I have a 2005 RX330 and I recently had my timing belt service completed, replaced all 4 shock absorbers, and a 4 wheel alignment. Needless to say my RX runs and rides like a brand new Lexus. I decided that since I have done all this work to it I will definitely keep it a few more years. It has the headlight assemblies that fit the regular Halogen bulbs and I recently upgraded the bulbs to LED which I love. I have had plenty of people flash me as if my lights were on high beams since I made the upgrade however. I decided that I would order new headlight assemblies that have the projector bulbs in them (typically used on cars with HID bulbs). I was told that even the LED/Halogen bulbs that are currently on my RX should work in place of the HID bulbs that normally would go in these assemblies. I would like to know if anyone else can confirm that these LED/Halogen bulbs will definitely work in the housings with the projectors or not. If they are not going to work I will ship them back and get my money back. I would appreciate any feedback. I think the projector assemblies will work and look better because the light will be more controlled and level. As it is now the lights are really bright and the beams spread out in a wide range and are not very controlled and I believe they are blinding on coming traffic.

 

The big concern I have with your project is that you want to use a type of lamp (light bulb) in a housing that was designed for some other kind. Every type of lamp (i.e., halogen, hid, led) creates light in a different pattern. This requires the reflectors in the headlight assemblies to be designed for that pattern in order to focus the light beam appropriately.

While I don't know the answer to your question of will the halogen lamp fit in the hid headlight assembly, I wouldn't even try it because of the above. If you want to continue, look up the specifications for both the halogen lamp and the hid lamp. Look at what base is used. If they happen to be the same (which I doubt) then check the arrangement of the connector pins. Other cars I have worked on the halogen and hid lamps did not use the same base, so the wire harness connectors were different.

 

Thank you for your feedback. I will check before I go to the trouble of taking everything apart just to make sure the bulbs will work first.
Worst case scenario, I will just purchase the HID conversion kit just to make sure I have the correct bulbs in the new housing when I do decide to replace them.

 

Those LEDs will not go into the OEM HID base. HID base is D2S for the 330. I would stay away from OEM HID assemblies from Lexus as most will have the AFS built in and that's a mess in itself.

If you go aftermarket you may be in luck. You can (although it is frowned upon) slap LEDs into those projector assemblies but I am not sure if the base type changes, so make sure you know which base is it equipped with.

 

Thank you. I am going to check it before I do anything. I will probably just go ahead and put the HID with ballasts in the new assemblies. I am not willing to mess anything up, but I know I definitely want the projector style assemblies. They are much nicer looking and have a cleaner and more even distribution for the output of the light.

 

This X2^^^^^^^ Two different bulbs as well as the sockets & possibly different housings.