On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being very easy, and 10 being very difficult, how easy is it to change the headlights on a 99 RX300? I'm thinking about putting HID's in, but don't know how big of a project it will be.

 

I'd say it's up to about a 7, with difficulty decreasing everytime you do it. But as an owner, and a DIY'er you'll probably only do it once.

I changed out my headlights and it was a pain to find the two bolts holding the headlamp to the body.

Installing HID's will make that project that much harder. You'll have to hook up the HID hardware and make sure all that works. It wont be plug and play like mine was (I changed my 99 style headlamps out with non-HID 2002 style headlamps).

Originally I approached the project with plans to install HIDS. After much research I decided not to go that route. In the future, I'll probably install an aftermarket HID kit into my non-HID headlamps.

Best of luck to you... there's a ton of threads on here regarding Headlamps. Happy Searching.

Hando

 

I changed my headlights with the newer (chromed ones), it took me a total of an hour and 15 minutes to start and complete the job with only a multi-purpose screwdriver and a 10mm wrench. I did not go for the HID though. Having a 10mm socket on the screwdriver made the top bolt a lot easier, if you don't have a long extension for a rachet use a long screwdriver that can hold a 10mm socket. The other pain was that bottom latch type bracket where the headlight locks into the body, you have to wiggle the headlight a bit to get it free from that. If you can change a flat tire, then you can change the headlights fairly easily.

I read some posts that said it took people 4 hours to change their headlights so I was expecting a real difficult job. After the first light was in after 30 minutes (and some of this time was spent looking for the right tool) the second light was in just as fast.

The wires don't give you a lot of free play, so be careful not to yank them to hard.

The tools I suggest:
1. a 10mm wrench (open on one end and closed on the other)
2. a #2 Phillips screwdriver
3. a long nutdriver with a 10mm socket or a long screwdriver that can hold a 10mm socket (I used this on the nuts holding the sides of the headlight).

The headlight only has two nuts and two screws holding it in. The two screws are very easy to get to, the nuts are not until after you remove the plastic wheel well liner.

*I started out wearing latex gloves so my hands wouldn't get to dirty, they got ripped to shreds so just forget it and expect to get dirty. You also have to lay on the ground to remove some of the screws that hold the wheel well liner, so dress dirty when you do this job.

badams

ps. I have before and after pics if you'd like to see at: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...3&goto=newpost