I just bought a 04 mazda3 2.3L last month and this is my first post. I also just received an HID kit from DDMTuning and as i attempted to install them I realized my stock headlights aren't halogens. So I have a few concerns and i searched the archives and have yet to find anything useful, unless im usin the wrong keywords.

I intend to return the DDM hid kit, but i want brighter headlights and prefer a bit of a blue tint, (bought 8000k 55W).
What is stock ballast? 35W or 55W?
if they are 55 can i just purchase 8000k bulbs?

if they are 35w, would i need to purchase a whole new kit to get the output of a 8000k 55W bulb? Or can i just purchase the bulb itself?

My second concern is, how the hell do i remove the bulb?
As i attempted to remove it, the cover said "do not remove" and something along the lines of deadly electrocution? Should i ignore that and proceed or what precaution should i take aside from the obvious (removing the neg batt. terminal)

I truly appreciate ANY help. Id love to figure out what i should do asap since i have to exchange these HIDs to ddm.
Thanks

 

well... i found steps regarding removal @ another forum...
Walkthrough....How to replace stock OEM D2S Xenon HID bulbs
Do you really have to remove the entire headlamp to replace a bulb?!


so i guess that leaves behind my initial questions... if any one can help me out

 

Wow, I wish I accidentally found out I had OEM HIDs. lol

The OEM HIDs are 35w ~4,100k lamps. 4,100-4,300 provide the brightest and most usable light. Anything above that moves towards the blue end of the spectrum. The higher output of 55w lamps tend to wash out that effect somewhat, so a 8,000k 55w will look akin to a 6,000 35w.

As far as brightness you can replace the OEM ballast with a 55w ballast if you want. You can either buy a set of 55w ballasts or you can keep your 55w kit, get 55w D2S lamps and then get a different harness that will connect to the D2S lamps (since your kit came with a H7 harness.

Before messing with that though I'm going to suggest something else. If you replace the lens on your projectors with a clear lens (I realize the stock lens looks clear but it's actually frosted) and space the lens from the shield then you'll get better output and lots of that pretty blue along the cutoff. That way you can stick with the highest lumen output color temp. and get that pretty blue cutoff that you see on higher end cars. Yes that involves removing the headlamps, opening the lights and putting in new lenses...... it's really not that hard.

As far as lamps go if you really want to get the best brightest light I recommend looking for Phillips 85112+ D2S lamps. They're arguably the best lamps available.

To answer your other question, yes it is possible to replace the lamps without removing the bumper and the housings, however there's so little space to work with that it can actually be easier to just remove the bumper cover. Doing so takes less than 10 minutes so it's not that much of a chore and can save a great deal of frustration.

If you want to learn more about HIDs, modifications, etc. then I'm happy to help. I also recommend spending some time looking around HiDplanet : The Official Automotive Lighting Forum - The Buzz.

 

So just to give you an idea here's OEM HID's with a clear lens and the reflector bowl spaced by washers.

 

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!! Lol thank you for the advice. So with your suggestions looks like im gonna exchange the h7 hid kit for an h11 kit for the fog lights. I searched for that lens swap writeup and came across MS3 Clear Lens Retrofit (Pics!!!)
Was that what you were referring to? Seems like I'll be doing some baking.
Also I searched for that d2s bulb and amazon had it for 146 a pair !! Please tell me I can get them cheaper elsewhere. Thanks again this was absolutely helpful.

And here I thought I'd be doing an easy 20min headlight job...

 

I personally wouldn't worry about doing a HID kit in the fog lights. You'll get more bang for your buck improving the stock HID set up than you will through the fogs, plus the fogs are reflector housings and will give lots of glare to other drivers. If you're driving out in the country a lot then they could definitely be more useful, but if you're cities a bunch then less so. Installing in the fogs may also require you to remove the silver shield inside the fog lamp in order for the HID lamp to seat in the housing. Just FYI.

That's not the exact thread I was referring to, but it's a pretty good one none the less. The one I was referencing was THIS

There are indeed cheaper places to get D2S lamps, though certainly not as cheap as normal halogens. The Retrofit Source online: headlight upgrades for all applications sells Phillips 85122+ D2S lamps for about $95/pair D2S: Philips 85122+ - HID Bulbs from The Retrofit Source Inc