TomsCelica

So I can't find any OEM projector lenses anywhere near me that aren't $400 for the pair. I'm going to buy the $180 set on eBay and slap some 55W 6000K HID's in them.

What do you guys think? I'm hoping that the cheap eBay lights don't melt. Haha! I'd love to get OEM HID's and put a new bulb/ballast kit in them... But I don't feel like spending $800 for lights.

Edit: These are for a 2004 330 BTW.

Chocolate

Don't recommend that, they aren't that great. Crappy reflector bowl and crappy optics. Try and get a used set if anything. Check my posts here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...id-lights.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...ior-led-s.html

If you have a halogen Lexus I would also consider using the Opt7 kit for 100 dollars instead of the HID kit. Very bright output.

jaredmac11

Per that thread, I could modify my stock housing and install updated lights? Do they need fittings? Is there a 101 for this stuff because my 97 ES is abysmal and I need to do something.

Low cost is the best option...

speedkar9

I have OEM halogen projectors. All I can say is HID lights DO NOT work with them. The light output is very dim, because of the bulb angle, the cutoff shield blocks a lot of the usable light.

However, on my old car, a Camry, I put Spyder projector halo lights with an H1 HID kit. I was very happy with the light output, there wasn't much glare (especially if you covered the squirrel spotters) and the road was very bright with a good cutoff. The beam wasn't that wide however.

Chocolate

Check theretrofitsource.com and check the forums there. You really can dremel out the back of your lights and replace them with projectors compatible for your bulb. There are online videos on how to replace your headlight housings on youtube; I brought mine to a shop for their expertise and paid 150 for them to do it. I would use an Opt7 LED kit for simplicity's (no need to mess around with aftermarket ballasts) and compatibility's sake, as the bulb is the same size as the standard, and I am very satisfied with the output on mine.

Chocolate

And this is why the 3" OEM Koito projectors are far beyond the eBay 2.5" stuff The OEM projectors cast far wider and further.

JetsonES

150 bucks for labor sounds pretty reasonable for an extensive mod like that.

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

Try LED's ? They aren't as "harmful nor bright" as HID's, but I'm sure it'll help before spending money on new ones...

Xenondepot carries some for ~100$/pair with nice heatsinks

Chocolate

Yeah, I bought the 05/06 projector assemblies along with new D2S bulbs, so it was really just a replacement of the assemblies and transfer of the ballasts. I didn't want to have any issues putting the bumper back exactly. To have the shop do the retrofit for you would be more, but I could have dremeled out the back and mounted in projectors into the assemblies before an install myself if I needed to as that is relatively straightforward - no need to for the 02-04s though.

speedkar9

LED's have the same problem as HID's. They are very spot focused and in halogen housings the optics causes them to produce a lot of glare or a useless beam pattern pointing other than at the road. I'm testing a set of 9006's in my fogs right now and will have a video review up soon.

TomsCelica

Thanks guys. I'm still not set on what I want to do. I want to pick up a set of cheap OEM reflector housings and do a retrofit of some projectors with HID's. I just wish I had OEM HID's haha!

JetsonES

Don't we all. Your plan above is probably the most cost effective option provided you can find a set of cheap headlights. I would suggest checking http://www.car-part.com or trying LKQ which is where a lot of repair shops get their stock from. The Bay of E and the List of Craig might also help.

I just checked on car-part.com and they had a lh hid unit for $120 and a rh hid unit for $130. Maybe this is the way to go? 250 bucks for an oem conversion sounds fair, you'd spend that much in time and parts going the diy route.