Hid Buld Change

mjrmuppet · October 26, 2013

Hey,

My IS250 has the known issue with one of the HIDs not turning on, or randomly turning off when driving (passenger side in my case), but coming back on when the lights are switched off and back on again.

A new bulb seems to fix the issue most of the time, so I rang my local dealership (Lexus Derby) and was quoted £72 for the blub but £60 for labor .

Is it my or does this seems extortionate for having a single bulb changed? Has anyone else had a HID changed by Lexus, if so - at what price?

Thanks!

Edit - Nice typo in the title

ChumpusRex · October 26, 2013

The previous owner of mine had the HID bulbs changed by the dealer.

The dealer charged £200 per side for the bulb and labour.

The passenger side one is quite easy to change, you only need to remove the front engine cover (screwdriver needed to remove the clips), and then remove the funnel for the washer fluid bottle (spanner needed to undo 1 bolt). Once you remove these, you can open the door to the headlight and swap the bulb.

The driver side one is more difficult as you have to remove the air intake to get to the light.

It cost me £20 for a pair of cheapy bulbs, and took about 45 minutes to change the bulbs over, and that was not knowing what needed to come out or where the bulbs went. The bulbs have lasted a year fine, but I really don't know how long they will last, and I don't mind changing them myself.

If you don't want to do the job youself, I'd suggest taking it to a local mechanic to get them changed; there's nothing difficult or lexus specific and for a qualified mechanic it's a trivially easy job.

Buy a pair of D4S bulbs yourself online (recommend go for a good bulb such as a Philips Xeneco 42402, expect to pay about £50 each), and then get both installed at the same time. If one has worn out, the other will not be too far behind.

mjrmuppet · October 27, 2013

£200 a side.... ouch!

Thanks for the info - just grabbed a couple of these: http://goo.gl/86Or2J and will most likely get my local garage to pop them in (Always good to poke my head in once in a while :) )

£200 a side though.... ouch!

Can anyone recommend any good sidelight/daytime running bulbs? I hate the yellow ones next to the HIDs. I believe they're 168 wedges?

ChumpusRex · October 27, 2013

I replaced the side-light bulbs with LED ones that are a bit like:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/W5W-T10-501-25W-CREE-PROJECTOR-LED-PARKING-CAR-XENON-BULBS-BENTLEY-/231058664076?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35cc2b6a8c

I can't find the actual ones I bought any more, I think they've been replaced by this new model.

Expensive, but they match the headlights nicely, and they are STUPID bright compared to normal side-lights. Obviously, nowhere near as bright as headlights, and not bright enough to dazzle like high-beams, but for side-lights, they are crazy.

mjrmuppet · October 28, 2013

That's exactly the look I'm going for :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-Xenon-White-SMD-5-LED-T10-W5W-168-501-Car-Indicators-Side-Light-Lamp-Bulbs-/390686501987?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=JELZVsCUbtDpJhk%252B3obbAoU6fzo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc Would those do the job? (I hope they do seeing as I just won the bid... ;) )

roc888 · December 28, 2013

I replaced the side-light bulbs with LED ones that are a bit like:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/W5W-T10-501-25W-CREE-PROJECTOR-LED-PARKING-CAR-XENON-BULBS-BENTLEY-/231058664076?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35cc2b6a8c

I can't find the actual ones I bought any more, I think they've been replaced by this new model.

Expensive, but they match the headlights nicely, and they are STUPID bright compared to normal side-lights. Obviously, nowhere near as bright as headlights, and not bright enough to dazzle like high-beams, but for side-lights, they are crazy.

Hi. Can you tell me whether your LED side lights passed the mot?