GTBaby06

Hello,
So I bought my car used in June and the passenger side headlight lens was cracked. Eventually the bulb shorted and now I'm in the process of replacing the entire assembly along with the bulb (to prevent further electrical shorts). The headlight assembly with bulb at the dealer is $1.2k. I've found an OEM used assembly on Ebay, however it does not come with the bulb. When the dealer quoted just replacing the bulb for me, it was $241 (including labor on the $175 bulb). Has anyone ever used aftermarket bulbs instead? Any advice? Thanks!

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

You can find OEM D4S Bulbs on Ebay for a lot less. Ive seen used Phillips D4S on Ebay for like $50 for 2 bulbs. If you want to get aftermarket, then I would get Garax bulbs. They are good quality bulbs, made in Japan.

swtjlsy

iTrader: (6)

I just looked into this for my GS. I was able to get the get the dealer down to 1.0k for a headlight but stilll realy expensive. did you wan to tchang ethe bulb out to a higher K or just OEM. I have found them for 64.99 at xenondepot.com

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yup just get the bulbs from ebay, way cheaper

johnnunez2

the garax bulbs go straight in no modding neccesary?

johnnunez2

just looked them up. direct swap. cool. i wonder what the daytime lights are aswell. can those be swapped out to hids aswell?

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

About the ebay Original D4s bulbs, They look original but i wouldnt say they are. I have purchased a set they work fine its just a different color then actually oem that came with the car. They were purple with hint of white, while oem one's from the car were white with a hint of blue. I had used them for a week hoping maybe i need to brake them in and no luck had to send them back. So i would suggest garax ( you do loose visibility with them from personal experience but they are blue).

rominl

iTrader: (4)

typical hid bulbs take over 100hrs to burn in. after a week of use, i highly doubt the bulbs are closed to be burnt in. that's why you see the color difference. and that's exactly why most of us here will recommend changing BOTH bulbs the same time otherwise color difference is guaranteed.

factory bulbs are philips d4s. imho you don't get much better than that in terms of quality

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

All the bulbs with D4S base will fit with no modification required. You would not actually be able to modify any other bulb, since there is no other bulb that will work with our ballasts.

johnnunez2

cool. i guess this is a simple fix. any d4s bulb fits. ether you want to pay 40.00 or 300.00 is up to you. thanks. i need a get some 6k.ill look into some garax.

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

I probably have put in about 60 hours into them, they were way off compared to my kbcarstuff.com fogs which are 4,300k. They matched my old OEM bulbs perfectly. So yea i had to get rid of them. I seen 2011 lexus with about 50 miles on them and they were white with hint of blue. Believe me when i say there were OFF to match anything like Official OEM bulbs. The guy was also top rated seller with like 100% positive feedback. The only thing i could think off was that it was a PERFECT copy of the oem bulbs made in china. The lettering was there with the whole Denso,#,etc etc. But i did notice that my old bulbs had smaller font and had orange lettering on them vs White lettering with a tiny bigger font. Also heads up new 2010 ES350 comes with japanesse bulbs from factory no more denso bulbs for them.(i personally took one out, and checked). It looked exactly like

vietdeluxx

iTrader: (2)

Man, my passenger bulb just went out today. I noticed that it was off when I drove b/c I couldn't see the reflection from the car in front and then at times it is on and off. Weird.

Do you think the bulb is out or if something is loose/short? It was too dark for me to open up the hood to mess around with it tonight...

GS350Lexus

iTrader: (5)

Had same problem, it was the bulb.

Lexlthr

iTrader: (3)

DDM Tuning makes a nice H.I.D. headlight kit also. They work great and are pretty cheap at about $50 shipped for both headlights.

GTBaby06

Thanks for all the advice! One more question: the headlight assemblies I'm looking at are missing various pieces because they are used. They all say they will still mount fine, but I was wondering if anyone knew the impact of such damages.

One has a top alignment pin missing.

The other has "one small piece missing from Top Tab & Fender Guide Pin is broken.

Any advice/help is greatly appreciated