Improved Headlights?

[gtom61]

Hi. I'm new here and just picked up a 2001 LX470 a few months back for my wife with only 20K on it. I purchased the Sylvanias (H1ST) and want to install them over the weekend. I just looked under the hood and had a few questions: on the driver's side, do I need to remove the battery first? and as far as adjusting the height, i see on the passenger side, there's a long screw that I think is for adjusting that has a phillips head. is that what it's for? and where do I find the adjustment for the driver's side? I called the dealer and they said to bring it in and I couldn't find the answers in the manual. I'd love to do this myself. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

[ShadyJC]

Hi.  I'm new here and just picked up a 2001 LX470 a few months back for my wife with only 20K on it.  I purchased the Sylvanias (H1ST) and want to install them over the weekend.  I just looked under the hood and had a few questions:  on the driver's side, do I need to remove the battery first?  and as far as adjusting the height, i see on the passenger side, there's a long screw that I think is for adjusting that has a phillips head.  is that what it's for?  and where do I find the adjustment for the driver's side?  I called the dealer and they said to bring it in and I couldn't find the answers in the manual.  I'd love to do this myself.  any help would be greatly appreciated.  thanks.

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gtom61, i've been able to get to all the bulbs on the driver side without actually removing and disconnecting the battery. If you unbolt the tie-down clamp you can lift and slide the battery back far enough to get your hand in there to get to the bulbs. Just unscrew the cap and pop out the bulb. Remember to pick up some gloves from Home Depot or a drug store so you don't touch the bulbs!

I did not have to height adjust after I replaced with silverstars, since you are just doing a bulb replacement, your headlight is still pointing in the same place.

[gtom61]

thanks for the help. Glad i can just slide the battery back and have enough room to work. i actually do need to adjust the headlights because they both are aimed too high right now. can you confirm how to adjust both? thanks.

[Jim_Chow]

The Landscruiser Cygnus in Japan (LX470 here) comes w/ HID's...not sure when they changed, but the parts are made. Otherwise, if you happen to be in Germany, you can get E-code lamps (not DOT legal, but that's why they're a lot brighter than the DOT approved ones!), which have a very even light pattern and sharp cutoff. About the harness: stock harnesses are really only designed for 55w bulbs. For higher wattage bulbs, I'd recommend one of those plug & play upgrade harnesses. I installed one of these into my old 4Runner (already running e-codes w/ Hella 55w xenon+50% bulbs) and light output improved 40%, as measured by a photographic light meter capable of reading light changes in 10% increments. Another possibilty is adding HID fog lamps.

[SW03ES]

for the HID system that street legal is not more than 8K bright /candle

power <~ thats same use on the Benz,Bimmer 7 series & Lexus SC430 all of those car use 8K. lol:

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Actually thats not true. The ONLY street legal color temp is 4100k, all OEM HID lights are 4100k be they on Audis, BMWs, Mercedes or Lexus. Some look different colors but that is because of the design of the projector housings NOT because of the color temp.

[LexKid630]

in some states i know a new law was passed; if you have a car wothout the auto-leveling headlamp system, xenon's can not be put in. without the auto-leveling feature, when there is weight in the back seat, the car drops in the back causing the front to lean upwards, shining the light directly into oncoming traffic. The auto-leveling feature "automatically" levels the headlight parallel to the ground preventing this.

[gtom61]

Hey ShadyJC. I just wanted to get back to you to let you know I finally got the bulbs in. My local Lexus dealer was going to charge me $85.00 for labor. I already paid him over $1100.00 for a 30K service and new rear brakes and rotors. I felt he got enough out of me.

You were right. I was able to lift the battery up and even slide it towards the radiator which gave me plenty of room. These H1ST SilverStars are very nice. Not quite Xenon, but definitely nicer than stock. I think I'll also give these bulbs a shot in my fog lamps. Thanks, again.

[ShadyJC]

Hey ShadyJC.  I just wanted to get back to you to let you know I finally got the bulbs in.  My local Lexus dealer was going to charge me $85.00 for labor.  I already paid him over $1100.00 for a 30K service and new rear brakes and rotors.  I felt he got enough out of me.

You were right.  I was able to lift the battery up and even slide it towards the radiator which gave me plenty of room.  These H1ST SilverStars are very nice.  Not quite Xenon, but definitely nicer than stock.  I think I'll also give these bulbs a shot in my fog lamps.  Thanks, again.

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Glad to hear it gtom61, the fog replacement is pretty easy (nothing to move out of the way), just gotta get down there, should be no more than 10-min or so to get to both sides.

The high beam/DRLs are also worth replacing, I got a generic 6000K bulb off eBay and it works well. I also replaced my corner parking lights (that was a PITA to get to) but have since gone back to stock.

[gtom61]

I just ordered the H3ST fogs and i think i'll try some PIAA 9005 high beams... Keep you posted and thanks...

[GSAWDMTL]

One thing that bothered me about thbe LX470 was the lack of HID headlights as an option. The Halogen headlights were adequate, but a truck at that price really should offer HIDs.

[rbtamms]

I changed both Hi/Low beam & foglight on my '01 Rx300...I didn't had any problems & it's really bright compare to stock halogen. It's been six month since I install it & it's still working fine & bright.

[GlennR]

Just a quick update on the Silverstar replacement bulbs - I am now replacing my 2nd set in about a year and a half. Yes, I wore gloves to assure no finger oil on the bulb during installation. No, I don't use the headlights any more than an average amount of time. I expected to get more than 10 months use out of the low-beams - this seems like incredibly short lifespan for this product.

[GlennR]

Hey folks - a quick note to let you know that I have had my 4th warranty replacement for my Silverstars in less than 2 years. Yes, the replacements are free (and the O'Reilly employee always smiles when I walk thru the door) - but the Silverstars are total POS. I have taken a VOM to make certain that the bulbs weren't getting too much current. The guy at O'Reilly said that they are thinking of no longer carrying them - too much of a pain in the !Removed!, as many people are experiencing the same issues as I am.

YMMV.

[JimB]

Has anyone heard of, or actually done, a replacement of the headlights (hi and lo beams) with sylvania silverstars??? I have heard they will improve the lighting quite a bit.

silverstars are a good choice for an easy replacement. They provide much whiter light than stock bulbs. HID are even brighter and whiter. They are also much more expensive. I have had the silverstars for over a year with no issues.

[sueyoustudent]

Has anyone heard of, or actually done, a replacement of the headlights (hi and lo beams) with sylvania silverstars??? I have heard they will improve the lighting quite a bit.

Hi everyone. New to the board and a first time Lexus owner. I recently bought a 93 SC400 with 145,000 miles on it from a second owner for $4600. It was by far the cleanest I had looked at, relative to what I paid for it. (I almost bought one from a hack dealer in LA who I found out from the mechanic next door that he cut the airbag light to keep it from coming back on.) The car had one or two minor issues asthetically and did need bushings in the rack and pinon.

That all being said, I wanted to upgrade the headlights, so I first removed the slight haze with some 3M rubbing compound. I found a guy on craigslist.org here in Los Angeles who had the HID conversions listed for $160. I was a bit skeptical at first, but proceeded to buy them anyhow. They were incredibly simple to install and the end result was phenomenal. His website is www.xenonguru.com For whatever reason, they are more expensive on his site, but if you live in the LA area and want a relatively inexpensive upgrade, this is it. I installed the 1200K light and it's awesome. I think they are $199 on the site. I almost had a local shop do the conversion for me because I thought it would be a big pain in the !Removed!. They wanted $350 installed and were using the same kit!

I don't know if I've ever been this excited about owning a car, let alone a used car. I put a K&N on it and want to put exhaust on it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance and look forward to all of the informative posts you all put up...-R

[new2mud]

SC300 uses separate bulb for low/high. Unfortunately the HID retrofit option is not ideal for us 1LS owners due to the 9004 bulb and poor glass pattern design, which will result in blinding oncoming drivers if we put in HID.

Still looking for good solutions, such as fog light replacement, etc. Anyone have an idea of what actual pattern the fog light housing produces?

[TxPres]

in some states i know a new law was passed; if you have a car wothout the auto-leveling headlamp system, xenon's can not be put in. without the auto-leveling feature, when there is weight in the back seat, the car drops in the back causing the front to lean upwards, shining the light directly into oncoming traffic. The auto-leveling feature "automatically" levels the headlight parallel to the ground preventing this.

I know that the 2005 Toyota Sienna could be ordered with HID headlights without Auto-leveling. My son has one and it has a Manual leveling system where you can raise and lower the headlight aim from the drivers seat while the car is moving.

[JDMSomething]

the silver stars work good! go for em

[menappi]

auto level or not it doesn't matter, most cars with hids don't have that feature from the factory. projectors though are a good idea, although I've been riding with hids for a while now in my oem fluted lenses and haven't had any problems or gotten highbeamed. Never Burn Out has a lifetime warranty on all their kits if interested.

[Rx-Fan]

auto level or not it doesn't matter

Auto leveling only works at speeds between 0 - (and I think) 35 MPH. So, no it really doesn't matter all that much. If you have an auto leveling system you'll still blind people on steep hills.

The HID kits that I have installed on non-oem equipped cars work great. Yes - I occasionally got "high beamed" but I just ignored it. The problem (if you want to call it a "problem") that I have now on my '05 RX is that I had the dealer raise the level of the beams b/c they were just too low and not effective - and now I get high beamed once in a while. But again, I just ignore it.

In my book, the benefits of HID are worth every cent! FWIW

[datman]

Hey this site has great deals on headlights and other accessory's for your Lexus try them out!!!!!

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[EATMYEMISSIONS]

I put the silverstars in and they work great, the color is a nice white vs a yellowish halogen. I have been considering moving to HID but it's another $500.. I put a dual headrest video system in for the kids instead. Stick with a name brand like Sylvania or PIAA. I tried other brands with a similar look and had one explode inside the light housing (not easy to clean out).

Joe

Also, I have read in other posts that you have to file the housing opening to fit the bulb. Not sure if newer bulbs fit correctly now.

if you need hid hit me up i can get them for under 300$ any color and bulb except for h4