Alright, so I read this:
Q. What's the difference of D2S and D2R?
A. D2S bulbs are made for vehicles with projector headlight housings such as BMW 3 Series, Honda S2000. D2R bulbs are made for vehicles with reflector headlight housings such as Lexus IS300, Infiniti G35.


With that being said.. am I hard pressed to only choose D2R bulbs for my (on its way) '03 TL-S? I mean is there a difference in output or just a connection aspect? Any thoughts would help

I did search but wasn't able to get a result.. thanks!

 

i think the connector is different to your housing. i dont even know thats what i want to know too.

 

Yeah I agree victor.. semi-confusing and I've spent quite some time trying to dig up some info..

I read that there is now also a D2C variant which can be used in either housing.. which would lead me to believe that this difference is only a connection aspect BUT who knows?

 

i am newb but i can help u guy son this one, there is 2 kinds and 3 major brands, ok d2s is for projector's and d2r is for reflective headlight , ok the 2 brands pilhips and orsam the pihipls are not interchange able but the orsam are, ohh btw the afthermarket d2c bulbs will work in the tl's they both have the same connection. hope that helps. sorry for the grammer little drunk and dark .

 

D2Rs have slightly less light output because they have a shield that shields the lower part of the capsule. Without that shield you could hurt your eyes when looking at the headlights in a reflector housing. Get the D2R's - not only because that's what it's designed for - but for the rest of us who have to look at your car and don't want our eyes damaged.

All of the connectors are the same. The actual lights are the same. The shield is the only difference.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

The difference b/t the D2R and D2S bulbs are the fitment at the base of the bulb, and the D2R bulbs have a dark metallic like painted strip on them that acts like a shield to block like from scattering inside our reflective type housing.

I removed the strip on my old Osram D2R's (making them D2S bulbs) and installed them....but wasn't happy with them. The light was very scattered without the cut-off seen on HID lights. Also, too much glare when looking at the lights.

Go with the Philips Ultinon 6000K D2R's. These are perfect combo b/t color and light output.