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One night last week, my passenger-side bulb turned a nice shade of purple, and the following night it stopped working – the passenger bulb was dead!
The bad bulb (believed to be the original OEM) is a Philips D2S 35W #85122 4300K. I ordered a pair of these from Amazon.com for $82.99. I wanted to keep the OEM 4300k color temperature rating as I'm not a big fan of the “blue” or “purple” look.
I decided to replace both bulbs as a set. Here’s how I did it…
Very nice RKW. I might add that you should NEVER touch the glass with your fingers. I also always clean any HID, halogen, or similar lamps with 90% rubbing alcohol before I install. Touching the glass will leave oil on the bulb and cause a weak spot. This can lead to the lamp exploding / shattering inside the fixture / premature failure. Used to see this all the time in moving lights and theatrical lighting instruments.
Also, speaking of color temperature from what I understand 4300 - 5k produces the most amount of lumens vs other color temps. More bang for your buck.
It would be fun to mount a Phillips MSR 1200 instead. Standard 35w HID is about 3400 lumens. The MSR 1200 produces 110000 lumens. Can you imagine... Of course the thing requires 1200 watts and is only good for 800 hours but talking about bright. Light the road a mile away... hah The downside is they get so hot that it would probably melt the assembly.
Last edited by Lavrishevo; Dec 22, 2014 at 06:31 PM.
Thank you RKW! I just bought the exact same set last night from Amazon - You read my mind re installation!
After getting my headlights refinished I noticed that the light output isn't as strong as it was when I first bought the car 4.5 yrs ago. I did some research and found out the light fades in output slowly over time. Ill be installing these new bulbs soon. BTW- were they the 85122 bulbs as indicated on the listing, or the 85122+? Some people buying the individual bulbs were complaining that the bulb numbers were switched on arrival.
I purchased the dual-pack. Printing on the bulb shows D2S 35W 85122 without the "+". Just curious, what's the difference for 85122+?
yes, me too re the dual pack and same price btw.
The + apparently indicates a more yellow/white light from what I have gathered from the reviews online. The standard bulb without the + has a more traditional xenon look of white/bluish, which is what I want.
I'm new to Lexus but dealt plenty with HID lights on a Camaro forum.
4300k should be the stock output but I went with 5000k and I thought it was a great look. Just an ever so slight hint of blue. I initially started with 6000k but found them to be too blue for me. They definitely had a blue color IMO...and to think I was told to buy the 8000k because they were the most popular. No way would I go above 6000k. There is so much blue above 6000k you will definitely see less light output.
Stick with either 4300k or 5000k and you'll be good. I will probably go with a 5000k if they make them and I need to replace mine.
Also, I've used TheRetrofitSource.com in the past and they've usually have really good prices. Knowledgeable people as well.
Last edited by caverman; Dec 22, 2014 at 05:59 PM.
I’m somewhat old school and prefer to stay with OEM specs for all replacement parts. Also, I believe the 4300K HID bulb has been standard offering by nearly every auto manufacturer in the world.
Great post thanks for sharing. So far my original bulbs in the low beams seem to be in great shape. I routinely run the car with low beams on all the time and have just turned 100k miles on the car. Given the car is 12 years old and likely has been operating with lights on apprx 2,000 hours (if I had to guess), wondering how long bulbs will last.
For folks who replaced their bulbs due to age, did you notice a difference to the brightness? I'm curious if I need to replace mine on an 06 with 107k miles.
The Xenon HID head light will last 2,000 hours or more. As the HID lamp ages near its end-of-life, the light tends to fade, and discolor (a shift towards blue or purple color), and eventually begins to cycle (blink on and off). As Jabberwock pointed out, you probably have about 2,000 hours on your 2006 lamps (if they were originals), and should consider changing them.
DIY - Low-beam headlamp bulb replacement
Of course the thing requires 1200 watts and is only good for 800 hours but talking about bright. Light the road a mile away... hah The downside is they get so hot that it would probably melt the assembly.
