Nissan v36 headlight bulb replacement

[MFC05]

Hi fellow memebers,

My v36 driver side headlight is not working.

I am assuming it or the bulbs, anyone one what type of bulbs and offer any suggestions to change it? 
 

 

Edited March 29, 2023 by MFC05

[Duncan]

There was a recent discussion here 

, but I'm not sure that confirmed it was D2S. If it is not written on the housing you might have to pull the bulb to check.

As for changing it, I am not sure, but other nissans of the era you need to remove the front wheel and get to the back of the light via the wheel arch.

[Vee37]

I have been wanting top update my current headlights. They are probably the originals and although working, I dont think they are as bright as they could be. One thing I have used to investigate which to buy and possible upgrades, is that sites like Supercheap and Repco (I havent checked AutoBann) have a "My Garage" which lets you set your vehicle and then shop what fits

[niZmO_Man]

except, you could have aftermarket headlights, which are generally H1 halogen with crappy projectors. Or a variety of other options.

The bulb types will be labelled on the top of the housing somewhere.

[GTSBoy]

Or you pull a bulb out and have a geez. Play "what does it look like?"

[niZmO_Man]

but that's more fun

nek minnit: "what's a D2H?"

[steV36]

I have replaced my headlight globes on my 2007 V36 sedan. They were d2s bulbs. I was able to access them by taking off the wheel & partially removing the fender liner but it was tight. I installed Osram cbb. They were a great upgrade over my stock lights

[Vee37]

1 hour ago, steV36 said:

I have replaced my headlight globes on my 2007 V36 sedan. They were d2s bulbs. I was able to access them by taking off the wheel & partially removing the fender liner but it was tight. I installed Osram cbb. They were a great upgrade over my stock lights

Brilliant! now I have a reason and a hint of what to look for, for an upgrade! Thanks! i was hesitating because I was worried an upgrade would not get me the results I hoped for. I also did a search off your post👍, and I then found this comparison on youtube.

I tried looking on phillips website, and the "found" bulbs to fit my car, but when I clicked on "show detail" it went npo where. So thats a no thanks.

The CBB sounds and looks like a good upgrade. But I might also checkout the "Night Breakers"

[niZmO_Man]

No point buying $250 bulbs if your projector bowls are burnt

But if they were, you'd have useless headlights, so throwing new bulbs in after 5 years or so is a good idea.

Check out powerbulbs website, they ship from UK but I found them to be good over the years. Takes about 1 week to get to Aus.

[Vee37]

37 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

No point buying $250 bulbs if your projector bowls are burnt

But if they were, you'd have useless headlights, so throwing new bulbs in after 5 years or so is a good idea.

Check out powerbulbs website, they ship from UK but I found them to be good over the years. Takes about 1 week to get to Aus.

The powerbulbs website also do not specifically allow Nissan Skyline matches; you have to look for an Infinity G37. Are the globes the same on the G37 and its only the reflectors that push the beam in the correct pattern for left/right hand drive?

Regarding the $250, they sell the Philips bulb which topped the review in the video i posted above. Whoops. either posted the wrong vid, or saw it after I posted. Its queued up at the results, so hit pause as it starts. The Phillips is considerabl;e cheaper than the OSRAMs.

 

[Vee37]

watched some more headlight5 vids. And even though a yelow light is better in the rain & snow, the blue light just has a better feel.

,

[GTSBoy]

16 hours ago, Vee37 said:

And even though a yelow light is better in the rain & snow, the blue light just has a better feel.

Yeah, nah.

Very blue/white light has pretty poor contrast compared to something a bit more yellow. The loss of detail in shadows and poor colour reproduction are significant problems for actual visibility, which is what matters.

[Vee37]

5 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Yeah, nah.

Very blue/white light has pretty poor contrast compared to something a bit more yellow. The loss of detail in shadows and poor colour reproduction are significant problems for actual visibility, which is what matters.

I know the details and benefits of the yellow, and I know "driving glasses" normally have yellow lenses, but I personally think the blue light just "looks" cleaner in video examples. The bonus, is that the yellow Phillips is cheaper, and measured as brighter.

[niZmO_Man]

On 06/04/2023 at 8:49 PM, Vee37 said:

The powerbulbs website also do not specifically allow Nissan Skyline matches

who cares

 

1. figure you what bulb your headlights take, i.e. go look
2. go buy that bulb from powerbulb
3. install into headlights

[Vee37]

Just an FYI, I've just bought these bulbs.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/osram-xenarc-cool-blue-intense-next-gen-d2s-twin

I went with the bluer lights, as when I saw the youtube clips, although the yellow is suppose to be better for driving, to me it looked like a Ye-olde Sepia photo. I think the blue looks more modern and is in line with the LED lights installed on high end cars of today. 

If they are as bright as all that, I am thinking of maybe putting on a very slight tint to the headlights (within the legal limits), on my black car.

The "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense D2S (Twin)" @ $119.49 are out of stock. When I asked when they would get them in stock, they told me they are no longer in production and referred me to "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Boost D2S (Twin)" Which are stated as not being road legal! be careful.

I got a quick estimate from my mechanics of around $110 to install. Based on an hourly rate & time estimate.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Vee37

[joshuaho96]

2 hours ago, Vee37 said:

Just an FYI, I've just bought these bulbs.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/osram-xenarc-cool-blue-intense-next-gen-d2s-twin

I went with the bluer lights, as when I saw the youtube clips, although the yellow is suppose to be better for driving, to me it looked like a Ye-olde Sepia photo. I think the blue looks more modern and is in line with the LED lights installed on high end cars of today. 

If they are as bright as all that, I am thinking of maybe putting on a very slight tint to the headlights (within the legal limits), on my black car.

The "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense D2S (Twin)" @ $119.49 are out of stock. When I asked when they would get them in stock, they told me they are no longer in production and referred me to "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Boost D2S (Twin)" Which are stated as not being road legal! be careful.

I got a quick estimate from my mechanics of around $110 to install. Based on an hourly rate & time estimate.

Pretty sure there are actual measures for this stuff instead of just feelings. CRI, lumens, white point, etc. Your bulb choice is probably fine but it may give up some brightness relative to HID bulbs that target maybe 5000k. 

[Vee37]

Just now, joshuaho96 said:

Pretty sure there are actual measures for this stuff instead of just feelings. CRI, lumens, white point, etc. Your bulb choice is probably fine but it may give up some brightness relative to HID bulbs that target maybe 5000k. 

Yeah, I come from, an engineering/science/IT background, so looked at the tech info, as much as could be with their mix of advertising & technical statements, that were different measurements between products (in the vid below, he even catches them, contradicting themselves). Including reviews where people physically tested the outputted LUX see vid below. And the surprise readings from the OSRAM Classic in the vid below shows how the stats are not totally indicatory. I think the choice was in the low 4000 or in the 6000's and there isn't a sliding scale, its individual products as sold. ie Your choice is what they make. I also have a vague memory of something I read, that the manufacturers can make the higher kelvins brighter for less.

If I had gone for another one ("Laser" which was my primary choice a few days ago), the LUX would be higher, but the yellow wasn't looking good for me. The one I got was only a 7% less LUX reading. ie indiscernible by the human eye. I went blue.

Now the real upgrade is going to be between what I have now and the new bulbs, as thats what I have paid money for. For that comparison I expect... ermmm... well .... a day & night difference😉I am guessing my bulbs are orig and have faded over 15ys, on top of being lower base models fitted at the factory. The colour change is also going to be a nice modernisation.

This video was one of the last I watched. It was interesting to see that one of the strongest outputs was from a basic model (OSRAM Classic). Which I also think was the one offered to me today when I checked what my mechanic could do. But just too yellow.

The colour doesn't show so much (between the higher kelvin ones) in this video, but when people drive around with different globes in youtube, the lower kelvin globes really look like sepia photographs in comparison.

[niZmO_Man]

The Cool Blue Intense (CBI) are basically the best all rounder you get. It's definitely bluer than OE, but not OE LED blue. I ran one in one of my retrofits, highly recommend. Don't worry about the "up to" colour claim, they'll be around the 5,000K mark.

Sadly there weren't any in D4S for my missus' car, I got Cool Blue Boost (CBB) instead, which is a tad bluer for that OE LED look. Works better than Osram standards (I don't know why Osram is so poor, I had no issues with Philips standards), but I'd be happier with CBI.

tl;dr- CBI is excellent. You'll be happy with them (unless your bowls are burnt lol).

Also, have you tried taking out the bulb yourself? If you can't reach from under the bonnet, you should be able to via the front guard liners (there might even be a flap for easy access).

[Vee37]

52 minutes ago, niZmO_Man said:

The Cool Blue Intense (CBI) are basically the best all rounder you get. It's definitely bluer than OE, but not OE LED blue. I ran one in one of my retrofits, highly recommend. Don't worry about the "up to" colour claim, they'll be around the 5,000K mark.

Sadly there weren't any in D4S for my missus' car, I got Cool Blue Boost (CBB) instead, which is a tad bluer for that OE LED look. Works better than Osram standards (I don't know why Osram is so poor, I had no issues with Philips standards), but I'd be happier with CBI.

tl;dr- CBI is excellent. You'll be happy with them (unless your bowls are burnt lol).

Also, have you tried taking out the bulb yourself? If you can't reach from under the bonnet, you should be able to via the front guard liners (there might even be a flap for easy access).

I went with the "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Intense Next Gen D2S (Twin)", and they just arrived at Sydney Airport this morning. The previous gen are no longer manufactured.  Powerbulbs shipped them promptly, but it sat with RoyalMail at a UK airport for 5 days!

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/osram-xenarc-cool-blue-intense-next-gen-d2s-twin

As for colour (ie Kelvin), I know they are going to be a major step up from the current yellow of the stock, and most probably faded bulbs. The exact numerical Kelvin is not of a concern, its how they appear, and all the YT vids look even "cleaner" than new Phillips Xtreme Visions @ 4800K.

I did not go the "OSRAM Xenarc Cool Blue Boost D2S (Twin)" as it had the text "Not Road Legal" in the description.

I watched some YT on LED replacements, and it appeared to be a bit of a lucky dip. I did find some D2S LED replacement bulbs, but I wasn't going to be the test pilot.

Not too eager to look/replace myself, as I live in the city, with a tiny garage (car only just fits and only one car door can be opened and its still a contortion act to get in), no room for tools or work, and to be honest, lazy.

 

PS: Probably too late, bur there are CBI Next Gen in D4S

https://www.powerbulbs.com/au/product/osram-xenarc-cool-blue-intense-next-gen-d4s-twin

Edited May 4, 2023 by Vee37

[niZmO_Man]

Ah yep lack of space sucks. You could try in a car park with a jack + maybe 8mm and/or 10mm box spanner lol.

I wouldn't be surprised if the CBIs are just the old stuff re-branded as "next gen" (original CBI is like a decade old now).

Try to take a comparison pic of old and new bulb if you can, would be interesting to see the difference.

Oh don't bother with those crappy LED bulbs, no amount of Chinese lumens can overcome physics.