vasy

Trying to decide whether to get optional LED headlight or standard bi-xenon HID on the 213 LS. Did some reading on the RX forum here as RX450h has offered LED headlight for some time. Most people (in RX forum) who have experience with both LED and HID say that LED is marginally less bright than HID. HIDs illuminate the road just a tad better. So I'm inclined to go with HID. But I would like to know if the bi-xenon on the 2013 LS uses the same HID bulb for both low and high beams, with a motorized shutter/screen directing the light to high beam projector when high beam is turned on. This is my preference. BMW uses this setup on their quad bi-xenon system. If 2 HID bulbs are used, 1 for low and the other for high, the high beam bulb is almost always cold and therefore is not very bright when first turned on. I know very few folks own 2013 LS now but still hope some people can chime in on this subject.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

did bmw change this recently? at least on the previous bmw i know of, the bi-xenon high beam is motorized low beam going up. the projectors closer to the grille they light up as corner lights and when you put car in reverse. again i don't know if they have changed it in recent cars. on my e93 m3, when i flip to high, it's still just the two low beams but shooting up.

and in regards to led over hid. again unless things have progressed, hid seems to still provide better illumination. led has the cool factor but lighting wise it still needs some work

vasy

I might not have explained it properly. What I said about BMW was that both low and high beams of the same side of car use the same light source (a single HID lamp). That is also what you said. See this link about BMW. I hope the new LS uses the same setup. I think it should because this setup only requires a total of 2 ballasts. If a separate HID lamp/bulb is used for high, 2 more ballasts are needed (higher cost). Right?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

ah sorry i misunderstood what you were trying to say. yes imho it would be silly if they have a second set of ballasts for the high beam, more expensive and also take longer to warm up like you said.

although fwiw, say my old m3. even during the day when low beams are not, if i just flash high beams, it lights up pretty darn quick

back to your question i can't say for sure which way 2013 LS use

williakz

Another consideration. If I recall correctly, only the LED headlights have the Adaptive Front-lighting System (AFS) where the beams swivel to and fro as the car turns. Handy to avoid potholes, critters, road debris, etc.

vasy

This is what Lexus.com says:

High-Intensity Discharge headlamps with LED daytime running lights, dynamic auto leveling and dual-swivel Adaptive Front Lighting System

LED headlamps with headlamp washers and intelligent high-beams, dynamic auto leveling and dual-swivel Adaptive Front Lighting System (AFS)


So it's the intelligent high-beams that HID doesn't have (for LS 460 short wheel base model), not AFS. I believe the intelligent high-beams is standard for LS 460L even if you have HID on that car. Thanks for your response.

williakz

Sorry, you are correct. So $1,450 for auto switching of high beams and fewer lumens? Hmm...