I have a 2008 tl type s right now, its stock is bi-xenon headlights. I had a quote of 350 with installion on the 8300k hids. Would it be worth the upgrade?

 

Nope. The higher you go, the more light output you lose, and the more color you get. I have 8000k in my 04 TL. Yea they look sweet, but not really worth it. I only paid $120 to get mine in.

 

no, 8K lights will have less light output and will be a bluish purplish color. You can buy bulbs for around 200 dollars from vendor's here, and there are instructions with photo's here on how to swap them. Get 5K - 6K temp bulbs if you want to upgrade.

 

Can't you guys just buy the bulbs? I know with my HID kit you can interchange the temperature of bulbs. I started with 8000k and now have 6000k. On ebay I can get bulbs for 30 bucks shipped for 2 HID bulbs. Is the TL like that as well?

 

TLs come with HID's, you just have to buy the bulbs and change them up.

 

you loose to much light with 8k bulbs they look sweet tho. i went with 6k headlight bulbs and 6k fog lights and they are amazing

 

side question: the stock headlights are what k? I assumed they were 6k but not sure.

 

they are 4300k, i agree with everyone 6000k is best!

 

Is it the same for every 3G TL?

 

I've been through countless setup's, if you want 8k go for it!IMO While you do lose output it's not that bad. I was still When I drive my mom's or sister's accord with halogens, THAT'S BAD!! I'm currently running 6k but am actually thinking about throwing the 8k back in for the summer... here are some pic's for comparison

STOCK 4300k



6000k



8000k

 

and FYI: I got my hid fog kit, 3k, 6k, 8k, 10k, bulb's for both head/fog's and installed myself(not that hard) for about $350.

 

Can you list the exact bulbs you used?

Your 6k bulbs look brighter than your 4300 yellows...

 

They are! My bad the fog's at that time we're yellow halogen NOT HID YET.I posted up pic's to compare headlight's. yellow is 3k, gotta dig up pic's of my 3k fog's with 6k or 8k headlight's. I don't know the exact brand of bulb's but they we're an ebay special that I've been running for over a year with really no issues.

 

Stock is 4300k HID as stated in this thread. All you need to do for 8500k is buy new bulbs which cost arround $100. You can get them from a vendor. Here is the direct link:

http://store.excelerateperformance.c.../i-236448.aspx

I bought the 6000k bulbs and they are awesome, I love em!

 

6000k is the perfect loss of light and gain of color. I can't see myself losing anymore light then I already notice by switching to 6000K by going even higher just for looks. I won't deny though that anytime I see 8000K approaching me .. it catches my attention everytime cuz it looks sick. Just not practical.

 

You absolutely CANNOT use these photos to judge the color and brightness of the lights. Because the variable here is the camera used, as well as the settings.

Unless the photos were all shot at the same time, same exact angle, and same settings on the camera (shooting manual with same shutter speeds, aperture, and same white balance), else the camera's own auto white balance (or someone who ends up adjusting them in photoshop without adjusting the right color temperature) will screw up the colors.

As others have noted, the higher K you go, the less output on the ground. The light will turn "whiter" to "blue" then to "purple". Blue and purple wavelength refract much easier, thus can cause more glare to oncoming traffic, giving the appearance that the light is brighter when it really isn't.

 

Kaixen 5000k bulbs from Excelerate are great,
6000 loses white on the ground in front of the car
PM him for ziner special price

 

Ya I agree, I was just trying to get a rough idea by comparing to the headlights.
Also, I thought the stock fogs are halogen not hid, correct? I can't just drop a 6k bulb in my fogs and hope it works?

Sorry for the dum dum questions.

 

Can you please specify if you have these as headlights or fogs, thanks.

 

The stock fogs are halogen and not HIDs: correct.

You can drop in a Halogen aftermarket bulb (6000k, 8000k, etc...) if you want, but you cannot use a HID bulb in there. You would have to get a HID conversion kit.

 

I am talking about 5000k in the low beam headlights

kaixen brand is well proven- they are industry test lab, and excelerate has a great price for us on a pair of them
Cheap HID bulbs-- you get what you pay for on these

I am gen2 so my lights may differ- we have HID low beam 4300k stock and halogen hi beam which is pretty worthless as it comes on in addittion to the lows- but only 1/3 of their power
My 01 didnt come with fogs, but I run aftermarket units in the lower grill
3000 for the actual fog we get here -its pretty thick
if you want to match headlights its easy to find 5000 halogen or you can get small kits with HID ballast and everything to replace fogs

Also look for this color to use in your home office or workshop
Called natural daylight- they range from 5000k-6500k and provide a gentle blue to work under- also good for reading- those special daylight bulbs are 6500k
Check big hardware stores- they have display pics of all color temps

 

I posted the best pic's I have that show the best color for comparison. Is is exact?NO is it damn close?YES MY WHOLE POINT is to defend 8k. Alot of people down them due to loss of light. How many actually RAN them? YES you do lose output but it's not that serious. I was able to drive and see as normal. Where I work is VERY poorly lit if at all, I use my fog's I'm able to see deer on the side and anything else JUST FINE. You get spoiled with the stock hid's.DRIVE A CAR WITH HALOGEN'S AND THEN 8K,YOU'LL THINK 8K IS BRIGHT AS FUCK!! I'll admit vision wise the stock 4300k with 3k hid fog's are bright as fuck and provide the most light for driving. I went with that setup right after the 8k and DAMN what a difference. If you want to look and still have some visibility but lose alittle compared to 4300k 8k all the way!! It not the ricey blue blue, it's still kinda white with a nice tine of blue.


not the best pic but it shows the best color and brightness. How is this not bright enough to see?

 

Thanks for the clarification!
Is there a lumens or candles rating on these bulbs that we can use as comparaison to determine the loss of brightness between 4300 and let's say 8000?

01tl4tl: I didn't realize you had a 2G tl, but I'm familiar with the headlights, I had an 01 CL before this car. The hid bulb for the low beam is completely different between the two isn't it? I do find my tl's low beams a bit brighter than my cl's though.

It's intresting that you all like a bluer light, I would prefer to make mine even whiter

 

I don't see anyone attacking you personally for your choice to go with 8K bulbs. Those who voice their opinion against it explained why one shouldn't use it.

I can take a photo of a halogen headlamp and get that much glare to show up on the photo and then say it's super bright as well. What matters is what you see behind the steering wheel.

I went through the blue-light phase 10 years ago. I've seen how crappy it is behind the wheel. When it's dark, and the road is wet and/or raining, you can't light up crap and people tend to high-beam you because they think your light is too bright (when it's not). It's just more glaring because blue wavelength refracts more readily due to the shorter wavelength. And that's back in the days when HID retrofits used to be $1000+.

Anyhoo. I'm not arguing with anyone. Just getting the facts straight and letting people decide. If you don't care about optimum visibility, and/or you feel that you'll just "make up the difference" with leaving your fogs on, then it's all good. Just understand that fog lights aren't designed to light up more than 15-20 feet in front of the car. Drive safely.

 

Thanks for the feedback, im probably looking at getting either 6000k or 8000k Hids, and 6000k fogs. Any quotes or estimated prices for doing the hids and fogs?

 

I remember I was quoted $550 back in the day when hid's first came out! I wasn't trying to argue at all,and it wasn't that any one was attacking me personally. I'm not even running 8k anymore but def throwing them back in this weekend! I was just trying to say that 8k is isn't as bad as people make it seem. As soon as someone mentions anything higher than 6k it's automatically "don't do it you lose light". While I agree totally with that statement, IMO 8k get's a shitty wrap and TO ME is the limit! I could see just fine in rain or whatever, but granted it wasn't near as lit up 4300k. It's all about personal preference.....

 

I had 5000K works great. 6000K is good too. Don't any higher than 6000K

 

350!!!! wow u are getting robbed my friend.!

www.ebay.com!

 

$200?? i dont understand...i have found so many on froogle.google.com and ebay.com for MUCH less....?

 

Guys lets not forget that not all of us have the same visual acuity here. Some people can see better at night than others.. and this plays a huge difference. I sometimes have problems with my 6000K fogs and Lows .. especially driving through like North Carolina on 95.. man you haven't been on a dark path unless you drive there. Half the time Im using my high beams. And when it rains forget it.. I dont even think 4300K is good enough, those are the times I rather have halogens.

 

one thing i do not like about HIDs is driving up steep hills at night. you can't see a thing above the cutoff so at the bottom of the hill i've got like 15 feet of visibility. then if i use my high-beams i'll blind anyone coming up the other side...

 

Good point,I'm actually use to dark conditions,I was NAVY on a submarine and now I work on computers at NIGHT in a very dim room with no windows. I live in the basement where even at 12 noon it's kinda dark. Sunlight actually bothers my eyes and I have more trouble seeing/driving in daytime. I also think 6k or 8k blends in with the streetlamps very well so your eyes play tricks on you.

I can't agree with the halogen part though, Ever since my first set of hid's EVERY car I've had since, if they don't come with them, they're installed immediatly! I hate driving a car with halogens!! I can't think of a time where I was like "damn, I wish I had halogen's" lol

EDIT: I'm def throwing in the 8k's back in this weekend!!!

 

is there a site where I can check out the color difference between the 6k and 8k hid bulbs?

 

i had 10000k in my hemi ram (both the headlights and foglights) and i could see just fine. In my Audi i ran 10000k AGAIN in the low beams and fogs. I first went with 10000k in the TL (headlights and HID fogs) I recently went with all 8000k in all 4, now im thinking about tryin 6000k in it all around!! the whole point is do what you want. the ram was more than enough light, the Audi i should have done 8000k instead of 10000k, it was good most of the time but at times it was dark(but thats why i wired it to where the fogs, low beam and high beam could all stay on at one time, oh also ended up putting 10000k HID in high beams as well!!!) lol go with what you want....... you will not find anything with more light output than your stock 4300k.

 

do a simple internet search for HID colors and there are sites with pics of each bulb- usually pointed at a fence and dark road
Pics are not toally accurate- what matters is what you can see on the road in front of you, and the road lane lines and signs-
anything with reflecto paint or tape jumps out with the bluer 5 or 6000 over the stock 4300
You can go to Lowes type stores - in the bulb replacement lighting area are big pics of 3000-8000
5000-6500 is considered natural daylight, good for offices
4300 is supposed to provide the best object deferentiation- thats what the scale is about, abilty to pick out objects based on lighting