Hey guys I just got my Matador Red Mica IS350 several days ago. I'm not that satisfied with the brightness of the HID. Can I just replace the oem bulb with an aftermarket one? Also what are the codes the headlights and fog bulbs? thanks in advanced

 

Unlike high-voltage halogen bulbs, aftermarket HID bulbs are not any brighter than oem bulbs--if you go with bluer bulbs, you will also lose light output. Hard to believe these lights are not bright enough for anyone. Perhaps you want to consider adding aux driving lights.

 

I found the same to be true though when I picked up my IS over the weekend as well though.

It seems as if the output is significant enough, however, the "spectrum" (maybe that's not the word) seems to have been better on my BMW than on the IS.

 

I can't believe the amount of people not satisfied with there stock HID. Specially being D4S its brighter.Aftermarket is not any better than your original.

Can you guys take a picture of the foreground so we can see what it looks like.

visit my page and check my HID picture its aftermarket 4300k

 

im thinking most people are not dissatisfied with the "brightness" or "light output". instead they want more of the "flicker" look that you see on TL's, TSX's, BMW's, Audi's. well at least, i wish my HIDs looked more like them. output is fine for me, its just the LOOK id like to have more of.

 

do you want brighter? or are you just talking about the color of the light? Many people say they want brighter but really they are talking about the color, wanting more bluish.

 

I think it's both.

Yesterday I parked halfway up my driveway and checked out the lights. It's not really the brightness that I am unsatisfied with, but I guess the color/range of the lights. I feel like the whiter lights in the Bimmer covered more area and had a better spectrum...

 

Light output (lumens) of the d4s is actually better at ~3800 lumens v. ~3200 for d2s bulbs.

Color: d4s bulbs are rated at 4800K v. 4100-4300 of d2s bulbs so they are actually whiter than the ones on bimmers, etc.

The difference is the cutoff. Whereas a lot of the german projectors have the distinct blue/purple cutoff created by their projector housings, many of the japanese projectors don't. If you look at the middle of the beam and you're comparing new, non-colorshifted bulbs, d4s bulbs will be less yellow.

Y'all have to remember that HID's will colorshift from yellowish/white to white to blue to purple so people coming from cars that have colorshifted bulbs will notice the difference in right away.

 

I know what you mean. I actually intended to not lock the hid bulb in all the way because it gave me more color up top but my cut off is not that great. the ---------- projector lines is still there though and my lights flicker just like the europeans

Im park at angle so dont mind the upward projector
heres the color cut off on top like i said there is no -----/---- what i have is -----o------

 

its the color i am talking about. The output is fine. Sorry for the confusion. I wish the HID would look more like the audi or bmw.

 

so what is the bulb number for the daytime running lights?

 

What is this "flicker" you guys are talking about?

Do you mean when someone with HID's is approaching you, the lights seem to flash at you? I thought that was due to a flat angle of coverage (low cutoff) and a bouncing car ...

 

Al, are you saying that the color shifts as the bulbs "wear out", or are you just talking about the color shift you see at different viewing angles/distances?

 

Hey Mike. The flicker is that blueish/purple 'flashes' that you see when you see a bimmer coming at you on a less than perfect road. If you park it up facing a wall and turn on the lights, you'll see a band of blue/purple right at the top where the cutoff is. When the car is moving, that band of blue will be bouncing up and down so the people coming the other way see that 'flicker.' Hope I've made sense.

Colorshift: HID bulbs do wear out after a while. Most start at 4100-4300 Kelvin, which is a yellowish white color. As the bulb is used, they 'wear' out and the color will gradually change to a pure white color then to a blueish/white, then to a purple-ish color.

If you see some of the older Acura TL's, their lights are purplish pink and they're just about done.

 

Is there a way to adjust the headlights up a bit? I feel like my range isn't as far out as I want it to be