H.I.D. Light Upgrade

Elemino

Elemino

Dedicated LVC Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
659
Reaction score
2
Location
Dallas, TX
Well, for the Fogs it's not necessarily an upgrade, because they haven't worked since we bought the car last month. Both bulbs were burned out, and the previous owner didn't bother to replace them.

Today I upgraded the fog lights to 3000K HID's. These lights look white at a distance. Up close they are yellow to reduce glare. That's good for Fogs, because the light is no where near as focused as headlights. The factory HID light bulbs were swapped for 6000K (Diamond AKA Cool Blue). A color that grabs street signs and other reflective surfaces, and makes it seem to glow in the dark. I don't have a photo in the dark yet, but here's the car with its new Fogs in.

427682_3436693357214_1266894794_33373462_803627045_n.jpg


423563_3436752558694_1266894794_33373500_231227005_n.jpg


Swapping the factory (4120K according to Autozone) with aftermarket 6000K bulbs.

419654_3436410430141_1266894794_33373367_917566848_n.jpg


Factory Bulb... Not sure what the shield looking thing is for, but aftermarket bulbs don't have it.

431439_3436416670297_1266894794_33373374_1889999633_n.jpg


After the project I decided to take a second look at this thing hanging from my car... it scraped the ground when going over bumps.

431331_3436691877177_1266894794_33373458_205421660_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
That shields the exhaust. Think it works as both a noise/heat reducer.

And refinish those headlights asap. You are losing so much output. I would have went with 5000K instead. How did 06 wheels end up on the car??
 
I did refinish the headlights! SMH... I worked on them for hours to get to this point. I was about ready to buy new housings. I guess I need to buy a rotary sander and sand paper. I was starting to think the yellowing was on the inside, but I think it just had waaaay more damage than I originally thought.

I went with 5000K because that's what I have on my Navigator, and I love them. You have to remember the yellow from the fogs kinda cancels out the blue from the headlights... in the end, the overall light output is pretty white.

I've always wondered why these wheels were soooo hard to find!!! I pursued this car specifically because it had these wheels. They were the ones I wanted. I've only owned the car for 2 weeks, so I have no clue. But I love them!!!
 
Second on finishing the lenses, but I just posted and it looks like you already have, as mine are in desperate need of some wet sanding, polishing, minwax, and then lamin-x as well.

I believe the lower temp yellow bulbs are better suited for fog lights. The yellow light doesn't reflect off rain/snow/fog as much as your 6000k's will. I tossed around the idea of putting 3000k in my fogs when I did mine. Not like it's a hard bulb to swap out.

Lastly, you may have got the wrong bulbs if you have factory HID and your new bulbs didn't come with a shield on the bulb. You purchased the D2S bulb where you D2R is the direct replacement. The bulb you have currently is meant for a projector where the LS has a reflective bowl. You gain a little more output without the shield in the reflector housing but since the shield aids in the cutoff line you produce a skosche more glare from what I've read. Also, did your bulbs without the shield just drop right in or did you have to modify them. From what I understand the D2S won't fit in the D2R socket without filing a notch in it. Either that or you have D2C bulbs that will fit either D2R or D2S sockets.

Where did you get the bulbs from?
 
BTW... on the 6000K's... they were only $10 shipped on ebay. So if I don't like them, its not a problem to get 5000K's :D
 
jmtiseo said:
Second on finishing the lenses, but I just posted and it looks like you already have, as mine are in desperate need of some wet sanding, polishing, minwax, and then lamin-x as well.

I believe the lower temp yellow bulbs are better suited for fog lights. The yellow light doesn't reflect off rain/snow/fog as much as your 6000k's will. I tossed around the idea of putting 3000k in my fogs when I did mine. Not like it's a hard bulb to swap out.

Lastly, you may have got the wrong bulbs if you have factory HID and your new bulbs didn't come with a shield on the bulb. You purchased the D2S bulb where you D2R is the direct replacement. The bulb you have currently is meant for a projector where the LS has a reflective bowl. You gain a little more output without the shield in the reflector housing but since the shield aids in the cutoff line you produce a skosche more glare from what I've read. Also, did your bulbs without the shield just drop right in or did you have to modify them. From what I understand the D2S won't fit in the D2R socket without filing a notch in it. Either that or you have D2C bulbs that will fit either D2R or D2S sockets.

Where did you get the bulbs from?
Click to expand...
http://bit.ly/yVyCEj

The bulbs had a sticker that says D2C-W- on them. But I ordered (and the box said) D2R 6000K

I didn't have to modify anything, they fit without any trouble.
 
Very well then. Sounds like you have D2C bulbs but at ten bucks a pop they'd have to go out numerous times until you spent the same amount of money on a good Phillips or Sylvania OSRAM. What ballasts are you running?
 
Elemino said:
I did refinish the headlights! SMH... I worked on them for hours to get to this point. I was about ready to buy new housings. I guess I need to buy a rotary sander and sand paper. I was starting to think the yellowing was on the inside, but I think it just had waaaay more damage than I originally thought.

I went with 5000K because that's what I have on my Navigator, and I love them. You have to remember the yellow from the fogs kinda cancels out the blue from the headlights... in the end, the overall light output is pretty white.

I've always wondered why these wheels were soooo hard to find!!! I pursued this car specifically because it had these wheels. They were the ones I wanted. I've only owned the car for 2 weeks, so I have no clue. But I love them!!!
Click to expand...

If you wanna see an 06 in person to compare im local to you. Over in Euless.

Yeah those only came on the 2006....the alloy ones are even harder to find.

My headlights still look pretty good. Theres a few places around here that will refinish them for you.
 
jmtiseo said:
Very well then. Sounds like you have D2C bulbs but at ten bucks a pop they'd have to go out numerous times until you spent the same amount of money on a good Phillips or Sylvania OSRAM. What ballasts are you running?
Click to expand...
Correction: $10 / pr. :cool:

It's still the stock setup. Out side of that, I have no clue. I just know they're the factory ballasts.
 
Nice. I was referring to the fog lights, unless they already came with HID fog lights?
 
BlackLS06 said:
If you wanna see an 06 in person to compare im local to you. Over in Euless.

Yeah those only came on the 2006....the alloy ones are even harder to find.

My headlights still look pretty good. Theres a few places around here that will refinish them for you.
Click to expand...
I may have to take you up on that offer sometime. I'm actually in Plano off of 75.

My car has a LOT that needs to be fixed, before it's in any condition to show off. lol The original plan was to have a remote start alarm on it by now, but thats been pushed way back.

I probably will have to do that. I used the Mother's kit from Wal-Mart with the buff ball and small sanders. It looks like I will likely have to go to a shop and pay them to do it. Now to find a quality place. Someone that wont jack them up or leave scratches in my paint.
 
jmtiseo said:
Nice. I was referring to the fog lights, unless they already came with HID fog lights?
Click to expand...
Oh sorry... no the fog lights are from DDM. They were $30 for the kit. I used the "raptor" full size ballasts. I don't trust the slim ballasts.
 
6000k is where it's at. I don't trust slim ballasts either. You don't just make something smaller without sacrificing something else. Unless the only thing that was sacrificed was outdated technology.
 
jmtiseo said:
6000k is where it's at. I don't trust slim ballasts either. You don't just make something smaller without sacrificing something else. Unless the only thing that was sacrificed was outdated technology.
Click to expand...
The way I see it: If it was outdated technology, the regular size ballasts wouldn't still be out there. A friend of mine used the slim ballasts a lot, and he's had many more problems than I have. He's replaced several bulbs, and none of mine have died yet.
 
You've only owned the car two weeks. A lot of folks on here have had success with the DDM stuff in the past though.
 
*facepalm, it's way past my bed time but classes needed scheduling. good stuff man.
 
6000K Headlights & 3000K Fogs (camera color corrected a bit, so it's a little hard to tell on this photo)

76873_1705242432023_1266894794_31836522_6450254_n.jpg
 
I didn't... if you're talking about the LS, it doesn't have a vanity plate.

Edit: All those colors is how the current Texas plate looks! lol

TX+license+plate.jpg
 
Why is every state going with crazy weird plates nowadays? I liked the NY plates when they were blue and white. Now they are yellow. I liked the old Texas plates myself. That one looks too much like Montana.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 292 (members: 2, guests: 290)
Back
Top