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If you are interested in professional Umnitza installation, I offer a mail based install service for $189. This charge includes labor for installing the Umnitza rings and free return shipping within the continental United States via USPS, delivery confirmation and insurance included. To help keep both sides honest, I request half of the payment upfront via Paypal and the remainder when the job is complete after you have had a chance to inspect the work and confirm everything looks great.
the details:
1. You ship the headlights and the Umnitza kit along with advance payment for half of the total due via Paypal.
2. When I receive the shipment, I contact you via email to confirm receipt, perform the install, and send the completed headlights back to you within 2 days of receipt (so if I get the headlights by Tuesday, I guarantee they'll be completed and shipped back out no later than Thursday evening.)
3. When you receive the completed headlights back and confirm everything looks great and is working properly, you send payment for the second half of the balance via Paypal.
Options:
- Custom fabricated clear blinker - $49. This price includes all necessary materials, fabrication, and installation.
References available upon request. My screenname on Maxima.org is housecor. I am well known on the 5th Gen forum of Maxima.org so feel free to ask around.
** Please feel free to contact me
for details.**
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HOW
TO INSTALL UMNITZA PREDATOR THINLINE ANGEL EYES (FORMERLY CALLED DDE LIGHTNING)
Pictures simply don't do this lighting justice. Umnitza has a great
product here that mimics the angel eye look found on select BMW's,
and in my opinion, clearly surpasses it. The DDE's are ultra bright, very
white, and an excellent compliment to the factory Maxima HIDs.
Umnitza provides a great how-to on CD-ROM when you purchase the
DDE's, but this how-to is helpful as a preview & supplement
to the process. I performed this install multiple times and learned
a few lessons along the way, so I've thrown in many of my own tips.
PLEASE NOTE: If you had the Nissan HID Anti-theft kit
installed, the process for removing the headlights is much more
involved and NOT outlined below. If your Max has the datadots
install you likely have the HID anti-theft kit as well. DataDot stickers are placed on the front windows and
possibly the headlights when the kit is installed. The additional bracketing itself isn't
easily visible so these stickers are the easiest indication. If
you're not in the NY area your car likely doesn't have this kit.
Sorry, to avoid abuse, I can't provide any information on removing
the kit.
tools:
- Oven
- Cookie sheet
- Small flathead screwdriver
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Did this help you out? Feel free to throw us a bone to help keep housecor's how-to's hosted!
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Torx bit (on some models) - otherwise a 10mm socket
- Socket Wrench
- Old towels
- 90-second epoxy
- Channel locks
- Scissors
- Toothpicks or Cotton swabs
- Rubbing alcohol
- Electrical tape
For optional hardwiring (highly recommended):
- Heat-shrink tubing (optional) - Available @ Radioshack:
- Heat gun, lighter or matches
- Wire strippers
- Soldering Iron
- Solder
To wire the DDE's as defeatable daytime running lights:
- SPDT switch (single pole dual throw)
- Around 25 feet of 22 gauge (or thicker) wire
- Heat-shrink tubing - Available @ Radioshack
- Heat gun, lighter, or matches
- 3 slide connectors
- Drill
- Drill bits
- Wire strippers
- Crimper (typically part of wire stripper)
- Hanger
- Electrical tape
INSTRUCTIONS:
| 1. |
The kit:
Test all of the rings in your kit. Take the ballast (the black
rectangular box) and connect it's wires to two of the rings.
Then connect the red wire to the positive terminal on your battery
and the brown wire to bare metal. The rings should light up.
WARNING: When the ballast is connected to power, do NOT
touch the brown and red wires together! This will blow your
ballast. This warning
is straight from Matt at Umnitza. |
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| 2. |
Remove two bolts on top of the headlight (may be torx in some).
Carefully pull headlight out. Pressure tabs will release. It
takes surprising amount of pressure to pull the headlight out
so don't be afraid to pull. Take care not to scratch the fender
with the metal mounting pin.
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| 3. |
Remove the following from the headlight unit:
- All bulbs
- The ballast. The ballast has the yellow and orange sticker
in the picture below. It is attached with 3 screws.
- Three small screws that secure the clear housing on the front.
Everything else, including the remaining wiring, will be fine
in the oven.
To remove the HID bulb, rotate the plastic cover counterclockwise.
Then squeeze the 2 metal pins toward each other. Take care not
to touch the bulb!
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| 4. |
Wrap the headlight in an old towel and bake the headlight
in oven on cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes at 200 - 250 degrees.
The towel is a good idea to assure no part of the housing
is directly touching the cookie sheet. Don't let this part
scare you. As long as you follow baking instructions you have
nothing to worry about.
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| 5. |
Remove headlight from oven with old towels (will be very hot) |
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| 6. |
At this time you can also clear
the blinker if you prefer |
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| 7. |
Use toothpicks or cotton swab to attach ring to the headlight
with the small amounts of 90-second epoxy. Be careful - the
rings are very fragile. Take care not to twist and bend them
too much. The spots to epoxy are circled in red.
After holding these points for around 2 minutes and the ring
should be bonded like cement:
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| 8. |
Route wires for the rings out the back of the headlight. Take
care not to pull the wires |
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| 9. |
Reassemble headlight as best you can and return headlight
to oven |
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| 10. |
Bake for 15-20 minutes at 200 - 250 degrees |
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| 11. |
Remove from oven with old towels (careful - it will be very
hot) |
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| 12. |
Use channel locks to assure a tight seal. Go around the entire
headlight squeezing it back together tightly while the housing
is still hot. Take care not to scar the plastic - it's easy
to do when it's hot. Using this process will assure a proper
seal. No additional sealant is necessary since the factory sealant
is reused.
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| 13. |
Connect power wire (with fuse removed) to positive terminal
on battery (circled in red), ground
wire securely to bare metal (circled in orange),
and relay to battery tie down (circled in yellow).
Be sure to scrape the paint off underneath the air box screw
so the ground is attached to bare metal. Any spot where the
ground can be attached to bare metal will do, so feel free to
look around for alternative locations.
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| 14. |
Decision time. Connect the red
trigger wire to a switched power source. There are three options:
- Use the provided quick splice: Splice the
red into the green wire with white stripe on the parking light
or the red wire with the yellow stripe on the headlight connector.
Wired this way, the DDE's will come on when the parking lights
or headlights are turned on.
- Wire the DDE's to a switched 12V source.
Wired this way, the DDE's will be on whenever the car is on.
Instructions here.
- Wire the DDE's to a switch. This can allow
you the best of both worlds: When the switch is "on"
the DDE's come on whenever the car is on. When the switch is
"off", the DDE's come on whenever the parking lights
or headlights are on. This is the setup I chose. Instructions
here.
Quick Splice:
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Spliced into red wire with yellow stripe
on headlight clip:
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| 15. |
Mount ballast for DDE's near the headlights. One good option
is the back of the headlight ballast. There aren't many other
good options since the wiring is so short. Be sure to clean
area thoroughly with alcohol before attaching the ballast to
assure a good bond.
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| 16. |
Time to connect the rings to the ballast. This means there's
another decision to make:
- Use the provided connectors. I (and others)
had problems with the connections coming loose over time. Therefore,
I don't recommend using the provided connectors. If you choose
this option, make sure the small points on the connectors are
oriented on the same side as the points on top of the black
connector. See pic for proper orientation:
- Hard wire the rings to the ballast. Because
I had problems with the connectors coming loose, I decided to
hard wire the rings. This is pretty simple. Just cut the connectors
off, slip heat shrink tubing over the wire, solder the wires
together, slide heat shrink tubing over the connection, and
shrink the tubing over the connection with a heat gun, lighter,
or match. The result:
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| 17. |
I also had a problem with the cap over the HID bulb rubbing
through the insulation on one of my wires. To avoid this, I
highly recommend either wrapping the wires in electrical tape
to provide extra protection or drilling a hole under the dust
cap and rerouting the wires the cap. I chose the latter. If
you chose the electrical tape route, the cap will be hard to
get back on with the electrical tape wrapped around the wires,
but it can be done. Make sure the wires aren't tugged on as
the cap is tightened - try to hold them in the same place as
you twist the cap.
The wire that was damaged by the cap rubbing through the insulation:
The added protection with the electrical tape:
The alternative method I highly recommend is rerouting the wires
by drilling a hole under the dust cap:
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| 18. |
Reinstall headlight. Make sure to repress the headlight firmly
to assure all pressure tabs are connected. |
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| 19. |
Use the black ties (included) to secure the wiring as you
route the wires through the engine compartment. |
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| 20. |
Insert fuse and leave the parking lights out overnight to
allow the hot air in the lights to escape. |
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| 21. |
Enjoy.
For more pics of the finished product, go here. |
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