Folks… need some help please. Mr driver side needs replacement so I need to get a full pair. I have been searching and researching this all night, and the consensus seems to be that the Morimotos are a great back for buck, but also producing highest luminosity at 805 lumens, versus the Osram's 788 lumens. But I have also read that quality is sometimes an issue, some color mismatch and some hot spots, etc.

Are the Osrams worth the $185 price tag on theretrofitsource? Or should I just stick with the $50 xB35s?

Which looks/works best for our TSX? I'm sure most/some of you have tried one or the other. Thanks for your help.

D2S: Osram Xenarc 66240 CBI - HID Bulbs - Components

D2S Morimoto XB XB35 XB55 OEM HID D2S Xenon headlight bulbs lamps headlamp replacement Philips Osram CBI 85122

 

Osrams for sure.

 

Is it worth the price though? Why? Have you tried either?

 

Bump... Anyone else?

 

I have the XBs in my truck, they are not as bright as the oem Acura bulbs. People have reported burning out XBs as well as misaligned bulbs.

 

Isn't your car still under warranty?


ARe these better htan OEM replacements?

 

OEM bulbs are 4300k color temp, CBIs are 5500k. Main reason to get the CBIs over oem is if you want the white with slight hint of blue color change.

 

Warranty doesn't cover hid bulbs or bulb burn outs. I could care less about warranty coverage. My question is which bulb (Osram CBI's or morimoto xb) is better.

I'm not asking about oem. I don't want oem anymore. I am wondering about Osram CBI's or morimoto.

What do you have for sale? And why?

 

I covered that. There's a reason XBs are priced lower than CBIs, and it has to due with the low quality control compared to Osram.
I was replying to 2012wagon, I even quoted his question.

 

I went from morimoto 5500k bulbs to the Philips equivalent of the CBI bulbs. HUGE improvement. The 5k morimoto bulbs were much more blue and much dimmer. Spend more money on the nicer bulbs and never look back.

 

^ this is good to know. Thank you for the feedback. What's weird is that they rate the Morimoto's brighter, at something like 805 luminosity. So I'm curious as to why they seemed dimmer, despite the blue-er tinge.

So you're thinking spend on the Osram's eh?

 

Definitely spend the money if you have it on the better bulbs. Either CBI or the Philips C1 extreme. Get the best bulbs right away instead of buying multiple bulbs on down the road.

There is also a coupon code for the retrofit source that gives you like 15% off. I forget what it is but search the forums and you'll find it.

 

I'm guessing TRS is going to praise Morimoto bulbs since they manufacture them, no?


I just put in an order for the 66240 CBI's myself after reading tons of reviews and watching countless videos on YouTube. I've had terrible experiences with cheap bulbs before and rather not deal with the headaches again.


I did not go through TRS though. I found them for $180 with free shipping as opposed to $188 shipped @ TRS. (Hopefully they're genuine, lol.)




I tried using the coupon code ACURAZINE but it seems to not work anymore.

 

Did you try emailing them? Sometimes the vendors will work with you if it means getting a sale.

 

I probably should have, but I didn't.


Already ordered them elsewhere.

 

Thank you for this feedback. In my conversations with TRS, apparently they redesigned their xB35's to be better (last 2 months). They say that it holds up against the CBI's.

I still went with the Osram's though. I figured, I'll be keeping my TSX forever, so I'm not going to skimp on the lighting. I loved my OEM Osrams, but will love these more I think.

I didn't know Morimoto was made by TRS. Thank you for your post. This opened up my eyes for me. I can see why they may be pushing it. Either way, I went ahead with the Osram's. They arrive later this week. I can't wait to get it installed.

 

15friday is the current promo for TRS ends today at 6pm EST.


for the pricepoint, the XB35 are amazing. Of course the CBI is going to be better.. it's 3 times the price..

 

The first set of Morimotos I had years ago, 5Fives were great, I bought a set of the 3Fives for my TL and one flickered so I returned them and went with CBI's. I'd still buy them again but the CBI's went on sale and I have no complaints with them. Realistically the Morimotos are more than adequate but for the lifespan of the bulbs it would probably bug me if I felt like I was skimping when all the other HID parts are OEM.

 

thanks for the info guys. Yeah, despite the fact that the Morimoto's are "new and improved", I went ahead with the Osram's to have that piece of mind. The fact that they were on sale is what pushed me over the edge. It came out to be around $100 more for the CBI's. To me, 100 bucks is a small price to pay for having a brighter, crisper, whiter light, and not having to worry about things flaking out over a short time, then having to replace it yet again.

 

So mad that I didn't know about the sale until AFTER I ordered my bulbs somewhere else.

 

+1, same experience I had.

You'll be glad you didn't waste your time/$$ on the Morimoto junk.

 

Both of you, really good info. Thank you much. I'm surprised though, because in talking with TRS they really think their Morimotos are on par with the Osrams. They say, they even have it on THEIR cars, and can't tell the difference. Is that just mumbo jumbo or are their Morimotos really "new and improved" like they say? Either way, they're probably made in china, assembled here, etc. Right? Osram's are made in Germany for sure.

FYI, my bulbs are arriving today and am getting them installed today or tomorrow. Will post pics and updates once they're ready.

 

Well, I guess my experience compared the 3five Morimoto bulbs. In my opinion 5500k is also too blue for my taste, and the CBI/Philips bulbs give a much better white temperature. They now perfectly match my 5000k pure white V3 triton switchbacks.

Either way you'll still get the peace of mind getting the bulbs that you know will for sure be better. Even if marginally better I think it's still worth it since you will use them almost every night.

 

Mine arrived yesterday, will be installing this weekend.


In for pictures!

 

Agree. 100 bucks for peace of mind is cheap. If they work good I'm putting them on my mustang and wife's Prius too.

They're getting installed at my shop right now!

Here's how they looked out of the box! I was giddy like a school kid opening them lol

 

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE DAMN OSRAM CBI's.

Period.

I thought the stock ones were good, but these take the cake. The light is brighter, whiter, and very crisp.

I wonder how these would look like with even better lenses than our stock TSX lenses/projectors.

Here's a couple pics for proof. Thank God I got these over the Morimotos. I need to get a pair of D3S's for my Mustang. I don't think they make them for the Toyota (H11's). hmmmm...

 

Do they look that blue when looking at the projector? Or is it just the picture?

 

Definitely just the picture. I didn't know how to take a pic of headlights looking head on. If too head on, they flare and glare too much. If off center, looked too dark if I made the shutter speed too fast

They're not blue at all. Not yellow either. Best pure white I've seen.

 

Post pictures!

 

ummm they're in post #26 above.

 

Awesome! I ask because I purchased some 5k fog bulbs to match, didn't want it to look off. Lol

 

I was also looking into the Osram CBI HID bulbs
from the retrofit source and in the drop down box
it says its a 5500k hid bulb bulb but when you click
on the image the box says 5000k anyone know what
kelvin they really are