alecwatersmusic

Hi all,

Because I'm a semi-recent first car buyer and gearhead, I was very scared to start modding my car especially when it comes to wiring. After buying my headlights and resistors, I waited weeks to do research before actually going in to switch out my turn signal lights doing loads of research with only scattered pieces to try and put together. I wanted to make this in case for the future anyone else wants to install LED headlights for their sedan. This thread explains how to both replace your turn signal lights as well as what the manual describes as the "side marker lights" which will be shown in pictures.

Some fun facts about this procedure:

• Switchback LED lights function as turn signals, except only turn the orange/amber color when you actually active your turn signals or hazard lights. The rest of the time they will glow a beautiful white, and make a great fix if you don't like the constant yellow from your sedan's headlights. Picture of mine below. The stock bulb is a 7444NA, whereas these are 7443 which fit perfectly.
• YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE YOUR BUMPER. Reason I say this is that you will find out pretty quick you can't get to your headlights like you normally can on most cars just from popping the hood. I saw a mix of people getting their housings out by removing the entire bumper, and while it may be easier to do the actual wiring this is not necessary and will almost certainly cause more stress for you (when I put mine back together, I had to go to Infiniti because the hood wouldn't pop back up).

7443 LED Switchback out of box from superbrightleds.com
STEP 1: Buy 7443 LED switchback headlights and 6Ω resistors.

• What are resistors? I don't know, read this. But TL;DR because LED headlights actually use energy than the stock halogen bulbs the car will actually think your new lights are defective because the voltage does not match what it is programmed for, resulting in "hyperflashing" or a largely faster blinking when you activate your turn signal. It isn't the end of the world, but I can tell you it is as annoying as people say it is. Resistors trick your car into thinking the voltage is a match and will prevent hyperflashing.

STEP 2: Remove your front tire of choice.

• Jack your car up on whatever side you'd rather start with and remove the tire. I've seen this as a recommendation especially for people who need to get into the splash cover, and after trying without it I can tell you that you will be saving a lot of time if you remove the tire entirely first.

STEP 3: Remove the splash cover.

• Niclacoste's YouTube channel gives a great example of how to get at the splash cover and its clips
  , however he only turns the tire in since he needs less space for the projector lights. He doesn't show how to actually remove the clips, however - for the hope that you won't break as many as I did my first time all you need to do is have a flathead screwdriver ready, lift the head of the clip up so it is not pressed into the plastic washer, and pull the whole clip out. Do not pry it out with your screwdriver as the clip will very likely break. If you need replacements they are fairly cheap and can be found at most auto part stores.

STEP 4 (OPTIONAL): Replace your front signal lights with LEDs.

• This is not related to the switchbacks, but if you want to get rid of the amber color entirely I would suggest doing this as it is vastly easier than replacing the switchbacks. The front signal lights can be found almost directly next to the projector lights, and can be removed by simply twisting and pulling out. The bulb itself is a WY5W, and can be replaced with any 168 or 194. These can also be found at any auto part store.
• To actually remove,
  PrecisionLED's YouTube channel provides a great example using tape (any kind will work) to grab onto the bulb and pull it directly out
  . Since you will likely be replacing with an LED, you do not have to worry about touching the LED since it is not sensitive in the same way a halogen bulb is. Photos below show the before and after of my headlights (taken from SnapChat so pardon the caption). Be sure to test the lights before you put it back, since even though the bulb will fit in both sides it will only light up if inserted correctly.

Front signal light before
Front signal light after

STEP 5: Remove the turn signal bulb.

• Finally! You were able to reach the light after removing the tire and splash cover. Now twist to remove the bulb and, in case you ever want to reuse the bulb, use a cloth, paper towel, or glove to remove the current 7444NA bulb. After inserting the 7443 bulb, be sure to test your headlights to make sure it lights up - you can also test the turn signal to see the hyperflashing for yourself.

STEP 6: Install the resistor.

• This was easily the most nerve-racking for me since you will actually need to tap into your car's wiring to do this correctly. Fortunately, your resistors should have come with T-tap clips that make your life a bit easier. The clips work by inserting one end of the resistor wire into the hole which has an end, and the car wire into the hole/slot which goes all the way through. Here's an example of one - they are all relatively the same.
  Partsam's YouTube channel gives a tutorial of how to do one
  .
• Now finally, the wiring. Because the bulb has three wires and you have two ends to the resistor, connect one end each (using the clips) to the GREEN WITH BLACK STRIP and the WHITE WITH BLACK STRIP. Do not attach to the green with white stripe. I used this thread and this thread to find out since I was too nervous to use a multimeter (if that doesn't tell you how much of a n00b I am), and since mine work I can verify these wires are correct! When you are finished, wrap each clip with electrical tape and then wrap the entire grouping of wires where you attached the resistor wires with tape as well for extra security.
• Finally-finally, you will need to mount the resistor to a metal surface near the housing. This is due to the fact that resistors accumulate a lot of heat, to a point they can melt plastic (or even worse, the car's wires themselves!). There was a metal beam right above the housing I was able to attach it to with a 3M sticky pad.

STEP 7: Rinse and repeat.

• Assuming you were able to test the headlight to find it works, you now have earned enough confidence to do the opposite side. Go forth.

STEP 8: Profit!

• You now have awesome headlights! This personally ended up costing me about $50 total in parts. Attached is a video comparing the turn signal lights between one having an LED and the other still stock. Hope this helped!