XenonDepot's Xtreme HID 4300K Review

XenonDepot’s Xtreme HID 4300K H11 Kit Review...

The Good:
- cheap
- easy to install
- greater light output
- great color

The Bad:
- took a month for it to get here
- some of the connectors were poorly done and needed to be bent/fixed in order to plug in properly
- needed to fix the glare from “squirrel” spotters (not the product’s fault)

So over a month after ordering the product (I was informed immediately that it would be a month’s wait as they had been backordered), I received the product. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for me as I didn’t even have my Camry until a week before the Xtreme HID kit shipped out. I chose the 4300K kit for a few reasons. First, the light output is the stock color / temperature so I wouldn’t have to worry about pigs pulling me over. Second, I wanted the greatest color/light output choice. Lastly, I don’t want this car to look “rice” and wanted it to look as stock as possible.

The installation was fairly easy and self explanatory. The directions actually didn’t come with the package and I had to print them out from XenonDepot’s website (www.xenondepot.com (http://www.xenondepot.com/)). Product came via DHL Express so I got it fairly quickly and it came well packaged (see pictures). Prior to this, I have had ZERO experience when it came to “modding” a car but this was easy. The only negative thing was that some of the connector pins were not well put and I had to bend some so that the receiver would plug into them easier. On top of that, those very same connectors that needed some bending easily loosened so I had to zip-tie them together to prevent any future problem of disconnection. Aside from this nuisance, the product was installed and up and running within an hour or so without many problems.

The biggest “problem” of these HIDs was actually not really a problem that came from the product itself, but rather the Camry’s projector housing. As many people who are familiar with the Camry’s housing, there are metal flaps inside the housing that deal with “squirrel” spotters that were designed for standard halogen lights. These spotters are not needed when dealing with HID lights and needed to be fixed. So the majority of my time was spent not dealing with the HID kit but rather the projector housings from the Camry (required removing front bumper to do the fix).

All in all, I would have to say that I am fairly pleased with the product minus a few hiccups along the way. The XenonDepot Xtreme HID kit is a great quality product that I wouldn’t have much qualms about purchasing again for any other car(s) that did not have HID lighting.



NOW for the pictures (what I'm sure ALL of you have been waiting for)




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/1_dhl_box.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/2_xd_box.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/3_xd_inside_box.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/4_pieces.jpg



BEFORE HID w/Stock Halogens...




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/5_lights.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/6_lights.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/7_lights_cutoff.jpg



AFTER W/XENON DEPOT XTREME 4300K Kit




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/5a_hid_lights.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/6a_hid_lights.jpg




http://www.csupomona.edu/%7Ejinwoolee/images/xenondepot/7a_hid_lights_cutoff.jpg



Thank you guys for viewing!

nice review, i share the exact same thoughts about the xtreme kit and had the same issues with the harness being a bit off and having to play around with the pins and zip tieing them together to have a solid connection.

I think its a bit early for a review. You don't even know how long this kit is going to last.

Your headlight leveling is off. The right headlight is supposed to point higher than the left. The reason is because if you lift the left one, too then you'd blind oncoming traffic too easily.

Your headlight leveling is off. The right headlight is supposed to point higher than the left. The reason is because if you lift the left one, too then you'd blind oncoming traffic too easily.

nope. The highest point of the cut-off on both sides should be level. The midpoint between the step should be 2.1" below the headlight height at 25 feet. But your passenger side does need to be raised slightly. okay results, but....I wonder how long that kit will last...since it's xenon depot, and not ebay, I'll guess 1 year

so which route did u take on getting rid of the glare on the squirell spotters?

looking good by the way

nope. The highest point of the cut-off on both sides should be level. The midpoint between the step should be 2.1" below the headlight height at 25 feet. But your passenger side does need to be raised slightly. okay results, but....I wonder how long that kit will last...since it's xenon depot, and not ebay, I'll guess 1 year

Nobody follows the specific numbers which you suggest. If the right headlight is slightly higher, then you're OK. The reverse is not.

Who cares how long the kit lasts? At $225, it's perfectly OK to re-invest in one each year.

which way do u turn the knob to adjust the headlights? i know it says "clockwise" but is it clockwise facing the car or clockwise facing away from the car? thanks.

Nobody follows the specific numbers which you suggest. If the right headlight is slightly higher, then you're OK. The reverse is not.

Who cares how long the kit lasts? At $225, it's perfectly OK to re-invest in one each year.

^Or spend $600 for a retrofit, and it'll last you 7 or 8 years. *shrug* And then you'd probably only need to change the bulbs.. ballasts would probably still be fine.

^Or spend $600 for a retrofit, and it'll last you 7 or 8 years. *shrug* And then you'd probably only need to change the bulbs.. ballasts would probably still be fine.
First of all, for an unempoyed student, it would be very hard to give $600 for a retrofit in one shot as opposed to investing $250 each year.

Second, the whole retrofit process requires knowledge and/or time which many people wouldn't have. Also, it may require skill which people might not have. So even if it's simple to you, it may not be to others.

Third, it is irrelevant if the retrofit will last 7 or 8 years as you say because the car will be sold between its 3rd and 5th year of service.

Besides why are you so concerned with how long something lasts? As long as it's replacable, it doesn't matter how long it lasts.

And that myth about cheap kits lasting less than a year is total bull. I had a cheap kit on my old Echo. And it was used anytime the car was on because the headlights were the DRLs, too. Lasted me over a year. In fact I sold the car with the kit still working properly from day 1.

First of all, for an unempoyed student, it would be very hard to give $600 for a retrofit in one shot as opposed to investing $250 each year.

Second, the whole retrofit process requires knowledge and/or time which many people wouldn't have. Also, it may require skill which people might not have. So even if it's simple to you, it may not be to others.

Third, it is irrelevant if the retrofit will last 7 or 8 years as you say because the car will be sold between its 3rd and 5th year of service.

Besides why are you so concerned with how long something lasts? As long as it's replacable, it doesn't matter how long it lasts.

And that myth about cheap kits lasting less than a year is total bull. I had a cheap kit on my old Echo. And it was used anytime the car was on because the headlights were the DRLs, too. Lasted me over a year. In fact I sold the car with the kit still working properly from day 1.
1. Save money like all the other unemployed students do. Save money and do it big over time rather than cheaping out in the short run.

2. Before I did my retrofit, I'd never used a dremel before, and I didn't know a damn thing about proper light optics, how HIDs work, and didn't have a clue on how a retrofit is done. But I decided to take my time and read, and I found that its not as difficult as people think it is. It just requires a little bit of money, and a little bit of balls.

3. You'd be surprised how long cars AREN'T sold after a few years. I've had my car now for 5... look at all the Gen 2 and 3 owners on here... many of them are the original owners. So your statement on this is invalid.

4. It does matter how long something lasts. As a rule of thumb, longevity is also a sign of good quality. In addition, it might be replaceable, but why would you want to spend so much more money? At the rate that you're talking about, you will have spent more than double the money that you could've just spent on a retrofit, and gotten BETTER output as well.

5. Then you got lucky with your kit. Because its not a myth. Its not a certainty that all cheap kits won't make it to 1 year, but its a very high chance that it will fail before then. More often than not, cheap kits WILL fail quickly.

guys guys guys, stop shitting in my thread. if you two wanna go about bitching about retrofit and not, then go do that shit elsewhere. whitechocolate has been perfectly cordial via discussing some things privately and i am very thankful for his help, but seriously, stop fuckin arguing like bitches. thank you.

:lol: No problem... I've said all that I needed to say. :) And you're welcome. Always more than happy to answer lighting questions.

So, despite all the trouble with the harnesses and the squirrel spotters... These are still the best on the market? Was it worth the extra work? What about the legality?

I'm considering upgrading.

^Yes. Unless you can get your hands on a "XenonDepot" kit, this is probably the best kit on the market... at least so far. We'll see down the road in terms of longevity, but as of right now, yes.

So, despite all the trouble with the harnesses and the squirrel spotters... These are still the best on the market? Was it worth the extra work? What about the legality?

I'm considering upgrading.

yes i would say so. as i have stated, if i need a pnp unit, i would easily pick this up again. there isn't much extra work in terms of the hid unit, it was more of dealing with the camry's headlight housing which was the work portion, but even that didn't take very long. as to the legality, i live in southern california and it's technically illegal. however, i purchased 4300k hid lights which is the stock color for all hid so i honestly dont think a pig will pull me over for it.

yes i would say so. as i have stated, if i need a pnp unit, i would easily pick this up again. there isn't much extra work in terms of the hid unit, it was more of dealing with the camry's headlight housing which was the work portion, but even that didn't take very long. as to the legality, i live in southern california and it's technically illegal. however, i purchased 4300k hid lights which is the stock color for all hid so i honestly dont think a pig will pull me over for it.

No, you should be fine. I've had my retrofit for a year now, and even when I got pulled over last August, the cop walked around the car, even stopped for a second to look at my headlights (I totally thought I was busted haha), but then he just came back and wrote me a ticket for rolling a stop sign. Considering the Gen 6 has stock projectors which take fairly well to HIDs (as compared with halogen projectors of other cars), and seeing as how you covered the squirrel spotters in order to get rid of the glare, I don't see any reason a cop would go out of his way to stop you. It looks like its made to be like that. :)

Congrats on your kit. Hope it continues to work great for you. As white3ch0c0late mentioned, you'd have to wait at least a year to write a review. The crappy pnp kits usually don't last over a year and if they do last, they don't last very long after that.

The reason for this is that most pnp kits are of inferior quality when compared to OEM HID products. Most young guys just want HID and are not knowledgeable about HID Products so the manufacturers of pnp kits play on this fact. They cheap out on parts and testing so they can put the kits out faster and sell them for less money. I bet there are some poor guys that think that OEM HID products fail on cars just as fast as a cheap crappy pnp kit because they don't know any better. They think that after a year that a car such as a Lexus ES350 is lightless because the ballasts stop working. Yeah.....right!!!! :lol:

This is the reason I haven't bought the xd kit yet... I've never heard of the quality issues of them until I started researching them for the Camry. Is it really that common that they only last about a year? I've read that xd uses philips ballasts which are top quality. Also, even though the bulbs are rebased to fit in the stock projectors, they're pretty reliable.

1. Save money like all the other unemployed students do. Save money and do it big over time rather than cheaping out in the short run.
Nobody saves money; except maybe for retirement. Young people especially don't save - they allow themselves extra things as soon as they have extra money.

2. Before I did my retrofit, I'd never used a dremel before, and I didn't know a damn thing about proper light optics, how HIDs work, and didn't have a clue on how a retrofit is done. But I decided to take my time and read, and I found that its not as difficult as people think it is. It just requires a little bit of money, and a little bit of balls.
I am not afraid of using power tools. At our cottage, the whole garage is filled with things like a table saw, concrete mixer, Dremel, hammer drill, chainsaw, tile saw, reciprocating saw, etc. In other words, I do renovations so I am "handy" with tools. What I don't like is the cost of new headlights if I screw something up. What I also dislike is the oven part of the process (baking the lights).

3. You'd be surprised how long cars AREN'T sold after a few years. I've had my car now for 5... look at all the Gen 2 and 3 owners on here... many of them are the original owners. So your statement on this is invalid.
If some people keep their cars for 5 or 10 or X amount of years, good for them. Some do it out of love/attachment while others do it due to financial reasons. I respect their decisions, but in my family a car lasts just for a few years before we sell. Therefore, I am not concerned about the longevity of the HID kit.

4. It does matter how long something lasts. As a rule of thumb, longevity is also a sign of good quality. In addition, it might be replaceable, but why would you want to spend so much more money? At the rate that you're talking about, you will have spent more than double the money that you could've just spent on a retrofit, and gotten BETTER output as well.
Yes, longevity is usually a sign of better quality. You're right. But the other factor to consider is the initial investment amount. There are two ways to look at it: buy a better kit later, but spend less on upkeep. Or buy a kit sooner, and spend more on upkeep later. I am not in the waiting business, so I choose option 2 (as do many others). Better output? Perhaps, but not a difference which the bare human eye can detect.

5. Then you got lucky with your kit. Because its not a myth. Its not a certainty that all cheap kits won't make it to 1 year, but its a very high chance that it will fail before then. More often than not, cheap kits WILL fail quickly.
As per my answer to number 4, if a person is set on a lower initial investment, then this future "upkeep" is accounted for.

Some of my friends said their HID kit last well over a year. But when I asked how many times did you actually turn the headlight on and how long did it stay on during that 1 year?
I think it should be base on how many hours the HID kit has been used. (kinda like the jetski...they don't use milage but rather they use how many hour the engine has been use)
So don't be fool if someone said their HID kit is still work after 15 months...or their HID kit stop working after only 9 months but when asked they turn on their light as soon as they get into the car.
My point is rating how good/bad the aftermarket HID kit only by time (12 months) may not be that accurate. Just my 2 cents.

my friend bought a hid kit 3 years ago and it's still running..
no bulbs needed to be replaced and ballast never died..

All pnp kits are different. There are different brands. Some of them are not that bad. The better quality kits tend to cost more money. Also, another factor is luck. :D Some people just have better luck than others.

There are plenty of places on the Internet where people complain about failing plug n play kit. The best place to read about these things is hidplanet.com. ;) But I will say that buying OEM HID equipment greatly reduces the chance of something failing because it is built to last just as long or longer than the car. No car manufacturer wants 'failing headlights' as a complaint.

Lammydi might also be correct in assuming that hours of use might be a more accurate measurement of the life span of a kit. Either way, I'd rather buy something I know is reliable rather than buy something that may possibly stop working within a few months. (Yes, it does happen.)

Don't get me wrong.......those Xtreme HID kits could be top notch. But they must establish a reputation first by having a track record of longevity.

1. Save money like all the other unemployed students do. Save money and do it big over time rather than cheaping out in the short run.
Nobody saves money; except maybe for retirement. Young people especially don't save - they allow themselves extra things as soon as they have extra money.

2. Before I did my retrofit, I'd never used a dremel before, and I didn't know a damn thing about proper light optics, how HIDs work, and didn't have a clue on how a retrofit is done. But I decided to take my time and read, and I found that its not as difficult as people think it is. It just requires a little bit of money, and a little bit of balls.
I am not afraid of using power tools. At our cottage, the whole garage is filled with things like a table saw, concrete mixer, Dremel, hammer drill, chainsaw, tile saw, reciprocating saw, etc. In other words, I do renovations so I am "handy" with tools. What I don't like is the cost of new headlights if I screw something up. What I also dislike is the oven part of the process (baking the lights).

3. You'd be surprised how long cars AREN'T sold after a few years. I've had my car now for 5... look at all the Gen 2 and 3 owners on here... many of them are the original owners. So your statement on this is invalid.
If some people keep their cars for 5 or 10 or X amount of years, good for them. Some do it out of love/attachment while others do it due to financial reasons. I respect their decisions, but in my family a car lasts just for a few years before we sell. Therefore, I am not concerned about the longevity of the HID kit.

4. It does matter how long something lasts. As a rule of thumb, longevity is also a sign of good quality. In addition, it might be replaceable, but why would you want to spend so much more money? At the rate that you're talking about, you will have spent more than double the money that you could've just spent on a retrofit, and gotten BETTER output as well.
Yes, longevity is usually a sign of better quality. You're right. But the other factor to consider is the initial investment amount. There are two ways to look at it: buy a better kit later, but spend less on upkeep. Or buy a kit sooner, and spend more on upkeep later. I am not in the waiting business, so I choose option 2 (as do many others). Better output? Perhaps, but not a difference which the bare human eye can detect.

5. Then you got lucky with your kit. Because its not a myth. Its not a certainty that all cheap kits won't make it to 1 year, but its a very high chance that it will fail before then. More often than not, cheap kits WILL fail quickly.
As per my answer to number 4, if a person is set on a lower initial investment, then this future "upkeep" is accounted for.

As far as #1 goes, maybe I'm the exception. Because I'm 21, and I've got several retirement investments in place, and I save quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, I buy whatever the hell I want, but I make pretty intelligent purchasing decisions (in terms of cost-benefit). But eh... you're probably right for the most part. Most of my friends are broke, so yeah..

As far as #1 goes, maybe I'm the exception. Because I'm 21, and I've got several retirement investments in place, and I save quite a bit.

Try to do that when you get a woman you are seriously settling down with. They can be a handful. :lol: To a lot of women, debt for momentary pleasures (wedding, trips, etc.) is better than saving for the long haul (houses, better vehicles, etc.). Enough about my personal life..... :lol:

^:rofl: Thats why I'm in no hurry. :D

One of my XenonDepot Phillips ballasts failed today. I must have gotten a faulty unit. I contacted XenonDepot so I can use my one year warranty and get a new ballast & igniter.

Waiting for reply but I have a feeling I will be fine.

One of my XenonDepot Phillips ballasts failed today. I must have gotten a faulty unit........
If your wiring harness is fine, it is also a possibility that water got to the ballast somehow. Either way, send it back.

Yeah. The wiring harness is fine I got it tested at an electrical shop and current flows all the way through until the ballast and igniter. I am thinking some water might of gotten to the igniter somehow since the ballast location is safer than the igniter location. I will definetely move my igniter to the ballast location once I am done getting a new ballast/igniter.

I drove tonight and it sucks not having HID, everything seems so much.... DARKER!!!

One of my XenonDepot Phillips ballasts failed today. I must have gotten a faulty unit. I contacted XenonDepot so I can use my one year warranty and get a new ballast & igniter.

Waiting for reply but I have a feeling I will be fine.



Did XenonDepot honor the warranty?

Thanks!

Yeah. They did honor the warranty. It turned out that one of my igniters slipped out of its zipties and got wet during a heavy rain storm down here. I told them my igniter failed and they sent me a new one no questions asked. The Phillips ballast and bulbs were fine.

Actually a day before I got my new igniter I set my kit back up and found out that the damaged igniter was fully functional again so now I have an extra igniter sitting around the house. Happy to have my HID back.

i've had my McCulloch kit for almost 4 years :) i love them i don't know if im going to get higher K rating bulb just for looks i have 5000k bulbs i want to get 6000k or cooler blue close to 10k .. but then again its just a cam i like the whole stock look.. not too blue not too hid.. not bad i paid like 300 for them back in the day.. now they are cheap.. im never getting rid of this car .. as for the whole noob comment that whitechoc says.. the reflector.. man im too scared to rip those out hahah i might screw up..

^:lol: Thats why I picked up a set of headlamps on ebay for around $100 to work on. They were in good condition too. If I screwed up, no big deal 'cause I could still drive my car since I still had my original headlamps.