CJITTY

Comes down to basic preference. I personally like the way yellow fogs look, especially on the road in bad weather. I feel the fogs should be slightly less K than the headlights...even 4300K lights in the fog housing look more like 5000K to me because of the optics since the fog housing is designed for halogen output, not HID. I would consider 5500-6000K headlights and 4300 fogs or 3000K..but I think anything above 5000K in the fogs is just a bigger flag for the cops. Technically, HID aftermarket kits are illegal..but then again, so is speeding I saw an older GS the other day with what appeared to be normal 4300K lows and maybe 8000K fogs..didn't look right at all to me

jbrittmart

so you think 4500K from DDM wouldn't match the factory lows?

i don't much feel like paying $60 for the Phillips 4300K bulbs converted to 9006.

do you think that's the only way to match the factory lows?

CJITTY

Well, every situation is different. I have helped numerous friends install HIDs in their fogs plenty of times. Pretty much every time when they matched headlight K and fog light K, the fogs looked more white/blue than the headlights. This has been my experience on my LS and my Acura TL. Again, I think it has to do with the halogen optics that cannot harness and direct the light the way HID housings are designed to do. I think a car with 5000K headlights and 4300-4500K HID fogs would match really good..if that makes any sense Plus, each bulb manufacturer's thoughts on what the K rating can vary big time! Plus, as bulbs age with use, they can change K's. Never tried installing the same brand bulb in lows and fogs at same time so bulbs have equal time of use. Normally people install HID fogs long after the low beam bulbs have a lot of use already. So that just adds to the variables. But, no sense in getting expensive rebased bulbs..I think you will be fine with the DDMs, just throw them in and see how you like it..it could be a perfect match, won't know until you try it..

jbrittmart

knocked this mod out today.

put 4300K in my fogs and they match my lows pretty well.

i used 3M extra heavy duty double sided tape to mount my slim ballasts inside the bumper. no bolts or brackets needed.

thanks for the write up guys. i love the look.

Tee

Congrats!

What HID kit did you with for your fogs?

jbrittmart

i used an old set of DDM Tuning 35w slim ballasts i pulled off my Tundra.

bought a set of 9006 4300K bulbs off ebay for ten bucks! they seemed like decent quality; we'll see how they hold up.

i might even buy a set of 4300K's for my lowbeams so they match exactly.

for 10 bucks, why not.

jbrittmart

how difficult is it to change the low beam bulbs?

also, anybody know where the wiring for the fogs is behind the dash? I wonder if it's similar to the Tundra. there's a very quick and easy wiring mod that was possible on the 07 and 08 Tundras that allowed the fogs to be turned on anytime independent from the headlights.

Tee

I'm using DDM Tunning 3000K's in mine too, the kit has been going strong for over 6 mons so far so good.

Two ways you can get to them.

A. You can take off the tires and remove the fender liners and they are right there. (easy way)

B. You can turn the wheels inward and pull the liner back, reach in by feel to swap them out.

Brian@Vossen

I've seen Tee's HID fogs and they look great, even in complete daylight.

jbrittmart

thanks for the instructions Tee.

so.. I've never replaced a factory HID bulb before. what size are our low beams? do I buy just the bulb? or is it the same as the retrofit ones where it has the harness as well?

Tee

NP.

Our bulbs are 35W D4S, OEM temp 4300K, buy just the bulbs, no need for wiring harness, just plug and play. Make sure your hands (use a glove) do not touch the bulbs b/c of the oil on your hands will cause them to blow.

jbrittmart

thanks again.

on ebay i can find bulbs with harnesses for around 10 bucks shipped... but just the bulbs are 40... strange.

i think i'm leaning towards switching my fogs out to 3000K instead of switching my lows to aftermarket 4300K. because I think even if the lows and fogs are the exact same bulb and temp they won't match exactly because the lows are in a reflector housing and the fogs are just in a regular housing.

Tee

I would stay away from those, I'm running Garax 6000K for my lows also the reson I went with 3000K fogs was to pay homage to the first LS that had the yellow fogs. I have to say I like the color contrast 6K, orange nike lights with 3K fogs looks great at night or day.

Garax 6000K., bought them from this CL vendor.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/clu...ghttrends.html

If you want 5000K go with XenonDepot- D4S 5000k HID bulbs.

http://www.kbcarstuff.com/Xtreme-HID.../xt-d4s-5k.htm

jbrittmart

why would you stay away from the cheap ones? I've had zero issues in the past from them.

I8ABMR

Looks cool. I would avoid a mod like this because when I was on the 3GS forum we had plenty of guys who had electrical issues with their headlights after install. To each his own but I am playing it safe.