E46CT

Yes my retrofit cost a lot more than $89. It's not enough for a light to "work." Yes light will emit from your headlights with plug in LED bulbs, that doesn't mean it's effective or safe. Just because you pull up to a wall and see blue light that doesn't mean much. That's not how any of that works. You are better off running the stock bulbs.

Put it this way... $2,000/side OEM assemblies from the worlds top manufacturers including Lexus receive "poor" ratings from the IIHS. If a comparatively military-grade OEM lighting system from a 8-figure billion dollar OEM like Koito or Denso fail distance, width, and glare tests, how do you think your $89 LED bulbs fare when stuffed into your H11 halogen projectors?

Lets take a look at the Insurance Institute's rating for the RC350 Premium Triple Beam headlamp system...








Lexus has since tweaked the design and shows vast improvement. A lot more goes into lighting than you think. The devil is in the details. Good lighting is $$$. For anyone else reading this, please do not slap LED bulbs into your headlight projectors. Peoples lives are on the line.

jbny

Thanks guys - So can someone please tell me if there are any halogen bulbs that can provide the light to match the DRL light (the Lexus swoosh).

lexusrus

I think it is NOT fair that you FAILED to mention the fact that the factory optional TRIPLE BEAMED LED headlights on the RCF (I currently have a RCF) were MISALIGNED when tested by the IIHS.

I quote:

Commenting on the findings, IIHS said in its summary, “The optional Premium Triple Beam LED Headlamps also get a boost from high-beam assist, but only from poor to marginal. The more expensive headlights provide much less visibility than the standard ones, likely due to an aim problem. Vehicles that come out of the factory with misaimed headlights are a frequent problem, resulting sometimes in poor visibility and sometimes in excessive glare.”

IIHS does not alter the vehicles it purchases from dealerships to test. The vehicles are kept in “as delivered” form so as not to introduce any changes that could alter the safety results. IIHS is an independent testing agency that is funded by private companies, not taxpayers, and automakers do not donate the cars that IIHS crashes. "

Original reference article is here:
https://www.torquenews.com/1083/lexu...ptional-lights


I know it's hard to imagine that a Lexus fresh out of the factory with misaligned headlights. But it happens.

Also my AFTERMARKET LEDs (6000K) are NOT BLUE. I don't like BLUE headlights.

I took some pics of my CT200h with my AFTERMARKET LEDs plus OEM HIDs with AFTERMARKET FOG LEDs on my RX450h and LX570 for comparison. I'll post these when I get a chance.

All I'm saying is just because you paid MORE does not necessarily mean it's better bang for the buck. A good example is we could have gotten the more expensive Range Rover SUV versus the LX570. But in my opinion, the LX570 is better suited for our purposes (mainly reliability). True the Range Rover has more tech and etc., but for our purposes it did not fit us even though it looked way "cooler and more expensive".





Please tell me it ain't BLUE,!!! No, it's not BLUE!!!


2013 CT200h with AFTERMARKET LEDs in both low beams and fogs. The above pic is from my prior posting. I'm travelling now and unable to take a photo at this time.



2013 CT200h with AFTERMARKET LEDs in both low beams and fogs.
The above pic is from my prior post. I'm travelling now and unable to take a photo at this time.





2013 LX570 with OEM HID and AFTERMARKET LED fogs.





2013 LX570 with OEM HID (AFTERMARKET LED fogs OFF)




2013 RX450h with OEM HID and AFTERMARKET LED fogs







2013 RX450h with OEM HID ONLY (AFTERMARKET LED fogs OFF).




You said the following which cracks me up.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
"For anyone else reading this, please do not slap LED bulbs into your headlight projectors. Peoples lives are on the line."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It's like someone who goes to the ER for a superficial paper cut on the finger AND DEMANDS to see a "finger specialist/orthopedic surgeon" STAT!!! NOBODY'S lives are on the line. LOL!!!

I'll post more pics later......

lexusrus

You must becareful with higher output halogen bulbs which WILL run HOTTER and melt your light housing!!! Some 15 years ago this happened to me when I got higher output halogen bulbs for my old 1995 Volvo.

I have no overheating problems with my aftermarket LEDs.

Raidin

Oh, ok, I didn't realize. Good to know!

While I know that going with factory LEDs is more expensive, I prefer the peace of mind that comes with it. I remember checking cost of the replacements before buying the car. At the time, I found the headlight at $200~ for the halogen, and $700~ for the LEDs. More recently, someone at the body shop was checking for me and found the headlight was $2,000~ per each to replace, which is insurance pricing. Seems excessively high. Considering how rare these are, I bet if I had to replace one I'd have to get a brand new one, and probably straight out of Japan.

lexusrus

I know the cost to "retrofitted" to OEM specs.

My CT200h came as is with halogen lights and pretty much otherwise loaded and sat on lot for a long time. Therefore it was heavily discounted. No regrets.

It is just so silly to spend TWO GRAND PER SIDE (or more than say a few hundred where cheaper alternatives are available) on a large volume production car that is three, four, five, or six years old.

jbny

Thank you lexusrus - Can you please let me know what aftermarket LEDs you have so i can get the same one and any issues with installation?

Thanks all.

lexusrus

The above LED is the one I got. These are the FANLESS design which I like. They were selling for around $89 a pair back a few years ago. But these are no longer available.



This one above is the CLOSEST to the one I had ordered. This is from a different vendor. These are FANLESS design. Also has enough power/lumens output. These are around $59 a pair.





This one above from a different vendor I found on Amazon which is also FANLESS. There were others currently, but not with enough power/lumens output. This one has a three year warranty. These are $39 for the pair currently.








For those of you who like to think the more expensive an item is, the better it is. This above LED is from PIAA, a very famous and reputable company. These normally sells for $149 on PIAA's website. On Amazon for $108 for the same item.







I came across the above highly rated LEDs.


If for some reason you don't like these, Amazon has a generous return policy. Just tell Amazon that these did not work out for you.

You should be able to tell after you put these in. Do a test with your stock halogen bulbs with pictures. You would need to find a place as dark as possible with road reflectors on the ground and road signs or fences along the road so your headlights will shine onto and show up on the pictures. Also do a comparison left side vs right side at night pointing towards a wall/garage door to capture the light cut off.

Lastly do a drive-by with another driver towards you at a distance and pass by to see if your new LEDs are aimed correctly so not to blind the on coming driver's.

Lastly, let us know your results so others can make an educated assessment.


ADDENDUM: I saw this review and found it to be informative.

jbny

Thanks all for your help, I was able to install the Cree LED Bulbs, I feel really stupid as the first time i tried i was missing the O ring, I removed it from the existing halogens and used it on the LED Bulbs.
So far it's good, it matches the LED strip in color.

Now i will need to do the same with my GX470 ;-)

lexusrus

So, which LEDs did you get?

jbny

Cree LED 6k which i had but just installed, i don see it listed in Amazon anymore.

lexusrus

Recently I took some pics of my aftermarket LEDs that I had put on my CT200h (going on three years plus and still going strong). The CT200h currently has about 57K miles on the odo. I remembered putting the aftermarket LEDs on around 12K miles or so. The pictures below were taken October 26/28, 2018.

Those of you still favor the more expensive lighting options........please chime in.


AFTERMARKET LEDs in the low beam. Fogs are OFF. This is using the OEM projector light housing that came with the CT200h (it had halogen bulbs for low beams which were replaced.) I think the aftermarket LED's still gave a good cutoff and provided much BETTER lighting vs OEM halogen bulbs (I did not take pics of OEM halogen bulbs. Sorry I forget. Someday with more free time I'll do it.)


This is with BOTH aftermarket LED's low beams AND fogs ON. I used OEM projector low beam housing and OEM reflective fog light housing. Therefore there are some light scattering from the fogs, but still working well for me bc I don't get oncoming drivers flashing their headlights even on two lane country roads. The fogs can really light up both sides of the roads much better vs OEM halogen fogs.


The aftermarket LED's low beams ON and OEM halogens high beams ON. Fogs OFF.


Both aftermarket low beams LEDs ON and fogs LEDs ON.


Aftermarket low beams LEDs ON. Fogs OFF.


Aftermarket low beams LEDs ON and high beams OEM halogens ON. Fogs OFF.


AFTERMARKET LEDs low beams ON and LEDs fogs ON


AFTERMARKET LEDs low beams ON. Fogs OFF.



AFTERMARKET low beams LEDs ON and OEM high beams halogens ON. Fogs OFF.



For comparison to my other vehicles' OEM HID HEADLIGHTS (RX450h and LX570)......Please see my pics posted earlier on this thread. When I get a chance I'll take some pics of my RCF's OEM triple LEDs which supposedly were rated poorly by Consumers Report magazine (there were mentioned misaligned RCF headlights coming out of the factory.) My RCF's OEM triple beam headlights work GREAT.

jbny

That looks great - Did you adjust the Low Beams after the LED install?

lexusrus

No. I just pop out the OEM halogens for the low beams and fogs and pop in the aftermarket LED's for low beams and fogs.

Interesting note is that prior to these "higher powered LEDs", I tried another vendors cheaper lower powered LEDs (around $29 a pair at the time) and I could not see even 10 feet in front.....I threw them to the garbage and got the ones I have currently (around $89 a pair at the time).

lexusrus

Pic I took yesterday off my CT200h with the aftermarket LED's for the low beams and fogs.....