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Looking to replace every front facing bulb in this car as it's 16 years old and running all factory OEM bulbs. As we know, lighting has changed a lot over the last decade. I'm looking for the best options for lighting up these older vehicles.
oh hey I found it. Lots of great info in the PM i sent you so I will post here:
Ok I want to start by saying this is all based in my opinion. first and foremost, HID is better than LED in every way except for 2 (opinion). Power draw (HID's pull a good bit of power but nothing too drastic), and temperature (HID's run hotter than LED but cooler than stock).
put in your year make and model and they give you a fitment chart. the cool thing about this is it tells you what kind of bulbs go everywhere else in your car, but more on that in minute.
in a headlight application, HID's have double the light output of LED's, and LED's have double the light output of stock bulbs. On your car, you don't need a relay harness or any of that extra stuff. You *SHOULD* just be able to plug them in following the instructions (pictures) in your kit) and turn them on. In theory, it should take about 30 minutes per light. Once they are done, they last (again, in theory) for around 2,500 hours. That equates to about 2 decades of average headlamp use for a car. I say should because the kits are made to be universal, but plug and play to a degree. On my ES, I had to cut the plug ends off the new HID bulbs because they didnt fit the plugs on my Lexus wiring harnesses. I had some connectors in my connector kit here at the house that fit so I was able to put those on the ends of the wires, slide the new connectors on the prongs of the ES plug and boom, power. Nuances like that may happen, don't get discouraged. On my ram, I had to drill 1" holes in the back of my $800 EACH headlamp housings in my brand new $60,000 truck. ****...My...Life. Anyway, back to it.
As far as color temperature is concerned: The higher the Kelvin number, the lower the light output. So, 4300K-6000K is considered a "factory-colored HID" Cops won't hassle you, you will pass inspections in every state, even though you aren't technically legal, because they look stock. As long as the install is clean and you don't have a retarded amalgamation of wires running everywhere (and you shouldn't without a relay harness), then you are golden. Color Temps vary widely, your 3000k is going to give you that yellow/amber color for the fogs. it cuts right through fog. 4300k is the purest white light, About the same color as a fluorescent light bulb in your kitchen. 5000-5500k (where most folks end up going), is a pure white with a hint of blue. This is the best all-around color temperature for a factory look with the highest light output, that you can tell isn't halogen (stock). 6000K is a bit more blue, it sacrifices just a hair more light output to give that crystal blue/white color. Thats what my ES has in the low beams. I left Halogens in the highs because with HID in the Fogs and the Lows, I don't need the high beams...ever.
Keep in mind when you make your purchase that as HID's age, the bulbs will suffer from a condition called "color shift". 3000K bulbs will fade more to the orange. 5000K-6000K more to the blue, 8000K to the purple, 10000K to the pink. So a 3000K will get closer to a 4000K color as it ages, 4300K closer to 5000K, 5000K closer to 6 and so on. This happens over a period of 3-5 years, not 3-5 months, so its not a huge deal, just something to be aware of.
HID's have other cons too. They take a few seconds to fully power up, as such they aren't really suitable for use as high beams without extensive modifications (bi-xenon applications: where the same bulb does both high and low beams). They also have more parts, they have a ballast that plugs into each bulb. Its basically a capacitor and an amplifier in one that draws electricity from your 12v system and amplifies it to somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 volts. Yes, you read that right...40,000. That's needed to ignite the gas that burns in the HID bulb. Now, with that said, the ballasts sold by xenondepot have a built in failsafe. Steve is a friend of mine (he owns XD) and he builds a circuit breaker into them. It is impossible for electricity to backflow to your cars electrical system. It flows one way only. Any type of surge at all will trip the breaker in the ballast and cut power to it temporarily, until you shut off the car for 60 seconds and turn it back on.
LED's do none of that. They are much simpler, They last much much longer (about 25,000 hours, as opposed to 2,500 hours) but they just do not give off anywhere near as much light in headlight applications. They are, however, suitable for high beams, and they draw almost no power. They have no warm up period (even if HID's only need a few seconds, in some cases that could be crucial).
Now, back to that handy little fitment chart they give you at XenonDepot that tells you what kind of bulbs your car takes. After you buy your HID's, Click your butt over to Amazon. I buy EVERYTHING i can thats car or truck related from there. It is almost always cheaper, with just a few exceptions. I won't buy my HID's there, I won't buy body parts there for collision repair, and I won't buy certain random other stuff that looks like junk. But for the most part, if I need it for a car, I get it from there. Brakes, Struts, Wheels, Tires, you name it dude. Fast, free shipping too.
So, you have a 2000 ES, and since your a noob, I'll do this one for ya. Go here:
https://www.xenondepot.com/H7-HID-Ki...D-p/vdp-h7.htm
^here is your H7 kit (low beam) you will only need one kit, it comes with everything to do both headlights. just pick your color temp and go. More expensive Philips kit ($154) is not that much different except it does offer more color options. I run the cheaper kit, but its still better than 99.9% of anything you will find on the market today and 100% better than anything in its price point.
Now, with all that said, I don't recommend fiddling with the blinker bulbs or the brake lights. The brake lights have sensors to tell you when the bulbs are out, and there will be a warning light on the dash if you switch those over to LED. Also, they will not be as bright if you don't install a resistor on each bulb (read PAIN IN THE ***). As for the blinkers, they will blink retardedly fast (as if you have a bulb out) and you will get a ticket for having a modified light/wont pass inspection. #fail.
As for your LED's on your jeep, amazon is again your friend. stay off of ebay, nothing but junk on there anymore really. I only go on there if I need a specific OEM part and I can't find it.
I always do if the lenses are clear, and not from like the early to mid-90's cars. I just re-aim the lights as-needed. Many on here will tell you not to, that you will blind other drivers, but if you are careful and dilligent in your effort to re-aim your lamps, it will be minimal, if any. And, you may actually be more safe, because you can see better.
This is the same button that can be pressed on my Jeep boards. HA! Everyone hates the guy that puts HID in standard OEM light housings. They have a Sylvania HIR 9011 bulb that I put in my Jeep XK that is incredible and lights up the road unlike any "standard" halogen bulb I've used. It requires a bit of dremel skill to make it fit in standard housings which I think scares a lot of folks, but it's a fantastic bulb. I've attached a picture of my XK for reference.
I figured LED was the new hotness, but I'll get on that side and research about the HID and I can aim them properly for sure. Next is fogs and DRL / Highs.
This is the same button that can be pressed on my Jeep boards. HA! Everyone hates the guy that puts HID in standard OEM light housings. They have a Sylvania HIR 9011 bulb that I put in my Jeep XK that is incredible and lights up the road unlike any "standard" halogen bulb I've used. It requires a bit of dremel skill to make it fit in standard housings which I think scares a lot of folks, but it's a fantastic bulb. I've attached a picture of my XK for reference.
I figured LED was the new hotness, but I'll get on that side and research about the HID and I can aim them properly for sure. Next is fogs and DRL / Highs.
Yeah I think I learned back on the Toyota Nation forums (back "home" lol) that 9011 and 9012 are significantly brighter (and still halogen) replacements that fit 9005 and 9006 combos with very little modification.
I did a complete LED conversion on my '01 Insight (except for the cluster bulbs, those are OEM incandescent). Have grey-market Philips H4 replacements which work awesome, but I posted a pic that was probably off because of my phone, and somebody back on TN complained that they were glaring. I'm going to re-aim both, then mount a GoPro and post video, because I don't see any glare . Also they run expensive, about $225/pair, but have a much nicer light pattern than any of the cheap Chinese assemblies.
I used Philips LEDs where I could, with a few exceptions:
- front side markers are Osram/Sylvania amber LEDs, since Philips didn't make a 168/194 amber that I knew of
- front and rear turn signals are grey-market (Japanese market) WY21 bulbs using the older (but extremely bright and hot) Rebel LEDs. These are my favorites, never get too hot since they just flash...also they have well-designed heatsinks and an aluminum chassis.
- thinking of changing map lights to red Sylvanias (I prefer Philips because they always seem to be brighter and last longer than Sylvania/Osram, but haven't found these). Am told that they don't affect night reading as much, and the Philips white 194's I tossed in are waaay too bright
If you do it right (as you pictured) there can actually be LESS glare, than with halogen. I get more glare from trucks towing trailers with their lights in the air around here because who is going to re-aim their headlamps to tow a trailer? Nobody, you just don't think about it and even if you did, thats a lot of damn work. I will admit, they are bright. But if you take precautions, they wont be any more obnoxious than any car on the road that comes stock with them from the factory in a non-projector housing. IMO, the people who ***** are mostly just looking for something to ***** about. You can't please everybody.
Also forgot to mention, don't try to do HID in the DRL. Use LED for that. Much simpler.
If you do it right (as you pictured) there can actually be LESS glare, than with halogen. I get more glare from trucks towing trailers with their lights in the air around here because who is going to re-aim their headlamps to tow a trailer? Nobody, you just don't think about it and even if you did, thats a lot of damn work. I will admit, they are bright. But if you take precautions, they wont be any more obnoxious than any car on the road that comes stock with them from the factory in a non-projector housing. IMO, the people who ***** are mostly just looking for something to ***** about. You can't please everybody.
Also forgot to mention, don't try to do HID in the DRL. Use LED for that. Much simpler.
Tell me about it, I hate getting shot down for trying to upgrade crappy stock lamps! I'm wondering about something. I have the [slightly malfunctioning] auto-leveling HIDs in my ES (fixing that is last on the list, they still light up the road fine). Did the 3ES ever come with a tow package option?
I ask because I just installed a new Denso radiator in a buddy's 2000, and we chose to go with the 1" option over the stock 5/8" option. Wondering if that was for a tow package, or for warmer climates, or what.
There is plenty of justification for putting HIDs in halogen units, you won't find any lack of that on the web! So I'll give you the counterpoint. HIDs were optional on this car, Lexus did not use the same reflectors, but what do automotive lighting engineers know, according to this thread I saw on the Internet putting HID bulbs in halogen reflectors is more safer!
I did the swap to OEM HIDs, pretty easy to do. Its the right way to do it. Then you get a light unit designed for HIDs. Plus they look cooler. Make sure to replace the 16 year old bulbs though even if they work they will have gone purple.
Or do a proper retrofit of TSX Morimoto whatever the kids are using these days. That is the other way to do it right.
There is plenty of justification for putting HIDs in halogen units, you won't find any lack of that on the web! So I'll give you the counterpoint. HIDs were optional on this car, Lexus did not use the same reflectors, but what do automotive lighting engineers know, according to this thread I saw on the Internet putting HID bulbs in halogen reflectors is more safer!
I did the swap to OEM HIDs, pretty easy to do. Its the right way to do it. Then you get a light unit designed for HIDs. Plus they look cooler. Make sure to replace the 16 year old bulbs though even if they work they will have gone purple.
Or do a proper retrofit of TSX Morimoto whatever the kids are using these days. That is the other way to do it right.
While they arent the same, the differences are nearly undetectable in the way the scatter light. Park your car side by side with DK's with an HID kit in non HID housings aimed correctly, bet you wont detect a difference.
anyway there are countless arguments about this online, one more isnt likely to change the outcome. If ot was truly that big of an issue, the kits wouldnt be allowd to be sold because big government would shut it down like they do everything thats "bad".
those housings are hundreds of dollars each. Hard to justify a $700ish mod on a 17 y/o car
Finally got around to replacing all the bulbs this afternoon. I'll post some pics tonight when it gets dark. Unfortunately, I didn't go with HID as the kit was missing parts, so I just got some Silverstar Ultras for the headlights and DRL / high beams. Went with the yellow H3 fogs as I just prefer that look on a luxury vehicle. I think anyway... It's been several years since I had my GS and a lot has changed in the lighting department, but we'll see how it looks tonight.
Wish the orange turns matched the yellow fogs. Guess I'm going to fish out some clear turns as I'm not a fan of the look as it sits.
I'm sure this has been answered here many times before, but is there a way to trick the car into thinking the headlights are on so I can just run the DRL and fogs by themselves?
03-05-17, 01:50 PM
2000 Lexus ES Platinum Series Lighting
. Also they run expensive, about $225/pair, but have a much nicer light pattern than any of the cheap Chinese assemblies.
