i ordered the 8000k from DDM tuning with the relay harness so that way it draws power from the battery. so far i am very pleased with the unit. i have had it for a year now and i cant make a huge complaint. only thing that i have to do is Manually turn on my lights in order to keep one of them from flickering out, which isnt a big deal for me. but for 40 bucks you cant go wrong.

 

I ran ddm 5000k in my sc400 no modifications/splicing or harness whatever, no flicker, never failed on me and didn't mess up my battery power, it was pure white on the road as well. it warms up blue but it will turn white. and it ran strong until i sold the vehicle.

 

^ good to know. Glad to see that DDM is an inexpensive and reliable option. You either have to sacrifice price or quality when purchasing mods for our cars.

 

As someone who bought and used many ddm kits in the past being they are cheap as **** and are local to me here's a tip

There 4300k and 5000k bulbs are the same
And there 6000k and 8000k are the same the 6000k looks more bluish like 8000k if u want a more clear/slight blue go with 5000k that's what i got my 6000k no way matches stock and is pull me over blue for fogs I'd go with 35w and low beams if u want go with 55w

 

They didnt have 4300k, so I went with 4500k and 55w ballasts as per advise from members.

 

Why did you end up going 55W, I see you started off wanting 35W.

Just curious because most people find 35W to be plenty bright?

 

ive been using DDM for 2 years now and counting and they've been great to me. Lifetime warranty as well as a great price is hard to pass. Ive ran the 4500 and 5000. The light output of 4500 is statistically better (lower kelvins = greater light output) but 5000 looks good too. You cant go wrong with either. From my experiences, the bulbs generally last 8-12 months depending on how much you drive. replacement bulbs only cost like 12 bucks from DDM i think.

 

I was under the impression that most people were suggesting 55w. As well, doing some research I read somewhere that the 35w ballasts were not strong enough to power the 4500k bulbs to their 'full white temperature' and they tend to be more blue with the lower power. The 55w ballasts are apparently able to power the bulbs to their full color temperature.
Another thought just popped into my head; I am installing these into my '99 with the updated projectors. Not sure if this will result in better light output than older SC's and perhaps the 35w ballasts would have sufficed?

Either way, I put the order through last night for $66 which includes the $20 shipping to Canada. Am not going to complain if they dont turn out exactly the way I want. If the ballasts are too bring I know a few local people who I can sell them to, and pay the $8 for the 35w ballasts.

Here's the breakdown for those interested:
- 4500k HID Kit = $26.95
- 55w ballasts = +$9.00
- Mounting brackets = $2.69
- Adaptor cable = $7.20
- Shipping to Canada = $20.12
TOTAL = $65.96

 

There are different projectors for different years? more info on this

 

I believe 98+ SC's had slightly upgraded projectors and a more clear cutoff. Dont know the exact differences other than that though. No major changes.

 

I use the DDMs in my 3000GT and they're awesome, In that I have the H4 Hi/Lo combos and I've had great success with them for about a year now. With popup headlights finding a place to mount the ballasts was a pain but hey, its cool in the end.

When I was buying HIDS for my mitsu I was advised not to go 55w as it's blinding to other drivers, since they're going in actual projector housings on the Lexus, would 55w be alright to use and not **** off other drivers? I get plenty of light out of my 35w 6000k in that car, and I'm trying to decide what to put in the SC for my girlfriend.

Also will the stock wiring system handle 55w ballasts and bulbs? Often the stock lighting system isn't good enough on cars and needs to be beefed up to handle the draw.

Matt

 

^ any input on this? Anyone have issues with the stock lighting system? I may be able to change my order still if need be.

 

I ran 55watt on stock wiring system, no relay or anything.
Only thing i dislike about the 55watt is it wash/burns out the color after a few months of use. Sure its bright, but not as good as 35watt.

Didn't need adapter cables, since its direct plug and play.

If you have projectors you can run aftermarket HID. You wont be blinding people as long as you aim it

 

I'm running 55w as well.
Personally since I'm running 4500k bulbs the "wash out" is irrelevant to me anyways, because I was looking for a light that was as white as possible and any desaturation of color is irrelevant. But the higher color ranges won't be as vivid I guess, so the 6000k and 8000k will be less blue than a 35w system. But from my personal preference I think that's better, as functional headlights should be white.

On my fogs I'm not noticing any washing out of the yellow color of 3000k on a 55w setup, but I've never ran a 35w 3000k bulb before, so to be fair there might be some washout of the yellow color that I just don't notice.

I'm also on stock wires with a relay to the fogs, not having any problems with power draw. I do have a 160 amp high output alternator though so my car doesn't have any issues with additional current draw if there is any.

The projectors on the SC300 are halogen projectors. They are less blinding to oncoming motorists than the halogen reflector housings of most cars that don't run HID's, but they still can cause issue with other motorists even when properly aimed. HID projector housings are larger than halogen projector housings and usually have a clear lens with a sharper cutoff and a color mod which causes the light output to be drastically cut by shifting it towards the ultraviolet range which makes it a lot easier on the eyes of oncoming motorists.
This is a picture showing the shift that occurs on the cutoff of a Projector housing. A Halogen housing is incapable of this.



Halogen projector housing's also have less light output to the ground from HID's than a proper HID projector housing, and halogen projectors are also prone to hot spotting and can't provide the same laminar output. Still, all of this being said, an HID in a Halogen projector is still way better for oncoming motorists to deal with than an HID in a halogen reflector housing. It's good enough not to get attention from cops, which is good enough for me.

But I do intend to do a proper HID projector retrofit in the near future once I get all of these other gremlins handled.

 

I gone ahead and changed my order to 35w instead of 55w. Seems like the 35's will suffice for my lows.