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Hello,
I am considering converting my halogen low beam and High beam lights with LED’s. Since I’m in Canada I will be getting the high beam bulb with the capcator to have the DrL work as well.
my question/concern, which maybe irrational, is the distance between the back of the headlight assembly to the plastic container for the windshield wiper fluid.
The LED’s all have the heat dissipated material at the end of the bulbs. My concern is possibly melting/damaging the windshield fluid container.
Make sure you do your homework with the LED's as DRL, Xeonondepot's plug'n'play units work with their bulbs. Certain LED's won't run as DRL as there isn't the tech to run them the way that the PWM regulates the halogen bulbs. Toyota runs their electrical systems ground switched with modulating amperage, the aftermarket isn't at the point of having a substantial solution for running all LED's as drls. If you are worried about clearance/heat issues, you can always apply some type of heat shielding to the washer fluid container.
You're best bet would be to throw in a set of Diode Dynamics SL1 in the low beam and a Philips 9011 into the high beam, the 9011 is rated at 2300 lumes and the wiring will be able to handle the extra wattage.
But if you want the best lighting you can get, the RX350 Bi-Xenon is a direct bolt in retrofit. When paired with Denso D2S ballasts and D2S Osram Night Breaker Lasers, you'll have more usable legal light than you could ever imagine.
@lexusrus: thank you very much for the info. Yes, my low beams give off a yellow hue so I feel very confident they are halogen lights. Is there a link I can hit to see your LED pics?
There are some CL members who are very proud of their EXPENSIVE HID and LED "PROFESSIONAL CONVERSIONS" that cost upwards of thousands of dollars. I just think it is silly to spend that kind of money on a "few/several years old vehicle" (unless it's a one if a kind custom builds).
I would recommend that after you do the install, find a road without much traffic at night and test it. Have someone drive the vehicle towards you with the new install and see if the new install blinds you or not. If it blinds you, then you may have the "wrong reflector light housing" not compatible with the LEDs you installed. Or you may need to re-aim you headlights (don't recommend doing this unless you know what you are doing). I did not have to re-aim or adjust any of the headlights on any of our vehicles.
I like ordering via Amazon bc they have a no questions asked 30 days return policy. If it did not fit or worked for me.......it just DID NOT.
@lexusrus: thank you very much for the info. Yes, my low beams give off a yellow hue so I feel very confident they are halogen lights. Is there a link I can hit to see your LED pics?
Turn your steering wheel to extreme left to do right side fog......remove the clips carefully of the wheel black plastic liner inside the wheel well. Use a bright skinny LED flashlight to iluminate the dark areas inside the wheel well. And carefully peel back the black plastic liner and carefully reach in to gain access to the fog bulb. Wear long sleeves and/or wrap some towels around your arm while reaching in so you don't get your skin scraped /cut up. The fog bulb should just screw counter clockwise and pull straight out. Then press the tab at the wire connection harness to disengage it. Reverse the process to put in the LED bulb. Take great care not to get any grease or dirt/debris on the new LED "chip lighting array" (same with the old OEM halogen bulbs) otherwise it will overheat and burn out prematurely. To make sure, I always wipe with alcohol wipes and allow few minutes to dry before connecting to power to light up. Then I reverse the process and put the clips back on the wheel liner.
Do the same for the other side, except you will need to turn the steering wheel the opposite direction.
Any questions, let me know.
Originally Posted by Gladeiator
lexusrus : thanks again. Did you have to take off the bumper in your RX 450h to replace your fogs?
Turn your steering wheel to extreme left to do right side fog......remove the clips carefully of the wheel black plastic liner inside the wheel well. Use a bright skinny LED flashlight to iluminate the dark areas inside the wheel well. And carefully peel back the black plastic liner and carefully reach in to gain access to the fog bulb. Wear long sleeves and/or wrap some towels around your arm while reaching in so you don't get your skin scraped /cut up. The fog bulb should just screw counter clockwise and pull straight out. Then press the tab at the wire connection harness to disengage it. Reverse the process to put in the LED bulb. Take great care not to get any grease or dirt/debris on the new LED "chip lighting array" (same with the old OEM halogen bulbs) otherwise it will overheat and burn out prematurely. To make sure, I always wipe with alcohol wipes and allow few minutes to dry before connecting to power to light up. Then I reverse the process and put the clips back on the wheel liner.
Do the same for the other side, except you will need to turn the steering wheel the opposite direction.
Any questions, let me know.
Thanks. I am not replacing the fogs on my 2015 RX350 but the low beams. I hope that if you didn't have to do it with fogs on your vehicle I won't have to do that on mine with low beams. My research produces contradictory info on whether you have to remove the front bumper to replace lights. And, thanks to your info, I now know I have a projector housing for my lows as my halogen high beams are reflector housings looking at the photos you posted, so another potential issue defused. But, we'll see.
For the low beams, you can access it from the top side with the hood open.
Again, no need to remove the front bumper which on an RX450h (I have an F Sport appearance package optional front bumper). Front bumper removal on an RX is a lot more complicated. If you break one of the plastic tabs (which maybe brittle), then the front bumper will not hang back up in place without leaving a gap. Then you will need a whole replacement bumper (unless you can recreate the tab via some plastic welding which can be done by the pros)
Good luck.
Originally Posted by Gladeiator
Thanks. I am not replacing the fogs on my 2015 RX350 but the low beams. I hope that if you didn't have to do it with fogs on your vehicle I won't have to do that on mine with low beams. My research produces contradictory info on whether you have to remove the front bumper to replace lights. And, thanks to your info, I now know I have a projector housing for my lows as my halogen high beams are reflector housings looking at the photos you posted, so another potential issue defused. But, we'll see.
So, since the LED bulbs do not work very well in projector type headlights, which HID kit do you recommend to upgrade my halogen low-beams?
The forum sponsor Diode Direct have a good option, an H11 HID 35W kit for $150, did anyone try it? Is it much better than converting to H9 halogen bulb for $10?
I cannot comment on HID kits but I converted my Lexus HS250h low beams from H11 to H9 using the Bulb Zilla conversion harness and they greatly improved night vision. I use Philips bulbs from Amazon which are under $10 each. They last a year or so (driving around 12,000 miles a year commuting) and I always keep extra bulbs around. A small price for greatly improved night vision and safety.
I cannot comment on HID kits but I converted my Lexus HS250h low beams from H11 to H9 using the Bulb Zilla conversion harness and they greatly improved night vision. I use Philips bulbs from Amazon which are under $10 each. They last a year or so (driving around 12,000 miles a year commuting) and I always keep extra bulbs around. A small price for greatly improved night vision and safety.
Thanks for this suggestion, I'll look into H9 conversion, it's cheap tp try.
There HID kit install is a lot of work, and our halogen projectors need to be modified a little to fix the "squirrel finder" problem. Maybe too much hassle...
Do some Google searching for instructions on how to trim the base of the H9 bulb so it fits into the H11 socket. It only takes about a minute to make the modification which involves trimming a bit off a metal tab on the bulb base with wire snips.
This link shows the metal tab to trim so it fits into the headlight lens mount. If you get the Bulbzilla harness there is no need to trim the plastic base as shown in the lower photo.
I converted my factory H11 halogens to H9 halogens, The total cost was $20, I got 2 bulbs and 2 plug converters.
To trim the metal tab I used lineman's pliers, I grabbed the part of the tab that needs to go, and twisted it back and forth a few times. The material fatigue caused it to brake off easy.
The H9 bulbs are significantly brighter, a couple of oncoming drivers flashed their lights at me the first night, so I adjusted my headlight's down, very little, about 2 degrees.
After driving for a couple of weeks with the H9 bulbs, I think this is all I need.
Try 700% brighter bulbs, and maybe adjust headlights up. You'll be happy.
Originally Posted by sz8
I recently drive my 2013 RX350 quite often in the night. So, I figured that enhancing the headlight with LED bulbs can be a good idea. However, I tried two sets of LED bulbs from amazon (one from Hikari ~$90, one from JDM ~$60) for the lower beam lights (H11). The results are disappointing: 1. the LED lights are not noticeably brighter than the stock halogen bulbs . 2. The shape of the tip of LED bulbs projected a shaded area in from of the car.
The reviews of both bulbs seem to be very good. Considering most of recent year cars use the projector headlight for lower beam, which is the same as my RX350. I don't understand why my results are so different.
Has anyone tried the LED conversion for lower beam headlight? What is your experience? Thanks.
Try the 700% brighter bulbs. Sometimes you have to adjust your headlights up also.
12-27-18, 07:39 PM
