passnu2

iTrader: (33)

When you come from one of these other MFG (Acura/BMW/Audi/Ect...) you can really tell the difference. I came from an Audi and that has to be the best HID system OEM in any car I have owned. Acura is a clear 2nd for me. Its not the color output. I can park my wifes TSX and my car next to hers and you can see how much more light OUTPUT the Acura will get over our IS.

Changing the bulb is going to change color and nothing more. Its a poor design on our car. Yes they work but they could be much better!

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

here is the PDF I have

T4styPh0

iTrader: (2)

6000k FTW

Brian231

Having swapped out the halogen for a 6k retro kit on my 2gen, I have excellent light output. I see the OEM 2gen HID on the road at night and it is very weak. I also seen a 2gen with an apparent 6k bulb swap out (factory ballasts), and the output is very bright. Typically, a 4300k bulb is OEM. Not sure why these bulbs are not bright enough. It could be whoever Lexus chose for a vendor. I would go on Zenon Depot and purchase new bulbs. This issue has been discussed so many times, it seems rather trite to me.

XenonDepot

iTrader: (11)

As many have mentioned throughout this thread, upgrading the bulb will not result in a more light output as the higher you go in terms of colour temperature the more colour you obtain however the less actual useable light output you emit. Having said that, some of our customers that change from 4300k to 6000k feel that the light actually seems brighter as there is no yellow. The bluish tinge makes the road light up "whiter" which they feel makes the lights seem brigher.

Steve

ExTrEmE99

iTrader: (6)

I wonder if you can just change out the lens or like someone already said "wash it out"

almacruel

Upgrade the bulbs to 6000K or 8000K

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

How often do you turn on your headlights and what year is your friend's TSX?

ULTiMaX99

iTrader: (5)

the washer mod is when you open up the projectors and you place washers in the screws which spaces the lens of the projector away from the bulb. this essentially changes the optics of the projector and it may or may not give you a different cutoff color. the tsx folks uses 2 washers and they get one sexy *** cutoff. it's like blue/purple and very sharp.

i noticed in the stock hids, that the top of the cutoff is yellow, but the sides are a little bluish...

D&G

Has anyone here done this color mod?? If so, chime in and post a pic for all of us!! Is their any drawbacks in doing this color mod??

D&G

05 TSX. Why??

kindred6ul

Yes I have, but not on the 2IS. I've owned a 7th gen civic which was retrofitted w/ Audi rs4 projectors which are bosch components. My rs4 projector cutoff is very purple similar to s2k and about 20% brighter than the 2IS. This is without the washer. With the washer the colorband was alot wider, but a little less defined. I would love to take apart my 2IS, but I feel it would be a waste of time considering the output isn't too spectacular in the first place. Oh btw the retrofit took me about 3 months from start to finish. Big pain in the *** with very little payoff. I would never do it again.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Because as the bulbs age, the light output becomes more white/blue. When they're new, the output is more yellow.

I have two pairs of 4300k bulbs and one set has been used for a few years. They're a lot more white/blue than my 1 year old set that use to be really yellow. Now they're less yellow and will eventually become white/blue.

Acura (stanley) projectors are known for their blue/purple colorband at the cutoff. Not to much with projectors made for lexus.

D&G

Maybe that is one of the reason why mine is so yellow compared to his TSX. But none the less, I love his HID's purple/blue cut-off. They look so sharp and crisp. Hard to really explain until you see it in person side by side. But again, my IS350 is almost 2yrs old and driven almost 45k kilometers. So if they don't start changing from yellow to white now I don't think they will ever get whiter

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

How often do you use the light though? I have my lights on at least 30 minutes every single night. So far it's been a year and the color has shifted a bit. It's still not near my fully aged old bulbs, but I have more output. It's a trade off. The older the bulb, the more white/blue it gets at the expense of loss output.

Also, OEM bulbs are actually 4100k, not 4300k as most suggests.

I believe your car has the D4S setup. D4S has a lumen rating of 3050lm while the OEM D2S bulbs are 3200lm. This combined with the not-so-great projectors gives the tsx an advantage in output.