hovik92

I want to replace my stock Fog Lights with HID ones. Does anyone know what the bulb size of the fog lights are? Also, is there any brand anyone recommends?

JDR76

Congratulations on your new ride!

You can find some good info on the fog lights in this thread:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...bulb-size.html

Hope that helps.

AndyL

I assume you have a regular IS or else, for the F Sport, the only choice is to buy the JDM LED fog light.


For the regular 3IS, the bulb size is H16. It has even lower wattage than H11 and the wattage is 19W. So to fit HID, it seems to be impossible because the standard wattage for HID is 35W and it exceeds the factory wattage requirement. This is also an issue for cars like Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S/Toyota FT86 because Toyota has changed the fog light bulb type for recent models to H16. (so the trend is HB4->H11->H16-> custom LED fog?)

I have changed it to LED fog and after some research, I got this one -- Bellof Sirius BOLDRAY LED Conversion kit (6500K H8/H11/H16 DBA1301)

http://www.bellof.co.jp/products/led...b/boldray.html

It is plug and play and made in Japan. At a glance of the products made by Bellof, they seem to be specialized in lights for German cars because their electronics is more finicky. You can easily get an error code when changing to a different light bulb which requires non-factory wattage. Unlike many LED fog light bulbs which has many SMD LEDs pointing side ways, its LED is pointing to the front and uses a lamp reflector to amplify the the intensity.

This product has been used by many Japanese owners (especially those BRZ/FT86) in the MinKara Carview forum. Quite a few great reviews there.

In fact, there was a product demo event in Kyoto Toyopet facility held last month --- Toyota let Bellof install various LED products including the LED fogs in FT86/FR-S demo cars and you can see the difference with and without.

http://www.bellof.co.jp/utility/news_2014/140419.html

They also have a dimmer version called Sirius BOLDRAY MILD was released in the past few months.

I find it pretty bright and you can notice when it is on or off because it would make the headlight look whiter with some purple tint. Despite it says 6500K, I would say it is slightly overated. It is probably around 6000K as I find the colour matches the LED DRL swoop.

The downside for LED fog conversion kits made by Bellof is price. It is expensive by today's standard. If the purpose of upgrading the fog is for better colour and cosmetic reason, there may be some good choices which cost less. I bit the bullet because I am used to the wattage of HB4 in my previous 2nd gen IS.

hovik92

I really appreciate the help and I want to order them but that site is all in Japanese and I can't read it :/ . I found LED H16 bulbs all over amazon and ebay but do you know which wattage would be safe while being strong?

AndyL

The wattage for H16 is 19W and from my limited knowledge, it is the wattage rating for halogen. After all, H16, H11, HB3, HB4, H1, etc are the light type for halogen light bulbs. So if you switch to LED or HID, an extra conversion module is required.

The wattage for the LED is actually much lower which results in lower power consumption. For external lighting, I find that the manufacturers would not state the wattage because in general a LED for the exterior auto lighting could not illuminate the road effectively because of limited angle. Of course, the LED headlights made by auto makers such as the one on IS are different because of the actual headlight design. In this forum, there is another member who knows LED real well in technical terms but I forgot who he/she was.

To answer your question, the wattage for LED H16 that you can find online should be much lower than 19W and so they should be safe in that respect. In terms of actual illumination on the road which involves viewing angle and the design of the actual LED fog light, it is another story. In the end, the construction and power design of the LED fog determines how reliable it is. To change the FOG in our IS is not difficult but it would be a chore if it gets burned easily.

I think there are a few members here that also have converted their fog to LEDs. You might search the other LED thread for 3IS.

Also sent you a PM.

hovik92

I found H16 LED bulbs online up to 50W. The closest I found to 19W was 20W and 14W. Which would you recommend I go with to get the nicest look without any issues? I'm not too worried about lighting up the road. The headlights do a great job of that :P

AndyL

Actually these wattage that you saw on the aftermarket light bulb is a misleading advertisement. One of the benefits of LED is reduced power consumption. To judge how bright it is, using lumens (or abbreviated as lm)is a better measurement. As long as the light bulb is a H16 type, power consumption would not exceed 19W. The wattage claimed by those automakers is the equivalent /perceived wattage, similar to the CFL light you buy for your home.