jungy4

Hello, we are looking at a Certified Pre-Owned 2015 RX350.


According to the brochure, HID headlights is optional on these cars. Are they significantly better than halogen headlights? Is there any way to tell which one the car has? Otherwise, I would have to contact the dealer individually.


Also, regardless of HID or not, is LED daytime running lights standard?


Are they also on when the headlights are on? The reason I am asking this is, if the car has halogen lights, but if the LED light can help the visibility at night, I may not have to be picky about getting the one with HID.


We will be trading in our 2011 FX35 for our first Lexus. I am not too concerned about Lexus reliability, but any major issues that we need to look for? Thanks for helping this newbie out.

lexus114

there will be people here that will tell you you must have the hid`s. i put in sylvania silverstar`s (made in germany) no chinese junk! and i can see just fine. the factory halogens were a little weak. but no problems what so ever now.

NateJG

I also appreciate the light output from the Silverstars. Halogen projector beams are good. My experience with cars with halogen projector beams vs HIDs is that the more recent HIDs seem to have a very sharp/distinct line where they cut off light (as to avoid blinding oncoming drivers), while the more common projector beams blend out light a little bit.

The HIDs self-level at start-up, which is good.

An equaling factor is that, in our cars I believe, the same high beam is used - and I've added the Silverstars to my 2013's HIDs - to whiten-up the high beam color to match that of the HIDs.

IMHO, the HIDs are a subjectively incremental improvement over the halogen projector beam at an extra cost consistent with that of the Lexus vs the Toyota.

GRJFER

We bought our first lexus a month and a half ago. It is a 2013 CPO RX350 with led Daytime running lights and halogen headlights. This car replaced an 04 Camry. We also have an 08 silverado. The headlights on the RX350 are so much better than those on the camry or silverado. Driving the same roads I am able to see farther and have a wider view of the roadside.

Coming from your infinity you may not see as great of an improvement as I did.

carguy75

You can try using 65w Osram Super bright bulbs with the blue tint for more light output that are HID-like if you do not have HID bulbs.

I switched out my H7 halogen bulbs in my old 2011 Mercedes E350 4matic for 65w Osrams Cool Blue and they looked just like HID bulbs plus they are very bright.

Here my old thread that details the change. Post #27 show the Osrams on page 3.
http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w212...nge-how-3.html

vlad_a

I would be one of those people... HIDs are a must for me. Some may recommend a conversion. I'd be wary of one, as simply putting a bulb in will blind people around you due to the HID bulbs requiring a different reflector to accommodate the entire bulb lighting up instead of just a filament in the middle.
I've seen some cool conversions where the entire beam assembly is replaced. This requires baking the headlights to get to the plastic to separate. Still, does not make them self-leveling, though.

UZ214

1+, but i am sure the are all projectors- so even if you buy a one without HID- as long you have projectors the conversion is fairly cheap and simple

B16da9

iTrader: (7)

A halogen project and HID projector are not the same. Halogen projector is designed to use the 360 degree of light output produced by the filament.

The HID projector maximizes the light generated by the ark of the HID bulb so its like comparing apples to oranges.

I'm personally currently doing a TSX projector retrofit to my wifes 2015 RX to me the light output sucks on the halogen projector. Then again I'm used to the crisp and power output of my IS350 witch I also did a TSX projector retrofit as the side loading HID projectors on the IS suck even more than the halogens on the RX.

NateJG

http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr5103.pdf

TechNut

When we were getting the dealer installed options on our ES, I was provided a 2015 RX loaner. The next morning as my wife and I were leaving for work, she rolled down her window and flagged me and asked why the headlights on the loaner looked so dim. She was comparing the lights on our 2013 RX with HIDs to the loaner RX with Halogens. She was looking at the beam pattern on the front wall of tha garage, which is painted white. The difference was really remarkable. The HIDs were noticeably brighter and the light output was quite a bit whiter.

Our ES has halogens and we also installed the Sylvania Silverstars. They are a modest improvement over the OEM halogens, but still not as white nor as bright as the HIDs.

Now that I have seen the difference, (or "seen the light" if you will forgive my bad pun) I will never buy another car with halogens. The difference is really worth the extra cost IMHO.

I'm not sure that anyone answered the question on the LED daylight running lights. They are standard for model year 2013 on.