Need advice on HIDs for my 2009 Camry

[sc1]

I bought a 2009 Camry LE recently and I want to put HID lights in it, I had a few questions:

1. I read the thread about the squirell spotters, if I use the JB weld to cover the opening completely will I have no glare issues?

2. I want the same purplish (but not violet like the 12k) look the Lexus ES has, should I go with 6000k?

3. What is the best brand to order that is high quality and WONT melt my headlight housing?

4. I am not getting a retrofit, if I use the stock projectors with the squirel spotters covered, will people who observe the car driving by be able to tell by the quality/appearance of the light (not the fact that its on a camry) that the HIDs are not stock? Or is the only time you will notice that aftermarket HIDs are worse than stock is driving with them at night and not being able to see as far?

5. While non retrofitted squirell-cover-fixed HIDs arent as bright as stock or retro ones, are they at least better visibility than halogen? Or worse? (I don't have fog lights)

6. Has anyone put HIDs in their high beams? I thought this might be kind of cool since it would add a nice color to my DRLs, I was considering this instead of the low beams, your thoughts?


To anyone who takes the time to answer all these questions in an itemized fashion, thank you so much!

[workerant]

Simply put, these questions and concern has all been answered many times.

1) not completely
2) recommend 4300, 5000 for look, 6000 is for day driving only.
3) OEM & Philips & Piaa
4) no
5) imho it's same
6) yes, do the search.

[knightslugger]

Originally Posted by sc1

6. Has anyone put HIDs in their high beams? I thought this might be kind of cool since it would add a nice color to my DRLs, I was considering this instead of the low beams, your thoughts?

DRL uses PWM to power the high beams for DRL use. you will fry your ballasts in no time by using the DRL function. you can install them, but never use the DRL function. keep auto OFF.

PS: WTH is squirrel spotters?

[11LE]

They are inside the projector and are like a rectangular cutout. If you line your car up to a wall, you'll see two boxes of light on top of the cutoff. With halogen bulbs, it's faint and not a problem, but hid's make it a lot worse, so you take a piece of aluminum/etc and jb weld it to the opening to reduce almost all glare.

[sc1]

Originally Posted by 11LE

They are inside the projector and are like a rectangular cutout. If you line your car up to a wall, you'll see two boxes of light on top of the cutoff. With halogen bulbs, it's faint and not a problem, but hid's make it a lot worse, so you take a piece of aluminum/etc and jb weld it to the opening to reduce almost all glare.

Looks good, what make/model kit did you get so I can order the same? I want a 6000k that wont melt the housing and that works well with the camry. Also, if I get the 6000k kit do the ballasts work with lower temp bulbs like 5000k and 4300k if I wanted to experiment?

[11LE]

Those are 6000k's. Any bulb can go with the ballast, just make sure they're the right connector. Most of the time, they're universal. I had 5000k's in the past, they were by far my favorite. Cleanest white. These are a tad blue to me when looking at the light, but white on the road, so it's somewhat alright. Lights turn a tint yellower/whiter when shined onto black pavement/other objects at night. 5000k's looked like good halogen's on the ground, with a lot of output. Great OEM look.

Since you want a bit of color, go 6000k. Don't do 8000k, as that gets to be too blue.

I have DDM HID's. Some don't recommend them, as their company has grown exponentially and services, last time I checked, have not caught up quite yet, resulting in out of stock items that appear in stock, and less than acceptable CS as I've heard. Personally, they took care of my warranty within a week for faulty ballasts.

If you don't mind the money, spend it on a genuine phillips hid kit. Best quality you can get. The rest look to me like just rebranded ballasts of the same origin, as are the bulbs. So whatever brand you end up with, the ballasts and bulbs may only differ in sticker.. haha.

Lastly, when you mount the ballasts, stay away from mounting them near your traction control unit/abs unit, fuse box, anything electronic (except the battery). A good place to mount them is on the chassis. I will try to find pictures for you before your kit arrives so you know what I mean.

[sc1]

Originally Posted by 11LE

Those are 6000k's. Any bulb can go with the ballast, just make sure they're the right connector. Most of the time, they're universal. I had 5000k's in the past, they were by far my favorite. Cleanest white. These are a tad blue to me when looking at the light, but white on the road, so it's somewhat alright. Lights turn a tint yellower/whiter when shined onto black pavement/other objects at night. 5000k's looked like good halogen's on the ground, with a lot of output. Great OEM look.

Since you want a bit of color, go 6000k. Don't do 8000k, as that gets to be too blue.

I have DDM HID's. Some don't recommend them, as their company has grown exponentially and services, last time I checked, have not caught up quite yet, resulting in out of stock items that appear in stock, and less than acceptable CS as I've heard. Personally, they took care of my warranty within a week for faulty ballasts.

If you don't mind the money, spend it on a genuine phillips hid kit. Best quality you can get. The rest look to me like just rebranded ballasts of the same origin, as are the bulbs. So whatever brand you end up with, the ballasts and bulbs may only differ in sticker.. haha.

Lastly, when you mount the ballasts, stay away from mounting them near your traction control unit/abs unit, fuse box, anything electronic (except the battery). A good place to mount them is on the chassis. I will try to find pictures for you before your kit arrives so you know what I mean.

I think I am gonna order the DDM's from ddmtuning.com, my question since you use them on your car is, do you use the H11's in your 2011 like I would in my 2009? And did you need a relay? Or do I just need to order the bulb and the slim 35w system?

EDIT: Wow, they take 2 weeks minimum to ship since they come from China, anyone know of another good 6k brand that they could point me to the page to order that would ship sooner?

[workerant]

Originally Posted by 11LE

Since you want a bit of color, go 6000k.

I did go 6Kk. They hardly put out much light. when I go back to my 4300K, I was like what a difference.

I know most here prefer looks over function. But if you prefer function like me, than I recommend leaving the DRL alone and put HID in the Fog instead. Make sure your Fog light housing have the cover in front too. My fog light housing is a bit rectangle too to help spread the light horizontally. I think Camry OEM fog is round which will glare more.

[tengiday]

Originally Posted by sc1

I think I am gonna order the DDM's from ddmtuning.com, my question since you use them on your car is, do you use the H11's in your 2011 like I would in my 2009? And did you need a relay? Or do I just need to order the bulb and the slim 35w system?

theretrofitsource.com is a reliable site. You can buy their Morimoto 3Five ballast or a complete kit: bulbs, ballasts, and a relay harness. The bulbs should be H11 (for USA and Canada; btw, you should check with your owner manuals).

If people prefer function to look, they don't put HID in fogs.

FYI, squirrel finders/spotters are required for every headlights to illuminate road signs.

[molson.david]

most here prefer looks over function.

save some money and get retro.
you'll get both.

[tengiday]

Originally Posted by molson.david

save some money and get retro.
you'll get both.

100% agree; no kits can come close to a true retrofit.

BUT

Retrofit requires skills, while the kits are so cheap that many people put them in their cars (the kits are all PnP; no skill are required).

[11LE]

Originally Posted by sc1

I think I am gonna order the DDM's from ddmtuning.com, my question since you use them on your car is, do you use the H11's in your 2011 like I would in my 2009? And did you need a relay? Or do I just need to order the bulb and the slim 35w system?

EDIT: Wow, they take 2 weeks minimum to ship since they come from China, anyone know of another good 6k brand that they could point me to the page to order that would ship sooner?

Yep, our Camry's should be H11. Get the 35w system, 55w is too much and may be too hot. I do not run a relay.. no problems so far. But! It's always safer to run one.

[CamrySExxx]

Lexus runs 4300k ... the "purple" is the color flicker you see.

[Hennessy Hek]

Here's a lil of my opinion on this thread. I just finished installing 2 DDM 5K 55W HID's on my Camry SE. Its only 10 bucks more and the stock halogens are 55w. Im not gonna slack on my Car for 10 bucks. i paid to much to be cheap to my car. I must say i was happy with everything as far as customer service i was very happy in which they helped me out with one set. Now as far as fixin the head unit i didnt and wont. i live in a big city with big open roads and dont care much about glare cuz no one in these streets care and i aint half as bad as 40% of all cars out here. as fare as if u should get a relay harness its recommened for the 55w ballast not for the 35w. i chose to do it for the 55w just cuz it'll put a lot less stress from the OEM wires and get direct power from the battery. i mounted all ballasts on metal on the car id put up pics but i dont know how to upload them here. i used velcro and a screw to mount them. these HID's i havent had a problem with heat i had them on for like 2 hrs non stop on sunday and no heating problem. the ballasts are meant to absorb the heat of the bulbs. I'd go with DDM even if they take a lil long. mines came arrived in 10 days. from China to Miami

[Hennessy Hek]

And as far as the DRL lights im gonna order the blue halogens they sell on there site next week and try them out on the DRL. i cant stand those nasty dim lights. so i'll let u know how that one goes. i talked to the service guy from DDM today about the DRL and advised not to put HID's on the DRL. so thats why im gonna give the blue halogens a shot. they sell them for like 40 at pep boys and 15 at DDM.