TripnES

Recently purchased a 2014 ES350 (black/black) with 20k miles and first impression are that it drives better than expected. In sport mode the car definitely takes off with an attitude. Coming for a 2008 BMW 528i and wanted to get into a luxury car with low maintenance and higher reliability and I think this fit my requirements. We also looked at 2014 GS350 which was better driving car, but we needed a bigger back seat with a couple of kids.

The car has a premium package with BSM and Park Assist. I am surprised the Car does not have HIDs, was it an option on top of premium package? I have an appointment this weekend to replace halogens with HID lights and a tint. For HID replacement, do i need a CANBUS? I think its an extra add in my conversation with the tint & audio place.

Very happy with the car and looking forward to it.

jollick

Congratulations and welcome to Club Lexus! I will let other members with some experience at changing to HID answer your question.

GES

I will give you experience with the HID conversion from halogen. I did the conversion myself. I purchased the Kensun 55W conversion kit color temperature 5000 from amazon for around 65$. They are not labeled canbus, so I assume they are not. They were easy to install and plug and play.The only issue was were to mount the ballast. The adhesive tape it comes with is not a secure solution, so I used cable ties. I had no problems with them. I have had them for about 2 years now with no issues. No flickering, no error codes. More powerful than the halogen and the color temperature matches the daytime running lights very well. My understanding is that the canbus supposed to be better to minimize the chance of error codes and flickering issues. They are probably more expensive but if that is not an issue to you then canbus is good.
I did try the color temperature 6000 before the 5000 and found out that they don't match the daytime running led lights; they have a slight hint of blue. The 6000 looked very nice but they don't match so I changed them to 5000 color temperature.

TechNut

Yes. As I discovered with my 2015, HIDs were not part of the premium package. They were a separate option. I have been pondering LEDs rather than HIDs. Just not sure which way I want to go. The LEDs in our NX are amazing and I love the white color.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

GES

I believe it is OK to go from halogen to HID but not halogen to led without changing the whole headlight. I know you can find led bulbs to fit the low beam or high beam socket, I am just not sure how functional they are. I always thought when it comes to Led you need a lense designed for that.

Brent1944

I had a 2016 Honda Pilot.. They have a forum as well called Piloteers.. Anyway. There ae great write ups there on this subject..Some. The Pilot of course comes with Halogen except the very high model and it has LED.. Technically the Halogen housing is not an LED housing nor is it an HID housing... I did change my Fog lights to LED... Some say the LED lowbeams are ok unless its raining very hard, then they are an issue.. so they went with HID..Most leave their HB alone...I personally went with HID from http://www.xenondepot.com/....However I do not know if they carry HIDs for the Lexus...Also what some did was........The Honda Pilot bulb is an H11 bulb..... Some ....me included...bought an H9 bulb, modified a tab with a dremel tool and it fit perfectly..Instantly 50% more light..Still halogen nut more light.... On the HIDs i mentioned above I used 4300....Then of couse like my #S i changed all interior and puddle lights to LED.

TripnES

Thanks for the info. A local Audio place is selling HID kits for $60 + $60 for Install + $60 for canbus (optional and recommended by him). I will let them do the install as i am not a DIY type. Its good to know 5000K matches well to DRL.

TripnES

I inquired about LEDs as well, however HID is recommended for type of headlight housing on the ES350. I was told it will be brighter and better for the car. For FogLights, LEDs are recommended, again due to fog light housing.

Brent1944

All depends on the housing.. Halogen projectors are NOT the same as the others no matter the car..

GES

I think this is a good plan. I also have Led on my fog lights, but this is just for cosmetics not function. I think you will be happy with the result.

TechNut

Good information. Didn't realize the housing was different. Thank you for the info.

I actually asked during the test drive and the salesman told me it had HIDs. Hard to be too angry - I have eyes, I can read and I certainly know the difference. Learned an important lesson about how the sales rep will tell you whatever you want to hear.

TechNut

I'm not doubting the members of this forum, but I'm not entirely sure I believe all the heresay about the halogen projector housing being inappropriate for LED bulbs. Numerous lighting manufacturers create conversion kits so is it reasonable to think they make a bulb designed for the halogen projector housing?. Are they all wrong and just trying to make a fast buck? I took a chance and ordered a kit so I will certainly report back on the results.

https://www.carid.com/lumen/lumen-le...175094448.html

Unfortunately, it is back ordered until March 10th so it will be a few weeks...

Brent1944

It has to do with the light scattering and cut off i believe.. Some say that LEDs work great in a halogen housing...Till it rains hard..In my Honda Pilot i put LEDs in my fog lights but put HIDs in my low beams

TechNut

From what I have read, the HID conversions require a power lead to be run to the battery. This is somewhat more inconvenient with the 300h as the battery is in the trunk. I would certainly prefer a plug & play conversion, and it looks like the LED conversions allow that. Conversely, I certainly don't want to be annoying or blinding to oncoming traffic on rainy nights and will immediately rip them out if that becomes the case. My wife and I have also seen that the LEDs on our NX are noticeably brighter than the HIDs on the previous RX - and a little whiter. I understand the Triple Beam LEDs on the NX were designed with appropriate housings so I'm not expecting results identical to the NX, but I'm hoping to improve the brightness some and looking for whiter lighting.

Strictly in the "for what it's worth from the salesman" category, the rep I spoke to at Car-ID recommended the LED lights. He did not recommend HIDs as we discussed this. I have had good luck with the folks at Car-ID in the past, so I will give them some credit but I won't blindly believe any salesman (again).

VuVewVoo

I, too came from a 2013 528i and completely agree that the car drives immensely better than expected. Honestly before test driving/ buying the car I thought of the ES as a boring cruiser with no personality or drive ability. My wife and I started looking because we are about to have our first baby! So we wanted something bigger, quieter, and smoother. My 528i had the m sport package and was lowered so it was quite a rough ride. Driving the ES was refreshing and like I said the drive itself was surprising. Needless to say I do not regret the decision to get back into a Lexus.

For the HID conversion, I don't think you will need a canbus just get a high quality kit. I think Morimoto has some of the best after market kits you can get. I was fortunate enough to have HIDs from the factory.