[Mr. Camry]

The front of my headlight assembly has become cloudy and the output has diminished over the years on my Gen 4.5 2001 Camry 5sfe with 186k miles. In researching new headlights, I noted the OEM is ~$50-$60.

But I've notice that there are other options now for much more $ such as Halo lights by Anzo or JDM, black euro headlights, etc. Also found info on Canbus Xenon HID conversion headlight kit by EFX.

Are any of these aftermarket "upgrades" worth it and do you recommend any?

Thanks

 

[bigbird]

would i recomend them over OEM...no. but they are unique and look pretty good. so if ya want something different and stylish, then yes.

 

[Mr. Camry]

would i recomend them over OEM...no. but they are unique and look pretty good. so if ya want something different and stylish, then yes.

Thanks for the info-what about black lights? Your car looks great btw. How many miles on that bad boy?

 

[iovaykind]

I unlike bigbird am in favor of spending the extra money to make the headlights look better.. am I in favor of the halos though? Nope. I had halos at one point, satisfied me, and then I realized they really only belonged on bimmers. If you want HIDs then upgrade to projectors, which I don't believe is sold, so you'll have to do yourself. If you don't want HIDs, then the blacked out headlights may be best for you depending on the color of your car.

 

[Mr. Camry]

I unlike bigbird am in favor of spending the extra money to make the headlights look better.. am I in favor of the halos though? Nope. I had halos at one point, satisfied me, and then I realized they really only belonged on bimmers. If you want HIDs then upgrade to projectors, which I don't believe is sold, so you'll have to do yourself. If you don't want HIDs, then the blacked out headlights may be best for you depending on the color of your car.

Can I buy a headlight assembly with the projectors/HID built in? What is the difference between projectors, HID, and Xenon?

Also, my car color is "sage" which is sort of between grey and silver. Would black lights work and is there any difference in the output of these vs clears?

 

[skuttduck]

Can I buy a headlight assembly with the projectors/HID built in? What is the difference between projectors, HID, and Xenon?

Also, my car color is "sage" which is sort of between grey and silver. Would black lights work and is there any difference in the output of these vs clears?

I put black halo headlights on my Antique Sage Pearl 2000 Camry. They look great. I didn't notice any noticable difference between the black halo and the OEM head lights. I did notice that the OEM fogs were brighter than the headlights, so I upgraded the bulbs to the Hella ones. Now they match.

See my sig for the output of the Hella and the halo.

 

[iovaykind]

Can I buy a headlight assembly with the projectors/HID built in? What is the difference between projectors, HID, and Xenon?

Would black lights work and is there any difference in the output of these vs clears?

Projectors built in? I think not, but may be corrected. HIDs built in? Yes, but don't get them cause they'll blind the crap out of everyone else. Don't put HIDs in unless you have projectors, in which case you have 4 options.


1. Aftermarket headlight, without HIDs.
2. Aftermarket headlight, retrofit projectors into them and use HIDs.
3. OEM headlight, without HIDs.
4. OEM or aftermarket headlight with HIR bulbs.


Black lights output, less.. but so minimally less that you can't tell the difference.

 

[bigbird]

Thanks for the info-what about black lights? Your car looks great btw. How many miles on that bad boy?

the black ones look great plus they look cool with the halos. and thanks, shes just shy of 190k miles now.

I unlike bigbird am in favor of spending the extra money to make the headlights look better.. .

you must not have ever seen pics of my car...or know me at all. when have you ever seen stock lights on my rides?:thumbsup:

you miss read there. would i recomend them over OEM, no. they are aftermarket quality which is never as good as toyota OEM. do they look better, yes.

 

[iovaykind]

Don't worry bigbird.. your cars have been inspiration for me, including the headlights. Quality-wise.. I don't think the aftermarket is that bad, to me they seem just as good as OEM.

 

[bigbird]

Oh god i hope not...my car is a piece:lol: thanks though. the biggest difference is when ya look at the mount points and the quality of the plastic for the lense. typcally, and its not much of an exception here, they yellow before the OEM ones do and dont fit as well (small gaps and harder to adjust). other then that, they are just fine.

 

[Mr. Camry]

Projectors built in? I think not, but may be corrected. HIDs built in? Yes, but don't get them cause they'll blind the crap out of everyone else. Don't put HIDs in unless you have projectors, in which case you have 4 options.


1. Aftermarket headlight, without HIDs.
2. Aftermarket headlight, retrofit projectors into them and use HIDs.
3. OEM headlight, without HIDs.
4. OEM or aftermarket headlight with HIR bulbs.


Black lights output, less.. but so minimally less that you can't tell the difference.

Do you buy the projectors/HIDs as a package or are these sold separately? Any recommendations on where to go?

 

[Mr. Camry]

How do u and what's the process for retrofitting projectors into oem headlights?

 

[skuttduck]

How do u and what's the process for retrofitting projectors into oem headlights?

Its in the DIY.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136335

However, there was one site that you could buy them already done. It was expensive.

Personally, if you want the updated look, I'd go for the black halo, or chrome halo headlights, then install the Hella headlights in there.

 

[iovaykind]

Pay me to do them for you :lol: But the process is long and difficult if you haven't had any experience. The first time I did it it took almost a week and it came out like crap. Now I can do a retrofit in 3 hours and have it look beautiful. Just take a look at the work I have done (yes i'm totally selling myself)

 

[Mr. Camry]

Its in the DIY.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=136335

However, there was one site that you could buy them already done. It was expensive.

Personally, if you want the updated look, I'd go for the black halo, or chrome halo headlights, then install the Hella headlights in there.

Would either of these work and are these ready to install or do I need something else: http://www.carid.com/2001-toyota-camry-headlights/euro-style-70274.html or http://www.kingsource.com/hd-00tcamc.html

Thanks to all who are helping out with your info. iovaykind, drive to Ohio and help out a Camry brother!

 

[skuttduck]

Would either of these work and are these ready to install or do I need something else: http://www.carid.com/2001-toyota-camry-headlights/euro-style-70274.html or http://www.kingsource.com/hd-00tcamc.html

Thanks to all who are helping out with your info. iovaykind, drive to Ohio and help out a Camry brother!

You want to make the trek to East Lansing, MI and check out my car. You can if you want. Regardless, either of those would work. I'll let you know I managed to get them for about $140 off of ebay. They have both black halo, and chrome halo.

Here's something to consider too. If you want to do the OEM fogs like I did, there was a member who lost his ability to use his fogs when he went to HID.

The hella light bulbs are real nice, the specs have them last longer than the silverstars, and the color is real close to real HID's. That is of course just what I did.

 

[iovaykind]

Both of those would work.

I'm actually working on a set of gen 4 headlights, you can send me parts and i'll retrofit them for you :thumbsup:

 

[Mr. Camry]

You want to make the trek to East Lansing, MI and check out my car. You can if you want. Regardless, either of those would work. I'll let you know I managed to get them for about $140 off of ebay. They have both black halo, and chrome halo.

Here's something to consider too. If you want to do the OEM fogs like I did, there was a member who lost his ability to use his fogs when he went to HID.

The hella light bulbs are real nice, the specs have them last longer than the silverstars, and the color is real close to real HID's. That is of course just what I did.

Thanks. BTW, are both lights always on and which are the brights?

 

[skuttduck]

Thanks. BTW, are both lights always on and which are the brights?

You are supposed to wire your halos up to the parking lights. I got the Halos before getting my Camaro. The 2010 camaro with RS from the factory works just like I wired up the Camry.

That is that when you turn on the first light position, the parking lights, the amber bulbs and the halos are on. Then when you have the low beams on the picture looks like my signature.

The high beam is the light housing right around the halo. I believe the parking lights go off when you are running the high beams, and so do your halos.

The Camaro Halo is on when you run the highbeams. Though on that the highbeam is the same as the low beam, the projector just opens up fully for the high beam. The factory HID's on that car are pretty sweet, but the Hella light bulbs on the Camry make it come pretty close.

So in short summary. Both lights are not always on they are only on if you run the lights in parking or low beam. The light housing that the halo is around is the highbeam.

 

[Mr. Camry]

You are supposed to wire your halos up to the parking lights.

How do you do that?