Audacity

Is the Helligkeit a good one to buy for my 2000 ES300? Which bulbs do I want for the whitest light? I don't want blue - just the whitest light I can get. I figured I'd just do the low beam headlights. Maybe I'll put Sylvania Sylverstar bulbs in for the high beams and fog lights. What do you guys think?

Lexucan

4300k are the whitest HID bulbs you can buy. The higher the color temperature you go, the more color you will see...AND...the less light the bulbs will produce. 4,300k produces a bit of blue color but is mostly white, but as you graduate to 5,000k and higher, the blue color becomes more and more pronounced and eventually looks almost purple at around 8,000-10,000k. Very blue or purplish colored HID bulbs actually produce much less light than your standard halogen bulbs. A total waste of money if you are looking to improve your road visibility. They may look cool to some, but are pretty useless for visibility, plus they produce excessive amounts of glare for oncoming traffic.

Lexucan

I agree. Flickering bulbs usually means there is a poor ground connection.

JamesBond1

Accutally, 4300k is close to stock and it doesn't have blue in it - its white with a hint of yellow!....5000k would be the whitest (this is what I want for my headlights..)....after that then it turns blue and than purple.

Lexucan

Actually, 4,300k bulbs do have a slightly blue tint to them. I know because my HIDs are 4,300k and I can see myself the faint blue color. 5,000k are bluer yet. But you are correct that 4,300k are closest to OEM (stock) HIDs. That is because they produce the most visibility.

hoonami

well... it is kinda coroded, but it stays solid with regular halogen bulbs, and these didn't come with relay. it was direct plug n play kit.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

sorry to say you don't have a 4300k kit. Or its a couple of years old and the bulb has faded with time. Yes, they do this, so they will go gradually from 4300k upwards, 5000k, 6000k

4300k, if anything is closest to yellow. 4300k is 4300k it should be 'pure white' no blue.

I have a feeling you have a 6000k kit like myself;

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Yes it is, 2 years, two cars and mine still works, and doesn't even flicker.

4300k is OEM/Whitest possible & pure white light; giving you widest range of light, further visibility.

Sure, Sylvania's are good.

See my pic below. I didn't bother with the DRL/Highbeams since it would be plain stupid. Each time you crank the car over even in 'off' mode, the car would start up with the highbeam's 'on'. HID's don't like being cranked over when on... And they don't last as long that way.

So yeah, i would go the silverstar method in those.

R1R

That could be the problem. HID's don't work the same way as filament bulbs. HID's use an arc to generate light. Some corrosion might cause some flickering. It won't happen with filament bulbs because they don't turn on and off instantly like an HID's arc. If it were me, I would replace the sockets and use a relay kit. I think that would solve your problems. I guess you could try using a different HID kit, but you might run into the same problems.

GoodRevs

I agree with R1R. It's safer to go with a relay harness.

I had the opportunity to go with 4300k but choose 5000k because they produced the whitest light. Here are some pictures of mine after I installed them. They were taken on a camera phone, so the whole headlight area is whited out by default on the camera because it was too bright to capture an image. That's fine, but what you want to look at is the surrounding area's of the light from the headlight, that's a pretty accurate representation of the color of the 5000k headlights, a very slight blue tint.

Audacity

The Hellikeit websight sais that 6000K is pure white. They say 5000K is factory. I'm looking for the whitest light/best visibility. Should I go with 5 or 6000K?

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

4300k/5000k

6000k as above is notably 'more blue'.

the only reason 5000k exists is because some HID manufacturers decided to make 5000k vs. 4300k

But one of those two is what you are seeking.

Audacity

Thanks 01LEXPL - if only the Hellikeit sight was working I'd order 'em now. It doesn't seem to allow me to pick which bulb I want. Are there any other brands that come recommended?
Thanks, Martin

R1R

If you want the whitest light with the most lumens, get 5,000k. Factory is 4,300k, it will have a very slight hint of yellow, but it will output the most lumens on the road. 6,000k has a slight blue tint to it.

JamesBond1

AGREED! you know your HID!