LED Headlight Conversions

[MtnCar]

PIAA LED bulbs?

Does anyone have experience with the PIAA high output LED bulbs?

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/804-9005-HB3-High-Output-LED-Bulbs-6000k-Twin-Pack.aspx

 

[Evans956]

Does anyone have experience with the PIAA high output LED bulbs?

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/804-9005-HB3-High-Output-LED-Bulbs-6000k-Twin-Pack.aspx

That's essentially what I got. Not sure what the PIAA means but here is the link to the ones that I ordered.

http://www.xenonhids.com/dual-beam-hi-lo-9005-led-headlight-kit.html

One other thing I noticed is the rubber gasket on the lights were too thick so I took the gasket off the register bulbs and switched them. Worked like a charm.

 

[Sgt1411]

Does anyone have experience with the PIAA high output LED bulbs?

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/804-9005-HB3-High-Output-LED-Bulbs-6000k-Twin-Pack.aspx

That's way too expensive for an LED kit considering most LED 9005 replacement kits now are coming out cheaper than the previous HID kits.

 

[MtnCar]

Thanks for the feedback. The PIAA bulbs are really expensive compared to the competition. I currently have a set of Diode Dynamics 35W 6K HID bulbs. LED has piqued my interest, but not sure if any are as good or better than HID at this point. It would be nice to have the instant on of LED, though...

 

[peterk9]

Thanks for the feedback. The PIAA bulbs are really expensive compared to the competition. I currently have a set of Diode Dynamics 35W 6K HID bulbs. LED has piqued my interest, but not sure if any are as good or better than HID at this point. It would be nice to have the instant on of LED, though...

I've read that LED is actually better than HID. As for instant on, I haven't noticed any issues with my current HID lights ot the ones I had in the 2011 Limited. Both fire up right away.

Peter

 

[champco]

So for some this is a old story. The Factory Halogen Head lights on my 2013 X are needy. What I am not seeing here are details. Here are mine. Brightness is not necessarily the problem to me. It's the shutter that limits the distance on roads at speeds like 60 or so as well as the road sides, that are not lit enough.
Watching for deer the two limitations already have me not seeing what I am used to. Lifting the shutter ie. bright lights only serves to see a bit further down the road and well into any trees ahead. To me the beams could rotate 45 degrees.
HID lights apparently remove the shutter?? Led still utilize the shutter?
I know the shutter can be adjusted but it has it's own problems.
Whats needed are more side light just beyond the shutter line to safely drive 60 at night on a 2 lane.
Best alternative?? LED????
Does anyone know the specs on the factory HL???

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Shutter remains on the 11-15 units for aim/focus/light output whether you go HID (i did this) or LED

 

[GBot]

Anybody have good walk-around videos of the LED headlight swap, before and after preferably?

I know it's asking a lot, but I'm interested in upgrading as many lights as possible, but apprehensive about doing so because I'd really like to go for "OEM, but better" rather than "wow, that guy must be in high school."

Also I'd love to hear some more opinions about HID vs LED, especially as it pertains to using a non-halogen bulb with a halogen projector/lens. The most active HID thread on this forum has pretty much convinced me that you should do all or none basically, but the extra time and energy required to open the headlight assembly is pretty daunting.

Thanks for any responses.

 

[1995E]

Okay, so here is what I did with my light solutions. I bought 2 extra dust caps.

I first started with 55W HIDs. Relay kit to the battery and all. Super bright and it really lit up the road super well. Cheap Ebay kits that cost around 22 bucks with ballast and bulbs. Cheap ballasts and bulbs. I went through at least 4 of them. Every time I did a road trip to Florida and back, at least one one HID died. Once it was a ballast, and once it was a bulb.

I then bought decent 35W ballasts from Ebay for about 18 bucks to replace those 55Ws but kept the same bulbs. The bulbs and ballasts have lasted me through my one roadtrip to Florida with all night driving no problems.

Last month, I decided to upgrade to these fanless LED bulbs:
(dead link)

They work great. They are instantly bright since they are LED. No need for a ballast or anything. The best part is I can shove the little box and the wires all into the housing and put my dust cover back on. All you have to do to get the heatsink to work is to spread the leaves and flip them a bit. No need to cut your dust caps. They have lasted me during some pretty long night drives.

In terms of brightness and performance:

55W:
Pros - Brightest out of all of them and really lights up the road. Good light spread to the sides.
Cons - Unreliable as heck and won't last you a road trip, dies quickly on you, bulbs and ballasts. Have to drill a hole through the dust cover to wire to ballast. Need a relay kit.

35W:
Pros - Still brighter than halogens by a lot and still has a decently good spread of light to the sides.
Cons - Needs a relay kit. Needs to drill a hole through rubber dust cover.

LED fanless:
Pros: Just as bright as the 35W HIDs. No cutting necessary. Dust caps go back on. No ballast required. Instant on.
Cons: Comes in one color and it has a 5000K - 6000K look instead of a 4300K. The horizontal spread of the light is just like the stock halogen. (Since the LEDs use an LED facing up and down but none to the sides).

Out of all the solutions. I really like the LED fanless solution. Had I found out about it sooner, I probably would have never bought those HIDs. Hopefully these LEDs were built correctly so the voltage spikes of the car doesn't make these LEDs flicker in the future. I'll be going to Florida with these bulbs and I'm hoping it'll last a 16 hour drive one way. Only time can tell.

EDIT: After having two separate LED kits, I bought a pair of 4,800 lumens. The brightness is there, but the throw isn't as far as an HID would go.

 

[MtnCar]

I currently have the Diode Dynamics 35W 6000K HID kit. The kit is good. I keep the headlight switch on Auto. I had to install a 10 second delay relay for the bulbs to fire up consistently. So now I have a delay when the lights auto turn on in low light conditions. When I have the fogs on they fire immediately (LED), then 10 seconds later the HID headlights fire. (Yes, I know using fogs unless necessary is not legal in some areas) It all works O.K., but the 10 second delay brings out the OCD in me...

Out of curiosity I ordered these 40W 6000K LED bulbs. i.e. instant on.

(dead link)

They claim 4800 LM per buld. That should be comparable to the HID, I think. I will compare against the HID when they arrive and I get them installed them in a few days.

 

[GBot]

Cons: Comes in one color and it has a 5000K - 6000K look instead of a 4300K. The horizontal spread of the light is just like the stock halogen. (Since the LEDs use an LED facing up and down but none to the sides).

Yeah I can't find a single "trustworthy" source for anything other than 6000K unfortunately.

Interesting observation. I've seen several lights with LEDs in multiple directions, but perhaps those with up and down orientation only would give the most correct beam pattern with the halogen projectors. I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts on this. Thanks for the feedback.

I will compare against the HID when they arrive and I get them installed them in a few days.

Thank you. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be very interested in your results.

 

[champco]

Yesterday I yanked out the Halogens and installed the LED ( http://www.xenondepot.com/9005-LED-headlight-kit-p/9005-led-hl.htm ) Kit I bought.
The harness and heat sinks all stuff into the projector casing. Dust cover goes right back on. I ordered the DRL kit which goes inline with the harness. It was no way going to fit so I did not use it. I do not have DRL apparently or it is not optioned which is fine by me.
Auto on lights work fine. Zero flicker. The difference in light is exactly what is needed.. The Halogen bulb is about 900 Lumens and these LEDs are 2500.
The projector housing and lens greatly spread the light to the sides and with the shutter opened, (high beams) it lights up the trees too.
Interstate driving you can see the roadside, lines, reflectors and signs much much better.
Dark country roads are no longer a mystery as they are lit up fine. No flashing from on coming and not burning the backs of peoples heads with light.

For a one bulb system it is a great improvement over factory without the HID problems.

I have photo's before and after.

 

[peterk9]

^^ DRL can be enabled by your dealer on the amber lights.

Peter

 

[champco]

^^ DRL can be enabled by your dealer on the amber lights.

Peter

Good Idea. Thanks

 

[peterk9]

Good Idea. Thanks

They have to hook up the IDS tool to do it. Some dealers may not be aware of it. Here is a thread on the topic;
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=322848&highlight=adding+drl

Peter

 

[GBot]

I have photo's before and after.

Thanks for posting. This is primarily a thread about converting to HID. There's a big LED conversion thread here:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=435075

If you share your before and after pics I'm sure many of us would really appreciate it.

 

[peterk9]

Posts 52 - 56 moved to this thread from HID headlight conversion thread.

Peter

 

[champco]

Thanks for posting. This is primarily a thread about converting to HID. There's a big LED conversion thread here:
LED Headlight Conversions

If you share your before and after pics I'm sure many of us would really appreciate it.

These photo's were all taken with a Canon 70D with ISO setting very high 10000. This insures autofocus beyond the wind shield. The results are much more light then the eye would normally see making the Before pictures seem close in brightness to the LED. The purpose of the demo is to show the Brightness is whiter. The Halogen projectors and lenses work fine with the Led.

It lights the Halogens from 900 Lumens to about 2500 Lumens.
(dead link)

 

[peterk9]

If everyone's Halogen low beam looked like the one in your picture, I don't see any reason why people complain about it. Looks good to me.

Peter

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

If everyone's Halogen low beam looked like the one in your picture, I don't see any reason why people complain about it. Looks good to me.

Peter

The magic of a camera and exposure needed to capture light. We all (those who have/had halogens) know their performance is not nearly as generous as his demo photo.