HID Upgrade no more yellow low beam!

[PaulP]

In the summer i was parked next to some nice new modern cars and my lights (low beam) looked very yellow orange next to them, i was going to upgrade last year and said forget it its fine when you look at them, but wow what a diff now that i had one factory hid burn out, perfect time to upgrade, was looking for the 6000k straight white D1S 35 watt bulbs but ijdmtoy only had the 8000k with a small hint of ice blue, i didn't want the ricer look and needed bulbs so ordered and thought if don't like i can get 6000k later, but the 8000k was perfect. best $70 bucks i spent on this car does not look out dated now.

[BlknBlu]

huge difference, nice touch.

Bruce

[Vombomb]

Hmmmm looks like something else to add to my list along with LED interiors! Looks great!

[Vprbite]

In the summer i was parked next to some nice new modern cars and my lights (low beam) looked very yellow orange next to them, i was going to upgrade last year and said forget it its fine when you look at them, but wow what a diff now that i had one factory hid burn out, perfect time to upgrade, was looking for the 6000k straight white D1S 35 watt bulbs but ijdmtoy only had the 8000k with a small hint of ice blue, i didn't want the ricer look and needed bulbs so ordered and thought if don't like i can get 6000k later, but the 8000k was perfect. best $70 bucks i spent on this car does not look out dated now.

Just a simple bulb swap? Got a link to the light you purchased? This looks awesome.

[PaulP]

Yup very easy simple bulb swap,

http://store.ijdmtoy.com/HID-Light-Bulbs-Xenon-Headlight-p/hid-d1s-d1r-d1c.htm

[Vprbite]

sweet. Thanks!

[BillyC]

Just wondering. How does the brightness compare to the old low beams. I am thinking about upgrading when a low beam fails, but I do not want the super bright low beams that pizz me off when an oncoming car blinds me.

[slowhatch]

I'll go ahead and come in and piss in everyone's fruit loops.

Factory D1S bulbs are 4300k (k as in kelvin (color temperature)). Why 4300k? Because that is one of the closest color temperatures to natural sunlight, provides the highest lumen output (~3200 lumens), and is also easiest on the eyes (no visual fatigue after extended viewing). Pure white light is actually around 5000 kelvin, but OEMs tend tend to err to a slightly yellower hue (imperceptible to you and I) because longer wavelengths tend to scatter more than shorter wavelengths, and this allows for less glare and higher visibility in reflective environments (a wet road for instance). This is why fog lights tend to be yellow.

http://www.lumenport.com/colortemperature_clip_image001.jpg

As you move UP in color temperature (6k, 8k, +), and shift into a "bluer" color spectrum, you are DECREASING lumen output. Ie. your bulbs are getting dimmer, irrespective of what you may think. What causes everyone to chase the "beautiful blue light syndrome" as I like to call it, is actually the projector housing itself. As light passes through the curvature of a factory projector lens, light around the edges refracts like a prism (illustrated below). This, is precisely the reason why oncoming traffic with HID's tends to appear blue (for at least some of its path through your reference frame). Since your frame of reference (planar) is constantly shifting as the car bounces up and down over the road, you get this beautiful shimmering, blue/white/purple effect as your eyes are exposed to different color spectrums and the car passes you by. In reality, if you were to stick your head down below the "cutoff" into the actual beam path, you would see that this light is not blue at all, but perfectly crisp white.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j261/the_talon_guy/IMG_1279.jpg
http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g297/jvxdriver/IS250/DSC_5001h.jpg

People who tend not be privy to this information (and usually those who have reflector housing headlights, and not projectors), tend to slap in a higher temperature bulb because they want the "look", but to me, it tends to just look cheap and ricey. Not to mention, blinds everyone on the road with glare.

Cliff notes; Your OEM xenons are not yellow, your headlight housing itself is probably oxidized and is slightly yellow causing it to appear yellow. Also, HID bulbs tend to color-shift with age, and become dimmer.

[PaulP]

Slowhatch, you bet the stocks are 4300k, your absolutely right about the higher k you go the less visibility you actually have, but this car sees maybe 2000 miles a year and i don't take it on long road trips, i take my one ton truck, my headlights have zero oxidation as i have them wrapped with 3m, like i said i didn't want the 8000k but every manufacture colours very a little, these look more like a 6000k, the stocks just looking at them don't look so bad put something next to compare them and to me they look very yellow and outdated imo

[slowhatch]

Slowhatch, you bet the stocks are 4300k, your absolutely right about the higher k you go the less visibility you actually have, but this car sees maybe 2000 miles a year and i don't take it on long road trips, i take my one ton truck, my headlights have zero oxidation as i have them wrapped with 3m, like i said i didn't want the 8000k but every manufacture colours very a little, these look more like a 6000k, the stocks just looking at them don't look so bad put something next to compare them and to me they look very yellow and outdated imo

No worries, to each their own, some prefer a bluer light, there's nothing wrong with that. I just wanted to drop a little bit of knowledge in here just in case someone was interested in the why and how.

[Steve M]

No worries, to each their own, some prefer a bluer light, there's nothing wrong with that. I just wanted to drop a little bit of knowledge in here just in case someone was interested in the why and how.

I reject your reality, and substitute my own.

Don't OEM HIDs have to be either 4.3k or 5k as per DOT?

[Vombomb]

9279 I was gonna eat them fruitloops...

[ohlarikd]

I bought Sylvania 5000K HIDs to make them a bit more white. Turns out to be such a slight difference that its hard to tell. I think 5000K would be good, but manufacturer's vary on what the actual temp looks like in reality, plus they need time to settle on a temperature over time. Kinda wish I went 6000K. My 5000K LEDs however look perfect, but the 5000K HIDs don't quite match them. Uhg, what a pain.

[RSBIII]

How does one pull the bulb? I have access to the back of the lamp but it looks like 2 bolts are holding the back of the lamp shut... What size tool do I need?

[PaulP]

3 bolts if remember correctly unbolt them cover comes off,

[RSBIII]

Any idea what tool specifically? I'm reaching around the wheel with the cover off and nothing seems to fit in there

[PaulP]

You have to take off the wheel and the inner front wheel well liner

[RSBIII]

I have those off- but the back cover on the inner part of the headlamp assembly has bolts

[PaulP]

post a pic of what you mean

[PaulP]

Its very easy to do, theres three bolts holding the cover on the back of the headlight assembly, remove the three bolts and the ballast and hid bulb are accessible.

1st pic can see centre bolt and the right bolt!

2nd pic can see the left bolt!

[Redx]

Did you have to use the 35 w bulbs or can you use the 55w?

[1bad540]

with hids the lower the better the 55w may melt your housing.