kansaisupr

I was wondering to those have already purchased or have driven the car at night, what was your impression of the HID's. Meaning do you think the HID's are now on par with say BMW's Bi-Xenon or S2000 light output?
Or do you think its pretty similar to a SC430 or GS430 projector output.

Thanks
leonard

rominl

iTrader: (4)

for the record, the sc430 (i believe same as ls430 and gs430) hid are one of the best in the industry in terms of light output..... it's the same as the s2000. bmw ones aren't actually as good.

i think what you mean is the "flickering", which i agree are better on bimmer, and the flickering on s2000 is just sick. that i think mostly depend on whether they use clear lens for the projectors now like the s2000. kinda doubt thoug when they don't have that for the gs430, sc430, and ls430

jlin101

I think all HID bulb outputs are the same, as long as the color temperature is the same (the cooler temperature, the lower the output). The other factor is the quality of the projector or reflector, depending on the design. What do you mean by flickering--the light as perceived by onlooker?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

you are right on. all bulb output are the same, they are all 4100-4300k. but how the projectors work and project all those light as much and as good as possible that's up to the design.

when i said flickering, yes i am talking about those purple and blue flickering you see from a onlooker point of view. i think s2000 is the best i have seen, followed by audi and then bmw. but from a driver's point of view, what's on the road is the most important.

from my sc430, the light output on the road is unreal

Agni88

The flickering is the auto leveling feature, keeping the blulbs level as the car goes over bumps(even minor road variatons) on the road.

is350

yup. the S2k and LS430 projectors are much wider and sharper compare to the bmw projectors.

Rockville

The Lexus adaptive steering headlights are pretty trick. We are getting the HID's only on the IS350 as a cost cutting measure. HID's acheive their brightness by making light three different ways in the bulb and on the Lexus try to simulate the natural sunlight spectrum and aren't as blue as the bimmers/Porsches.

jlin101

please clarify what you mean that IS's HID is a cost-cutting measure.

jobber99

i think he means making the HIDs an expensive package/only standard on 350s is a cost cutting measure to bring down the base on the 250.

andyroo

The xenon HID headlights are standards in the 350's?

jlin101

I don't think so. HID is included in the Plus packages.

Nauticalx

If Xenons are Xenons, how can Nissan give only a $150 MSRP credit on the Maxima for an HID DELETE? Obviously, its not really that expensive, yes yes there is auto leveling on the Lex's but should it be that much difference in price?
I thought HIDs were going to rapidly become the industry norm, doing away with halogens but it doesnt seem to be so. I just still surprised that frickin Mazda 3's have em!

andyroo

The plus packages are the Luxury and Sports only isn't it?

jlin101

nowadays oem xenon option costs about $500-1000, depending on whether they have self-leveling or adaptic front lighting. So the dealer's cost is about $300+. Perhaps Nissan only gives $150 credit for HID delete so not very many people would opt that (that's not the same as saying HID costs only $150).

rominl

iTrader: (4)

so the one on the IS are not adaptive front lighting? anyway, just the autoleveling computer itself is more than 150 bucks already. and yes, typical true high systems out there are from 500 to 1000 normally.

Rock, one question. the new headlights on the sc430 they are bi-xenon?! i thought they just have AFL that's all, which allows the headlights to turn left and right on turns, just like the ls430 and the rx330/400h. i thought there is still a separate area for the high beam?!