Mission Accomplished.

 

Kathy, go for the Morimoto 5K, they are equivalent in color to daylight. The Philips and CRIs aren't worth the price. The difference in lumen output between 4300K and 5000K is minimal.

 

Thanks for the info!! Nice car btw!

 

You're welcome and thanks.

 

Kathy! Everything you needed to know has already been answered, so I'll just say this: If you have the original bulbs in your 04 TL (that's about 8-9 years), those bulbs are pretty much at the end of their life (colorshifted) and they're probably dim. Besides any bulb you get, will be new PLUS they'll be brighter since your originals are pretty much dim.

 

Thanks Acura Dude! Yeah, I've got a lot of great information from this site! Love it! Now, I just have to make my decision!

 

What bulbs did you get?

 

Hey! I haven't ordered them yet, but I'm going to go with the morimoto 5000k or 60000k with the zkw-r lenses. I want the bright white w/ some bluish tint to it, but not look so "rice-y" lol.

 

Nice! 5000K with zkw-r lenses would be perfect imo.

 

I think the 6000k will give me a tinge of blue... according to 'The RetroFit Source' lol... depending on the angle you're viewing the car at. PLUS, it's at 2800 lumens, which I'm sure is still bright, and the 5000k is at 3000 lumens.. only a 200 difference!

 

I orderd 5k CBI's, Post pics wen u get the bulbs in,for comparison.

 

6000k bulbs look good to on coming cars especially in a car with HID projectors, but when the road is wet/damp your visibility is next to none. That's why up until recently France did away with mandatory yellow headlights because they work so much better in adverse conditions.

 

I remember having 6000K in one of my old cars then swapping them out for 5000K. The 6000K bulbs seemed a bit dull and almost seemed to tire my eyes. From that point on I've never gone past 5000K. The 5000K's will definitely stand out for you.... my You'll get the blue tinge with the zkw-r lenses - you can see the blue band at the top of my cut-off in the garage door pic I posted earlier.

 

My CBIs are well worth the price. I never have had any issue and they light the road up better than any car ive passed (driving home a hour from work at night). They are an investment that could last you for years to come.

 

Thanks to all the feedback, I appreciate them all! Yeah, I probably will stay with 5000k for sure, a lot of my guy friends who know cars better than I do recommend them as well.

 

Hey Nick! Do you have any pics you can post of your CBI's?

 

UPDATE GUYS!!

So, I just put in my order through The Retrofit Source. I ordered the Morimoto 3Five (35W) bulbs, went w/ 5000K, also purchased the ZKW-R lenses and a D2S ballast adapters to connect to my current ballasts. (figure I save some money by using my current ballasts which are in good condition). I will post some pictures after they get installed, etc! I'm excited for this change... glad I got some GREATand useful information from you guys!

 

I'm not sure you needed the ballast adapters.
as the morimotos 35watt d2s bulbs are plug and play.

as for the ZKW-r's
you do know that you have to OPEN up your headlights by baking them and carefully installing the lenses, then sealing them back up again???????? which isnt as easy as just plugging in some bulbs.

 

I do need the ballast adapters because my ballasts are not OEM, they're aftermarket and in order for my ballasts to connect to the D2S bulbs, I need the adapter to connect the ballasts and bulbs together. I am not the one installing all of these, but have found someone local who does these and he's able to install them for me. Heck, I don't even know how to install the plug in play parts alone, so I'm aware of this job.

 

The aftermarket ballasts I have in my car right now are for the 9006 bulbs, which apparently the guy who installed it just pushed it into the projector part of the headlight... gave me light to drive at night, etc, but was not the correct bulb.. I asked The Retrofit Source and they advised me to get the adapters so I can use my current ballasts w/ the d2s bulbs... makes sense.

 

thanks for clarifying!
Just didnt want you to spend for something you didnt need.

 

His ballast adapters are necessary. His current HID kit came with AMP connections to connect to the 9006 bulbs. The D2S adapters come with the D2S connection along with AMP connections to hook up the ballasts.


Oops, already answered, should have refreshed my page.

 

They're great bulbs but not worth two to three times the price of the Morimotos for a 200-300 lumen increase. I guarantee two sets of Morimotos will last far longer than one set of CBIs.

 

LOL.. Nate, I'm a girl though.. you got the 'his' and 'hers' mixed up ;P

 

Thanks for looking out, Justin!

 

Now how the hell was I supposed to know that lol

 

what kind of logic is that...

 

u want teh best u gota pay for it. cbi>

 

LOL. I just thought that you guys would've guessed it since I didn't know much about my own car haha.. I know some things, but not as intense as you guys.

 

^also, she mentioned her name

 

in addition to Philips HID D2S bulbs...

would you guys consider this Philips 85122WX 6000k (Ultinon) D2S BulbS 35W as another option to Morimotos 3five and Osram CBI?


http://www.umnitza.com/philips-d2s-8...ir-p-5693.html

 

LOL! That's true.

 

Perfectly sound logic, actually. Lets do the math now shall we. The cheapest CBIs I found were $110 on Amazon, the Morimotos are $45, two sets would still be less expensive than one of the CBIs. We're talking about a combined output of around 6000 lumens, a few hundred more on top of that is a negligible difference. You are paying a hefty premium for a moderate increase in brightness and the brand. Two sets of Morimotos for less than the cost of one set of CBIs will last much longer. That's the truth of the matter.

 

quality/reliability, man. Its the same reason people buy apple products. Its not very sound logic if you are basing price as the sole reason for not buying them. Everyone has their opinion, enjoy.

 

It's actually ~10% more output at a higher kelvin rating.

What you're paying extra for is that little bit of extra output but at the COLOR everyone actually wants.

5k lights with ~3500 lumens each.

 

As I said, two sets of Morimotos will last much longer than one set of CBIs for less. What's so hard to understand about this? Reliability is a non-factor, these lamps are much easier to manufacture than they used to be and lifetime is generally good, just look at the reviews. The CBIs output around 200-400 more lumens per lamp, as I said, that's a moderate increase. Them are the facts. If you want to pay a premium for the brand name and slightly better performance that's your prerogative but the reality is different, just as Apple products do not actually have a higher reliability as real world statistics prove, they use the same hardware sourced from multiple manufacturers as in every other device.

 

ok chief you are stubborn. As said before, enjoy

 

Look who's talking. I presented my argument, not my problem if you don't want to acknowledge factual data.

 

It's apples and oranges guys. You can't use logic like that.

Without a doubt the CBIs are a better product. They are a niche item.

Gotta pay to play.

Ask yourself this, if you knew that the morimotos would die twice as fast as the CBIs, would you really buy TWO morimotos instead of one set of CBIs? Didn't think so.

 

The problem is they don't, you are making a baseless claim. 9 times out of 10 the morimotos will last just as long or very close to it.