dont know why you would do that, i understand that you dont drive much at night but the power of HID's are amazing, if you dont plan on going with Chinese HID's i suggest you go into the retrofitting world. better, More reliable, and more sharp than the chinese stuff. but thats my opinion im also with DDM tuning for the moment as for now my headlights are getting retroed, so ill post results. thanks

- Bio

 

you will not be able to see more than a few feet in front of you with those LED "headlight" bulbs, so if you do not drive much at night expect to never drive at night.

 

I met with a s2k owner a few days ago with this conversion and he regretted it big time, he works graveyard and says he may as well use his flash light because they are terrible.

I did see his car during the day and it looked great.

 

I put LED bulbs in my fog lights and immediately took them out before I even left the garage. Taping two flashlights to your hood would work better as these hardly projected onto the wall 3 feet away. As a matter of fact I thought they were broken because I couldn't even tell they were on from inside the car. I had to get out and look to verify.

 

I just did the same with the fogs and yellow LED's (was going to be my turn signals). Fail. Don't bother with LEDs.

 

As preventing to do hid kit. I bought a set from a eBay store. Thought it was a great idea. Installed them, and you know what they look nice. As all other feedback THEY ARE RIGHT YOU CAN NOT SEE 4 FEET IN FRONT OF YOU. Sure if you live in downtown maybe you can get away with it, but outside of that No lol.

 

And remember, not all LEDs are made the same. Those that are ENGINEERED for vehicle lighting purposes (like those in OEM Audis and Lexuses) must pass rigorous quality assurance and are expensive to buy and use. The el-cheapo ones you buy from that auction site are so poorly made they literally start fading in front of your own eyes, not to mention not being able to light worth of sh*t for road illumination. Don't buy "plug-and-play LED headlight bulbs" - you're just throwing your money away.

 

I tried the PIAA blue LED headlight bulbs. Big mistake on my part & an even bigger waste of money. Almost zero visibility. Didn't know it would be that bad. Stay away for sure.

 

I'm running Pure Brand Led's in my low and high beams and I am happy with them. Low beams are ok, but high beams are very bright.

 

I just have LED rings and marker lights... HID is the way to go if you want to see at night.

 

The led lights in my brother's Lexus perform better than any hid's I have ever seen. as warranty has mentioned, the plug and play stuff is shit.

 

I swear I saw vleds sell a led with ballast last year, but is no longer on their site. I would of went that route the led route if it was available. Though I am sure in the future I will convert.

 

theres definately a reason led headlamp units cost atleast 3k$ each and come in expensive cars only. like audi,lex, benz - new cls

 

hmm I would have to check this out in person

 

Bump.

I've been kind of out of the modding scene for a couple of years so I didn't know these LED headlight bulbs existed till I stumbled on them.

From this thread it seems like most people aren't having much luck. Just curious if the technology has improved in the last 3 years? Has anyone tried any of these lately with any luck? If I can get a comparable or better output then HIDs without having to run a ballast and the problems they can bring. I would be very much so interested.

 

if your going with an LED/HID kit I would recommend kits similar to these:

 

The oracle version of that is what I have. its pretty bad ass.

 

Yup I agree with Vicious. The Oracle kit is amazing. I had it in my last car.

 

I didn't know that LED's could also have ballasts. The reviews I was watching and even from a forum vendor here, people where saying to stay away from them for low and high beams and just to use them as markers. However in all the youtube reviews, they have just been bulbs. Anyone got a review on an LED kit with Ballast like the kit above?

 

There are several different types of LED headlights. There are the types that are made in China by some dude in his garage with a soldering iron and an SMD LED kit, which are absolute shit and just glow. THEN there are the nice, expensive, but well worth it Oracle kits that come with ballasts and actually create an extremely bright PROJECTION LED such as those high end LED bars for offroad trucks. Just keep in mind you honestly do get what you pay for with these. If you try to cheap out you are absolutely going to get a "glow" rather than a "projection" LED headlight kit. I can't stress this enough.

 

if your wanting to go LED for low beams, this is the kit to go with:
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/ORACLE9006LEDHeadlightReplacementBulbs.aspx

if your wanting to go LED for High beams, this is the kit:
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/ORACLE9005LEDHeadlightReplacementBulbs.aspx

http://www.automotivelightstore.com/images/products/display/9006_led_icon.jpg
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/images/products/detail/90059006_black.2.jpg
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/images/products/detail/oracle_led_headlight_box.png
http://www.automotivelightstore.com/images/products/detail/9006_2.png

 

I don't want to rain on everyone's parade, those of you that think the problem is with the brightness of the bulb need to step back for a minute. The bulb's output is secondary to the projection pattern, which is determined by the projector itself.

Retrofit in a nice projector from a good source car and then worry about output lumens. Regarding projectors, you need to look at several things, including but not limited to:

Cut off
Projection width
And few more that I'll add in later

Anywho, the point is that the issue isn't with the bulb but rather the thing DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE BULB.

 

update.
LED headlights has advance plenty in the last few years. I am considering a retro kit for the supra, my two brother both have LED headlights and they are great, i want to try the retro and see what the output is now that technology has advance.

 

I still think LED headlights are 2yrs away from true replacement of HIDS but let's see some pictures

 

Yes pictures please!

 

LEDs have come a long way in the past few years, but you'll still get better results with a quality 35 watt HID conversion kit FWIW

Nick C.

 

well, if comparing 35w vs. 55w HIDS, id say stick with 55w kits. eventhough they are a bit more expensive, its worth every penny. The light output is much brighter. I can say because i had a set of 35w on my 97 corvette then after switching to the 55w kit with the build in relay, it made a huge difference in light output. just wanted to share my 2cents

 

Most 55 watt HID conversion kits are actually outputting around 38 watts FWIW. There's a huge disparity in the quality of aftermarket ballasts.

Bulbs designed for 55 watt ballasts also typically have 1-2 year lifespans (depending on usage) vs. 35 watt setups that normally last 3-5 years

55 watt ballasts cost the same to manufacture, so it's just a way for most vendors to up-charge you and get you to buy bulbs more often

Nick C.

 

I do agree with you Nick on the life span on the 55w kits. bulbs will burn out faster but i do think that the quality of the kit will also make a difference on output of light. I dont deal with ebay kits for many reasons.
I normally deal with Oracle or Phillips HID kits. I have always had good performance from the kits and not one complaint from me. just by going off the kits i have used, i have had about a 20% better light output on the 55w kit compared to the 35w kit.
to many it may not be a huge difference but to me the better the light out put, the better. Eventhough i have to buy bulbs every 2 years instead of the typical 3-4 years on the 35w kit.

all in all, id say its about preference.

 

On month 2 of my $40 Chinese HID kit.......... so far so good. Bad part was shipping took 1 month and when I complained they sent another kit for free, both kits came at the same time which was cool. Installation was just as easy.

 

I'm glad you are having good luck with your kit! Lol, it's good they sent you another set too

Make sure you are using an HID relay just to be safe

Nick C.