1loudLX

jim im happy for ya! These HIDs are so much brighter then the halogen i decided to take my Offroad Rallye lights off...hopefully, Friday, you should "see the light." PM me if u need any assistance for the install, ill check in on CL regularly just incase you run into any problems during install.

gijoebruin

wahoo I got it! Now I have to schedule the install!!

1loudLX

go do it right now! do it tomorrow night!!!!!! youve waited so long, if you wait any longer well.....your just going to be waiting longer for no reason.

V8_Fan

Hey guys, I heard that in Japan, one can now get 55w HID's...the 6000K 55watts are twice put out twice as much light as conventional 35w HID's! No word on how robust the new technology is. I figure 35w HID's have been around long enough that's it should be quite reliable. Ballast says the lifespan is 2000 hrs, so that's about 5x longer than a conventional 55w bulb, so I figure 10 yrs for the ballast, hopefully 6+ yrs for the bulb.

Where did you guys find a 23mm drill bit for that rubber grommet?

V8_Fan

As a followup, I got my XD kit and installed it yesterday (5 hrs in a 100 deg garage...whew!). It works! I measured the light output before and after using an ambient photographic meter capable of measuring light in 10% differences. I measured the light just at the front of the bumper and also in the center of the beam on the wall about 1m away. The XD kits measured 2 stops brighter (1 stop=twice the light, so 2 stops=4 times as much light) at both measurement points.

The ballasts seem to make a high-pitched sound. It's loudest at start up, but less after maybe half a minute. I had the lights on for maybe 5 min; the ballasts were still making that sound, albeit faint. Do any of you get this? I used a 7/8" hole saw to drill a 22mm hole in the back of the headlight cap. The instructions call for a 23mm hole, so I just took a large 1/2" bit afterwards to slightly enlarge the 22mm hole.

BTW, I use another car battery and jump cables to apply a voltage to the vehicle's electronics (pulled the headlight fuses beforehand, of course). This way, I wouldn't lose any of the nav programs.

tella

I still did not receive the kit. Even though, I was promised to receive it during this week. What kind of a business Steve is running?

gijoebruin

I got mine and installed it. HIDs look real nice, and I'm glad to finally have them on the car.

1loudLX

Jim my headlights make the same sound. Its a normal sound of the ballast powering up. My LS does that sound too, it goes away after it powers up.


4x as bright as halogen, i know i noticed at least a 2x increase but wow 4x, wohoo! Could you possibly do the same exact test to a 04+ LS430 headlight?

V8_Fan

No, 'cause I don't have a '04 LS430. If you use a photographic ambient light meter, it'll give you a reading accurate to within 1/10th of a stop (so 10% difference in the change of light). For the eyes to notice, it has to be a lot brighter, but the meter will detect very subtle changes.
Of course, you gotta perform the test in a dark garage. Part of it could have been my stock halogen bulbs (I think the originals) are likely not as bright as new bulbs, as the filaments leave a residue on the inside of the bulb as it ages. The eyes are easily deceived by light differences, just as the ears are with respect to sound. It's nonlinear (logrithmic), so if there's twice as much light, the perception isn't twice as bright. If one shoots color positive film (latitude or difference from black to white is about 5 stops), one typically sets medium tone to gray, 2 stops below gray will be essentially black, while 3 stops above it is snow white. That's a huge difference, IMHO. There's also an age dependency on light perception. IIRC, Hella did a study that showed a 40 yr old needs twice the light to see what a 20 yr old can, while a 50 yr old needs twice the light to see what a 40 yr old can. So this implies the 4x more light w/ the HID's would allow a 50 yr old to see as well as a 20 yr old using halogens (at least my 3 yr old OEM h1's), according to their results.

The driver's side HID h1 bulbs was a tight fit...it grazed the sides of the opening as I inserted it. I wiped the bulbs w/ alcohol wipes just to make sure they were absolutely clean before installation.

1loudLX

humm so me being 18 and having HIDs i must be able to see a crapload better then a 50yr old with halogens....muhahaha!

tella

I just had my mechanic install the XD 4300K kit, which finally arrived. Here are some of my observations: there is a yellow spot at the top of the object reflaction; there are four emission dots on the lens, which means that the light source is not aligned properly against the pillow lens. There is loud sound at the start up, which deminishes in about a minute. This kit's functionality is quite different from that of the OEM (DENSO Koito). The DENSO ballasts do not have as obvious sound. However, beyond all these negative thoughts I am happy to have it done, it does look brighter than the halogens. I will do the actual light measurements on Monday. Thanks to everyone who helped, especially 1LOUDLX!!!!

1loudLX

glad to see i could help. I havent been out much lately but i turned my truck on today when i was in my garage jsut before i went out and my headlights had been on from the last time i drove. I had started it and was going inside and i saw the bright HID color reflecting off my wall and i just said to myself wow...that was the best investment ive made on my truck. I have 4 dots(2 out of each lens) that show up above the beam pattern. I actually noticed them back with the halogen so i believe its just the design of the lexus lens, not the HID kit making those dots.

aedgington

Still wished I had got in on this w/ the discount.

So now that you guys have had them a while, are you still happy? Worth it?

1loudLX

adam....you must me joking me right? Of course im happy. Im going to do my high beams and fog lights when i get a chance. Yes i know doing the high beams might be bad for the HIDs but i want some real blinding power for people who dont move out of the left lane when im on their *** because i took off my Hella Rallye lights. Also, The current regular price is what i paid for the kit. It basicly gave me free shipping and you should end up paying the same i did now with the reduced price.


oh and did you remember about this from 'mud?

bluestar

I had mine installed early this year.. 4300K kit from XD.. Steve was great. I almost got the 6000k but wanted more light. Mine's been on for 10 months, and its great... no problem whatsoever...

I also changed out my HI beam and my fogs.. You can see my pics on this thread

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...28#post1659728