When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
How many miles are you getting out of your OEM HID bulbs?
For those of you that have had a OEM HID bulb fade or burn out on your GX 460, at how many miles were you? I know it can vary a lot based on use, but I'm curios anyway. I've got a replacement set of bulbs but I don't want to put them in too soon depending on what others are seeing in terms of longevity.
The rule of thumb I've always heard/seen, is that with an average amount of miles (so about 15k a year, with about 50% of driving done at night or with headlights on, remember snow and shorter days in the winter IIRC), you should replace HID bulbs every 5 years or so. You should never wait for an HID bulb to go out (or go pink) before you replace them due to lumen depreciation. I have a 2012 myself, and am planning to replace them next summer. From my experience, it seems that OE hid bulbs start to fail around the 10 year mark. Osram just introduced a new HID bulb that has a 10 year warranty, but I haven't had the time to really research that.
As far as your situation, unless you drive a lot more than average or drive exclusively at night or with the lights on all the time, with a 2013 model vehicle, you should be safe waiting another year before replacing the bulbs.
On a different, (but similar) topic.... Anyone know how long the LED headlights in the 2015's (and other years that came equipped with them) tend to last?
That's an excellent question, and a question that I have often wondered myself. Unfortunately, I don't really have a good answer to that question. As far as LEDs in taillights, the 2nd gen RX is starting to see issues on earlier models, which puts us at about 2004. Headlights, on the other hand, are a different story. Lexus first came out with LED headlights on the 2007 LS 600hL. So far, I haven't heard any issues with them, but I also haven't been over on the LS forum in quite some time. I do know that replacing these LED headlights are not going to be cheap by any means though.
The rule of thumb I've always heard/seen, is that with an average amount of miles (so about 15k a year, with about 50% of driving done at night or with headlights on, remember snow and shorter days in the winter IIRC), you should replace HID bulbs every 5 years or so. You should never wait for an HID bulb to go out (or go pink) before you replace them due to lumen depreciation. I have a 2012 myself, and am planning to replace them next summer. From my experience, it seems that OE hid bulbs start to fail around the 10 year mark. Osram just introduced a new HID bulb that has a 10 year warranty, but I haven't had the time to really research that.
As far as your situation, unless you drive a lot more than average or drive exclusively at night or with the lights on all the time, with a 2013 model vehicle, you should be safe waiting another year before replacing the bulbs.
Thanks for the insight. It's hard to imagine getting 10 years out of these bulbs, but at the price point it's not an unrealistic expectation. I've got the replacement D2S bulbs on hand so I'll give it another year unless I sense a problem over the winter when we do a lot more driving in the dark.
What D2S replacement bulbs are recommended? I used Bosch on my old Maxima but Philips is probably good as well.
As for LED replacements.... all I have heard is expensive $$$$. My CX-5 has HIDs but newer versions use LEDs... let me just say.... hope for failure in warranty as replacement costs are like $1500+ or more for each headlight.
IMO.... LED 50K hour reliability stats have made everyone feel like they last forever. I've had enough of them fail I no longer believe that BS. One of the reasons I went with VLEDs for various replacements in vehicle is to decrease likelihood I'll have a failure.
Maybe the newer laser lights will be true "forever" bulbs? Not an Audi fan but tech is interesting to me.
Thanks for the insight. It's hard to imagine getting 10 years out of these bulbs, but at the price point it's not an unrealistic expectation.
From my experience with previous cars the ballast is more likely to die before the bulb does.
As for LEDs, I would expect them to last the life of the vehicle for most people, while a small minority may experience failures like with any part/feature. If LEDs start failing early, it's likely a design flaw rather than anything inherent in the technology.
From my experience with previous cars the ballast is more likely to die before the bulb does.
As for LEDs, I would expect them to last the life of the vehicle for most people, while a small minority may experience failures like with any part/feature. If LEDs start failing early, it's likely a design flaw rather than anything inherent in the technology.
Were your ballast failures with OEM or aftermarket HID kits? I've never personally experienced a ballast failure before... now I've probably jinxed myself.
Acrad35751, HID bulbs should be replaced long before they burn out. This is due to what's called lumen depreciation, which means the amount of light the bulb produces decreases greatly over time. Thus, after years of use, even though the bulb may be producing light, it is only producing a fraction of the light it did when new. See the graph below. The line we are looking at is the Metal Halide line, which is the same thing as HID. Here is where that graph came from.
When it comes to replacement bulbs, it all depends on what color temperature you want out of them. As I mentioned above, Osram just released an ultra long life bulb, but I don't know much about it. The gold standard when it comes to HID bulbs, if you will, is the Phillips 85122. They are a 4300K bulb, and are very resistant to color shift. That was the OE bulb in my 2004 RX 330. I don't know what the OE bulb is for the GX, as I haven't replaced mine yet. If you are looking for something a little bluer, the Osram 66240 CBI is the way to go. It is a 6000K bulb. That is what I currently have in my RX. If you want to save some money and go aftermarket, there are several options, but the only aftermarket bulb I recommend is Morimoto. They are The Retrofit Source's in house brand. I have used their bulbs and hid kits and components before, and I have had good luck with all of it.
You can find the Phillips bulbs here: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bu...ips-85122.html
As far as the laser lights go, I think the technology is really cool. BMW also featured them in the i8. I think only time will tell how they hold up long term.
bd5400, denso ballasts seem to last a really long time in my experience, unless they get wet somehow (they aren't water proof, at all). On my 04 RX, I have 188k miles on it, and the ballasts are original. On the RX at least, it seems like the only people that have had to replace their ballasts were the people that had headlights that leaked, which caused excessive moisture buildup, which consequentially fried the ballasts.
Good info... I do know the light output degrades significantly over time with these bulbs. I guess it has just never been enough for me to justify replacement before they did finally die. :-)
Originally Posted by neelnaik
Acrad35751, HID bulbs should be replaced long before they burn out. This is due to what's called lumen depreciation, which means the amount of light the bulb produces decreases greatly over time. Thus, after years of use, even though the bulb may be producing light, it is only producing a fraction of the light it did when new. See the graph below. The line we are looking at is the Metal Halide line, which is the same thing as HID. Here is where that graph came from.
When it comes to replacement bulbs, it all depends on what color temperature you want out of them. As I mentioned above, Osram just released an ultra long life bulb, but I don't know much about it. The gold standard when it comes to HID bulbs, if you will, is the Phillips 85122. They are a 4300K bulb, and are very resistant to color shift. That was the OE bulb in my 2004 RX 330. I don't know what the OE bulb is for the GX, as I haven't replaced mine yet. If you are looking for something a little bluer, the Osram 66240 CBI is the way to go. It is a 6000K bulb. That is what I currently have in my RX. If you want to save some money and go aftermarket, there are several options, but the only aftermarket bulb I recommend is Morimoto. They are The Retrofit Source's in house brand. I have used their bulbs and hid kits and components before, and I have had good luck with all of it.
You can find the Phillips bulbs here: https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bu...ips-85122.html
As far as the laser lights go, I think the technology is really cool. BMW also featured them in the i8. I think only time will tell how they hold up long term.
07-09-17, 04:18 PM
How many miles are you getting out of your OEM HID bulbs?
