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headlight question

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Old May 10, 2002 | 06:56 AM
  #1  
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Default headlight question

hiya there,

Im wondering if the new IS300 (2002), have zenon lights or HID lights on them?
Or are they just normal lights?

Because, if you turn on your headlights, the first few seconds it's bright(looks like zenon) but then after awhile, it doesn't look that bright.

And the other thing is, if the headlight is painted, does it reduce the intensity of the light?
getting the smoked JDM headlights cost like 550,!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks alot,

viz
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Old May 10, 2002 | 08:27 AM
  #2  
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Xenons are standard on all IS300's
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Old May 10, 2002 | 12:09 PM
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Default Re: headlight question

Originally posted by vizcounty
hiya there,

Im wondering if the new IS300 (2002), have zenon lights or HID lights on them?
Or are they just normal lights?

Because, if you turn on your headlights, the first few seconds it's bright(looks like zenon) but then after awhile, it doesn't look that bright.

And the other thing is, if the headlight is painted, does it reduce the intensity of the light?
getting the smoked JDM headlights cost like 550,!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks alot,

viz
The low beams on all US spec IS 300s are HID bulbs, sometimes called Xenon. (But some Halogen bulbs are also sometimes called Xenon bulbs, which is confusing). The high beams are regular halogen.

All reports so far are that painting the headlights does NOT cut light output. But note that you DO NOT paint the round reflector area around each bulb. If you paint that, you'll definitely lose a lot of light output.

The JDM headlights, btw, are not HID lights, but use regular halogen bulbs. If you're going to paint yours, consider painting them body color. Check out this site, and go to the second page of photos:

http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/bc/twopen...+IS200&.view=t

Bob
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Old May 10, 2002 | 04:20 PM
  #4  
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From: Pennsylvania
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the 2002 have a different bulb than the 2001 I beleive if I remember correctly.. how long have you had the car... it takes about 100 horus to break the bulb in and get it to its real color....

you can try gettin a D2R bulb that is 6000k it will be be brighter and look bluer
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Old May 11, 2002 | 02:50 PM
  #5  
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hi bobm photo,

what im trying to do is to paint the headlight, so it looks smoked(dark), do you have any ideas?
and I heard that I remove the headlight, open and paint it, air might go inside which cause the headlight to be foggy.
is that true?

Thanks,

viz
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Old May 12, 2002 | 06:46 AM
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While I hate to point you to another site, check out is300.net/forum, and do a search on painting headlights, or painted headlight. Theres a lot of info there, including fairly detailed instructions and references to a shop (in So. Cal, I think), that will split them, paint them, and re-seal them. (And they'll work mail order, if you can afford to be w/o your headlights for a week or two).

Air gets into your headlight any time you change a bulb. That's not the problem. The issue is moisture getting into the headlight. It appears that, as long as you seal the unit well after re-assembly, condensation isn't a problem.
HTH,

Bob
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