I never noticed this but today while I was working on the car I noticed something that made me feel like I was ripped off.
I never noticed this because my headlights were working and afs was running fine.
Today I noticed that my HIDs are not factory HIDs.
Well, I think it came with factory HIDs but the ballast went bad and the previous owner fixed it by getting an aftermarket HID ballast.
So my headlights have OEM HIDs but aftermarket ballast.
I noticed the ballast going bad is a common issue.
How did everyone fix theirs?
I am out of warranty, 70k miles and a 2007 model.
Would you live with it if youI got it for a great price? (07, 70k miles, navi but tan interior dealer maintained up until 60k clean title, paid 15k)
is there some sort of recall or TSB for this?
I didn't bother checking the bulbs if they were OEM because the ballast pissed me off so bad I shut the hood and came back inside for a breather.

 

First do you have a display for AFS if not then you don't have factory to being with? So no tsb would matter anyways. As far as I know no after market kit works on oem hid.

 

you can get ballasts on here. post in buy/sell forum. i have one i got for like 60. ended up not needing it though it was the bulb that was going bad. sorry to hear this happen to you. there would no way you would realy know unless you took out the headlight =/

 

As long as you have OEM HIDs i wouldnt worry about the aftermarket ballast. You can always replace it with the oem one. You can get a used on on ebay for like $75, in fact here's one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/06-09-Lexus-...727230&vxp=mtr
I've once seen a few for like $50. Wouldnt worry about it much.

 

So youre saying there was no way the previous owner could have bought an aftermarket hid kit ballast and utilize it with the oem unit?
I would like to know this myself as i might encounter this prblem as well

 

You got to understand if your dash display doesn't have afs option you don't have factory hid. In order for the person to use after market they would have to cut the wire and splice in a new harness. Which is points to begin with just to use cheaper blaster.

 

Im saying if u have the afs on ur dash.
Because the guy above u said dont worry about it but ur saying u have to hack and splice it.
So i am confused

 

Here the deal if someone took out there oem ballast to use aftermarket one it's not a plug and play kit. They would have to cut the original harness to splice into the aftermarket kit. Which again is pointless unless they wanna retrofit to change out the build size. That why I state if the OP actually knows if he does have factory HID. Cause he state "he thinks" it has. A real sure way is if you have AFS on your toggle display or if the headlight move on start up.

 

hmm I have a 07 IS250 that i bought brand new at the end of 06 and i recall that 07s and going forward you no longer had the option to NOT get OEM HID with AFS therefore if your car truly is a 07 then you should have OEM HID so maybe the ballast went bad and the previous owner went witha after market one or maybe previous owner didnt know better and was trying to get brighter HID output and bought new bulbs and ballasts that were all aftermarket..when all they needed to do was just buy higher output bulbs...

 

The bulbs work their best when they are hooked up with the same rating of ballasts that were meant to support the rating on the bulbs. Like a 6K bulbs need 6k ballasts. I've changed up a few set ups before like having 8K bulbs hooked up on 6K ballasts and the output was sort of 6k (white) with a hint of 8k (blue), and a few days later the lights would come on and off. After I hook up the 6k bulbs that came with the 6k ballasts set I had no more issues. I have also used OEM bulbs on 6k HID ballasts before and I would get an uneven output with one bulb producing 6k output and one bulb just normal (non-HID) output. So IMO just buy a new set that has the bulbs & ballasts. I hope this helps

 

Just look if its d4s or h11

 

Maybe I should have been more clear. I meant to say "what i think happened was" instead of "what i think is i have HIDs"
I KNOW i have HIDs, the AFS is on the dash. The headlights does the routine up and down upon start up. I am no novice when it comes to lighting. I just didn't realize anyone would replace the ballast with aftermarket when the OEMs go bad. It just made no sense to me.
So i got a closer look today and there are aftermarket ballasts on both sides, these ballasts are slim and have warning cancelers that is why I never noticed or even guessed that the HIDs were aftermarket. This week, I will tear the whole headlights to see how bad the splicing job is to see if i can put it back to oem. I'm beginning to wonder if the bulbs are even d4s.

This is false and you are spreading incorrect information. There is no such thing as a ballast that support 6k or 8k bulbs. Ballsts are all 35watts and they support any type of HID bulb you throw at it whether it be 4300k 5000k 6000k 8000k 10,000k (or 55 watts if you opted for the high output ballast). the 4300k 6k etc are merely color ratings and have nothing to do with wattage or light output . WHat you just stated makes no sense and physically impossible because all bulbs are 35watts and all ballasts are 35 watts (again, unlesss you opted for the higher wattage ballasts).

 

Like your post above, saying the after market ballast on the side which mean the previous owner put in after market HID kit, but you said that your headlights are factory OEM hid with afs? I assume that previous onwer put in aftermarket with modifield d2s bulbs to fit in d4s projectors (if your car really have factory HID?) just look on the bottom of the headlights lens to see is there imprinted h11 or d4s? That is another easy way to tell you car has HID or not?

 

Take some pic I wanna see.

 

I think the previous owner retrofit it with d2s HID set up.