Galco

Bocatrip: Good to support your local independent, but hate to see you spend unnecessarily. This supplier has been excellent for me and has very high ratings. Didn't see my preferred Osram Cool Blues in D2R but they have several 4300K samples to pick from. Suggest you contact them to inquire about Osram options. In the early days of HIDs, 4300K was the preferred light color temp as it provided good lighting and was more "normal" to our vision; although a bit yellow or off-white by today's standards. Since then, color temps have moved to more white and similar to day light of about 5000 to 5500K. Unfortunately, there was a time where all the 'boy racers' went 6,000 or 8,000K and most were annoyed by a set of purple-blue lights coming at us on the highway. Gladly those days are behind us. If you really want OEM from 2001, go with 4300K. Hope this link work but if not, search Auto Light Industry, Inc within Amazon.

bloomwcjkl

Make sure you get the D2R. R is for restricted. There is a part of the bulb that is covered to keep the light from shining too high in other driver's eyes.

My $16.99 set from Amazon is still going strong. Not available from the seller I used, but I see several replacements. The higher the K value, the more blue they will be.

Bocatrip

Thanks Galco for your valuable information. I happen to be a fanatic with my car and sometimes will go over the top. Unfortunately, my situation now is different as I have personal needs that restrict my time and efforts to replace headlights on my car. As a result, as much as it pains me, I've gone with OEM bulbs from Lexus. The parts guy there knows me for the last 9 years and gives me a significant discount. It still is expensive, but from what I've read, the OEM bulb is pretty much a Sylvania unit. I've decided anyway to stay away from Amazon and Ebay for the bulbs and would only buy if it came down to it through a retailer. The difference between 2 Sylvania units through an outside vendor and the OEM bulbs is about $80 for the pair, ($40 more for each OEM) and I pick them up tomorrow. I've been told a bunch of times by the parts guy and my Indy to be very careful with aftermarket bulbs, as there have been issues with the ballists getting ruined as well as the wiring harness. An incorrect bulb can even explode causing more havoc. Regardless, I need to replace my headlights immediately, as other issues have taken priority now. Yes, I'm paying all the money and then some, but my Indy is always more than fair with his labor. Sometimes I need to give him more because the prices are just too low. At least I know, that after installing the OEMs I might be good for another 17 years??? lol

Galco

Correct, but light doesn't go 'blue' until about 6000K. The relationship is inverse to what one may think. The higher the color temp (expressed in K for Kelvin) the cooler or blue/white the color; the lower the color temp the warmer or red/yellow in color. Trust me, as i researched this extensively and have a film/video production background and know a bit about lighting color temperature. The newer ~5000K bulbs, especially the Osram CBI D2S is an amazing light source for the 2004+ LS430 and i speak from personal experience. In my wife's daily driver, i was so disappointed with the aging yellow and dim output of the stock HIDs that I spend the time to peel back the front bumper cover to replace all front facing bulbs. The Osram CBI are so good my wife immediately said "WOW, that's a big difference", followed by "will everyone flash their brights at me because they are so bright?" Not a single flashing from an on coming driver as I made sure they were properly aimed. Brilliantly lightling the road ahead even in heavy rain and light fog on a recent road trip up the coast of Southern California.

caverman

I would also talk to these guys. They helped me out when I was retrofitting my 2010 Camaro from Halogen to HID and they are USA company that is not fly-by-night. Call them and see what they recommend. This is who I will buy from.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/d2...ect_restrict=1

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

We're big fans of the D2R Philips 4300K bulbs - basically the same thing as what you typically get stock from the manufacturer in most vehicles with factory HIDs these days. 4300K should be a warm white colour, although depending on the vehicle involved the projector may have a bit of an effect on the colour, crisping it up to make it look 'whiter' or 'bluer'.
~Robert

Bocatrip

Well, my HIDs were installed by my Indy yesterday. As mentioned earlier, I decided to spend the extra money for the OEM bulbs from Lexus but at a fairly discounted price. I replaced both bulbs as is always suggested and of course the 17 year old HIDs are the originals. For those that are interested, without taking any pictures, this is what is printed on both bulbs.....Osram Kenarc D2R 35W 66050 Germany. The new bulbs were identical in every way but the 66050 might have been updated to 66250. I'm not absolutely sure. As you can see, these are not Philips bulbs. From what I can see after only driving a bit, the light is crisp white with no yellowing that I can notice. My headlight housings were professionally reconditioned last year so they are just about as clear as new housings. For what it's worth, my Indy did not remove the assembly but took the bulbs out while in the car. YES....it was a pain and I believe he spent about 40-45 minutes on both. I told him it was suggested to remove the assembly, but he is quite familiar with the car and decided to go that route. Who am I to argue? So after $66 install charge and the cost of the bulbs, I'm good to go for another 17 years before replacement. lol. Bottom line is that I'm happy with the headlight brightness and am confident in knowing that nothing unexpected should be happening in the near future with my headlights. Hopefuly......End of saga.

caverman

Hmmm....I'm assuming mine are original, I wonder if replacing mine would improve mine any? Especially when the Osram are like $85 for a set. I'm not noticing any issues with mine but it might be one of those things that I don't know that mine are yellowish without trying a new set.

05ls430518

iTrader: (1)

You have an 04-06 right? If so installing new bulbs will show a difference the heat cycles and such make the color of the bulb degrade over time, if you do replace them you will notice a difference in how much you can see as well as the light color.

If you have normal halogen bulbs it will be brighter and slighly less yellow.

caverman

Yep, '05 so I have HID. I will probably put this on my list to do over the next month or two.

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

HID bulbs lose lumens over time - 100%. Depending on how old your bulbs are you, you will notice a significant difference when changing out to new bulbs.

We carry OEM Philips D2R 4300k bulbs - which is what I would suggest if you want the brightest possible output. Higher kelvin bulbs typically produce more color, but less actual light.

Steve

ptat

I have these for my recently purchased 05 LS430. So far this is one of the best thing I've ever done for my car. Absolutely worth the $100 for the pair.

Davidsofia

caverman

I watched the video on the Osram CBI D2S on theRetrofitSouce.com and they look really good. Good prices on TRS as well. I think I might go with those CBI bulbs when I do mine. I'll probably be a month or two before mostly because there is nothing really wrong with my bulbs right now, at least not that I know of.

caverman

Anyone know of a DIY on changing the bulbs on an LS430? I'm assuming all years would be the same but may not be. I know the headlight removal on the '01-'03 is completely differenent than the '04-'05. I've found the common thread that was done a long time ago but none of the pictures are available any more and it says things like remove the parts with the arrows.....which of course I can't see. From a couple other posts I found it sounds like it's on the driver's side and you have to remove the fuse box.