Changing Reflectors & Installing Z4 Emblem LEDs

We also went ahead and installed the 'Z4' emblem blinkers. The Z4 comes from the BMW roadster as its fender emblems are also blinkers. I personally owned a Z4 for about a week before the dealer tried changing the deal around on me so I let him take it back, but that’s a whole other story. The Z4 blinkers were cool. These mod blinkers look cool at night but don't expect much from them during the day. They can be purchased from Evo-R

· Difficulty Level: Moderate

· Cost: $130

· Time: 2 Hours

Here are the items we installed. The first pic shows the difference in the reflectors going from factory orange to clear. The clears we ordered are genuine Nissan by the way...complete with Japanese language only instructions. The second pic is what the round blinker looks like. It fits between the fender and Z emblem.




Start on one side of the car (pictures will show passenger side) and turn the wheel all the way in as the picture below shows. I have seen some websites show taking the bumper off but I was determined that going that far was a pain and not worth the headache for what I was installing.



If you look in the wheel well in front of the tire you will see three round black caps. This is what holds the front plastic wheel well in. Use a small flathead to pop the center of the cap out and use some panel poppers of large flathead to work it out (both pictured below).



Once those three caps are out use a stubby Philips head screw driver to take the black screws out just on the inside of the fender lip as seen below.



Once all those are out you can start working the plastic loose...except...for those bolts underneath. If you wiggle to plastic you can see the two bolts you need to get out just under the bumper. You need a 10mm to get those and once out, out the plastic comes.



The only difference in the passenger side and driver side is the passenger side has a windshield washer fluid container right in the way as the picture shows. When you do the driver side you see the reflector right in there and easy as pie to do.



Two Philips head screws hold the lenses in. As you can see from the clear one you have where you can find the screws holding it in. For the impossible to see passenger side I lay down and reached up to the reflector from under the bumper and felt the two screw heads and used the stubby Philips to get them out. Then just slide the clear one in and tighten back up. That’s it for the reflectors. Next comes the blinker emblems.



First thing you have to do is get those dang emblems off.



The blinker instructions say use dental floss or fishing line to work back and forth behind the emblem to 'saw' it off the adhesive holding it in. I used dental floss with not much of a problem except for all the sticky gunk left behind. The same instructions say use alcohol but I had no such luck. I simply picked, rubbed, and wore my fingers down getting it off the metal. Good luck finding your own technique for that.



Now get some wire and wire up the blinkers. The wires you tap into later are green and black (green being positive) so we chose green and black for our wires. I forgot to measure how much I used but I would estimate around 6 feet. You can cut the slack to fit later.




Now head back to the car and remove the screws you see behind the tire on the fender lip. If you have the splash guards there are two screws holding that in place then about two above that. You don't need to remove this piece, just take enough screws out to work some space so you can grab the wire when you feed it through the hole.



Now feed that wire up and over the wheel well to the front side where you have the plastic removed. It wasn't hard for me because the wire was so stiff. With the wire hanging out the front of the tire, go back and button up the emblem. Take your time and get it centered right. I goofed on the driver side and it ended up uneven a little. Make sure the opening in the tape is at the bottom so water can run out and not get built up inside.






Now we wired them to the blinker but if you prefer to wire them to the parking light you can. The blinker is the top orange bulb in the headlight assembly.



Look inside the fender opening and you can see the green and black wires leading to the light. Run your hand up there and grab the back of the light socket and turn to the side 45 degrees then pull. The light will fall back into that fender opening right where you need it.



Now pull your wires tight but leave enough slack that the blinker can be put back in. Splice your wires into it remembering that green is positive. That’s it so test your work. You can run to the car and put the key in or if you’re lazy like me, just hit your lock button on the remote. That’s it!