Hi everyone...new member here proud owner of 2001 CL typeS w/nav......I love this car...ive done some customizing on car myself looks really good blk on blk.....my question is..i bought some 10000k hid replacement bulbs off ebay...they give off great blue glow however the seem very dim....and it seems just the upper half of light is lit up? do I need to upgrade stock ballast? thanks pictures coming soon im in probation period....joe

 

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the farther you get from the roughly 4000K temperature range for the lights, the less light output there is available to light the road.

 

you lose lumens the higher you go on the kelvin scale.
4300k is best for visibility. 8000k and anything above will severely hurt visibility

 

if you want some blue color and visibility then get 6000K. Anything over 6000K is just pointless because you won't see anything.

 

one more thing - Stay away from cheap Ebay bulbs, They are nothing but junk. Use brand name bulbs or get Morimoto Bulbs from theretrofitsource.com. Morimoto bulbs are a great way to go with price and quality.

 

Really 10k headlight bulbs?

You'd probably get more usable light strapping one of these to your head and using it as a headlight.

 

Go 4300-5000K or don't drive at night/in the rain.

 

, , :notsomuch:, , ,& .

OSRAM CBI 5000k have the highest visible luminosity on the market. It is not that anything above 5000k doesn't give off as much light, it's that your eyes cannot see the light which makes them worthless and ricey.

Jake is spot on that you just wasted your money buying eBay bulbs. They are crap. They don't give off as much light, they don't disperse the light as well, and they will break early when compared to genuine tier1 bulbs. theretrofitsource.com is a great option for researching and buying HID equipment.

 

i lol'd when i read "HID bulb upgrade" in the title and then read that OP got 10000k bulbs.

 

Dude he drives a CL TypeS. HIDs are OEM.

 

Sorry. I assumed.

Post edited.

 

While it's true the CL-S comes with HIDs from the factory, it always boggled my mind that they were reflectors and not projectors. I used to get flashed all the time in my CL-S and I couldn't figure out why. It's actually probably a good thing he got 10000's because it won't blind other drivers as much as the OEM bulbs lol.

 

Common noobie mistake.

OP, Next time spend that money on an eight-ball of coke and invite me over. I'll fill you in on what not to do with your car.

 

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...ducts_id=19006

I believe D2R is what you need, Morimoto would be the best bang for the buck upgrade.

 

Negative ghost rider, could have sworn they were only on the 2003's, if it isn't a 03 its a 9006 halogen bulb.