I have always thought of HID as a waste of money, but tonight my opinion changed after I nearly hit someone who I couldn't see because the person was out of the range of my headlights.

MY QUESTION:

Do the aftermarket HID kits on the 92-96 ES projectors illuminate the road as well as new cars with stock HIDs?

Are ES's with HID significantly brighter than stock?

thanks

to answer your question....yes and yes! But there are differences. On a car like this, you would HAVE to retrofit a donor HID system consisting several components such as:

1. Proper optics- I just can't stress enough what benefits these have on the apperance of your vehicle both from the driver's seat looking outward AND from other drivers around you. (i.e. other drivers flashing you b/c your lights are too bright from improper optics). To do this, you would need the projectors from an Audi or BMW such as the X5 or 5 series. These allow for proper illumination if you will, of the xenon light on the road. They allow for cutoff which simply means a balance of where the light is suppossed to be focused...which is on the road. Take a look at these pics taken from an installation of HID on a 97+ Honda Civic...If you want these results, you may want to continue reading on!







2. Genuine HID components- Also another item so desperately needed. I'm still learning but I have discovered that German manufacturer "HELLA" makes the proper equipment for this application. They make the ballasts and some wiring for the HID system. Philips is another well respected brand name. Both are used in OEM applications of HID from well known auto manufacturers such as BMW, AUDI, LEXUS, INFINITI, MERCEDES HONDA, ECT....


3. Patience patience paitence! This is the most important part. I myself as well as few others have spent a good amount of time discovering what HID application works best for this car. Check out AMrit50's post on his ES300 retrofit using an AUDI system. He's in the process of taking some more photos with a different digital camera so we can get more accurate pics (can't wait for those). Nevertheless, check out some of these links. I hope they can help you out on your journey to true HID lighting. Its a project that's well deserved for these cars. I say why not. Everytime I drive up on some BMW 5 series or Audi A6...I laugh! Because I know sooner than later I will be having HID too! But done the right way. BTW I'm using a AUDI A6 projectors for my HID project. I'll have pics up when I do the thing.

GOOD LUCK: Here's a great link to get some research out the way:

http://faq.auto.light.tripod.com/car-oem-hid.htm

Thank you, the information you posted is very interesting.

You stressed retrofitting projectors from Audis or BMWs...why is that? Wouldn't a Philips HID kit work: plug and play style?

XenonES3---Yes they have a plug-and-plug. I have a 98 Es and just installed the philips 6000K last night. All I will say is holly crap batman. What a HUGE difference!

I love HIDS!

Any questions just ask

PICTURES are below: I have like more if you need



before: http://home.attbi.com/~mburnickas/before_hids.jpg

before (left) and after (right) : http://home.attbi.com/~mburnickas/be...after_hids.jpg


after: http://home.attbi.com/~mburnickas/after_hids.jpg

Hey, how's the cutoff on those lights and do you have any night shots of the beam on the road?
Mike

I have some. But tonight I will take some and post them for you. They should be up in 6 hours!

The problem is the camera does not really show the "true" light; but I will try

Yeah they would work but, judging from the pic of your car in the "sig," you have the projector lights. The original factory projectors were designed specifically for halogen. This would result in scattered light output, inappropriate light cutoff and other drivers flashing you because your lights are too bright. Lex400sc pointed this out earlier. (check out my "HID in Early Model ES" Forum) You can plug them in, but other members have mentioned how beneficial the entire retrofit process would be if you actually changed the projectors AS WELL as adding the KIT. You just have to make sure the plugs from the wiring fit the bulbs you're intending to install. Here's a post from a member on this board with the same question you asked. He was contemplating retrofitting his 2nd gen. GS with aftermarket HID (i.e. philips ect.) or going OEM. Only thing is, the original ES's didn't have HID as option. So doing the projector change would be equlivilant to the situation that guy faced. Also, here's a suggestion from LEX400SC. He did a retrofit using OEM projectors from BMW 5 series. Also, check out what some other members had to say about what you asked me.

1.https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=HID+sc400

LEX400SC's 95 SC400 with BMW 5 series E39 projectors
2.

Very Interesting thread:

3.https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=HID+sc400

mburnickas- 6000k looks great! how is the illumination- scattered? have you noticed increased light output over stock?

tiguy99- thanks for the links. I read through them and I guess the best way to go is to retrofit from another car. Problem is, I don't have the skill and don't want to risk following that path. I would prefer the easier method of plug-and-play from an autolamps kit, but then again I hear the cut-offs are incorrect. Would the light output still be significantly great than stock or would it be too scattered to be an improvement?

thanks again

I wanted to get the HID's also but have the same concerns....the spread out light patterns and bothering other drivers cause the are not aimed right......Since you have them Mburnickas let us know what you have experienced in the aim, spread and distance of the HID's you have??.

I saw the pics and they look Good as hell!!!! but are they doing what they should I think we all want to know...?????

I have a 97 ES, black also just like yours so give us all some insight....The 97-2001 did not have projector Headlights so I see you just popped them in the stock headlamps..... So please let me and the rest of us know..and maybe where U got them??
thanks in advance

instead of HID, you could put 9005 bulbs into your low beams. It is very simple. I did mine today and i could really see a difference, and beacause of the projector headlights the cutoff is perfect and they do not blind other drivers. I just used some cheapo walmart super blue bulbs, for experimenting and all i can say is wow. I passed 3 cops already no one has pulled me over.

Ok guys, I took night pictures and they will be up within 24 hours. I just got a new dog (pitbull) so I have to keep and eye on him. He is full of energy and my rottie goes nuts of him!

tiguy99 Thanks for the pic. Just some FYI guys, the pic that he put up is what other drivers will see. the camera does not really show what it is like I feel. I think it looks better...

I took some pic looking away and toward the car.


Well the output is nice. It "seem" like you get way more output with distance and in all directions. I say I get about 200+ times over stock. I took the wifes car out with regular halogens and boy, does it suck! Plus when I put the highs on they are really yellow and not really bright. I think they are really poor now.

I have driven in MA and CT and past several state and local police and they have done nothing. It looks stock where I drive. All you see is this type of headlights. I would say in todays age you will not get any problems since many high end (lexus, BMW, etc) have this as stock. Plus my father a sate police officer since before I was born said he sees nothing wrong with them since there are like other cars. He also said he wanted a pair for his LTD! Nice ha.

They hook up in about 30 minutes but I need to seal the headlight to rubber jacket over the bulb. I will use high temp silicone for this. I asked some people about this and it is normal. All the cars make differnt boots for their bulbs. This silicone is just to make sure nothing gets into the headlight assy. Nothing major and the bulbs again look well, great. I love them.....

Again to add they are doing more then what I expected. Looks great when warming up and they do alot more then the regualr bulbs, way more.

Easy to install and worth the money!!

Mburn.....So would you say they are working good and there is no problem with ...scattered light or non focused beam or anything??....They are aiming right and everything is cool?????

Please answer ...........

And again ...where did U get them??

thanks

I think I am the only one who added plug-n-play HID into my lexus projectors, and then retrofitted to audi projectors. I believe that some information on these posts is wrong. It is possible to keep the same cutoff and clean light w/ the lexus projectors. As long as the light is made at the same point inside the housing, it is reflected the same. Here are some pics from the same place. 1st pic is 9006 HID plug-n-play beam pattern exact. 2nd pic is Audi TT lights. Both these pics were taken w/ flash. The 3rd is no flash, for true justice. So, I beleive that the 9006 conversion is 300% more light then stock, and the audi is about 400% more. So, for those who don't want to open up their housings, and cut out the projector in such a way that it can never be returned, then the plug-n-play kit is very good. Make sure you get BEAM PATTERN EXACT.

what do you mean get the beam pattern exact??

INFO please!!....what is that ?...how do you do it?
and is it only for projector headlights ie...92-96??

ok, here is the deal w/ HID. When it first came out and ppl wanted to put it on other cars, they glued the base size (9004, 9006, h1...) onto an audi, or bmw bulb. This allowed the HID bulb to be put on my Mustang. They took the bulb, and glued a 9004 base onto it. They soon realized that that place inside the housing that the light was created was off. The 1st picture shows a 9004 halogen and my osram HID bulb for my mustang. You can see that the fillaments light up at differnet places vertically. This creates hot and cold spots, glare, and everything you want to avoid with HID. They tried to compensate for that by adding a little stripe on the blub for reflective housings, but that doesn't help the hot and cold spots at all. It stops most of the glare. On the projectors, the cut off stoped most of the glare. Each housing is exactly designed to take light from only one place and put it on the road. The second pic is my 9006 beam patternt exact HID bulb next to a 9006 halogen. You can see that the fillaments line up perfectly, and that this bulb was specially made for 9006 applications: