lexus114

Well, when I bought my 2015 RX in May. It didn't come with the HID head lights. (that one got by me) and the stock bulbs are fine, i can see well with them. But I always had good luck with the Sylvania Cool Blue bulbs. They are a brighter white enabling you to see even better on those dark country roads. So last night (I had already ordered a pair of the cool blues from Amazon) I put them in. Very easy process, the stupid black covers took longer than anything. Well, they were like i expected. They are a brighter White. How ever, when I took it for a drive. I didn't like the light beams emitting from them. Kind of patchy and quite honestly the beam looked like it was from a cheap bulb!? So, even though they looked a little better when looking at the RX, I just did not like the beam of light they emitted. And I ended up putting back in the factory H11 Bulb. Next time, I will not let the HID headlight escape my want list. BTW, the factory bulbs are Phillips H11 made in Germany. And will probably out last the Cool Blues anyway. I did sort of consider a good LED bulb, but I don't know if that would work to well with the projected system. So for now its the factory bulbs.

Ryan

hypervish

Have you thought about going with aftermarket HID's?

lexus114

Well.....Uh.....No.

greeknasty

ouch. shoot hid's were my numb 2 on list of must haves. i would never buy a "luxury" car without hids (thats just me though)

silverar

i have d4s HID stock on the projector + i replaced the halogen with 100W HID for high beam ,. the light output is MASSIVE !

AL13NV8D3R

Just buy some aftermarket HID kit and call it a day. If you dont know how to install it then go find a local installer. I recommend Morimoto Elite HID system if you into high quality to match your high quality lexus . or if you want something more affordable you can try other brands. I have tried the cheap ebay ones and Morimotos and the Mori's are hands down the best but i have had good luck with the cheap ones too.

Henry82

Do you know if the low beam projectors are the same or different for the halogen headlights vs HID headlights? If the projectors are identical, then changing the halogen bulb to HID w/ballast (with an aftermarket kit) should achieve the same projection as that of the factory installed HID option... right?

Note: I'm referring to the low beams on the 2013+ RX.

Clutchless

You can always do the H11 to H9 bulb conversion. I did it on the CT220h I sold and on my current HS250h. Here is a link to the post from the HS250h forum https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hs-...eam-bulbs.html

This is discussed on many other Toyota and Mazda etc forums. The bulbzilla harness makes it easy as it is plug and play. You just have to cut one metal tab off the H9 bulbs which takes about a minute. They are much brighter, but do not last as long. Think yearly replacement. However, they are inexpensive on Amazon.

MI350_55

Order a set of H11 LED headlight bulbs from http://www.xenondepot.com/Default.asp and call it a day.

I placed a set of the XD brand in my Prius and the Camry projectors and have been extremely happy with the outcome. Each light outputs 2500 lumens and they are actually brighter than the stock HID's in my RX and GS.

nelsonsc

H11 / H8 / H16 PHILIPS X-TREME ULTINON LED BULB

Cheaper Here:

http://philipsautolights.factoryoutl...FVUlgQodwXMITw

ericsan13

The LEDs only output 2400-2500 lumens. Stock HIDs should output 3200 lumens when new.

I would go for 35W Morimoto H11, backed by 5-year warranty.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/hi...ystem-h11.html
They put out ~3400 lumens at 5500K.

I am using Osram 66440 CBI 5500K D4S HID Bulbs that output 3400 lumens.

Sounds like LEDs have a ways to go.

LONGSHORE

Lexus114, You might want to give this a look over. Like you, I was surprised mine didn't come equipped with HID's. This is the way I'm going to go.

Mikey

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/31...00k-4300k.html

lexus114

thanks. interesting...

MI350_55

Let's not forget the key word - "new". I was moving my cars in and out of the garage this past Saturday evening and did a quick eye check/comparison with the stock HID's vs the LED-equipped Prius. I swear the Prius illuminated more on the road than the HID-equipped vehicles. It could be that the HID's are 4300-4400K(?) vs the LED's 6000K output. IMO, not a ways to go, but it's getting fairly close. I took the quick and simple route .

greeknasty

The higher the kelvin the lower the light output. I highly doubt the Prius led was brighter than 4300k hids.
I'm curious the longevity of all the LEDs in new cars. Heat kills them and I don't think swapping new LEDs in new cars is a easy . But what do I know