Hi. New forum member, new CT owner! Really loving the car. I had a quick question. I just recently received some 3five Morimoto 4300k HIDs and saw that it came with 55W ballasts. Is this the ideal set up? My gut is telling me to return the ballasts for a set of 35W. Thank you all!

 

if you go 55w, you may need a relay harness to handle the extra power. At least, that is what i've gleaned from the available information. Worst case scenario, the wires get fried. best case, nothing happens. It seems to be a roll of the dice.

I myself bought a 35w 4300k kit from ddm with the harness, better safe then sorry i suppose.

 

I have the 35w Morimoto. The harness may protect your wiring, but the extra heat may melt your lamp housing, or it may not. I wouldn't risk it.

 

I would buy a relay harness no matter what to ensure the HIDs do no damage.
The startup current for HIDs is not good for the stock wiring.

 

just installed my ddm 35w hid kit, gonna test it out tonight.

 

I love HIDs. I love retro fits even more. If retrofitting is out of the question for you then stick with the 35w kit. Get yourself another 35w kit for the fogs!

 

OK. I"m a little embarrassed . I've never even considered an HID kit for my new CT, even though I REALLY don't like the halogens. I've been thinking of LEDs instead, but there are concerns there as well (heat and brightness). My concerns centered around ballast, heat, and cost. I assumed these were expensive, however, after reading this thread, I looked at the DDM website, and was really surprised. Is it possible that I'm really looking at around $60 as a worst case, for HID lights with 35W ballasts?!?! What am I missing?

3 questions. My car has 500 miles on it, and it's a lease. What trouble can this cause for either with the warranty or when I give the car back? I'm thinking if it's quality stuff, there should be no warranty issues unless I install it wrong, and I can always take them out if I turn the car back in. Right? Also, how do you mount the ballasts without it looking like an afterthought in the engine compartment? Can someone take a photo of their installation? Second, what temp are people choosing? I would guess that 4300 would be close to the normal Lexus HIDs, and that 5000 would have just a touch of a blue tint. Do I have that right? Last question, has anyone had any issue with the heat generated. I understand HIDs run really hot, and if the housing isn't designed for the extra heat, there might be issues.

 

i just installed the DDM 35w kit at 4300k temp. I just kind of placed the ballasts near the lights and hoped they'll stick. no issues so far. i just had my car serviced at lexus for an airbag light and they never said one thing about the hids, the leds or anything i had on the car. 4300k is white, there is very little blue tint, it kind of looks odd with my yellow fogs but i like it. the cut off is going to suck but its better then stock halogens. the install isn't hard at all, it's just accessing everything that stinks. it really is just unplugging the old bulbs, making sure the new wire harness and ballast are connected up right and plugging in the new bulb. 30 minutes easy.


edit-
below are pics of the hid ballasts installed. can't really seem them.