HID kit or better 9005 65W bulbs ?

[fenixus]

Hello,

can someone help me with my confusion here?

I am considering some options to improve headlights (want to keep current lamps). already cleaned them with Turtle Wax Restore kit and they look much better.

Now a friend suggested I should install HIDs, but i heard it's kind of very pricey up to $400 or so... not an option really. want to keep it simple.

on the other hand HID give out 3200 lumen of light while even best 9005 bulbs can give max 1700 lumen of light (9005) vs standard 1000 lumen (9006 bulb).

correct me if wrong, basing my knowledge on a few threads, but mostly this:
CAMRY FAQ ***READ FIRST***
(search for "HID" on that page)

so,a re there any cheap&effective HID conversion options? or forget HID and upgrade bulbs only?

based on this website,
http://www.modifiedlife.com/car-repl...-toyota-camry/

2000 camry models have such combination of headlight bulbs:
Low Beam Headlamp Light Bulb Size:
9006
High Beam Headlamp Light Bulb Size:
9005

and the last issue - is this mod really worth it?

thanks for opinions.

[LynchburgCSI]

I assume youre talking about the solara, correct?

[fenixus]

yes, i meant my 2000 solara. i don't even know if it has same head lamps as 2000 camry though...

[Gibson99]

no, a 2000 solara uses H4 bulbs, which means one bulb per side. same bulb for low and high beam, so you don't have the options that a 00 camry has. note that if you do go HID, you will lose your high beam unless you opt for the more expensive bixenon (moving element to provide high beam) or the so-called dual-element HIDs which have a halogen high beam bulb next to the HID element.

i thought about putting HIDs on my 98 camry (uses same H4 bulbs as your solara) but since bixenons are so much more than plain HIDs, i decided to just get some sylvania silverstars and call it a day.

[fenixus]

ah, i see. thanks for explaining Gibson99!

so i have only 1 real option which is the most expensive one LOL. i think i will pass on this one heh.

thanks again!

EDIT:
are you saying that i can replace H4 bulbs with some Sylvania silverstar replacement ? are they really better than stock/OEM ones? this sounds like a plan ... cheap ... but always something towards lights improvement...

[fenixus]

hmmm ... getting confused again LOL ...

just found this:
http://www.yourstoreonline.net/%28S%...+99-01+MimoUSA

so, actually installing HID bulbs on 99-01 Solara is that simple as replacing them ? why those bulbs are so cheap ($21)?

on the other hand i found this HID kit for same car and it calls $129...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-H...41910007r10412

or this for $116
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

excuse my lack of knowledge, why this kit come with "digital ballast" ? what is it for? why there is 2 ways of doing it, with double bulbs or with ballast? do we have any HID guide so i can do some homework on this subject? thanks!

[Gibson99]

before i say anything, search is your friend.

those $20 blue bulbs are NOT real HID bulbs and do not produce the lumens of a true HID system. they just look blue kinda like a 6k or 8k HID kit.

imho silverstars are better than stock, but not as good as real HIDs. the SS's have whiter light output than the stock stuff. replace just one and it will make the stock one look yellow by comparison. it doesn't give the blue HID look but that's fine by me - i hate the blue look. i was going to get 4300k HIDs till i saw how much they were. granted, they've come down significantly in price in the last few years thanks to supply and demand, but they're still up there.

i just have the regular silverstars. right now a 2 pack is like $35 or 40. the silverstar ultras (orange pack) weren't out yet when i got my silverstars several years ago.

btw - real HIDs will always have a ballast. that's because it needs to convert your car's standard 12-14v power source up to something like 20,000 volts to operate the HIDs.

[abew330]

Originally Posted by fenixus

http://www.yourstoreonline.net/%28S%...+99-01+MimoUSA

this is just for bulbs... standard bulbs not hid

Originally Posted by fenixus

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-H4-9003-8000K-BiXenon-Conversion-Kit-Solara-99-01_W0QQitemZ230395515104QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091 104?IMSfp=TL0911041910007r10412

this is actual kit aftermarket..

i think in the for sale section here there is a supplier Modexpress that sells a kit

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by abew330

this is just for bulbs... standard bulbs not hid



this is actual kit aftermarket..

i think in the for sale section here there is a supplier Modexpress that sells a kit

mod express is a great place to get them from. I have their HID kit....great stuff.

should be about $106 before shipping w/ a 1 year warranty
http://www.mod-express.com/ProductDe...tCode=ME-K5011

[fenixus]

thanks guys, now i seem to finally understand what's HID lights are about

will do some more digging on available HID colors, need to discuss it with wifey blah blah blah and maybe I will do the conversion sometime soon or not hehe.

Gibson, trust me i know what search is for. thing is that sometimes one post of knowledgeable person explain more in a minute than whole day of digging through google and forum search engines especially when net is full of marketing BIAS and almost none expert or technical info.

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by fenixus

...will do some more digging on available HID colors...

3000k = "JDM" yellow
4300k = OEM White with slight blue tones... this is what color you see on BMWs from the factory ad what I have on my camry.
6000k = Noticeably blue
8000k = Deep intense blue
10000k = Deep blue with slight purple tones.
12000k = Intense Purple

note that as the kelvin rating gets higher, the less usable light output you have. 4300k is the best for light output.

[fenixus]

thank you sir!

i was also able to find picture representation of those colors.
http://www.manyadeal.com/page.html?id=24

since i'm aiming at pure white light, i only consider 2 options, either 4300K or 6000K. the latter one seems to have blueish tint which i don't mind much, however i hate yellow lights. i read that 4300K *may* be a bit yelowish, so leaning towards 6000K currently.

also it seems that 4300K offer most intensity (lumens) while the higher Kelvin temperature/color gets, the lower brightness (lumen) is.

LynchburgCSI, are you seeing any yelowish tint with your 4300K's? or rather tiny bit of cold white or even blue?
are prices same for all colors? or brightest are most expensive vs cheapest purple 12000K

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by fenixus

thank you sir!

i was also able to find picture representation of those colors.
http://www.manyadeal.com/page.html?id=24

since i'm aiming at pure white light, i only consider 2 options, either 4300K or 6000K. the latter one seems to have blueish tint which i don't mind much, however i hate yellow lights. i read that 4300K *may* be a bit yelowish, so leaning towards 6000K currently.

also it seems that 4300K offer most intensity (lumens) while the higher Kelvin temperature/color gets, the lower brightness (lumen) is.

LynchburgCSI, are you seeing any yelowish tint with your 4300K's? or rather tiny bit of cold white or even blue?
are prices same for all colors? or brightest are most expensive vs cheapest purple 12000K

correct on the inverse relationship b/t kelvin and lumens.

4300k is a very cool white...slight blue tones. No yellow. I can track down pics if you'd like. IMO, 6000K has too much blue. But to each their own.

Most of the time the prices for colors are the same except with the extremes... ie- 3000k and 12000k.

[TMetalMan]

I use the Mod Express H4 bixenon 6000k kit and have been for well over a year now. Something like a month or two after I installed everything a ballast went bad, but thankfully Mod Express is pretty local and has great service so a replacement only took a few days to arrive. Been running the ballasts and relay harness ever since I got the kit, including with bixenon projectors.

Unfortunately an accident destroyed one of the retrofitted headlights, so I went to my backup pair (OEM) with the bixenon HID bulbs and all was fine . Currently I'm finishing up another retrofit (same projectors as before, e46) and will continue using the ballasts/relay harness.

So, buy from a company with good service! Mod Express has proven to many members here such as myself that they are a great source for HID components.

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by TMetalMan

So, buy from a company with good service! Mod Express has proven to many members here such as myself that they are a great source for HID components.

+1 for mod express.