is250916

iTrader: (1)

Thinking of changing out the D2S HID bulbs to LED. Anyone done this? Is it straight forward by changing out the bulbs and leaving the ballast there connected?

bc6152

A lot of our members have swapped out all interior bulbs and the trunk to LED. Some, including myself, had also swapped out the taillights on my 2013 to LED which requires a minor modification of the socket. There are multiple posts on this subject going back to 2013. If you do a search you'll find some good info. GOOD LUCK...

Clutchless

I think they are D4S bulbs, not D2S. Make sure before purchasing anything.
https://www.automotivebulbfinder.com/philips/

HID bulbs slowly get weaker over time and mileage. The headlight housings are designed to reflect HID bulbs, not the very different light pattern emitted by LED bulbs. You will have worse night vision with LED bulbs for this reason. Plus the complications of wiring them in, the ballasts, the headlight height sensing adjustment etc.
Your best bet is to just get new D2S LED bulbs, maybe even brighter ones.
But stick close to the stock color temp to see best a night. No brighter than 5000K at most. I think 4300K is better for night vision.
I recommend these bulbs, I have them on one of my vehicles.
https://www.osram.com/ecat/XENARC%20...6/ZMP_4063570/

There are others available, stick to name brands such as Osram, Philips, Sylvania etc as the cheap stuff from China can be worse than your old bulbs.

Clutchless

I found this older article about how aging HID bulbs deteriorate to be very interesting.

From Reddit:
Who makes the brightest D4S bulbs?
•5y ago•Edited 5y ago is *****-to-the-wall bright.

is supposed to be technically superior, given its +200% more beam flux claim, BUT I've tested both side-by-side, and I usually suggest that people go with the Philips. The Philips has possibly more appealing "white" color than the Osrams, and the "whiter" light plays a psychological trick: it makes us think the light is "brighter."
We got it used a few years back and I was fairly disappointed with the night time illumination. So now I’m thinking it might not be the headlight design, just ****ty bulbs.
It's not the headlamp design. HID bulbs lose lots of light output as they age, and beam focus deteriorates. After 1500 hours of operation, only 3% of standard Philips OEM type bulbs are projected to have failed. But at the same time, they'll only be putting out 75% of the original number of lumens. That's halogen bulb territory.

Lexus also generally doesn't put ****ty lamps on its cars; most, if not all, of its lamps have been exemplary.

Lots of people think their HID systems are ****ty and end up doing stuff like baking open their headlamps, spending $1000 to JB Weld some new projectors in, and stuff like that, but the reality is that there's nothing wrong with Lexus HID systems, which are some of the best on the market. What's wrong in 99% of cases is that they're using 10 year old HID bulbs that still ignite but don't put out much light (not to mention electrode deterioration, which negatively affects beam focus).

And depending on how old the ES is, it might have a HID system. If it does have an HID system, it's probably a good idea to replace its HID bulbs as well if they're a few years old. After just 250 hours of operation, lumen output is already at 90% of original, according to the chart I linked above. I personally buy new HID bulbs on a yearly basis.
I would prefer to stay with the OEM type of color and not a super blue light. But brightness is the priority over color or even bulb life here.
OEM is likely just a standard Philips bulbs. Neither the Osram Nightbreaker Laser nor the Philips XtremeVision are the ultra-blue bulbs. They will "last" a similar amount of time as OEM bulbs, but will burn brighter. But really, I wouldn't worry about how "long" a HID bulb last--they can certainly last the better part of a decade--but at that point, they're like 98 year old people: useless for just about anything.