CJITTY

also keep in mind that over time, an HID bulb will lose it's intensity. Also, various headlight housings can make light appear brighter. They also may not be aimed properly and shine too low which will create a brighter hotspot in front of the car vs a car that has lights aimed higher up that spread the light out more. Lots of factors to consider with lighting. I have adjusted my lights on varios cars I had to put light where I need it while considering oncoming drivers. A slight adjustment in aim can really make a huge difference so folks should be careful when dealing with headlight/foglight aim.

Luxofreak

I'm glad you mentioned that, I was about to ask if there is any adjustment that can be done at home with the low beams on the LS460. Even though the low beam adjusts itself automatically according to the load on the car (trunk, passengers in the back) I still think the low beam is too low when I drive alone. When I asked this at the dealer, they mentioned they only have so much wiggle room for that adjustment. In my case I'm sure just a milliliter up would make a nice difference without blinding other drivers. Do you know how to adjust this? My low beam is cut always below license plates of cars in front of me, almost to their bumpers when I stop about 3ft away from them.

CJITTY

the instructions for adjustment of the headlights is in the owners manual. There are two adjustments screw gears. The screw that primarily adjusts the vertical is the adjustment gear closest to the front of the car. The other one in the back seems to control high beam horizontal, at least from what I can tell. Remember, one turn of that adjustment screw can be significant so be sure to park in front of a wall where you can learly see how much up or down you are adjusting. Car must be on level surface. Once you are done, back the car up, get about 15-20 feet away and bend down in line with center of car. Then look into the beams and make sure the cutoff line (beams) hit you at the same time. The line on the wall will get you close, but the stare test is what I do to make sure I don't have lazy eyes (uneven beams) when driving. Hard to explain in words but my lights are perfect now.

Tee

I need to raise my low beams like I did on my old car. IMO just like the 430 the 460's low beams come from the factory a tad low for my taste.

Also sine we are talking HID temps here are some charts to mull over.





Here a pic I took this morning (2 different exposures) showing the HID fog beam pattern of useable light vs a halogen bulb light output.

CJITTY

that looks great, exactly where fog light should be...good work on that HID setup mane!

randomwalk

my headlight needs adjustment. Reading the manual, it shows two screws. But it doesn't say counterclockwise or clockwise is for up or down.
Also, it only shows one side..I assume the other side is exactly the same? Thanks.

CJITTY

RandomWalk, you have to get car against wall so you can clearly see light cutoff, then turn screw to figure out which way to turn while looking at the cutoff. My Acura actually says (R)aise and (L)ower, but i didn't see that on our cars. Turn it, see which way the beam goes then you should be able to handle it from there. The screw for vertical adjustment is the one closest to the front of the car, not the one in the back and off to the side

Luxofreak

Thanks for the hints. The pictures on my manual show two Philips screws for adjustments, but after taking the side plastic covers off I could not see any of those. What I saw was a 8mm socket screw protected by a metallic locking cap. I removed the cap and turned that screw with the lights on and no change at all, so I returned it to its original position and replaced the metal cap. I looked everywhere in there with a flashlight at the exact position where the manual says the screws are, but there's nothing there!... Am I blind??... Thanks!

CJITTY

not sure what cap you removed but there is no cap, at least on mine there wasn't. Maybe there is some type of thin plastic tab or something covering the opening. Not sure. But the slotted screwdriver goes down into the opening and actually turns the silver gear as you turn the screwdriver..

Luxofreak

I opened the hood, removed the plastic covers on each side of the engine compartment - the plastic pieces that are there just for looks. When they are out of the way, I can see the fuse box on the passenger side and the ECU box on the driver's side. The ECU box lid has a sticker saying something about the headlamp adjustments. "Refer to the manual" etc...

Right in front of those are the head lamps, and peaking in there I could not see any Philips adjustment screws. I see the round plastic covers that when removed allow you to change the blinker light bulbs. Maybe I should post pictures. I'll see if I can get a few good ones. Where's the beef!!!???

janmy7

Do I need to unplug the battery before the installation?

CJITTY

Nope, no worries about that. Just be sure foglight and headlight switches are in OFF position. Not Auto or park lights..OFF...you aren't messing with bare wires or anything, just plug n play..good luck

jbrittmart

excellent DIY write up and advice.... well done guys.

i've been thinking of doing this since i got my car back in Jan.

i've been debating whether or not to try and match the headlights or go yellow for the fogs.

one thing i can add to this thread is that there are slim ballasts available... both 35w and 55w. i used 35 watt slim ballasts from DDM Tuning in my Tundra for several years before my Lexus. i felt they were good quality, and i recommend them. the slim ballasts would be a bit easier to mount (i just used 3M heavy duty double sided tape and stuck them wherever i wanted. they stayed put well, in fact to get them off i really had to work at it)

DDM Tuning also offers 4500K bulbs (which i think would match the factory lows pretty well). the slim ballast kit with bulbs for $40

http://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/DD...ast-35W-or-55W

i'm going to make a decision on my bulbs and use my existing DDM ballasts soon.... i'll post some pics once i'm done.

thanks again.

adamls2

WOW this is a really nice write up and i learned something about lights too haha ive never messed with light mods on my cars but i really want to do some stuff to the LS... i really want to do this in the future but i am almost sure i will mess up something (as i always tend to do hehe) ....but ya guys this is really cook looking forward to doing this in the future

Tee

I'm using the DDM Tuning kit, very happy with the quality and output.