axis77

I just purchased a 2007 IS250 w/ High Intensity Lights, does that mean it came with HID's? The reason i ask this because dealer states that the 07 now can comes with hid's. But these lights to me dont look like hid, i use to own a acura that has stock xenon hid's and you could really see the nice blue/purple light...any thoughts from 07 owners with standard high intensity lights??

cxp2001

iTrader: (1)

I thought the all IS models came with HID's as a standard feature..

jinetix

Starting from the 2007 models, all ISx50s come with HIDs standard. The 2006 models, the Luxury and Sport models were the only ones equipped with HIDs.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

its not really standard the dealer allocates them with it, $850 dollar option, which is worth it anyways

Technique

Wrong. It is an $875 option for the 2007 model. It is NOT a standard feature in 2006 or 2007.

Or, it comes with the Sport or Luxury Package.

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

as i understand it, hids are available as a stand alone option for the 2007 models. it might be one of those "standard" options tho... sorta like the 18 inch summer tires where you have to get it, whether you like it or not, unless it was a special order.

one way to tell if you have HIDs is if you notice the AFS working when you make turns. you'll notice your light pivot as you make a turn. also when you turn on your car with the lights on, you'll notice the light on the street move down then move back up again. that's the auto-leveler doing that. another way is to put your ear close to the headlights... you'll notice a very slight hum.. at least on mine you do. the color of the HID's on the IS isn't very noticeable compared to the acura or other cars with a very nice purple/blue flicker. i think it's in the way the projectors are made. it might turn a lil more blue as you continue to use them.

fogtownjmc

There is a FAQ on HIDs Sticky in the main Lexus Lighting Forum. It contains a link to a very interesting site about HIDs, that link has been changed to:

http://faqlight.carpassion.info/hl-hid-bulbs.htm

Here is just one fact, from this site:

"What are the results of using 6000K, 7000K, 15000K HID bulbs?
Stage 1 refers to 4100K and stage 2 normally refers to something higher value K.
As an example, a 6000K bulb in some headlamps might not show much difference at all, others will look more blue. These are observations when standing in front of the car looking into the headlights from above. After getting over the initial thrill of cooler light, many drivers have noticed that important traffic information are not as appearant as with OEM standard bulb. White traffic signs is being lit too much and can feel glaring.
During winter 2002, exponensional use of Kelvin (K) rating is used as brightness improving advertisement. Its all just big empty words. Do a search for "kelvin color temperature" on a search engine (ie: yahoo.com) and you will see that it has nothing to do with brightness and all to do with color. Going upwards from 4100K means that your light turns blue at the expense of total brightness and yellow color. Theoretically, if the same brightness were to be kept, you would have to increase the wattage of the bulb from 35 to maybe 40W, and redesign the ballast. This would be a very costly solution, so thats pretty much why all automotive HID bulbs are 35W."

You are better off with the newer OEM HIDs that are whiter/brighter and the center of the spectrum of light (which stretches from invisible infrared to red, yellow, green, blue, black light, and then to invisible ultraviolet). White light is a balanced mix of all them.

flyfl1pguy

iTrader: (2)

Yes your car has HIDs.

socalJD

FYI - HID means High Intensity Discharge, so they are indeed 'high intensity lights'. Are you slightly color blind or have poor night vision ? Not being offensive, but to my untrained eye, it's apparent when driving at night (not dusk or dawn) by the amount of light emitted on the road compared to the other cars driving along with you, whether you have HIDs or not. HIDs by far put out more light and have a whiter hue than the standard halogen bulb (turn on your foglights for a quick comparison). Now some european makes (Audi, MB, Bmw) emit a bluer light, but they don't throw out any more light than the IS HIDs.

jinetix

Wow, I guess I was wrong.. thought I read somewhere that it was standard now.

Technique

Sorry for the thread hijack, but do you have exterior and interior pics of you car? Looks sweet from the sig...

2SwiFt29

iTrader: (6)

some people feel that the factory HIDs are too yellowish.. some people upgrade to another HID bulb.. they are a lil whitish/yellowish compared to the Acura's factory HIDs...

silversx

yup the factory lexus hid looks like normal halogens except a bit brighter..

i saw my friend's in person and he was dissapointed .. we even walked way down the street to see if they look bluer from distance or angle.. and it didn't..

basically the color temperture lexus uses is more halogen like.. compared to acura/bmw/audi.. where the light looks totally blue from distance and angle..

too bad.. if you want blue.. aftermarket

DrShoe

Honda and Acura uses better projectors in their headlights than other cars with projector HIDs. The HID in the S2000 is really nice and bright as well as the TL and TSX. They seemed bright white with a little blue in it. I don't think I have seen a new IS with HID in person yet.

CWS

Approaching HIDs that look blue are irritating to me. Anyone else? Maybe it's just that after 40+ years of driving, a headlight just ought to be white.