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i know there is no "right" answer here But the hallogen low beam lighting on this car is terrible no matter the bulbs
so at a danger of crashing in early morning hours i need to pick HID or LED upgrade
at this point cost is no concern
please help me pick better bulbs
my main issue is distance and side illumination
the lenses were restored by lexus and all adjustments are in spec
i know there is no "right" answer here But the hallogen low beam lighting on this car is terrible no matter the bulbs
so at a danger of crashing in early morning hours i need to pick HID or LED upgrade
at this point cost is no concern
please help me pick better bulbs
my main issue is distance and side illumination
the lenses were restored by lexus and all adjustments are in spec
ty
Different bulbs won't make to much difference. You need to have the lights adjusted up higher and not into their spec. Adjustment is not as simple as other cars. Find an independent who will adjust them or drive with your high beams on.
wait
so thhe lexus dealer does not know how to adjust properly?
what they did is measure the height to the light at lamp and height to the light on white wall 6ft away and made sure the height is the same
i have had them do this 3 times now and made an appointment to an eye doctor thinking my eyes are going...
i can see better at night in our 1996 avalon with regular philips bulbs
Hid pnp kit or a led pnp kit will definitely be brighter “more lumens” as well as will be white light instead of yellow halogen which just seems brighter naturally. At this point there output is similar between the two. The major difference besides the cool cutoff prism effect you get from Hids is that leds don’t typically require an additional external ballast “think small amplifier” like hids do. Hid systems also pull allot of power and if you hook them up to your factory lights socket directly they can melt your wiring, so you need an additional relay harness. Not hard to do it’s basically the same as a audio amplifier setup with a relay on small awg wiring. LEDs do have a heat coil on the back and some older ones even had a fan on the back to keep the bulbs cool as they get hot but the electrical pull is small enough that you go directly into the factory harness without the risk of melting anything, no harness required.
You can research on the subject at hidplanet.com https://www.theretrofitsource.com is who I recommend for high end not cheap made in china crap. The Morimoto line is awesome I’ve used both hid and led kits in the past from them for years never had an issue and the customer service is top notch. You can definitely find cheaper kits online but these guys have been around forever started out selling OEM parts for retrofits and eventually started making there own premade stuff.
wait
so thhe lexus dealer does not know how to adjust properly?
what they did is measure the height to the light at lamp and height to the light on white wall 6ft away and made sure the height is the same
i have had them do this 3 times now and made an appointment to an eye doctor thinking my eyes are going...
i can see better at night in our 1996 avalon with regular philips bulbs
You misunderstood my post. The dealer will adjust to the car spec. which with the light cutoff will not change the distance . That is the design of the headlight projector. A brighter bulb will not change the cutoff function of the headlight assembly. You need to tweak the height adjustment so that the light projection is further down the road. This will be higher then the stock set up. The dealer won't do this so you need to find someone who knows how to adjust them . Also best to do it at night on a straight road.
Aiming lights higher will not make it better. If anything it will lead to you getting glare back and or blinding everyone else in the road. If you don’t believe that a QUALITY Hid/Led system will blow a halogen setup out of the water you really need to test drive something with quality headlights. My company truck is a Ford Ranger with halogens and my ES has the factory HIDs my wife’s car has the Acura LED jewel headlights, my previous explorer had factory LEdS, before that Hids in TL retrofits in a highlander, Camry, Accord. I really hate the lighting in the Ranger it’s horrible going from good lighting to garbage lighting.
Aiming lights higher will not make it better. If anything it will lead to you getting glare back and or blinding everyone else in the road. If you don’t believe that a QUALITY Hid/Led system will blow a halogen setup out of the water you really need to test drive something with quality headlights. My company truck is a Ford Ranger with halogens and my ES has the factory HIDs my wife’s car has the Acura LED jewel headlights, my previous explorer had factory LEdS, before that Hids in TL retrofits in a highlander, Camry, Accord. I really hate the lighting in the Ranger it’s horrible going from good lighting to garbage lighting.
so what would be the best setup for the ES for around $300?
im not sure if you said your year ES that’s for a 07. $120 plug and play 3 year warranty. Call up there customer service don’t take my word for it, have them pick what best fits your needs. That’s what I would definitely go with if my car didn’t have OEM hid’s.
Aiming lights higher will not make it better. If anything it will lead to you getting glare back and or blinding everyone else in the road. If you don’t believe that a QUALITY Hid/Led system will blow a halogen setup out of the water you really need to test drive something with quality headlights. My company truck is a Ford Ranger with halogens and my ES has the factory HIDs my wife’s car has the Acura LED jewel headlights, my previous explorer had factory LEdS, before that Hids in TL retrofits in a highlander, Camry, Accord. I really hate the lighting in the Ranger it’s horrible going from good lighting to garbage lighting.
I have the HID's in my ES and they stink. They cut off to low and also to the left. My 2016 Chev truck also has HID's and because a truck is higher off of the ground and the cut off is different then the ES there is no problem with the lighting. Also the new Acura LEDs are to bright when approaching so I usually keep flashing my high beams in protest.
TSounds like your your headlights are badly misaligned. If there OEM Hids they should have the motor that turns them with your steering wheel and auto levels them. Is your motor maybe dead? When you turn on your lights they should do a dance aim upward then drop back down and level out. Also are your Lens clean make sure there not yellow or hazy/foggy. The Es Hids aren’t as great as my old TL’s or the RX350 retrofit with clear STI lens I had in my highlander but there still pretty damn good. Good luck with trying to shame the Acura’s lol. I don’t have an issue with Acura’s pickup trucks with Hids are annoying because there usually not OEM and are usually aimed waybto high just blinding everyone around them. My first Hids were Audi Hids in a non projector halogen housed 2000 Honda Accord back in 2002, we thought it was the coolest thing that the light exploded all the way past the third floor of buildings driving around. Yeah retrospect we were dicks lol.
Originally Posted by jagtoes
I have the HID's in my ES and they stink. They cut off to low and also to the left. My 2016 Chev truck also has HID's and because a truck is higher off of the ground and the cut off is different then the ES there is no problem with the lighting. Also the new Acura LEDs are to bright when approaching so I usually keep flashing my high beams in protest.
TSounds like your your headlights are badly misaligned. If there OEM Hids they should have the motor that turns them with your steering wheel and auto levels them. Is your motor maybe dead? When you turn on your lights they should do a dance aim upward then drop back down and level out. Also are your Lens clean make sure there not yellow or hazy/foggy. The Es Hids aren’t as great as my old TL’s or the RX350 retrofit with clear STI lens I had in my highlander but there still pretty damn good. Good luck with trying to shame the Acura’s lol. I don’t have an issue with Acura’s pickup trucks with Hids are annoying because there usually not OEM and are usually aimed waybto high just blinding everyone around them. My first Hids were Audi Hids in a non projector halogen housed 2000 Honda Accord back in 2002, we thought it was the coolest thing that the light exploded all the way past the third floor of buildings driving around. Yeah retrospect we were dicks lol.
HID's with auto level and auto turn. Clear lenses . Poor projection down the road from day one and only have 60K on the car. No objestion to the left side cut off but the down the road truncation does not allow for clear distance definition of objects. Do not have this problem with my new pick up or my Jag or our Volvo.
HID's with auto level and auto turn. Clear lenses . Poor projection down the road from day one and only have 60K on the car. No objestion to the left side cut off but the down the road truncation does not allow for clear distance definition of objects. Do not have this problem with my new pick up or my Jag or our Volvo.
so the projectors/headlight assembly on this car is just so poor that it makes no sense to upgrade the bulbs?
i need to be able to see better at night somehow...
so the projectors/headlight assembly on this car is just so poor that it makes no sense to upgrade the bulbs?
i need to be able to see better at night somehow...
The adjustment for the halogen lamp bulbs is different then for the HID. There are 2 adjustment wheels on each headlight assembly. The one near the center of the car is the one for up and down. This is the one you need to adjust . The best way to do this is at night on a flat place. It is more difficult for 1 person but can be done. Take a cardboard box and tape it to the passenger headlight with the open side down. You need to block this light but don't want to overheat it. You'll have to take off the plastic covers in the front of the engine bay to get at the adjustments. Adjust the up/down until you like what you see. Best to put a target at 10 , 25 and 50 feet. Do the same with the passenger light but you usually don't need to adjust this much. If you want to eliminate the cut off on the driver side you would need to order the left side headlight assembly from a right hand drive country like Japan or UK . Also most states don't have a high beam law so you can drive with your high beams on if you want. So pick your poison.
This is is what the light pattern should look like on your garage notice how the left side is slightly lower so you don’t blind upcoming traffic. The bottom of the light should cut off straight as well. Proper Hids shouldn’t light all the way up, that’s what high beams do in open road driving.
He doesn't have the HID option . He has halogen low beams. Your picture gives no reference to distance down the road so it is difficult to see if they are sufficient .
12-27-18, 03:21 PM
aftermarket HID VS LED
