Have you guys thought about replacing yellow OEM fog lamps with bi-xenon or other halogen bulbs? Is it worth doing it to begin with?

 

Depends on whether you really use them for fog. Yellower is better for fog, whiter just means more reflection back at you. Yellow actually cuts a little better due to less reflection.

Try using your HIDs in dense fog, and you will understand immediately.

 

thanks for the info Chas... its just that the white+yellow combo is less appealing to my eyes... but like you said, safety comes first :-)

 

It kind of depends on where you live. In San Diego, where I used to live, fog was not a real problem. In that desert like climate, I would change the colors.


In certain parts of the Central Valley in California, it was a real issue. It can be an issue here in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia depending on the time of year. These places, I would stay with stock.

 

I replaced mine with PIAA 4000 Kelvin halogen bulbs and the disparity in the color is almost invisible. I know about the fog issue, buy hey, when will I ever see or drive through heavy fog anyway. And yes I have tried HID through fog and they are still far better than regular halogen bulb, so I thought that instead of waiting to get fog and make use of my foglights, why not enjoy it during my daily driving by upgrading it and matching the color as close to the HID's. And besides, those by PIAA gives out great illumination compared to the oem foglights.

 

I jsut replaced mine with a set from http://www.hoen-usa.com/ (recommended on this forum). The color is almost identical to the HID headlights.

LL

 

Do you have a part# ?

 

Just go to the website, click on "Fog Lamp Bulbs," and choose "H11."

Or just click HERE.

LL

 

Thanks LL. I just ordered a pair.

I've only had my RL for 2 months but hate the different colors on the lamps. I am one of those who likes to run with his fog lights on all the time.

Anything to be aware of when changing these bulbs? I haven't even looked under the car yet

 

What about hi-beams? Any suggestions for bulbs that match the HIDs? Sorry, I know this is slightly off topic.

 

I didn't change the high beams bec I thought that its main use is Running Daylight and having it as yellowish makes it more visible than having it a little whiter. The combination of the HID and the foglight is more than enough for me in the evening drives.

 

And i didn't go to those HOEN ones because I'm kinda worried about diminished illumination. I've had my low beam bulb replaced in the past with something that is colored blue and oh boy is it useless during night driving specially when you are driving over asphalt. I'm just thinking, if I upgrade, it must not affect the performance of the foglights very drastically or even improve it.

 

Are you saying these HOEN lights are not as bright as the bulbs included with the car? I just ordered a pair, hope not

 

The glass on the Hoen bulb is blueish rahte than clear, giving them the color to match the HIDs. They may not be as bright but I haven't noticed much of a difference. I was going more for the color match look though so I'm happy.

LL

 

I changed my bulbs to Sylvania Silverstar Ultras. Not as blue as the HIDs but they do have more of a blue tint than the OEM bulbs (and are supposed to last longer than standard Siverstar bulbs which I've head burn out pretty quickly). I didn't want blue glass because unlike my fog lights, I did want the illumination out of these. So far, so good.

One thing I noticed was that when I took the OEM bulbs out, each one had some brown deposits inside the capsule. Anyone know what this could be? Oxidation?

LL

 

Relatively straightforward. There's a plastic cover along the bottom corner of the bumper. You need to remove two bolts and a plastic retaining clip on each side (obvious and simple). Don't remove the plastic cover, just wiggle it free and peel it back.

Do the passenger side first. there's a bit less room so it's nice to get the hard one (but still not all that hard) done first and save the easy one for last.

Disconnect the leads first (you have to squeeze a little "bumpy thing closer to the wire end to unclip the lead), untwist the bulb, twist in the new bulb (don't touch the glass...but you already knew that), snap the lead on the new bulb, put the plastic cover back in place and reinstall the bolts and clip. What's nice is that with the way the fog lamp is set up, you can look into the lens as you put the replacement bulb in and see that you have it properly centered before twisting it in place.

All in all, including my headlights (which I did at the same time), about 20 minutes (which includes loostening the battery so you can reach behind it to change the driver's side headlight) but I did put the front wheels up on a couple of ramps so I had a little more room to work.

Next lighting project, blue LEDs for the license and doors (anyone know a good, inexpensive LED bulb and supplier?).

LL

 

OK, that's good. I want the color match, but I also want them to be functional still

 

They just released H11 Crystal Ion Yello Bulbs.
But I changed mine to
XenonDepot HID Conversion Kit : 3000k XenonDepot HID Conversion Kit
It cost $449.99. NO Installation cost (DIY)
It is working great and the color is beautiful.
Please check their website if you are interested in.
Thanks.

 

Purchased a set of 'techone' H11 3000k hid's for my wife because her route to and from work passes through a regularly dense fog area.

She's quite pleased with the performance, especially at night, and the comparision between the yellow tinted H11's installed previously versus the HID 3k H11's is like night and day (no pun intended )

 

Thanks LL just ordered the h-11 for my fogs Just want a whiter light This sounds like the set-up

 

Is this a DIY conversion kit? If so, what does a DIY conversion kit mean? (i.e. can an idiot like me open this package, and find the tools and instructions to change the fog lights myself)?

 

Not to impugn your abilities, but based on your previous messages, this will be a little more complex than doing the air filter, so I would call them first and discuss or do the conversion with a friend who is more adept at these things...then you will become more comfortable at other little conversion projects as you get more time and experience under your belt. But if you have never done it before, and are not comfortable working around cars, it could become very frustrating very quickly.

http://www.xenondepot.com/product.php?product_id=83

 

Also, based on what I can scope out by looking under the car, you better own a pair of car ramps or at least a jack and two jack stands. The fog lamps are accessed from underneath and theres not much ground clearance under there

 

Chas + Spicy,

your advises are well appreciated and duly noted... indeed, as you have pointed out, twiddling around with jacks/ramps/etc/etc is definitely not my cup of tea, so i guess i am better off ordering techone H11 3000k HIDs and paying a mechanic or my dealer the labour charge to install them.

 

ohhh and btw, i spoke with my dealer's part manager today... per him, yellow fog lights are illegal in united states... not quite sure what he meant by that...

 

Just in case you're worried about being street legal, from Xenon Depot's website FAQ:

Are these XENON HID light systems street legal?

Every jurisdiction has its own rules and regulations governing the use of automotive lighting. XENON HID lighting systems that are supplied with the vehicles from the factory are DOT approved.

NO XENON HID conversion kit available from any source is DOT approved if installed outside of the factory. Moreover, in the U.S, this is not street legal for use on public roads. As a result, we officially endorse the kit for exhibition and off-road use and will only sell the kit to be used for these purposes. We are not responsible for buyers who violate the terms of sale while in which they will assume all responsibilities for any unauthorized or unintended use other than exhibition or off-road use.

LL

 

Technically, he is correct, FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard) 108 (49 CFR 571.108) governs motor vehicle lighting. Headlights and auxillary lamps such as fog lamps must be white.

As far as I can tell, the definition of white is less than tight, and is apparently a chromaticity chart, which is codified in SAE standard J578, which is why you have yellowish looking tungsten halogen lights and blue white looking, manufacturer installed, high intensity discharge lights, and all are legal. The color temperature of white is all over the map. While we cannot have yellow bulbs, you can have warmish yellow white bulbs, such as the traditional tungsten halogen lights, which, in my opinion, work better in fog than the cooler "whiter" HID light. In fact, companies like Phillips market DOT legal replacement "high visibility" tungsten halogen light bulbs for use in rainy environments and they are just warmer white (tending toward yellow, but not yellow) bulbs.

So to make a long story short, I stick with the stock lamps, because 1) I am lazy, and 2) they have the more yellowish, but not yellow, still legal white, color that does not reflect back at you as much in the fog, or at least in my experience, but...

Of course, after all this research, in the end, it is sort of a moot point anyway with the HID headlights...You cannot run the fogs independently of the headlights so you will get the HID glare no matter what!

So I guess if you want to change the fogs to a different color, more closely matching to the HIDs, go ahead, but be careful that they are "street legal"

 

I don't know why the foglight color would matter. Since they're only used during fog, no one else sees them, right? Surely you don't use them when it's not foggy because that would make you, in official terms, a really big jerk. Right? :wink:

 

I guess I'm a jerk. I use them all the time.

They don't hurt anyone coming towards you because they are designed to run low and wide. It's not like you're running with highbeams on all the time. The benefit I have always found over the years is that it "fills in" the close up area in front of you and also spreads wide to show you what's to the side near the curbs. It's just more light to provide better visibility. Why wouldn't you want to use them? What am I missing?

 

Add another jerk to the list I have always run my fogs all the time / just looks better to me
I have never found normal fogs to be offensive coming the other way HID'S aimed too high or high beams sure but not fogs Just my opinion

 

i am a half-jerk when it comes to driving with fog lights.. sometimes i turn them on @ night, but then forget to turn them off...however, the one thing i have noticed is that while driving on roads not separated via dividers, the fogs do tend to cause temporary vision compromise for the incoming side (i noticed this the other day when a bmw 5series crossed me with its fogs on... when it came real close, i could barely see anything momentarily..)

 

Heh, I probably shouldn't have said "jerk" (though I did use a smiley), but I've got real negative associations with the SUVs that drive around urban areas headlights and foglights blazing because they think it makes them look cool. I've never encountered another RL on the road at night, so maybe ours are aimed politely. As I see it as well lit as urban settings are your lights exist not to light your way but to help others to see you. One pair of lights on front does that just fine.

That said I did drive around with mine on for a few weeks after applying my rock blocker film as they suggested it would help with the adhesive curing.

 

thanks for the info, I just ordered those piaas last night on ebay with the cashback thing, came out to 50 shipped. Any more feedback on those? does anyone else here use these?

Decent reviews on amazon steered me towards these, does anyone have the sylvania h11st?