was broken. Solution So solution: find a spare part right? Wrong. Nissan has long discontinued the proper sensor part number 32702-21U19, and it is no longer obtainable either through Nissan NSA or Nissan Japan. I was SOL without proper speed or mileage readings unless I figured out a way to replace this sensor. After tons of Googling and searching on SAU, I found that there IS however a sensor that looks almost exactly like the R33/260RS one: a sensor meant for the R33/R34 GTT and GTS-T with the 5 speed manual. The part number was 25010-21U00, and the body, plug, and shaft all looked exactly the same. The gear was different at the end, but knowing the sensor's gear is held on with a circlip, I figured I could just order the part and swap the gears. Cue me ordering a new part from JustJap down in Kirrawee, NSW, then waiting almost 3 weeks for shipping and customs clearing. The part finally arrives and what did I find? The freaking shaft lengths don't match. $&%* I discussed with Erik how to proceed, and figuring that I basically destroyed the sensor trying to get the shaft out of the damaged sensor from my car. we deemed it too dangerous to try and attempt to swap shafts to the correct length. I had to find a local CNC machinist to help me cut and notch down the shaft. After tons of frantic calling on a Friday afternoon, I managed to get hold of someone and he said he'd be able to do it over half a week. I sent him photos and had him take measurements to match not only the correct length and notch fitment, but also a groove to machine out to hold the retentive circlip. And the end result? *chef's kiss* Perfect. Since I didn't have pliers with me when I picked up the items, I tested the old gear and circlip on. Perfect fit. After that it was simply swapping out the plug bracket to the new sensor, mount it on the transfer case, refill with ATF/Nissan Matic Fluid D, then test out function. Thankfully with the rebuilt cluster and the new sensor, both the speedometer and odometer and now working properly!   And there you have it. About 5-6 weeks of headaches wrapped up in a 15 minute photo essay. As I was told it is rare for sensors of this generation to die so dramatically, but you never know what could go wrong with a 25+ year old car. I HOPE that no one else has to go through this problem like I did, so with my take on a solution I hope it helps others who may encounter this issue in the future. For the TL;DR: 1) Sensor breaks. 2) Find a replacement GTT/GTS-T sensor. 3) Find a CNC machinist to have you cut it down to proper specs. 4) Reinstall then pray to the JDM gods.   Hope this guide/story helps anyone else encountering this problem!
    • So this being my first contribution to the SAU forums, I'd like to present and show how I had to solve probably one of the most annoying fixes on any car I've owned: replacing a speedometer (or "speedo") sensor on my newly acquired Series 1 Stagea 260RS Autech Version. I'm simply documenting how I went about to fix this issue, and as I understand it is relatively rare to happen to this generation of cars, it is a gigantic PITA so I hope this helps serve as reference to anyone else who may encounter this issue. NOTE: Although I say this is meant for the 260RS, because the gearbox/drivetrain is shared with the R33 GTR with the 5-speed manual, the application should be exactly the same. Background So after driving my new-to-me Stagea for about 1500km, one night while driving home the speedometer and odometer suddenly stopped working. No clunking noise, no indication something was broken, the speedometer would just stop reading anything and the odometer stopped going up. This is a huge worry for me, because my car is relatively low mileage (only 45k km when purchased) so although I plan to own the car for a long time, a mismatched odometer reading would be hugely detrimental to resale should the day come to sell the car. Thankfully this only occurred a mile or two from home so it wasn't extremely significant. Also, the OCD part of me would be extremely irked if the numbers that showed on my dash doesn't match the actual ageing of the car. Diagnosing I had been in communication with the well renown GTR shop in the USA, U.P.garage up near University Point in Washington state. After some back and forth they said it could be one of two things: 1) The speedometer sensor that goes into the transfer case is broken 2) The actual cluster has a component that went kaput. They said this is common in older Nissan gauge clusters and that would indicate a rebuild is necessary. As I tried to figure out if it was problem #1, I resolved problem #2 by sending my cluster over to Relentless Motorsports in Dallas, TX, whom is local to me and does cluster and ECU rebuilds. He is a one man operation who meticulously replaces every chip, resistor, capacitor, and electronic component on the PCB's on a wide variety of classic and modern cars. His specialty is Lexus and Toyota, but he came highly recommended by Erik of U.P.garage since he does the rebuilds for them on GTR clusters.  For those that don't know, on R32 and R33 GTR gearboxes, the speedometer sensor is mounted in the transfer case and is purely an analog mini "generator" (opposite of an alternator essentially). Based on the speed the sensor spins it generates an AC sine wave voltage up to 5V, and sends that via two wires up to the cluster which then interprets it via the speedometer dial. The signal does NOT go to the ECU first, the wiring goes to the cluster first then the ECU after (or so I'm told).  Problems/Roadblocks I first removed the part from the car on the underside of the transfer case (drain your transfer case fluid/ATF first, guess who found out that the hard way?), and noted the transfer case fluid was EXTREMELY black, most likely never changed on my car. When attempting to turn the gears it felt extremely gritty, as if shttps://imgur.com/6TQCG3xomething was binding the shaft from rotating properly. After having to reflow the solder on my AFM sensors based on another SAU guide here, I attempted to disassemble the silicone seal on the back of the sensor to see what happened inside the sensor; turns out, it basically disintegrated itself. Wonderful. Not only had the electrical components destroyed themselves, the magnetic portion on what I thought was on the shaft also chipped and was broken. Solution So solution: find a spare part right? Wrong. Nissan has long discontinued the proper sensor part number 32702-21U19, and it is no longer obtainable either through Nissan NSA or Nissan Japan. I was SOL without proper speed or mileage readings unless I figured out a way to replace this sensor. After tons of Googling and searching on SAU, I found that there IS however a sensor that looks almost exactly like the R33/260RS one: a sensor meant for the R33/R34 GTT and GTS-T with the 5 speed manual. The part number was 25010-21U00, and the body, plug, and shaft all looked exactly the same. The gear was different at the end, but knowing the sensor's gear is held on with a circlip, I figured I could just order the part and swap the gears. Cue me ordering a new part from JustJap down in Kirrawee, NSW, then waiting almost 3 weeks for shipping and customs clearing. The part finally arrives and what did I find? The freaking shaft lengths don't match. $&%* I discussed with Erik how to proceed, and figuring that I basically destroyed the sensor trying to get the shaft out of the damaged sensor from my car. we deemed it too dangerous to try and attempt to swap shafts to the correct length. I had to find a local CNC machinist to help me cut and notch down the shaft. After tons of frantic calling on a Friday afternoon, I managed to get hold of someone and he said he'd be able to do it over half a week. I sent him photos and had him take measurements to match not only the correct length and notch fitment, but also a groove to machine out to hold the retentive circlip. And the end result? *chef's kiss* Perfect. Since I didn't have pliers with me when I picked up the items, I tested the old gear and circlip on. Perfect fit. After that it was simply swapping out the plug bracket to the new sensor, mount it on the transfer case, refill with ATF/Nissan Matic Fluid D, then test out function. Thankfully with the rebuilt cluster and the new sensor, both the speedometer and odometer and now working properly!   And there you have it. About 5-6 weeks of headaches wrapped up in a 15 minute photo essay. As I was told it is rare for sensors of this generation to die so dramatically, but you never know what could go wrong with a 25+ year old car. I HOPE that no one else has to go through this problem like I did, so with my take on a solution I hope it helps others who may encounter this issue in the future. For the TL;DR: 1) Sensor breaks. 2) Find a replacement GTT/GTS-T sensor. 3) Find a CNC machinist to have you cut it down to proper specs. 4) Reinstall then pray to the JDM gods.   Hope this guide/story helps anyone else encountering this problem!
×
×
  • Create New...