OEM HIDs - 55w Upgrade?

BillNick · March 1, 2016

Anyone that has OEM HIDs will know by now that the projectors are not the best on the road (sadly).

With this in mind, I wondered if anyone had attempted a 55w upgrade?

Wont improve the beam pattern, but might improve output....what ya reckon all?

toffee_pie · March 1, 2016

Must be something wrong with your lights? IS250 HIDs are very good, better than what was on my Accord.

Cracksta · March 2, 2016

I agree with toffee.

I have OEM HID and they are fine, beam is perfect, lights are bright enough to not complain however i do like the HIDs on those mercedes and prius, so bright and whiter than mine.

Perhaps we need to look into different HID bulbs?

madasahatter · March 2, 2016

I agree with Cracksta, maybe the bulbs are degrading. They dont last indefinetly, and i would think twice about 55watt. They may melt the headlight.

ChumpusRex · March 2, 2016

How would you wire them in? The ballast is integral to the sealed unit and is not easily replaceable.

Cracksta · March 2, 2016

There are aftermarket kits you can fit, you take out the oem ballests and lights. At least this is what you do on a different car.

Is the oem hid 35w or 55w ballast? Maybe just needs a new hid bulb?

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toffee_pie · March 2, 2016

As mentioned above 55W is considerably higher output than OEM, they would probably do more harm than good. You should check your existing bulb or lenses as stock HIDs on a is250 are among the best out there on any car.

BillNick · March 2, 2016

That's interesting to read.

All of the US forum threads I have read about OEM HIDs all say that the projectors on our car are amongst the worst, not the best.

i even contacted TRS asking of ways to improve output and they agreed my car does not have the best design projectors.

i have upgraded my bulbs and the output improved but still doesnt come close to the Mercs or Prius I see driving down the road.

Perhaps mine are faulty? What could I check for?

What bulbs are everyone running here out of interest?

Toffee_Pie, any chance you could take a picture of your drivers view at night from the cockpit? A shot facing a wall and also on the road? Worrying now mine are substandard

toffee_pie · March 3, 2016

http://www.osram.co.uk/osram_uk/products/lamps/vehicle-and-bicycle-lighting/cars/gas-discharge-headlight-lamps-for-cars/xenarc-original/index.jsp

BillNick · March 3, 2016

Thanks for adding the pictures.

Your output looks much better than mine which is frustrating. I think my alignment needs correcting and the coverage your beams are getting is awesome!!

madasahatter · March 4, 2016

That is the power of decent bulbs, spread is about right. When you start the vehicle with lights on, do they go through a cycle.

BillNick · March 4, 2016

You mean changing colour up to temperature right? Yes they do that

They are Morimoto bulbs from TRS which I've always been impressed with in the past.

Cracksta · March 4, 2016

I'd like to point out that pictures of cars at night with the HID headlights on usually appears alot brighter than they are.

I think an MOT station or garage can check and align your headlights, maybe the bulbs are not fitted correctly/beam angle has been messed around with in the past etc.

Exdee · March 5, 2016

The projectors aren't too bad (Koito makes the best projectors out there and models like the ls430 and rx300 have received a lot of praise for their output.) The problem is the side bulb entry design of the headlights that makes the output dim in comparison to other cars on the road.

If the lights are adjusted properly and by that I mean readjusted from factory default, then you have plenty of width and distance which can be seen if you drive on unlit roads at night but it really lacks output and foreground lighting is poor too.

It used to bother me at first and I wanted to boost up to 55w too but I've just learnt to live with it.

PCM · March 6, 2016

When I had my bulbs changed on my RX it made an amazing difference...

madasahatter · March 6, 2016

On 04/03/2016 at 8:19 AM, Billnick said:

You mean changing colour up to temperature right? Yes they do that

They are Morimoto bulbs from TRS which I've always been impressed with in the past.

No do the light beams go up then down and settle in the middle. If they are original Xenons, they should do this cycle on start up.

BillNick · March 6, 2016

Yes they do

madasahatter · March 6, 2016

That means they are alined properly, Issue will be bulbs mate. I would not be tempted to put 55watt bulbs in, 35 watt Xenons are what is fitted at the factory.

A guy at work fitted an aftermarket Hid kid of 55 Watts. It melted the headlights went all yellow inside.

Cracksta · March 6, 2016

Is there a link to these morimoto bulbs for the is250?

I think is250 are 35w oem?

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BillNick · March 6, 2016

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/bulbs/morimoto-xb-xengreen-d4s-bulbs.html?preselect=49472#.VtwqVlLC87Y

I have those bulbs in 5500k

They are better than the OEM Philips 4300k but I think I will give the Osram's a go and get them proper aligned at a garage.

The cut off lines for each headlight are not at the same level so someone has messed around with the alignment at some point.

toffee_pie · March 6, 2016

35W is standard, anyone who puts in 55W bulbs is stupid, all you need a decent bulbs. Osrams are as good as any, I never heard of morimoto bulbs.

55W bulbs too would be illegal I would imagine and if you had an accident, good luck.

madasahatter · March 7, 2016

I think morimoto are the fitting the bulbs go into. You can buy them for none xenons and convert to Xenon.

BillNick · March 7, 2016

You are almost correct.

Morimoto manufacture all things HID & projector - mainly for retrofitting.

TRS is a very reputable retailer of their products. I had a projector retrofit in my IS200 and the morimoto bulbs that came with that had a very very good output indeed. Leads me now to think it was the projectors giving me such a good output compared to my OEM HIDs on the 250.

I think the side mounting bulb is the problem in the IS250. As soon as I can afford to splash out, I will get some Osram bulbs and have the projectors professionally aligned.

Linas.P · March 7, 2016

As other said, Lexus IS HIDs are quite good - maybe no BMW laser, but one of the better ones on the market. What about your headlight "glass" (or rather hardened plastic), maybe it is oxidised?

My ones are excellent on the road, but I know many people have issues with them in the hot climate (like US California or Middle-East), where the headlights oxidise to the level they become matte or yellow. Maybe polishing would help?

On 06/03/2016 at 4:45 PM, toffee_pie said:

35W is standard, anyone who puts in 55W bulbs is stupid, all you need a decent bulbs. Osrams are as good as any, I never heard of morimoto bulbs.

55W bulbs too would be illegal I would imagine and if you had an accident, good luck.

I hate those cowboys two... blinds everyone in the dark and hardly see anything better themselves. Though it would be quite unlikely that insurance going to check bulbs (not unless somebody is stupid enough to smoke their headlights, which is also illegal.. but we seen these on the road as well).

Wisty · March 7, 2016

I've been pretty impressed with the HIDs on mine so far (3 weeks in!). They were particularly excellent whilst noodling along a country lane yesterday - although for comparison my last car was an '06 Vectra, which all had particularly naff halogen projectors.

Especially impressed by the i-AFS. Who knew it helped to see round corners?!