My 09 IS250 came with factory HIDs with adaptive front lighting system; however, the previous owner took apart the headlight housings and installed aftermarket lighting, heated the housings to reseal, and installed a ballast system that was made for a different vehicle. I am wanting to replace the headlights with regular LED headlights since the left low beam is not working, but I do not know if the wiring harness will need to be changed. I do not care about the adaptive afs, but I need recommendations on what I need to do in order to replace both housings and plug into my existing harness. Please help….

 

So you are wanting to replace the whole headlights, or just swap to an led bulb?

 

I need to replace both housings.

 

The only way to find out if the stock headlight connector hasn't been retrofitted. Is to pull the wheel liners back enough to get a view of the OEM connector. If intact then I don't see why you would have a problem. Just replace the old with new ones of your choice. If the connector has been hacked off then you'd probably need the OEM pinout to get your aftermarket headlights to work.

Check this video out for reference on how the stock connector looks like on the main harness.

 

The previous owner took apart the headlight housings and installed aftermarket lighting, heated the housings to separate, installed a ballast system that was made for a 2012-2015 Tesla Model S, and reheated to reseal the housings. I’m just trying to undo another’s screwup. See the ballasts photos attached.

Not made for IS250

 

You mind uploading some pictures of what they did? Honestly curious, especially if the car came from the factory with HIDs, how they mounted the ballasts in a way to prevent water from getting in.

Assuming it actually did come with factory hids, I would not be surprised if they converted the system to D2S. D2S bulbs are usually cheaper since they were way more common than D4S is, also cheaper to make since the D4S is more of an eco-friendly bulb without mercury (extra costs involved to use something more environmentally friendly than mercury). They were also offered in more color temperatures than D4S bulbs are. These days though, it's D4S (or an eco-friendly variant like D3S) or LED lighting. Assuming that's all they did, and didn't modify the projectors, you would just need D4S bulbs, and D4S ballasts. Usually, they will just trim a piece of plastic on a D2S bulb to get it to fit into a D4S projector, so your projectors *should* be fine.

 

Thats just it. Water was getting into them. The ballasts used were for 2012-2015 Tesla S and I found once I took apart. Unfortunately, the bumper I replaced without repairing so that my daughter could get back and forth to school. The bulbs used were D3S. I uploaded the ballast photos but will upload again. From an auto repair shop I was told they heated the housings in order to take apart and installed the D3S bulb brackets and harness that comes out of the housing and connects to the ballasts. They heated the housings again to create a seal for the rubber. The pins at the attachment area were completely corroded. This is when I found that the ballasts used were incorrect. Even the company from Amazon informed me that this ballast would not work, but I was only purchasing what I took off the car.

For 2012-2015 Tesla Model S