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Best PnP HID Kit

  • XenotDepot

    Votes: 14 29.2%
  • Morimoto

    Votes: 24 50.0%
  • DDMTuning

    Votes: 10 20.8%

XenonDepot vs. Morimoto vs. DDMTunning

46K views 40 replies 21 participants last post by  Zmon 
#1 ·
Im looking for a PnP HID kit but not sure which one to get. I know the best thing to do would be to do a projector retrofit but I cant spend that much cash on a retrofit at the moment. I wanna get 4300k -4500k for max useable light. Definitely with a relay harness to avoid issues. I know DDM is ALOT less then xenondepot and morimoto but I would like hear opinions from those who have these kits. THNX
 
#2 ·
I have xenonsupply 6k on my corolla. Paid $80 and got two bulbs, two ballasts, and a relay harness. My car is PnP but the relay makes it so much better and no flickering. I installed xenonsupply hid's on my cousins camry as well and he couldnt be happier.


Also like you, mine are not retrofitted just the reflectors.
 
#4 ·
I've had HID bulbs from DDM and it is brighter but vibrates a lot when driving, then I switch to XenonDepot's bulb and didn't have that vibration problem, brightness is almost the same.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I've had all 3. IMO the best of the 3 would have to be Morimoto, bulbs are great and I love the quality of their ballasts. XenonDepot can deserves an honorable 2nd place, their stuff is of similar quality to Morimoto (or greater, not sure how their stuff is as of late). DDM, eh... deserves 3rd, not a fan of their retarded bulb color choices. None of them are really that bad though, I've got 3 year old DDM ballasts still chugging along, 2 year old DDM bulbs still working fine.

If you want to go cheap and pay less than $70, go with DDM. You'll be paying at least $150 for a Morimoto kit, not entirely sure what XenonDepots kits are going for nowadays but I know they are at least 100+.
 
#7 · (Edited)
No my bulbs are all tight but I think the inside of the bulbs is vibrating, cause I can see my beam vibrates on the road but not on my new bulbs. I think XD is the best for the money, I got 50% off too. :D

Oh and I had fitment issue with DDM bulbs too and I had to use the OEM rubber rings to make it fit. But XD is good.
 
#12 · (Edited)
well my wallet can only afford XenonDepot, so yea it's good for me. :D I even bought the cheaper Philips bulbs, not the higher end one, but it works good. My ballasts are from some unknown company but it's been going strong for over 2 yrs now, on 2 cars too! :D
 
#32 ·
Lol the first set of HIDs I have ever bought were XenonDepots,
yes they were good and really cheap too.
Best bang for buck? idk :rofl2:

For aftermarket, I choose Morimoto. The problems with aftermarket ballasts are 1) they don't put out close to 35W, which is not as bright as OEM ballasts do (not much different, but there is) 2) they don't warm up as fast as OEM ballasts. I'm using Denso ballasts and Philips 85122: no dim when turning headlights on. I will buy Osram 66240 SVS or Osram 66240 CBI when my current bulbs get aged.
It costs around $200 (including everything) to retrofit and is not expensive, IMO. I see people changing suspensions, rims, brakes, performance... which are well over $200 and wonder how come they can't spend $200 to have good lighting. Instead, they choose pnp to make their cars look cheap.
ouch. maybe some people spent too much on the rims, brakes, exhaust, suspension, intake, and ran out of money at the end for $200 Morimotos lol.

True that Morimoto makes some niiiice top of the line HID kits and retrofits, etc, but they do run a little expensive, imo. this is coming from the guy that almost spent 10x that on his rims :pat: alone.

but IF they cost too much, I'd go with XenonDepot or DDM, which are, arguably, the next best. I recently got a retrofit and decided to just get $30 HID kit, for that price, I got 2 sets, just in case. (could not re-use my old DDM 55w H11s, had to get new 35w H1s).

the only bad part is that a couple of times, 1 doesnt turn on, maybe once or twice a month. so I just turn it off, then on again. but I saved $140 and I'm ok with that.

this is the only set of DDMs that I had a problem with. the 55w H11 kit I had before had 0 problems.
 
#13 · (Edited)
For aftermarket, I choose Morimoto. The problems with aftermarket ballasts are 1) they don't put out close to 35W, which is not as bright as OEM ballasts do (not much different, but there is) 2) they don't warm up as fast as OEM ballasts. I'm using Denso ballasts and Philips 85122: no dim when turning headlights on. I will buy Osram 66240 SVS or Osram 66240 CBI when my current bulbs get aged.
It costs around $200 (including everything) to retrofit and is not expensive, IMO. I see people changing suspensions, rims, brakes, performance... which are well over $200 and wonder how come they can't spend $200 to have good lighting. Instead, they choose pnp to make their cars look cheap.
 
#18 ·
I currently have DDM ballasts with morimoto 5000k bulbs and i couldnt ask for a better result without going thru the retrofit route.

no lights:


with lights:


the light looks more blue than it really is.... these are identical to stock HIDs
 
#21 ·
Upgrading to 50W ballasts will not necessarily translate into more useable light output as often time 50W kits end up producing less of an even light spread. I would suggest looking at rebased H11 4300k Philips HID bulbs if you wanted to try and get more useable light output. These are Philips 85122 D2S bulbs that are rated at 3200 lumens.

We recently had a customer install an Xtreme 6500k HID kit in his 2012 Camry and he decided to switch the bulbs to the Philips 4300k bulbs. While he like the look of of the 6500k bulbs he did end up preferring the 4300k set up. If interested in reading, you can find the full review here:

http://www.hidkitsblog.com/2012/05/...r-plus-review-for-a-2012-toyota-camry-hybrid/

He also installed Osram Night Breaker Plus bulbs in his high beams to try and maximize high beam light output as well.

Steve
 
#23 · (Edited)
I've heard great things about xenondepot's quality and customer service - plus they're a toyotanation supporting vendor.

But, I have only used morimoto and a vleds kit (which they no longer sell. It was a piece of junk, and likely a rebadged something or another from china). The Mormoto's are excellent. Definitely close to oem reliability and quality.


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app
 
#31 ·
I have Xenon Depot Ballasts and they are great and have had no problems wth them for 2 years. But I have an MDX Retrofit so my H11 Wire Harness bulbs etc are from Matt at the TRS. But when I bought my Xenon Depot Matt, did not have the Morimoto brand at the time. But I have to say my ballasts have held up very nicely and are digital and waterproof.

Glenn
 
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