I've got a '99 GS and wonder why my lights slightly dim/flicker when I touch the brakes. Before I got my OEM HIDs, my halogens would ever so slightly dim when I touched the brakes to decelerate. It also happens if, let's say, I back out of the driveway, put it back in drive, move forward and tap the brakes. I've noticed it also happens with my HIDs, but not as noticeably. I would suspect that it's not as bad with the HIDs because they use less power?

Does anyone know why this happens? Could this decrease the life of my HID bulbs? Any help would be appreciated!

 

Check your grounds,clean your battery terminals and check all your plugs on the lights.

 

What Lexkost is getting at is that if there is a poor connection in your lighting wiring, or in the grounding, its resistance increases so that when you draw more current, the voltage drops due to that extra resistance, and the lighting dims. You do need to do what he recommends, and if that doesn't fix the problem, have your electrical system and battery checked under load. This should not affect the life of your HID bulbs.

 

I'm pretty sure it does shorten the bulb life it but not significantly enough to notice.