Stub333

I recently acquired a 96 ES300 from the original owner. It was meticulously maintained. He told me not to try to upgrade the headlight bulbs, because he did and the harnesses burned out. I popped the hood and the harnesses are definitely new, with stock bulbs. I want to upgrade to Silverstars, but don't want to burn the harnesses. Anyone else have these problems? I don't see how the harnesses could burn if the bulbs are the same wattage..

freakyplanet12

usually after market bulbs pull more watts thus frying the wiring ... but if i'm correct the silver stars will pull stock watts and DO NOT burn ur harness BUT will burn out every 6 months or so according to a friend of mine...

now.. i dunno how serious u are about lighting (and this is a whole other topic).. but over time those silver stars add up and will never compare to hid's... and well i went the after market blue ricer bulbs-> hid kit -> then finally oem a4 retro.... i never looked back.

good luck
-pf

lexusk8

pf pretty much summed up the point here. As long as you get bulbs that don't use more than the factory wattage taken by the wiring, then you're all set (reliability of the bulbs is another issue itself). Strictly speaking, halogen bulbs (aftermarket or not) simply do NOT compare to the quality of HID (complete kit or retrofit)

gumbytech

HID is the best lighting, but is expensive.

I just purchased, what I feel is the best Halogen option, of course this if very subjective and spent $130 for new highs, lows and fogs. Keep in mind that any Halogen lights that are marketed as appearing like HID will have a blue coating. The coating will actually reduce the effectiveness of the light. So it really depends on what you are wanting, looks or performance. A lot of people like the Silver Stars, but they due have the blue color, unless you get OSRAM Silverstars from Europe (which I got for my BMW).

There are some good lamps on ebay, but the majority are not, so be careful there.

I recommend spending some time at www.danielsternlighting.com This where I got my lighting and I followed his instructions exactly for my 97 ES300. I have posted it before by here again was his recommendation. Note, I have not received these yet, so can't comment on improvement. But check out his website, very informative.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Fog: H3 Gold, $13/ea.

Low: Ultra High Efficacy Plus 50 bulb (Osram Silverstar +50, Narva
Rangepower+50, Tungsram Megalicht +50, etc. -- we currently stock the
Tungsram) $17.50/ea

High: New 9011 "light cannon" bulb.

The new bulbs are not some tinted or overwattage version of 9005, but rather employ a relatively new technology called HIR, Halogen Infrared.
The mechanical dimensions of the bulb are all virtually identical to the 9005, but the bulb glass is spherical instead of tubular, with the sphere centered around the filament. There is a "Durable IR Reflective" coating on the spherical glass. Infrared = heat, so the coating causes heat to be reflected back to the filament at the center of the sphere. This causes the filament to become much hotter (producing more light) than it can by passing electricity through it, *without* the shorter life or greater heat production that comes with overwattage bulbs (to say nothing of overwattage bulbs' incompatibility with stock wiring.)

Here's the comparison:

High beam stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens, 320 hours
High beam new: HIR1, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens, 320 hours

These bulbs are spendy - $34/ea - but their cost is worth considering in
context: Any number of companies will charge you more than this for a tarted-up 9005 with blue colored glass (PIAA and Sylvania Silverstar come to mind) that doesn't produce more light and has a very short lifespan.

The HIR bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, this is to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases.
The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Good luck.
Dan

lexusk8

This thread seems worthy to be placed in the more general Lighting forum, so I'm putting it there

Stub333

Apologies for not posting here in Lighting. I am also a huge Honda enthusiast coming from Honda-Tech.com, and am still getting used to things here.

Moving on, I do not want the blue ricer look at all. What I am looking for is a brighter, white light(sliiight bit blue OK), that is in the form of a stock wattage bulb. Any other suggestions? I did not want to drop the loot for a HID kit, I just spent $500 at Lexus gathering all the parts for my timing belt overhaul my buddy and I will be doing shortly. Any other bulbs out there?

lexusk8

That's quite alright. I have no problem moving threads since that's one of my tasks in this forum
If you want the bright white with a hint of blue look, Sylvania Silverstars won't give you that. You are better off looking into bulbs with a color temperature in the range of 4500-5000K. Color temp determines the color of the light output, not the power emitted from the bulbs. PIAA and Razo are some examples of bulbs which offer that kind of light output, and you can find many online vendors like http://www.optauto.com or Ebay that sell these bulbs.

For your ES (as well as most of the other Lexus models), you would want bulbs that have a factory output of 55W to the wiring. Anything higher, the wires will melt.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

If you're on a budget...then go ahead with the Silverstars...a pair runs for about $50.....really white and easy to install.... but like others have said...reliability maybe an issue.

If you got the cash and plan to keep the ride for awhile....consider HID conversion kits... they run abt. $500......install is a bit more tricky, but doable..... if you can hook up your VCR..then its all good.

If you are loaded up the $$ ying-yang $$...then go for the projector retrofit.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

silverstars are OK for you. Just get the longer life white bulb upgrade, you'll be OK.

Stub333

Thanks for the responses...as far as this situation I am going to try the Sylvania's, worse comes to worse I will return them. Also what is the number for the style of bulb in the fogs?

About the HID's---I assume the stock 96 plastic headlights can take the power? Or do they run cool? TIA

lexusk8

The bulb type for the fogs is H3.

You can find bulb types in any part of your car by following this link: http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...lacementGuide/

GATO

iTrader: (1)

I use to use those type bulbs on my ride.....it use to burn and melt the the sockets...its a pain in the butt.
I then switched to razo and piaa...wich you'll drop about $120 but they never did burn out.







but if you want the real deal it is definitley worth it!!! I paid only $325 and did the install ny self


check it out

asic_bbc

I have used both Silverstar and Razo Super White Zero. The Silverstar have color temp of 4100K. The Razo with color temperature 4550K, while looked nice, just way too blue, and simply not bright enough. I swtiched back to Silverstar after one week.

BTW, you can get a pair of Silverstars for around $25 on Ebay.