Why this matters is over time the bulb will "burn" the bowl of the projector. This is VERY important! If you have a low quality bulb, it probably doesn't have a UV coating. Something I have not seen mentioned in this thread is ensuring the HID bulb has a UV Coating (i.e. Make sure to use a quality bulb with a UV coating. The second part to this is concerning anyone considering using HID's in their factory projectors on the 3rd gen. I was very happy with the previous halogen setup as it was though! I was going to do the "ultimate headlight upgrade" 2nd gen style but I found some great deals on components for a retrofit so I didn't feel the need to do the upgrade. Very good output and very wide pattern without swapping out the housing. In my 2nd gen I ran (past-tense as I now have an RX350 EU retrofit, clear lens, Osram NB Lasers and Hella Gen 3 ballasts) Philips Racing Vision H4 and that is a huge improvement for stock voltage! In the foglights I have GE Megalight Ultra +130. Though I am no a pro, I am a lighting junkie. a hotspot right at your cutoff step, and an excellent high beam is also gained.WHEW! That's a lot of reading! Just thought I would add a couple cents into this. You get a great HID projector that you know is going to perform exactly how it was meant to. But retrofitting in 100% the best choice if you have the means. Honestly if you wanted to retrofit, I would 100% recommend using another pair of lights. vertical height is aims be a screw, and is super simple. The rotational aiming stays the same if you bolt the lights to the car and adjust with the allotted adjustment on the four mounting bolts. Since it is a projector system, all you do is bolt up the replacement. The hardest part about the retrofit is opening the lights. too much foreground happens with changed optics causing a low hotspot. This is because it strains your eyes with the bright to dark contrast at night. Typically they give a narrow beam, and a bright foreground. Being that an LED is a point source of light, not a filament or arc, they don't perform as well. If you've taken a physics course, you know how lenses and focal points work, as well as how different light source types effect patterns projected through a lens. With LED bulbs, its not possible with PNP kits to mimic halogen or HID optics, yet. this isn't always the case, but most of the time its true. Typically halogen projector with bulbs will throw a lot of foreground and suffer with distance lighting. An HID porjector has a better coating on it because the bulbs give off UV rays.Īnother downside to HIDS in halogen projectors is the beam throw. HID lamps always cost more because one, theres more components and two, the components are of higher grade. The downside is heat from the bulb will effect the reflective coating eventually. Usualy putting an HID bulb in a halogen projector works decently. LEDs look like they produce more hot spots and a less consistent (and narrower) light spread, so I would probably spend the extra and install the HID kit. But with a shutter and projector (even the factory projector) the results seem almost identical to a retrofit.Īfter looking at photos posted by other members I'd say an HID kit on the stock projectors gives great results with sharp cut off. I've installed HIDs on a traditional reflective/mirror housing with terrible results! I took them off after I saw the horrible bleed-over problem. How much do you really gain from a retrofit versus the stock halogen projector? In theory, the factory shutter should alleviate any light that projects above the target cut off line.
![halogen vs hid uv halogen vs hid uv](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/88ZAKKSU0Ww/maxresdefault.jpg)
Plus, aligning the new projector properly seems like a major PITA! I've already had to take apart the entire front fascia to install my RRO bumper and don't really want to do it again. However, I'm really not interested in pulling the headlight housings to do it. Overall, it seems like a retrofit would clearly be the optimal choice. So can someone answer a question for me because I've been reading a lot before I purchase an HID or LED kit and really haven't seen a clear answer.