Horizontal flat beam for continental driving

[canouanislander]

Hi all,

 

I have my 2006 Toyota Harrier (RX300/350 equivalent) and need to take it into Europe.

 

From what I've read there is a chance the headlights are horizontal flat beam units so may not need adapting.  Does anyone have any idea on maybe the OEM number of the lights that are LHD and RHD compatible or how to get them checked to see if they are - can I do it myself?  I dont know if my car has these HID headlights that dont need adapting or if it has different lights - any pointers on how I can physcially check if they are HID or Halogen?

 

I did contact both Lexus and Toyota but as its an import they both wrote back with "too hard" box ticked!

 

Thanks all

[katabrontes]

Try contacting the Toyota CEO in Japan  (akio.toyoda@toyota.co.jp).  I had exactly the same problem with a query about my Surf (= Four-runner) a few years ago.  The CEO answered quite quickly and was very helpful.

[canouanislander]

3 minutes ago, katabrontes said:

Try contacting the Toyota CEO in Japan  (akio.toyoda@toyota.co.jp).  I had exactly the same problem with a query about my Surf (= Four-runner) a few years ago.  The CEO answered quite quickly and was very helpful.

Thanks for that info, its somewhat frustrating!  I'll send off to them and see what they have to say.  What info did you have to include in your email - things like the chassis and engine number?

[Las Palmas]

You can easily see it yourself.

In night stop the car on a level area front towards a wall.

Low beam must be flat and it is good.

If low beam is like old cars halogen headlights they need to be adjusted. Long time ago it was done with tape on the headlight so the beam would be flat,

if needed: https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/simply-headlight-beam-adaptors-deflectors.html

[canouanislander]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas said:

You can easily see it yourself.

In night stop the car on a level area front towards a wall.

Low beam must be flat and it is good.

If low beam is like old cars halogen headlights they need to be adjusted. Long time ago it was done with tape on the headlight so the beam would be flat,

if needed: https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/simply-headlight-beam-adaptors-deflectors.html

tried that and the beams are nice and flat across, which is great.  The car is being exported to Spain for our place there and deflectors arent allowed for the import inspection, so the headlights themselves would have needed to be changed if they didnt have horizontal flat beams.

 

But from what I see on my garage my beams are white in colour and flat as a pancake!

[ColinBarber]

12 hours ago, canouanislander said:

I dont know if my car has these HID headlights that dont need adapting or if it has different lights - any pointers on how I can physcially check if they are HID or Halogen?

If you have a rotary control for headlight level in the cabin then it is halogen, if not then it has self-levelling which is required for HID lights.

[Las Palmas]

3 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

If you have a rotary control for headlight level in the cabin then it is halogen, if not then it has self-levelling which is required for HID lights.

As well as LED lights.

[ColinBarber]

6 hours ago, Las Palmas said:

As well as LED lights.

Yep. But the series II RX didn’t have the option for LED headlights, wasn’t really a thing back then. 

[Las Palmas]

What we can all find on the internet.

2004: Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

The first LED lights were used in the Audi A8’s daytime running light (DRL) assembly. These lights are long-lasting and consume little energy to produce an excellently bright stream of light. The Lexus LS 600h was the first car to use LED low beams in 2006. By the following year, the V10 Audi R8 was the first car completely outfitted from front to rear in LED lights. This was made possible with the modification of using 25 LEDs in each headlight with adaptable settings to dim individual diodes as required to avoid blinding other drivers.

[Las Palmas]

I stopped working in car business in 2005, but already in 2004 there was talk about LED bulbs to replace HID. Lexus must have been one of the first to put real LED bulbs in cars.

The LED in the one we have is great. Almost never any use for high beam, even on the twisted roads we have here. The big difference between HID and LED is the start-up time. LED's are faster than halogen bulbs. First models of HID took about a second to be bright, do not know if later HID lamps are faster.

[ColinBarber]

LED headlights weren't really in the mainstream vehicles such as the RX until 2010+. Before then they were restricted to lower intensity uses like rear brake lights (which gives a safety benefit as the person behind can react faster as the turn on quicker), or expensive high end vehicles such as the LS.

I believe HIDs did improve with startup brightness over time but it was still a disadvantage to LED which is now the dominant technology, with high end vehicle now moving to laser.