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What's involved in switching DRLs to brighter-whiter light?
First, I don't know how many girls read these forums, but I love cars, especially my Z, and I completely love reading this stuff...blown away by some of the mods that've been done. Amazing!
So mine is simple, I hope! I'd just like to switch DRLs on my Z to a whiter bulb. I've read thru all threads I could find here. But those were all from a year or more ago. So my questions are:
If anyone has made this change, how has the result been? Any issues? Or better leaving as original?
If it has been a success, what instructions do I need to tell my mechanic?
From the forums I've read, there's more to it than switching out a bulb. I have used the same shop for years - they only work on Honda/Acura, and these guys are great...but I also know mine is the only Z they've worked on. They installed my LED running boards, mud flaps and a few other things - did a great job. But since this is modifying from the original, I'd like to have as much info as possible.
Any advice/info is appreciated!!
Buy brighter drl light bulbs do it yourself. Just left the hood and do it like I did. I never did this before no tech needed on the zdx. Start on the pass side easier ( do touch the bulb with hands use glove) driver must unscrew a black heat battery shield. Really easy!!!!! I made my zdx look just like the prototype zdx. Blues drls and leds on the grille. I love my zdx advance and my Rl. Two great acuras
Attempt to copy the prototype of the zdx. I like the results looks great on the black pearl zdx advance.
Wow! That Really looks great! I'd love to do the grill too. I'm gonna take your advice and see if I can do the DRLs myself. Got a message back from Sandro - he too says it's pretty much plug & play. Growning up I used to help my Dad work on cars, so why stop now! Thanks C!! Wish me luck!
Update - I did it!! Sort of went thru more than necessary, because I was worried about doing this myself. Auto store guy offered to replace bulbs for me. Soon became worried. He just dug in with lots of gusto but little care, changed bulbs, but also snapped pin that holds the battery cover. I was thankful to leave and check this out myself.
Well... the lights did not appear the same - not installed properly, ugh! So I went for it. I live in a townhouse, my garage was too suffocating (hot hot hot here!), so I drove to a shady spot, adorned latex gloves & opened the hood. Know neighbors were wondering, What's that girl doing to that car! I removed engine & battery covers - laid them out on sidewalk, detached wiper fluid reservoir and scoped out the problem - bulbs not inserted & locked into place properly. I corrected the problem, reinstalled all covers etc, and lights look great!
The advantage of having auto store guy try it first was to know exactly where & which bulb I was dealing with but in hind site could have figured out myself. How the heck he even got to them without removing the front engine cover & seeing them, I have no idea. The take-away: no big surprise, if you want something done right, do it yourself - Follow The Manual! Remove what's needed to get a visual.
The brighter-whiter DRLs look SO much better! (Now I just need replacement pins fro the battery cover - oh well....)
Congrats, gives me the confidence I could do it without screwing things up
What bulbs did you end up going with? I thought I recalled the OEM specs are 60W but many of the whiter and other aftermarket lights are 65W and I wondered if that would throw any codes/errors?
You can definitely do it! From what I've gathered LEDS are a little more involved, but these are plug & play - no errors. I went with these...tho the bulb appears blue, the output isn't. They are a bright, white-white. Much better than the original warm white, IMO.
SilverStar® zXe
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Thanks, will definitely add them to my upgrade list! It'll be interesting to see how long they last compared to the OEM DRL bulbs.
Sylvania ZXE is rated at 200 hours, so if you’re driving for an hour a day that will get you roughly 6.5 months. Not really a good ROI (return on investment). I’m not singling out Sylvania as the other manufactures don’t come in that much better.
Has anyone installed the LED version of the 9006 DRL?
> Has anyone installed the LED version of the 9006 DRL?
Yes - I installed the JDM astar 6th Generation 9006 LED Headlight
kit (bought from Amazon) with no issues (they have been installed for 4 months). Plug and play, no errors.
I'm actually in the middle of doing this myself. I bought some lights off Ebay for the DRL and the Fog Lights. Also bought 6000K replacement head lamp lights as well. But finding out the light I got for the DRL are incorrect? I bought H11 80 W high power lights for fog AND DRL. Apparantly it won't work for the DRL
What's the recro on the DRL light to purchase? And I wonder if the h11's I got will work on the fog lights or not. I want the fog's and DRL to have the white look, no more yellow. And the 4000K stock has got to go..not bright enough at all. My previous TL I went to 6000K and best thing I did for that car's bad lighting.
I'm actually in the middle of doing this myself. I bought some lights off Ebay for the DRL and the Fog Lights. Also bought 6000K replacement head lamp lights as well. But finding out the light I got for the DRL are incorrect? I bought H11 80 W high power lights for fog AND DRL. Apparantly it won't work for the DRL
What's the recro on the DRL light to purchase? And I wonder if the h11's I got will work on the fog lights or not. I want the fog's and DRL to have the white look, no more yellow. And the 4000K stock has got to go..not bright enough at all. My previous TL I went to 6000K and best thing I did for that car's bad lighting.
I just ordered a bunch of LED bulbs and will update after I install them. The H11s are the right answer for your fog lights. Bulb #9005 is the correct one for the DRL/high beam, but lots of people modify 9006s to fit.
Put in new DRL 9005 60W LED 8000K lights today, and it was pretty easy, but I am throwing a code, because the car thinks the bulbs are burnt out.
Guess I'll need to install a couple of load resistors or go back to a halogen bulb.
I love the color with the Grey Z though...
WOAH! can Not believe it's been a year & a half since I posted/put in my new lights!! Crazy. And, gosh I hope I'm not jinxing myself! But they're still doing great, Yay! Saw someone asked for pics- so sorry I fell off the ZDX Planet for a while. Well it's like reeeeally late, but will post pics soon. Maybe it will help someone decide whatever.
Yeah, haven't been on here in a long time- came back to look around at rear spoiler posts.....pretty much added all accessories I like, except....maybe, big maybe, the larger, paint-colored spoiler... in my case aspen white pearl. Just thinkin'.....
It looks like those 9005’s would be the ones, BUT you’ll most likely need the decoder wire setup..LED use a lot less voltage and unfortunately you’ll need that resistor to draw the addition voltage, or else it will throw a code thinking the bulb is out..I would touch base with iJDM to make sure you get what you need.
08-02-2015, 01:34 PM
Much better than the original warm white, IMO.
