I have a set of BMW e36 headlights I was going to use on my Tercel. I often debated putting them in the Camry. It would give it a different look, and they would fit real easy. They would need a little filler strip around them along the top.

But for your original question about improving the quality, I think these lights are the same vintage of optics.

One thing I noticed really helps is running the Sylvania Silverstar head lights. These by far are the best out there is my opinion. I've tried the Hella and they are much more yellow. The silverstars even have a white/blue tint when the head lights are off and another car is pulled in front of it with the light from its headlight reflecting out of them. They are very white and very bright and clear. I think they are about the best you would get out of what you have to work with as far as the optics of the stock headlight go.

 

One thing I noticed really helps is running the Sylvania Silverstar head lights. These by far are the best out there is my opinion. I've tried the Hella and they are much more yellow. The silverstars even have a white/blue tint when the head lights are off and another car is pulled in front of it with the light from its headlight reflecting out of them. They are very white and very bright and clear.

They are LESS white than those lights you call "yellow", because they have a blue tint on the bulb that subtracts yellow light. Subtracting the yellow light produces a gap in the emitted spectrum (hence making the light less white because it is missing a component), and, of course, is subtracting light in general.

 

ive also wondered this question but haven't found a very good solution. after a long winter in Idaho/Washington with lots of snow, cleaning off the front of the headlight housing helped a bit. i wish there was a way to get a more clear/cleaner plastic cover on our headlight housing...
if you do find a great bulb which seems to work better, please post back!

 

First, make sure your headlights are adjusted to point down the road where you need them. You can adjust the gen2 headlights up/down and left/right to make it the best possible.

Try the Silverstars if you haven't already. They are noticably better, but may not make as much difference as you want.

You can also get an upgraded harness for the headlights. Make sure you have good power and ground connections if you do that.

You can also consider a set of additional fog/driving lights with a good sharp cutoff for better road illumination.

Sadly, the lens design makes any other changes unsafe (HIDs) or ineffective (projectors behind the glass).

-Charlie

 

what about buying an HID kit with xenon as the low beam setting and Halogen bulbs as the high beam setting. Would the light pattern come out normally with the High beams on? (Halogen bulb on, rather than xenon bulb)

 

I would be more concerned with the quality of the pattern with just the low beam on. An HID capsule has the wrong shape of light source and causes significant glare when used in a 9004 housing. Just don't do it if you care about others on the road.

-Charlie

 

but i mean driving normally with the high beams on (halogen) and then using the low beams (HID) for show purposes, like at meets etc.
This way, normal driving will be like having the regular lights and i can still have the option for HID when im around people.

 

Be sure to polish the headlight exteriors too. You would be surprised how foggy they don't seem until you clean them with something like meguiar's polishing kit. We did this to my camry wagon, my kia and took it out to the rest of my families cars and it did wonders.

A good set of bright bulbs and then the installation of some fog lights will do good as well.

 

if you are willing to modify the headlight surrounding. you could try for 92 honda accord headlights

 

I have 6000K HID kit with the Xenon and Low Beams. They don't really glare that much and they are projected to the ground so that they do not kill peoples eyes. It's not that blinding and it really helps me to see. I could not see anything before and I had tried different bulbs. With the halogens on I can see as well they are a nice regular yellow so you can see the road.

 

I tried to used the so called birghter bulbs but did not see too great of an imporvement and I do alot of early morning driving and would like the upgrade if its possible.

Many bulbs claim to be upgrades for the 9004 but few really are. I recommend the GE Nighthawk Platinum (not the "Sport").

You may need to install a set of relays to ensure the bulbs get the full voltage they need, and of course the lights need to be aimed properly.

Make sure the lenses are clean and clear, as well.

Do not install an "HID kit" in this headlamp assembly. It's unsafe, ineffective, and illegal.

 

I too was wondering about brighter lights. Don't get me wrong, they are sufficient, but when i'm driving at the speeds i do, i like to have something that can show a little brighter.

i had thought merely upgrading to some 90/100watt bulbs would've done the trick.

Would doing that cause an aray of problems ? Namely, blowing fuses or burning up wires ? I had a bad experience with a swift i had when i upgraded the wattage on the bulbs and ended up having to install a relay.

 

i had thought merely upgrading to some 90/100watt bulbs would've done the trick.

Would doing that cause an aray of problems ? Namely, blowing fuses or burning up wires ? I had a bad experience with a swift i had when i upgraded the wattage on the bulbs and ended up having to install a relay.

They'd have done the headlight assembly in, caused some melty goodness and all. They can also cause legal problems.

A lot of the overwattage bulbs have sloppy filament placement and can mess up the focus of the bulb. The Nighthawk Platinums (again, not "Sport") provide much better filament control and higher filament luminance. Installing relays on almost any car results in an improvement.

The change in light output is exponential to the power 3.4.
Using a hypothetical bulb rated at 1000 lumens (low beam) at 12.8V
10.5V : 510 lumens
11.0V : 597 lumens
11.5V : 695 lumens
12.0V : 803 lumens
12.5V : 923 lumens
12.8V : 1000 lumens ←Rated output voltage
13.0V : 1054 lumens
13.5V : 1198 lumens
14.0V : 1356 lumens ←Rated life voltage
14.5V : 1528 lumens ←dramatically shortened life

High beam at 1350 lumens
10.5V : 688 lumens
11.0V : 806 lumens
11.5V : 938 lumens
12.0V : 1084 lumens
12.5V : 1245 lumens
12.8V : 1350 lumens ←Rated output voltage
13.0V : 1423 lumens
13.5V : 1618 lumens
14.0V : 1831 lumens ←Rated life voltage
14.5V : 2063 lumens ←Dramatically shortened life

 

My plans to upgrade lighting include either high temp plastic replacement or clear glass replacements. The latter probably ain't gonna be cheap. With custom retrofits. Lastly some hid foglights.

 

HID foglights? :facepalm:

It seems that very few people know what foglights are for...

 

U can facepalm all u want. I do know what fog lights are for. And how they function. But as this isn't ur car nor do we really ever get fog down here I'm going to get them hid to aesthetically match the headlights.

 

U can facepalm all u want.

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

 

Welcome to the internet where u must respond even if you've already been told your input isn't needed. As I said facepalm all u want. If I cared what other drivers thought or about other people's opinions in general I wouldn't be driving an old school turbo camry. I guess the best thing to come out of oklahoma was foglight advice.lol

 

As I said facepalm all u want.

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:


Sorry I just couldn't help myself!

 

how bout HID Driving lights then....would that be clearer for you?
Bashing other peoples ideas isnt any help whatsoever.
Let em do what they want to their cars. i think most people are aware of the possible consequences and relaxness of the law around them.

just my 2cents

 

how bout HID Driving lights then....would that be clearer for you?
Bashing other peoples ideas isnt any help whatsoever.

Just to make things clearer for you:
Driving lights (auxiliary high beam lights) are not fog lights. Driving lights are designed to be used only in conjunction with high beams, never with low beams, never in fog conditions, and never in traffic. They are for high-speed driving (although they could be used at low speeds, again, without other traffic in front of the car); fog lights are for low-speed driving only.

Supporting other people's mistaken and dangerous ideas is even less of a help. (And to be less-than-zero is to be a negative value; negative help, then, would be a hindrance or detriment.)

If he is really talking about auxiliary high beam lights, and he is using them in the correct conditions, by all means they can match the color temperature of his high beam lights (although particularly high color temperatures worsen your ability to see). But fog lights work best with low color temperatures, and particularly well with selective yellow. This is not due to "lack of scattering"; it's due to the fact that yellow light produces less irritation glare.

Let em do what they want to their cars. i think most people are aware of the possible consequences and relaxness of the law around them.

just my 2cents

People should not be able to do what they want to their cars when it produces a safety hazard. Just because enforcement of a law is haphazard does not mean the law should be violated.

 

WANGAN!!! dude you got PM!!

down here in florida it doesn't seem to matter much about HIDs in the fogs they don't even check the alignment of the headlights :lol:

do es250 headlights work any better?

 

Weird, I always thought the headlights on my old 1988 Camry were really good.

My Avalon, however, is probably just ever so slightly better than using two candles to light up the roads with. :thumbsdow

 

I can only speak for California law...

Here, you are allowed to have a second pair of auxiliary lights on with the low beams no matter what the visibility/weather conditions are. On the other hand, you are not allowed to have any extra lights on with the high-beams on.

It is also important to note that most aftermarket "fog lights" don't work well as fog beams and work much better as auxiliary low beam lights (more lighting around tight corners and filling in near-field vision around town).

I agree with the theory of fog lights and what some of you guys are saying, but if 'fog lights' are aimed correctly, they are not a bother to other drivers in normal situations. And besides - most stock fog lights (at least on Japanese cars) cannot be turned on without the low beams, negating their usefulness in poor visibility times (I can't tell you how many times this has annoyed me in fog and snow driving...).

-Charlie

PS. Of course, both of my cars have RHD headlights currently installed (modified as best possible to illuminated decently for LHD driving), so you can ignore my opinion at will.

 

I can only speak for California law...

Here, you are allowed to have a second pair of auxiliary lights on with the low beams no matter what the visibility/weather conditions are. On the other hand, you are not allowed to have any extra lights on with the high-beams on.

Wrong.

Auxiliary Driving and Passing Lamps
24402. (a) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary driving lamps mounted on the front at a height of not less than 16 inches nor more than 42 inches. Driving lamps are lamps designed for supplementing the upper beam from headlamps and may not be lighted with the lower beam.
(b) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary passing lamps mounted on the front at a height of not less than 24 inches nor more than 42 inches. Passing lamps are lamps designed for supplementing the lower beam from headlamps and may also be lighted with the upper beam.

PS. Of course, both of my cars have RHD headlights currently installed (modified as best possible to illuminated decently for LHD driving), so you can ignore my opinion at will.

No such thing as lights for LHD or RHD driving. The lights are designed for LHT or RHT driving. The lights are not set up respective for the driver's position in the car (left hand drive or right hand drive), rather they are set up respective to the vehicle's position on the road (left hand traffic or right hand traffic). Using lights designed for LHT on a car driven primarily in a jurisdiction that uses RHT is foolish and dangerous. Any adjustments you attempt to make to reduce the glare for oncoming traffic only worsen your own view of the road. What you gain in reducing their glare is minimal, the loss in your own vision is still quite high. Cut that out and install a set of headlights designed for RHT.

 

I put HIDs on mines and it was one of, if not, the best investments I have spent--just turned my headlights down and it helps with the glare. I think having poor, asstastic visibility from the stock headlights would be more of a danger to other drivers around me.

 

on my Camry im running fog lights with my headlights
on my lifted K5 Blazer, i have headlights and driving lights..when the high beams come on, 2 more driving lights come on...thats 8 lights on (6 55W and 2 65W)

in PA it doesnt matter what you have on

 

@ Wangan:

Although i believe you can do what you wanna do; I have to say, foggies aren't just for fog, they come in equally handy in very rainy conditions.

Just my 2 cents

 

Christ this Oklahoma Guy is annoying. It's not even worth talking to this minivan owner whose probably afraid of doing anything worthwhile to your ride because it breaks laws. But I digress, for what its worth Guy I'm matching my fogs to headlights because I want to. Not because it makes me cooler. What failure at life does shit to be cool. I'm building this for me if you wanna walk around with the dmv rules and regs stuck up ur ass go for it. I'll be busy driving past the cops in my illegally modified car with a huge grin and if I get tickets so be it, its the cost of admission in this game.lol

 

Christ this Oklahoma Guy is annoying. It's not even worth talking to this minivan owner whose probably afraid of doing anything worthwhile to your ride because it breaks laws. But I digress, for what its worth Guy I'm matching my fogs to headlights because I want to. Not because it makes me cooler. What failure at life does shit to be cool. I'm building this for me if you wanna walk around with the dmv rules and regs stuck up ur ass go for it.

I may be annoying, but I'm also right. (Contrast that to, say, a certain California guy that said he could speak for California law, but spoke incorrectly. This same California guy also thinks that headlights are designed differently for LHD and RHD cars, when it's actually based on RHT or LHT.) I'll take "correct" over "wrong" any day.

As far as the Previa, I consider it a sort of sports car, what with it being a mid-engine, supercharged, all wheel drive vehicle... (Ok, so it's not really a "sports car".)

There are plenty of worthwhile modifications that don't break laws. Your modification breaks laws and isn't worthwhile (again, as fog lights are for fog and low speeds), as all you get is the lights matching. Whoop-ti-do. I'll take a well-performing lighting system using colors and color temperatures known to provide the best performance with minimal irritation glare (for myself and for other drivers).

I'll be busy driving past the cops in my illegally modified car with a huge grin and if I get tickets so be it, its the cost of admission in this game.lol

You'll be lucky if tickets aren't the only cost. Hope you don't get yourself or anyone else killed by playing this "game".

 

AlaricD, do you own a 2nd gen camry?

if you do, i'm sure you can appreciate the poor quality of lighting our stock headlight system provides. i personally find them extremely dim compared to soo many other cars on the road (given our car is roughly 20 yrs old now) and it feels very dangerous. i also think many other 2nd gen camry owners agree to different degrees with our comparatively under lit stock headlight system.

if you don't own a 2nd gen camry, perhaps you've had the chance to drive on dark roads without street lamps in a 2nd gen camry and appreciate the poor lighting the stock headlight system provides.

i am very open to hearing what other owners of my same built vehicle have found to help resolve this issue. just because one person chooses to break their local law (noticed a people posting from all different US states and even Jamaica in this thread), doesnt mean we will all follow. i appreciate him sharing his experience and opinion. i would also appreciate you sharing your experience and opinion with different approaches in dealing with our stock headlight system in the 2nd gen camry...hence the topic of this thread.

 

AlaricD, do you own a 2nd gen camry?

if you do, i'm sure you can appreciate the poor quality of lighting our stock headlight system provides. i personally find them extremely dim compared to soo many other cars on the road (given our car is roughly 20 yrs old now) and it feels very dangerous. i also think many other 2nd gen camry owners agree to different degrees with our comparatively under lit stock headlight system.

No, but I don't need to-- I know it uses the 9004, which is a horrible joke perpetrated on the American driving public by the Ford Motor Company. All it gives is a long service life. Headlights based on the 9004 need to be very large to approximate working well, and even then you don't get very good beam focus. (Yet they can be made to conform to FMVSS108!) (However, while BAD headlights can conform to FMVSS108, there are no GOOD headlights that do NOT conform to FMVSS108, unless they instead conform to ECE regulations.)

I also have a friend with an '89 Camry, and, yes, my subjective opinion is that the headlights just don't cut it. The headlamps are WIDE, but not very tall, and the transverse filament would benefit from a taller headlamp assembly. Also, I think his car is an excellent candidate for relays.

There are (legal) upgrades available in the form of the

GE Nighthawk Platinum or the Philips Vision Plus 9004VP. Avoid bulbs with blue tint or promising higher color temperatures or "whiter" light. A large portion of a halogen filament's output is in the yellows; filtering them out just filters out light.

i am very open to hearing what other owners of my same built vehicle have found to help resolve this issue. just because one person chooses to break their local law (noticed a people posting from all different US states and even Jamaica in this thread), doesnt mean we will all follow. i appreciate him sharing his experience and opinion. i would also appreciate you sharing your experience and opinion with different approaches in dealing with our stock headlight system in the 2nd gen camry...hence the topic of this thread.

I forget if the lenses are glass or plastic; if plastic, polishing and recoating the lenses could make a world of difference. Doublehorn Products makes an excellent kit for that purpose.

Also, installing a set of high quality relays will ensure the bulbs get every volt they're entitled to. That can make a world of difference right there, as the brightness changes to the 3.5 power with the change in voltage. The 9004's low beam filament produces 700 lumens at 12.8V (the rated output voltage). If you're not getting 12.8V to the bulb, you're not getting good lighting. If you're only getting 12.4V, you've dropped down to 626 lumens. If you can get it to 13.1V, that's going to get you 760 lumens. The high beam filament produces 1200 lumens at 12.8V, so once again relays can get you closer to 13.1V and 1300 lumens. Not a giant difference, but it does add up. While the factory wiring was probably at one time barely adequate, given the car's age, it probably isn't close to that anymore.

Aiming the lights properly is also a help.

I'm also not opposed to installing a set of properly designed auxiliary high beam lamps ("driving lights" in the vernacular). As auxiliary high beam driving lamps, they are to be used only in conjunction with high beams, and away from traffic.

The Cibié airport series 35 is a rectangular lamp (to better match the rectangular headlamps on that Camry) with a chrome housing, and one version provides a white driving beam (again, to be used only with the high beams). Unfortunately, they're a bit pricey (but you pay for quality and guaranteed regulatory compliance). New York's code isn't clear to me on whether these lights will be permitted; however, if installed to not interfere with FMVSS108-mandated equipment, it shouldn't pose a problem (unless used unwisely).

Proper fog lights only project a beam about 25 feet in front of the vehicle, making them useless to "supplement" low beams, especially at highway speeds.

 

They are glass.


Also just to calrify there is a difference between RHD and LHD lights and mirrors. But for the lights it depends on the make and model

 

They are glass.

Ok, so they just need a little Windex from time to time.

Also just to calrify there is a difference between RHD and LHD lights and mirrors. But for the lights it depends on the make and model

For mirrors, possibly. But not for the headlights. Reread this post carefully, or check this section of a wikipedia article. The distinction is that LHD and RHD have no bearing on the headlight pattern because the headlight pattern is designed around the traffic flow, that is whether it's right hand traffic or left hand traffic. (You may note that there are delivery vehicles with RHD in the U.S.-- their headlights are designed for RHT just as the headlights in your Camry and my Previa are designed for RHT.)

 

How did this become a pissing contest so fast Mr.Oklahoma . 35wt 8000k HID headlights and driving lights FTW been running them for four years no trouble. Once you go hid you never go back!

 

True although I haven't in my camry. I have properly retrofited mine on my 4runner with projectors. I wont use the PP kits they have online.


I don't think its a pissing match. He is posting factual information so it's not like he's just going on and on about stuff.

I must say though the "fog" lights on my 4runner are useless in the fog. I use them for driving lights because the light output is just horrible.

 

No, they are extremely small projectors and the light output is terrible to say the least.

I have considered getting piaa yellow fog light bulbs and trying those because fog is a problem here in the south.

But I honestly wouldn't advise a HID kit above 6000k. BTW has anyone tried to retrofit the camry headlights?

If not I have some spare projectors I'll try to find a spare HL assy to monkey around with.

 

No, they are extremely small projectors and the light output is terrible to say the least.

I have considered getting piaa yellow fog light bulbs and trying those because fog is a problem here in the south.

Try these: CPI Selective Yellow H3 (careful with PIAA, some/most of their stuff is Chinese junk.) Being selective yellow, they'll cut down on the irritation glare you get from white light. They're not a magic bullet, because of the design of your fog lamps themselves, being based on the H3. The H3 has a transverse filament, so it's pretty much doomed from the start. Also, no blacktop (here comes the glare), grounds through the bulb seat, not self-sealing... Ouch. Properly designed fog lights using the 9006 have so many advantages over H3. (Self-sealing, requires no retainer so it's easier to remove and replace, two-pole electrical connector, has the blacktop...)