imjohnphan

Hey guys, I am unsure of whether or not i have HIDs, but i know whenever i put my key in and turn it to the on position the bulbs or case or whatever go up and down like autoleveling i am guessing .. is this a sure way to know whether or not i have HIDs. oh and if yall dont mind me asking but .. how much are these bulbs if i wanna replace them if they blow out. Much thanks.

vicestan

Yeah you have auto leveling, look on the front lense on the bottom it will say d2r. The new bulbs will cost you about 60-70 dollers. If you want to save a few bucks just buy d2s bulbs and cut a little notch on the left side like in the d2r and your set to go. You prolly have phillips bulbs in there now. When HID light bulbs get old they lose intensity and color. The 2 main bulb manufactuers are phillips and osram. Phillips gives of a more blueish white light as for osram they give of more of a pinkish light. I only use osram since in reflector headlights they seem to look better and the pinkish light is easyer on the eyes on long night drives. If you want I think I can get you a pair of d2s for like 50 dollers. I can even make the notch in there so they fit like the d2s. Oh and Im also using d2s converted to d2r lightbulbs, and no glare at all honestly.

imjohnphan

man this forum kicks *** .. hahaha .. actually .. im not sure if i need new bulbs .. but ill get back to ya later on those thanks for the quick reply and all of yall are really helpful .. because i saw on some places online, they were selling the bulbs for about $280 a pair. I never had HIDs so I didnt know on what to expect the pricing would be .. you just saved me a some bucks in the future .. much thanks

DetMich1

Yes, only factory HID has auto leveling feature. There are two sensors located under the car attached to the suspension. Each head light has its own electric motor and computer to control the motor. The bulbs have a very long life span approx 3000 hrs. The cost depends on brand and source but figure at least $100-$175 per bulb. Best to replace in pairs to insure equal color and brightness. If you have a GS the D2R bulb is called for. This is designed to work with a reflector style housing. The D2S bulb is for a projector style housing and does not seat properly in a reflector housing resulting in less than optimal performance. Factory color is 4300 Kelvin, which is most proximate to daylight color. Higher number is NOT brighter just more blue then eventually moving into purple color. Also as light becomes more blue/purple total light output decreases resulting in less light on the road. Lower number Kelvin (2500-3000) will look yellow like regular Halogen headlights when compared to HID. HID OEM lights are about 3X brighter than Halogen and much whiter in appearance. Osram/Sylvania and Phillips are the quality leaders from Europe. I know PIAA makes an HID bulb as well and they generally are high quality as well. There are a lot of scams around, sometimes the cheapest is not what you think it is. Be sure you know what you are buying.

vicestan

"The D2S bulb is for a projector style housing and does not seat properly in a reflector housing resulting in less than optimal ''

The D2s and D2r bulbs are nearly identical, d2s has a small notch on the right side and d2r on the left. The d2s bulb will sit properly in the d2r housing if you make the notch on the left side and will provide same performance and focal point. As far as having ceremic paint and the notch's on the light bulbs d2's/d2r are exactly identical.

DetMich1

I disagree. The notches are there to insure that the proper bulb is used for the proper application. The dispersal patterns are different. They are not meant to be interchangeable.

vicestan

D2s And D2r have the same focal point, go to hidplanet.com/univeristy and find out if you like. D2r was made for reflector based headlights, and d2s for projector. D2r has a ceremic paint to restrict some light going on top to reduce a small ammount of glare, this was made due to pass strict DOT regulations. Ive been using modded d2s bulbs in my lexus gs for over a year now and the result of not having the ceremic light reducer on top only gives of a small ammount of glare, hardly noticable. Take a d2s and d2r bulb and put them side by side and you will see they are identical in the capsule design. They both have the same focal point thus provide same focused light in either applications.

DetMich1

I knew it had to do with excessive glare issues for oncoming drivers. Why would you want to modify the inappropriate bulb so you can produce more glare? The D2S bulbs are not cheaper, brighter or longer lasting so why defeat the restriction on using them in the wrong housing?

vicestan

On the market they are actually cheaper, and if price is not an issue to those who have d2r bulbs, its easy to modify them to be used in projector type headlights, or the other way around. The glare is so minimal that its hardly noticable, I will take the pepsi challange with that ish anyday. Putting 2 cars side by side, lets say 2 gs lexus's with HID lights one has d2r and the other one d2s modded, I would pay any onlooker 20 dollers, if they can tell the difference. I'm not saying go out and buy d2s bulbs and modify them into your d2r housings, but im saying that if you have a chance to get them for cheaper, you can use them and get the same result. And your right they dont last longer, or provide more light oh thats right there the same light bulbs. Only because d2s was not made to be used in d2r housing doesent mean they cant be, in fact they are practicall if for whatever reason you have d2r headlights and got a hold of d2s bulbs, and any person whos been working or dealing with HID lights will tell you this. I think you should go to HIDPLANET.COM and go read the university before you educate people on hid lights, because after all the wrong information wont help anyone . With that I say good'day.