Decided to swap out the factory 4300k to 6000k bulbs.




The blue tinge is much less dramatic in person than it is on my iPhone camera. I miss my HID lights on my 3IS so I wanted to achieve the same look here and think I did. I'm pretty happy with it!

Did not want to shell out $300+ for bulbs so I found the most well reviewed I could on amazon. Link here:
Hopefully they hold up for awhile. I'll follow up in a few months with a status on bulb quality.

 

How do you feel about light output?

They look great, I would just be concerned about less usable light.

 

Yea I was definitely weary of this but after going for a night drive I think it's perfectly fine. It's definitely not as bright as the 4300k bulbs but by adjusting the factory aiming to compensate for my lowering springs as well as a few extra turns to make up for the low aim that came from the factory, I think I was able to get some more usable light output. I'm may do some tweaking this weekend on a dark road to see if I can bring them up a tad more and not blind other drivers.

 

Very cool. I really wish you would have headed over to a dark road and did some befores though..

 

Me too...

 

I like the color - but then only if you could change the led color of the DRL as well....

 

Does 6000k color temperature cause the light output to fall compared to the OEM 4300k color temperature?
If so, does anyone know why? Just curious as usual.

 

I think it's because blue doesn't project as much as pure white. The higher the kelvin, the more blue the light is.

 

The higher the Kelvin rating, the fewer the lumens are put out. Lumens = brightness. Scientifically I'm not sure why higher Kelvin correlates with fewer lumens.

 

How easy was the install?

 

I went through all of the threads I could find on the forum as well as a few videos on YouTube of people changing bulbs on 3GS's and thought this is something I could tackle on my own. However, the space is extremely tight in there, especially for the driver's side installation. On the passenger side, I managed to get the ballast off of the bulb but there was a tiny screw holding a metal clip in place that kept the bulb secure in the slot it sits in. I didn't have a tool small enough to access this screw and didn't want to risk messing anything up so I paid my car guy to do it. $60 bucks for labor. I believe Lexus dealership labor for this job would run well over $100 so I think it was a good deal.

 

Um, you don't need any tools to change the bulbs. Everything should twist off, or depress a clip to release.

Personal experience as I changed my own bulbs on day #1 of owning the car.

Yes, the driver side was a PITA.

 

Hahaha I'm glad you chimed in because your post on another thread is the one I found on the forum to be the most detailed in regard to changing the bulb. There is a small metal clip/bracket holding the bulb in place and this clip is held down by a small black screw. How do you unfasten the clip without un-loosening this screw? This is where I gave up. lol.

 

I hate my work computers...can't post photos.

Look at this link...it has what that clip looks like. You would just squeeze the ends and lift off. It is hinged...which may be the screw you were trying to take off...

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i8...s/SP_A0436.jpg

 

Wow this is extremely helpful. Thank you! I was doing this all wrong. I was trying to unfasten the clip on the end where that screw is. I wasn't able to see how the clip assembly worked while the headlight was in the car (too dark and space too tight). This looks doable now!