Led Main Beams

[k111aku]

Just wondering if anyone has replaced the Amin beams with LED's

I have the OEM Xenon sand would like brighter and whiter main beams.

Any recommendations.

[normski2]

I've seen lots of adverts for the main beam and for the fog/driving lights.

Trouble is they invariably don't tell you the wattage or lumens. Some do look very promising and have a lot of LED cells wrapped all round and on the end of the centre stalk. But they usually just proclaim the number of led's and 'very bright'!!

I've found a useful table of comparisons for halogen wattage/ LED wattage/lumens, that may help a tad.

The old style bulbs ranging between 45w and 60w seem to equate to 470 - 630 lumens and the corresponding LED wattage of 7w -11w.

" " " 75w and 100w equate to between 850 - 1200 lumens with a corresponding LED wattage of between 12w and 16w.

Hopefully someone who has done it successfully will be along.

[toffee_pie]

OEM HIDs on the SE-L are fantastic, no need to mess around with LEDs.

[normski2]

That does not apply to fog light or main beam though.

[toffee_pie]

i have had quite a few cars, the lights on this lexus of mine are outstanding, and i mean all of them.

unless you want light house quality to blind the entire population of motorists i would leave them alone tbh.

[normski2]

Granted,... but some folk like to have all the lights at the front to be the same 'colour'.

The HID's are quite white..... and by comparison the sidelight/main beam and foglight bulbs give quite a yellow cast. Using LED bulbs in these areas can lead to a more (without overstepping the brightness) appealing look.

That was what I thought the OP was getting at.

[k111aku]

That's precisely what I'm going for I want it more white and also brighter.

Yeah my OEM dipped beams are Xenon however I don't think they are the best. I found the Morimoto Xenon bulbs I ordered to be so much better.

I may give a Cree LED bulb a try in the main beams just to see what it's like. I wanted to know what the brightness is like and if the beam pattern is affected in anyway.

[k111aku]

Thanks for the replies really find them helpful and useful

[normski2]

Ahh I see...you don't have HID's on your dipped beam. There are a few cars that did not have HID's. My old 220d had the plain halogen/xenon bulbs......and they were utter rubbish. Took the car back to Lexus on 2 occasions at night to show them how poor they were.

The projector HID's fitted to most models are just superb.

[k111aku]

My dipped beams came with HID Xenon as standard just that I upgraded the bulbs to be ultra white 5000k.

I'm now looking to update the main beams for more whiter and brighter light.

[ChumpusRex]

I'm now looking to update the main beams for more whiter and brighter light.

Don't bother. There is no viable upgrade.

If you must, then try to get hold of philips 9011 bulbs. These are basically upgraded halogen bulbs. They are decently brighter, but for legal reasons they aren't allowed to fit into conventional headlights. So, they come with a tab that you cut off and then they are a perfect fit. The tab is even labelled with cut lines.

LED retrofits are so dim as to be useless.

Only other option is HID, but wiring is difficult and there is a lot of sensitive electronics which can be disturbed by cheap HID units. I've seen video of an IS250 start steering itself, steering wheel flailing from side to side all on its own with such force that it could have broken a child's arm, all because someone installed an aftermarket HID ballast in a convenient space next to the steering ECU.

[normski2]

Only other option is HID, but wiring is difficult and there is a lot of sensitive electronics which can be disturbed by cheap HID units. I've seen video of an IS250 start steering itself, steering wheel flailing from side to side all on its own with such force that it could have broken a child's arm, all because someone installed an aftermarket HID ballast in a convenient space next to the steering ECU.

Flippin eck...thats scary!!!

[Captain Fizz]

Might not be worth much but tried an LED headlight bulb in my Focus...

Took it out the next day and stuck on one from Tesco.

Instead of a beam there was a diffuse light coming from the front.

A single Cree LED may do better bu tthe "loads of LED's on a stick" don't work.

[Exdee]

HIDs takes time to warm up and as courtesy to other road users you shouldn't really run it in a reflector .

LED applications have no distance and aren't legal I believe.

I think most of the people who want to change their high beams want to match their lows and get that instant on/off effect.

The IS250 has a bixenon projector so you can always remove the high beam bulbs and still retain high beam functionality.

Brightness will be poor but it should tick the rest of the two boxes.