Hey everyone, I'm planning to replace my DRL halogen bulb to a different colour, reason why I'm not going with LED is because I cannot sacrafice my high beam.

If I replace my halogen bulb to a different colour, at low output will it be the exact same colour as the yellowish OEM ones or it will be a different colour but with less yellow ?

If I install HID 6000k on my low beam and fogs, will my high beam still be effective? Reason why I'm asking is because if I use my high beam and I can't really tell the difference if it's on or not due to my HID lighting, I might consider LED DRL

 

My understanding is that no matter what halogen bulb you get to replace the DRLs, it will still look yellowish. That's because it's at low power - halogen bulbs that purport to be whiter/bluer really only achieve that color at the highest power. When it's on low power like the DRLs, it will still be yellow.

Do you have stock HIDs now or just halogens for the low beams? If you have stock HIDs right now, then the actual light output/brightness should actually drop when you install 6000K - lumen output drops the higher the color temperature, and your stock HIDs are 4100-4300K. So if you currently have stock HIDs, changing to 6000K actually won't make the lights any brighter in terms of lumen output so it won't drown out the high-beams any more than your stock would.

If you don't have stock HIDs for low beams but instead have halogens, that may be a different story because pretty much any HID kit will be brighter than stock halogens.

In any case, I don't think you should be concerned about low beams/fogs "drowning out" or "overpowering" your high beams - they'll still be very useful and visible as high beams no matter what you do with your fogs and lows.

I have 5000K low beams, 3000K fogs and stock halogen DRLs/high-beams and my high beams are still very effective as high beams. I was in the same position as you - didn't like the yellow color of the DRLs but didn't want to go LED and lose my high-beam functionality.

One option is to go to your dealer and have them turn of DRLs entirely and you never have to see them again.

 

Okay thank you very much Calvin2376, but if I replace the halogen bulb and at 30% output, the DRL colour will be EXACTLY the same or it changes but you can still see the yellow?

 

Most likely it'll be the same. All bulbs running at 30% will be a yellowish/amber color.

 

It will be almost exactly the same, maybe an almost-imperceptible change in color. This is because the true color temperature of the bulb won't be reached until it's at peak power.

If you want to change your DRLs, your options are pretty much go LED and lose high-beam functionality, or turn off DRLs entirely.

 

Okay thank you very much

 

Another option is to replace your drl halogen bulb with a Luminics or Nokya 2500K yellow halogen bulb. Your drl's would then be a true yellow, rather than the oem brownish-yellow color and your high beams would be a very bright yellow.

 

You'll still be able to tell your high beams are on for the simple fact that they're pointed straight, whereas your low beams are pointed more downward as to not blind oncoming traffic. So if you need to see further distances down the road than your low beams can reach, you'll wanna keep the highs.

 

^ I don't understand that question. If you change your low beams and fogs, your high beams are unaffected. Well, they'll actually appear relatively brighter since 6000K emits less light than your OEM 4100K bulbs.

 

I think he's asking not if his high beams will be "affected" but rather whether they'll still be "effective". Put another way, whether installing 6000K lows and HID fogs would make the light from those two sources so powerful that the high beams would be rendered ineffective or would be overwhelmed by the HID light sources.

The answer to that question is no, mainly because the fogs are already low to the ground and pointed somewhat down, and the lows are aimed down as well, but the high beams are aimed fairly straight ahead, so the light it emits is sent higher than any other source of light on the front of the car. So no matter what you do to your fogs or lows, your high beams will still be effective because they fill a different area with light (a broader and higher one) than the other two.

 

^ I think we understood his question the same way then. I was just saying that in absolute terms his high beams by themselves would be unaffected (i.e. no change in effectiveness); however, relatively they'll appear brighter (more effective) since he's changing his low beams to something less bright, thus increasing the brightness differential/contrast. At the same time, his 6000K low beams in their bi-xenon high beam "mode" would also be less bright, again increasing the brightness differential/contrast, and again making the 9005 halogen high beams appear relatively brighter even though they're just as effective as before in absolute terms.

 

it always pops up, 6k puts out less light than 4.3k stock hid bulbs... but heres the thing, 6k still puts out WAY MORE than h11 halogen bulbs some cars come with and the difference in lumen output for 4.3k vs 6k, BEHIND THE WHEEL, while you're driving is negligible.

 

I disagree. Going from 4100K HID (stock) to 6000K HID, behind the wheel, is definitely perceptible. It's even worse in the rain.