Hey,

So upon being heavily inspired by the dude on this forum who recently installed aftermarket "blue/white" reverse lights, I decided to do the same. Installation was decent...if you have the right tools then go for it...doesn't take skillz (because I don't have any), just takes the right tools (borrowed from my dad). The bulbs I purchased are PIAA Xtreme White W2 bulbs. I purchased them from Import Performance Warehouse...shipping was actually impressively fast, here is the link:
http://www.importperformancewarehous...l?v=1&pid=1769
Anyways, below are some pics. The first two pics are comparing the stock reverse bulb to the PIAA bulb (stock on left, PIAA on right), one pic in the light and one pic in the dark. The next two pics are showing both PIAA reverse bulbs installed and basically the final outcome of how the look, one pic in the light and one pic in the dark. I do not know how lighting performance compares to stock reverse bulbs as I have not yet had the chance to test them, but they LOOK brighter than the stock bulbs (although the PIAA's do utilize stock wattage/voltage so I am still skeptical).
Feel free to ask me any questions about installation and/or the results...PM me or post them here, I'll try to get back to everyone (assuming people actually care, heh).






P.S. Sorry for such a dirty G, it was raining mad hard today in NJ/NY. =(

MrElussive
03 G35C 6MT<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by MrElussive on 02/03/04 04:37 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

Price is not the issue...they were only $17 shipped from IPW. I'm still not sure if it was worth the installation effort. I'm gonna go drive around in reverse right now and let you guys know.

MrElussive
03 G35C 6MT

 

Nah, I don't think you'll have a problem. You're really not in reverse for that long and the color isn't noticeably illegal (or that much different from stock, for that matter). Anyways, I just drove around in reverse for a while and I wasn't really impressed. I noticed the illumination was more blue/white but I can't really say that the PIAA's were brighter...if the PIAA's are brighter, I couldn't notice it, and at the same time, stock might have in fact, been brighter. Overall I don't think this project was really that worth it. As I said before, the color isn't that much different (definitely doesn't look as cool as the pictures show) and more importantly, I didn't notice any significant difference in illumination. What a waste of time. =(

MrElussive
03 G35C 6MT

 

dabomb, I did not change my strips. My only light modifications are the Philips Vision Plus H4 bulbs for my fog lights (stock fog light color, they just illuminate the road very well), and now these PIAA Xtreme bulbs for my reverse lights. The tools I used are: flat-heat screwdriver, flashlight, small 8mm wrench, plyers, and maybe other tools I can't think of right now but I think that pretty much covers it. The whole process took me about a couple of hours...it took me a really long time to figure out everything I had to remove to access the back of those tail lights. Once I figured it all out, it was much easier to put everything back in. It's also all about the right tools. I highly recommend a socket wrench (8mm socket) to remove the screws, but make sure it's I think what is called a "deep well socket". Regular socket won't reach over the screw that sticks out. If you need more info, PM me and I can walk you through it...there is also a quick DIY in the FAQ/DIY section of G35Driver.com towards the bottom of the list...it really helped me out!

MrElussive
03 G35C 6MT

 

cryhavok, you're exactly right. The bulbs are tinted blue and it actually takes away light...I wish I knew they were blue-tinted bulbs but I didn't even pay attention when I was ordering. My main goal was to achieve brighter rear illumination, and the blue reverse lights' "cool factor" was just a minor plus. moog (on this forum) posted pics of his Coupe with the Polarg bulbs installed and somebody else on this forum suggested the PIAA Xtreme White bulbs as an alternative and claimed that they were much brighter than stock. So I took that person's word and purchased the bulbs, hoping for better illumination. Although I was not impressed at all with the illumination of the PIAA bulbs, they did not seem to "hurt" the lighting in any way from when I was testing the bulbs out by driving in my driveway and on the dead end of my street in reverse. The stock bulbs may be brighter (I'm really not sure, honestly), but the PIAA's definitely look much better.

MrElussive
03 G35C 6MT