pinpoint

Greetings. I am considering replacing the aged headlight lenses on my '05 ES330. I am seeing that some aftermarket companies offer an HID version. The dealer told me that the wiring on my vehicle "may not be strong enough to accommodate HID lamps," but as with many things they say, I am suspect of the dealer's knowledge. I would think that 'the wiring harness is the wiring harness' for that model, unless someone here knows otherwise.

Wondering if anyone has ever done an HID upgrade here.

(note that also i believe I have rubbed the outer lenses as much as I could- the inside of the OEM lenses appears to be a bit distorted- and I still have some yellowish cast in the plastic)

Thanks!

DixonPai

iTrader: (3)

I am sure many here have changed to HIDs.

Have you tried 3M Lens restoring kit?

pinpoint

I have not used a formal restoration kit but have used some lightweight polishing compound- by hand- and even toothpaste. Does the 3m kit offer much more than that? Thanks.

mitmaks

Toothpaste? By hand? No, you're doing it wrong, here's a PROPER way of doing it.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

^ I'm willing to disagree here... with MY experience in the matter.

I've had far better results simply polishing the headlamp WITHOUT SANDING, than I did with it.

The sanding takes off the clearcoat, the polishing-only method will retain the clearcoat and fill in the gaps. Now if you use a fine compound it'll work even better.

Trust me on this. My biggest regret was sanding my halogens, which turned out to be a continual process thereafter.

With my replacement HID assemblies I simply polish and it's good as-is for twice the amount of time, without any oxidation signs.

Take it FWIW. I polished my headlamps prior to winter, they lasted during one of the worst winters here and I had to re-polish to restore the finish a week ago, in spring. For 5months of snow, salt, winds, junk on the roads, it worked out far better.

With sanding I'd have to touch it up at least once in the winter since it became more noticeable....

mitmaks

Polishing takes a skill, its not for everyone. If you're not comfortable wetsanding and using a buffer do not attempt this.

speedkar9

I tried an H11 HID plug and play kit in my ES330 which came with the halogen reflector headlights.

They suck. The light beam pattern is actually very dim, as it appears most of the light does not make it below the cut-off shield. If your doing HID, you've got to change out the lenses (or do a retrofit) with HID projectors.

I've since switched back to the stock halogen lights, which are much brighter.

Skip to 1:39 to see the output:

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

We carry a Philips Headlight Restoration Kit that we have heard positive feedback on. It will help if the lights are discolored/faded. You could then install an HID conversion kit into your existing headlamps. If they are too far gone, we do carry Spyder/SpecD headlight replacements. They are still halogen but again you can upgrade them with a HID conversion kit.

John

pinpoint

That's good information here guys. I didn't think it was as easy as just switching out the bulbs to Silverstar Ultra or something. Thanks.

Persocon

you can get a proper wiring harness that is built to handle HID kits @ theRetrofitSource.com

though I would strongly advise against simply installing plug-n-play HID kits into your existing Halogen headlights, because Halogen has different optics and focal points than HID. Same case with buying ebay so-called "HID" headlight assemblies, they will have such poor optics, you will be better off with your current fogged Halogen setup.

If you want a properly done HID solution, best way is to retrofit, using factory HID projectors to control optics, and proper wiring hardness that is built for HID ballasts.

Buying factory OEM headlight assemblies that is factory HID would cost too much.

People think installing a plug-n-play HID kit into their existing Halogen reflector, or projector assemblies will be soooo much brighter that all the street signs and freeway signs all light up so brightly now, or other people would high beam flash them all the time because their low beams are so bright. FALSE, all that light is glare, the result of improper optics not controlling and directing light where it should be, ON the road. Low beams are not suppose to blind on coming traffic, just see wall output pictures of factory HID cars, there is little to no light above the cutoff line of light. For GlareIDs, check any wall output picture of HID kits and see all the wasted light shining everywhere.

Any light not on the road, is wasted light. I have retrofitted a pair of FX35 OEM projectors, with aftermarket clear lenses, and 50 watt ballasts pushing 4300k (the farther away from 4300k, whether it be 3000k(yellow) or 8000k (blue), the less light output, there is a reason why OEMs use 4300k) Philips 85122+ D2S bulbs (Of course when Lexus switched to D4S (mercury free, and slower start up time), I have to modify existing D2S bulbs as cheaper replacements than buying OEM D4S. ), on my scion xA. It is much superior to factory HID as most factory HID projectors come with frosted or fresnel lenses that prevent more light from coming through. Factory HIDs are only 35 watts. At 50 watts, it is the limit on the best return for investment sort to speak, above 50 watts, lumens gained is very few at the same time reducing bulb life spam significantly.

willyv6

All you need is some 2500 grit wet sanding paper, some rubbing compound and and polish. Make sure you use an electric rotating buffer because if you try by hand you will get no where. Sanding can be done by hand however and make sure the lens stays wet while sanding.