ssmoked

i have a 96' ES300 and thinking about upgrading the factory headlight to HID. Whats the difference between the HID Conversion kit and just replace the bulbs with Plasma type bulbs. Is one brighter than the other? suggestions?

vin 78

The main difference is the amount of light HID's offer over regular bulbs.
Its a night a day difference.

Pheonix

HID > HIR > 9006 to 9005 > $7 sylvania bulb > everything else.

See previous posts as to the work needed to be done to stock projectors to allow the use of HID bulbs without being a glare nusanse.
(Shim the lens out, and/or cut out the stock cut-off & make a new one.)

ssmoked

sorry I dont quiet understand your posting. My question is would there be a difference between HID conversion kit and just replacing the bulbs?

Pheonix

I'm sorry, the question can be taken a few ways & I apparantly took it a way you didn't mean.
In light output?
HID's throw 2-3x more intense light. What people don't immediately tell you is that they also throw more light at much WIDER distrobution patterns. They're not just brighter lights. They throw more light across most of their distrobution angle than a good halogen throws at it's highest intensity (dead ahead).

Looks something like this 6' away pointed at a wall with a blanket on it.

New 9006 Sylvania Halogen.


3 year old 6000k HID

3rdelement

iTrader: (1)

pics dont work.

harrierhos

Pics work good for me. NICE

ssmoked

Thanks for the reply. How much would i expect to pay for a set of those?

MoreMGD32

iTrader: (1)

for the most part, a hid plug and play system for the early model lex's doesnt throw that much glare. its the regular models that dont have projectors that throw alot. I would just get a HID system off of ebay for like 200bucks if you dont want to read into it too much. i have this set up in my 95 lex and it works good. dont get me wrong im upgrading to a retro fit but this worked for me. I would get a kit anywhere from 4200k to 6000K. this will allow you to get the better light out put with some good color. FYI the more color the bulb outputs the less the light output. anymore questions just PM me

Pheonix

For a real phillips, or hella kit (I like phillips better). About $300-350usd. If it's not at $300, it's most likely going to be tai, or korean bulbs with a second tier ballast. & you get to spend a day re-doing the projectors to make it good.

3000

Upgrade the reflectors, or do a retrofit, then you'll get a good cutoff instead of scattered light.
As for bulbs, they don't really do much compared to HID (except the HIR's). And you might need to upgrade the wire harness.