headlights on the "F"
07-23-09, 05:35 AM
#1
headlights on the "F"
Anybody else think the factory headlights output kind of stinks!?
I came from a BMW 5 series, and the headlights in that thing were simply amazing!, Does replacing the bulbs in the "F" to say 5k or 6k light bulbs pay much dividens? Or, am I just better off replacing my fogs to H11 HID bulbs? and if so what are you guys going with 4300K or another brighter bulb?
I came from a BMW 5 series, and the headlights in that thing were simply amazing!, Does replacing the bulbs in the "F" to say 5k or 6k light bulbs pay much dividens? Or, am I just better off replacing my fogs to H11 HID bulbs? and if so what are you guys going with 4300K or another brighter bulb?
07-23-09, 08:50 AM
#4
Lead Lap
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: pa
Posts: 569
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
He's complaining that they are not bright enough. Bmw are notorious for bright headlights. The lexus headlights are hella bright compared to my G37. I upgraded my oem hid bulbs to 6k and its more blue now, the blue color actually helps out at night time cause you can actually see the "blue" on the road better than the normal yellowish white. At least thats what it seems to me. I also added 3000k hid bulbs to the fog so that helps a bit too.
07-23-09, 10:02 AM
#5
He's complaining that they are not bright enough. Bmw are notorious for bright headlights. The lexus headlights are hella bright compared to my G37. I upgraded my oem hid bulbs to 6k and its more blue now, the blue color actually helps out at night time cause you can actually see the "blue" on the road better than the normal yellowish white. At least thats what it seems to me. I also added 3000k hid bulbs to the fog so that helps a bit too.
i don't see bmw headlights being any "brighter", i think they are about the same. if you are talking about the brightness when you look at the headlights, then it's about the optics and flickering, where bmw has more. but that doesn't constitute to the usable light on the road though. changing the bulbs to 6k will change the color but won't create the kind of flickering from bmw (or s2k, tsx)
07-23-09, 10:06 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Under an IS F since 2008
Posts: 13,441
Received 1,064 Likes
on
586 Posts
Just AIM them up a tad bit and you will be happier...
Mine came pointing to the ground too much from the Factory, I did a little re-adusting and now its perfect for me..
4300K > 6000K
Joe Z
Mine came pointing to the ground too much from the Factory, I did a little re-adusting and now its perfect for me..
4300K > 6000K
Joe Z
07-23-09, 10:27 AM
#7
Lead Lap
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: pa
Posts: 569
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I know the light output on the 6k bulbs are lower than stock, if you read, i cleary stated the blue helped out based on color differences, almost like putting a dye to see things more clearly. Try putting on yellow glasses when you drive, the road will seem clearer. According to you guys all hid headlights are equivalent in brightness besides the K differences. I agree with Ming, BMW headlights are brighter. Believe it or not the brightest headlights are usually from cars that dont have hid from the factory and you adding hid to it. Cars with factory hid have alot of rules and regulations to adhere to while non hid cars dont have as strict regulations due to the fact that they are not as bright to begin with. I have put in Hid kits in over 100 different cars and I believe the brightest so far are new Hondas with a hid kit. My Honda element is brighter than my IsF with hid top and bottom, so is my buddies odyssey.
Trending Topics
I try to hit up the weekly Chick Fil-a meet at Dulles if you ever have time to swing by.
07-23-09, 11:31 AM
#11
I know the light output on the 6k bulbs are lower than stock, if you read, i cleary stated the blue helped out based on color differences, almost like putting a dye to see things more clearly. Try putting on yellow glasses when you drive, the road will seem clearer. According to you guys all hid headlights are equivalent in brightness besides the K differences. I agree with Ming, BMW headlights are brighter. Believe it or not the brightest headlights are usually from cars that dont have hid from the factory and you adding hid to it. Cars with factory hid have alot of rules and regulations to adhere to while non hid cars dont have as strict regulations due to the fact that they are not as bright to begin with. I have put in Hid kits in over 100 different cars and I believe the brightest so far are new Hondas with a hid kit. My Honda element is brighter than my IsF with hid top and bottom, so is my buddies odyssey.
hid bulbs are hid bulbs, they emit the same amount of light considering the same brand and model (let's just say philips 4300k in this case). the reason why cars with halogen with add on hid kits LOOK brighter is because the optics are all wrong and lights are shooting everywhere, making you think it lights up more area. but the fact is that it's putting a lot of glare on oncoming traffic and such. is that a good idea? hardly
on hid equipped cars, the design is to project (or reflect) all the usable light from the same hid bulbs on the ground or below certain threshold so you won't create glare
i have my share of hid kits study, i was one of the first few to put hid kits on my gs400 with halogen. yup, everyone including me "thought" my gs400 with hid kit look very bright for reasons i explained above. but the fact is? when putting my car side by side with another gs400 with oem hid, the road ahead of me wasn't as clearly illuminated as my friend's gs400, and my headlights were glaring more surrounding areas.
hid spec headlights aren't blocking any light output from hid bulbs. they either reflect all the lights, or project all the lights. there are difference in how the projection is done however. for example, till today, 04-06 ls430 projectors are still considered as one of the best projectors, providing excellent light spread and angle on the road. it's well known across lighting communities. the s2k and previous generation tsx headlights were actually very similar, but with a little extra metal bend, those headlights create a lot more flickering. but they are very similar headlights
it could be the fact that bmw projectors are better than is-f projectors (especially since new lexus changed to d4s bulbs which does have slight performance hit compared to d2s), but that's projector design (bmw used d2s and new bmw use d1s). changing the hid bulbs color on the is-f won't help matters at all. if it's indeed proven bmw projectors are better than that of is-f (i'd love to read more on this) and you want to actually improve light output on the road (instead of everywhere)? then you should think about retrofitting bmw projects on the is-f
07-23-09, 11:36 AM
#12
Lexus Connoisseur
He's complaining that they are not bright enough. Bmw are notorious for bright headlights. The lexus headlights are hella bright compared to my G37. I upgraded my oem hid bulbs to 6k and its more blue now, the blue color actually helps out at night time cause you can actually see the "blue" on the road better than the normal yellowish white. At least thats what it seems to me. I also added 3000k hid bulbs to the fog so that helps a bit too.
07-23-09, 11:41 AM
#13
correct
He's complaining that they are not bright enough. Bmw are notorious for bright headlights. The lexus headlights are hella bright compared to my G37. I upgraded my oem hid bulbs to 6k and its more blue now, the blue color actually helps out at night time cause you can actually see the "blue" on the road better than the normal yellowish white. At least thats what it seems to me. I also added 3000k hid bulbs to the fog so that helps a bit too.
07-23-09, 11:44 AM
#14
This is exactly what I mean. Compared to my 5 series, these lights stink, The intensity of the light is just not the same, nor is my perceive "whiteness" of the lights. Does anybody feel the addition of the HID fogs light up the road any better? if so what color temp are you running to match the stock headlamps?
