Hi everyone,

I recently purchased a 2013 Acura TL sh-awd and I bought new expensive xenon HID lowbeam bulbs, but they just don't compare to the look of LED. I really want to switch to LED, but I'm having trouble finding a solution. Has anyone switched their D2S bulbs over to LED? I'm thinking there must be a way. Thanks!

 

Why would you want to? The fact is, HID lighting is about as good as it gets; LEDs are just the latest "gotta have" because new cars have them. The fact is, retrofitting an HID equipped car won't buy you anything in terms of better lighting.

 

The factory HID lights in the TL are pretty darn good having owned a bunch of vehicles with them...

I can't imagine feeling the need you need to upgrade them.

 

pass... so many threads with people wanting to do this and then don't end up doing it because it's .. HID > LED for headlights.

 

what model of "expensive Xenon HID lights" did you buy?

 

Actually times are changing, you can get better performance from LED's vs Xenons, but not most LED's will perform better vs xenon. I did a lot of testing and few LED's came on top.

 

Unless you find LED's with the tune-able diode that allows it to move and properly utilize the HID projector, LED's won't out-perform HID.


What testing did you do that led you to your results?

 

Measuring lux at various spots of beam pattern. Believe in me, I spend probably thousands in $ testing ant making all kind a led lights for my and friends cars

 

Pics of said beam pattern please


I'll believe it when i see it.

 

Here are some pictures of garage engineering:

 

and some more:

 

and more:

 

Jeeez. U are serious about this! Impressive!
Side note—where are you that there is snow on the ground already!!😬

 

Very nice! any Any particular LEDS you recommend for our TL's? It seems like my HID's are getting dull, partly because headlights are getting hazy. Is there a recommended interval for replacing HID bulbs? My TL is from 2010.

 

If we're talking proper retrofitting to get a true LED/Bi-LED projector, then yes, I'll say the technology is getting better and better and will soon far surpass HID.
Looks like a lot of your latter LED pictures are for the auxilary/fog lights. OP is asking about plugging and playing LED D2S bulbs into their stock housing. Have you found a good quality D2S LED bulb that minics the optics of its HID counterpart properly?

 

All LED's and HID's loose brightness as they age, and since your bulbs are nearly 10 years old you should notice a huge improvement.

If you want a replacement HID bulb, Philips Osram CBI's are pretty epic and they have a newer version of it too. I use the CBI's on my cars and love them.

 

Best bulb I tested so far in projector is this type of bulb:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/D1S-D2S-D3S...cAAOSwfo9a8Wet

There are other "manufactures" of this same bulb (Novsight, P9, DDm Tuning etc), but in general they are made in same factory in China. This bulb have big hot spot, high light intensity on the sides, but little shadow in front of the car.
In this picture you can compare 35W Osram CBI VS this kind LED bulb:


And I would change my HID's as soon they starting to change their light color...(going pink)

 

If you like CBI you will love CBB. In general, Osram s best in LED and Xenon lighting....

CBB is brighter compared to CBI...

 

Great information Thanks for posting

 

The lux meter you're using isn't designed to accurately meter LED light sources. Readings are probably off by 20% or more.

Nor is it designed to meter HID light sources.

 

Correct, this is for comparison purposes only