I'm planning on buying 8000k HIDs very soon. What does an 03 ES300 come with (stock)? And whatever it comes with, is it optimal for HIDs? Because I know reflector housing for HIDs doesn't work too well.

 

It comes with HID reflector. They use D2R bulbs. Reflectors aren't bad. It's using the wrong bulb in the wrong reflector that causes a headache.

 

But putting these HIDs into my reflector housing won't have this effect, will it?



I've driven a 2011 Mercedes CLS550 before and it had some amazing headlights, and they looked like that. With a clear cutoff line. And they have projectors AFAIK.

I'm not planning on just buying HID bulbs and putting them in, by the way - I was getting a whole conversion kit and taking it to a professional just so they'd install them. The stuff in the conversion kit wouldn't result in the light beam looking like in the image above, would it? Would it still look all scattered and unfocused?

 

A 2003 ES still uses reflector halogens (with reflector HIDs optional). Only 2004+ were projector halogens standard (HID projectors optional). Don't be fooled by halogen and HID setups - they may look like the same housings, using just different bulbs, but they're very different.

Having a professional put in a conversion kit IS the same as just putting in HID bulbs yourself. If you're using true HID bulbs, both methods require the same parts (bulb and ballast) so you're essentially doing the same thing, no matter if you have it done professionally or as an amateur. Only a retrofit would be ideal - retrofitting HID projectors into the housing.

Putting an HID bulb in reflector housings will still yield a similar cutoff, but you'll still get spots and scattering, causing glare above the cutoff. The spread won't be very even either. Most halogen reflector conversions I've seen have shown very bright hot spots in the dead center of the beam - it's a waste of usable light being concentrated in one area.

It's all in how the reflectors were designed in each application because the way the bulbs spread light are different. Halogens are lit via a filament, HIDs via an arc through gases. Two different focal points.

 

So in your opinion, is it even worth getting HIDs if I'm stuck with the 03 ES's reflector housing?

Replacing the headlights with 04-06 ES330 projector housing would cost me another 250-350 dollars and I honestly don't want to do that.

 

After researching for hours - I have another question.

There's two different reflector housings, right? One for HIDs and one for halogens. The bowl depth or something is what makes the difference.

How can I find out which one is in my car?

And the most important question - is there ANY way I can fix the scattered light output from my reflectors after I put the HIDs in, or at least clean it up a little bit? I don't want to be "that guy", blinding everyone on the road. And I do want it to look as clean as possible. I understand a clean cut-off line between light and darkness is impossible, but I want to get as close as I can.

 

Pull out your bulb and see what kind they are. If they are D2R then they're OEM HID. If they're 9006 bulbs, then they're halogens.

 

Do what GSteg said.^

If you have halogens, there's really no way to minimize the impact and glare other than aiming your headlights down a bit. But by doing that it sort of defeats the purpose of having the brighter HIDs in the first place.

 

If they end up being D2R bulbs - and, consequently, that means I have HID reflectors - what would the light beam look like once I put higher-temperature HIDs in them?

 

The beam pattern should remain the same.