Dipped headlight bulbs

[DJT]

Hi now its getting dark in my part of the world. Dipped beam has very poor range. Has anyone replaced their dipped headlight bulbs.  My 2004 LS430 according hand book new bulb should be a D2S. When reading about light bulbs for cars a reflector type headlight needs a D2R. My dipped beam is a reflector type. See attached photo. Does anyone have a confirmed type of bulb to use. If not it will be remove bulb, see if there is any markings on bulb to see which type it is. 

[LenT]

6 hours ago, DJT said:

My 2004 LS430 according hand book new bulb should be a D2S.

If it’s any help, I replaced my bulbs with these OSRAM Xenon Nightbreakers.  It’s a different Lexus and they were a D4S fitting, but they are available in D2S and D2R.

I thought the original bulbs were surprisingly poor and the OSRAMS were a considerable improvement. In my case, the dipped performance was particularly impressive in that not only was the light brighter, but it was better controlled and directed.

This was especially noticeable down our country lanes in which the verges - and potholes - were much better illuminated.  

You can check out the bulbs here - and confirm the correct fitting for your Lexus.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/d2s-xenon-hid-bulbs/

 

[BigBoomer]

The reflector at the bottom is High-beam and takes a 9005 Halogen bulb.
The projector at the top is Dipped-beam and takes a D2S HID bulb.
The Dipped-beam on my 2004 has an excellent beam pattern and brightness, better than any other car I have ever driven.
High-beam is not as good as some I've had though.

If your Dipped-beam range is poor, do your headlights self-level?
Start the car with the headlights switched off, then switch them on and the beam should initially move up and down before settling on one position.

[DJT]

Bigboomer yes my lights go up and down. Dipped beam is poor but high beam picks up on reflective signs from quite a distance. Was wondering how old the bulbs are and are they failing slowly. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by DJT
Missed a bit out

[BigBoomer]

Could be. Some of the D2S bulbs get dirty and that reduces the output. However, it's difficult to see how any dirt could get to the bulb. Take them out and have a look. Be careful though as HID bulbs use HIGH Voltage so make 100% sure that the car is off, and maybe disconnect the Battery to be sure.

[Malc1]

and do the exterior lenses need some tlc too ?

Malc

[Spock66]

HID / Xenon bulbs do degrade over time so may be worth replacing them.

[Supafly]

On 9/3/2023 at 11:06 AM, Spock66 said:

HID / Xenon bulbs do degrade over time so may be worth replacing them.

I didn't know that this happened and found out with my LS400.  On the way back through the new forest I was struggling to see as well as I usually could and over the next few weeks one of the lights started to develop a slight purple tinge. I bit the bullet and bought two phillips hid bulbs at almost £100! (the most I've ever paid for bulbs).

The difference was amazing and clearly showed how my previous bulbs had degraded to becoming almost useless.   When I bought the car the lights were great and I noticed the degradation came about very quickly over the course of a month.

[Malc1]

20 hours ago, Supafly said:

degradation came about very quickly over the course of a month.

T'was nothing to do with the hazing degradation condition of the plastic lenses ?

Malc

[Supafly]

I'm fortunate to only have slight hazing, which I'll be addressing soon.  

This was 100% the bulbs, I wasn't aware that they 'fade' but it was very noticeable when driving, when looking at the lights from outside they didn't seem dim or anything like that. 

When driving in the dark you could tell that there wasn't any actual output.  Really hard to describe, they're switched on and stood in front of the car looking at them nothing seems amiss, headlights look bright, but when in the car it was as though they'd lost about 50% of the light output, the road and shrubs etc weren't well lit. To the point I had to slow down to make safe progress.

With new bulbs it was instantly noticeable how much more light they produced, and how bad the old bulbs had become.