Front End Lighting

[gotdubz]

i just got a gs 300, so everythings clear/halogen as far as the front end lighting, what would look best? xenon headlights/yellow daytime runing lights, and yellow fogs? OR maybe xenon headlights/xenon daytime lights, and xenon fogs........or is there a better combination? pics would be great too if yall have some.

[deadmilenko]

I replaced all of my front bulbs (High, Low and Fog) with Silver Stars. In my opinion they are the closest thing to HID with out paying the high price. I personal dont like the yellow fog lights. As far as your daytime running lights those are just the high beams on at a lower wattage, so you cant have those in a yellow color. Unless you want yellow high beams and I dont think they make a bulbs in yellow and it would be illegal. There was a huge difference between the stock halogen beams and the Silver Stars that I installed. I have had Silver Stars in last two vehicles that I have owned and the current three that I have. It is hard to see a difference in the picture but they are white, bright and clean, and DOT approved.

Do a search in the forum if you havent allready all the info you seek is there.

[imtheking]

your daytime driving lights are bulb size 194. Cost me 2.57 at pep boys. (online store) I bought xenon, blue and purple and I installed each one to see how they look and they look real good. Try ebay also. Just type 194 in search and see what you like. All my lights are clear except for DRL which are purple. Look ok to me.

i stick to eurodesignz only because when lights burn out, you can get them repla ed for 6.95. Not bad to me and the brightness is good enough for me.

PIAA is the best to me but you have to dish out a little money.

PS you can also get them in yellow but hard to find. stay away from amber (orange) ewwww

high beam bulb size-9005

low beam-9006

fog light-9006

daytime running lights-194

[Abear]

milenko,

how did u get those, im guessin they are LED's, in the Highbeams? they look soooooooooo cool, i wanna do that on my 96.

where you bought em, and how you wired it would be great.

[kayexelate]

i just got a gs 300, so everythings clear/halogen as far as the front end lighting, what would look best? xenon headlights/yellow daytime runing lights, and yellow fogs? OR maybe xenon headlights/xenon daytime lights, and xenon fogs........or is there a better combination? pics would be great too if yall have some.

←

Hey guys:

I'm also thinking of replacing all the headlight bulbs with silverstars in order to give it a brighter, whiter look. I have a '02 GS 300. I don't want to deal with changing to HID, ballast stuff, etc. Just want to swap the bulbs with no hassle.

My question is: Will the silverstars (4000K) be significantly brighter than the stock? Or do I have to get something in the range of (6000K or 8000K?). Some messages I read say that they're much better than stock (and get rid of the "yellow") but others say it's not much brighter, just white in color.

Secondly, I know the headlights/foglights require a 9006 bulb, and the highbeams a 9005 bulb. Do the daytime running lights "194" need a "silverstar" bulb as well? (I didn't see they make a 194 silverstar). If not, then what type of bulb/color bulb do you suggest?? I don't want to it to look weird with all white bulbs and then the two stock yellow daytime running lights.

When I check Ebay, there are so many types of 194 "white" bulbs---xenon white, super white, hyperwhite (which the color of the bulb looks blue although the beam may be white). And then there is LED white--should I even consider this?

I just want ones that will go well with the silverstars--not stand out as a different color, or brighter, just blend in well.

Finally, I am reading some mixed things about the color of the fog lights. Some people say that changing the fog light bulb won't change the color of the light b/c the casing is yellow in color, not the bulb. And you either have to buy a clear casing or somehow remove the yellow color (which seems like a pain, having to heat it and peel it off, etc.). Is this true?

Lastly, is it easy to replace the bulbs? The daytime/low beam/high beam seem pretty straight forward, and I assume you don't even need to remove the headlight casing, but can just "pop" them out once you have the hood open.

How about the fog lights? One person said you need to remove the splash guard on the bottom, etc...another said you can just "pop" the foglights out, and another said there is some screw that you have to find to undo the light.

Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions!

[Neo]

Just going down your list kayexelate:

Silverstars - It will be whiter and brighter. It will not be HID bright but it will offer a little more than the OEM halogens. The Kelvin values are color temperature and not brightness. Typically, as you move up the temperature, you will lose brightness. I would stay with the 4000K range for the brightest and up to the 6000k for a more white appearance with minimal loss of brightness. As you move up, it will become more blue/purple in color and brightness will drop.

With all that said, do the Silverstars come in higher in color temp? It thought they were strictly 4000k.

There are no Silverstars for the parking lights. You can try Polarg, PIAA, or a number of multi-LED units. The DRLs are your high beam bumbs running at half power. The DRLs are not the wedge/"194"/parking lights. Therefore, if you chose the silverstars, your DRL will be based on that bulb.

Fog light color - If your car has HIDs, then your fog lights will be yellow (contains a yellow lens inside). If your car has halogen lights, then the fogs will be clear. I thought that most recent GS430s have HIDs which means yellow fogs. BUT, you are asking about replacing bulbs with silverstars which means you have halogens and clear fogs. If it is the former, then the Silverstars won't work for you. If it is the latter, then you don't have yellow fogs to worry about.

Replacement - the high/low/parking bulbs are all accessible without removing the headlight housings. That is a good thing as you need to remove the front bumper to take off the housings. The bad thing is that some of the bulbs are in tight positions. Don't be surprised if you get some cuts and scratches trying to replace the bulbs.

The fogs are held on my screws that you can just take off, replace the bulbs, and put it back on. Just in case, the side marker bulbs are accessible via this fog light hole too. Since it is amber, bulbs for color may not matter since you will only be affecting intensity by changing bulbs. Some people, however, swap the amber covers for clear ones. This is how you would access it.

Hopefully, this answers what you needed. Good luck.

[kayexelate]

Hi Neo and others:

Thanks for your reply. I'm still a bit confused (major newbie here!)..thanks for your patience.

I decided on the silverstars, and figure I need to pick up two pairs (4 total) of the 9006 (two for the low beams, two for the fogs).

I also need to get a pair of the 9005 (for the highbeams).

What I'm still confused on is the DRL (daytime running lights). In "imtheking"'s post, s/he indicated the DRL light bulb is the 194, but you indicated the DRL's are just the highbeams at 1/2 power.

If so, then what are the small little bulbs (which I assume the "194" are the replacement for) right next to the high beams? I assumed these were my "DRL's" since they are always on when the car is running (and are very yellow in color).

(What I'm referring to is pictured in "deadmilenko"'s jpeg picture in which these tiny "194" lights are colored blue) Are these my parking lights?

Regardless, what type of "194" replacement should I get to blend in the BEST with the silverstar's I'm going to replace the high/low/fog's with?

Again, I did a bit of research and there are so many types of 194 "white" bulbs---xenon white, super white, hyperwhite (in which the color of the bulb looks blue although the beam may be white), LED white.

Which type of "194" bulb will go along the BEST with the silverstars (since I know they don't make silverstar 194's)?

Thanks!

P.S. How do I private message someone? Everytime I click on the little "PM" button, it gives me the message "You are not allowed to use the messenger feature on this board" I am logged in.

If you want to email me, please do so at: stephanlee@hotmail.com

[Neo]

What I'm still confused on is the DRL (daytime running lights).  In "imtheking"'s post, s/he indicated the DRL light bulb is the 194, but you indicated the DRL's are just the highbeams at 1/2 power.

If so, then what are the small little bulbs (which I assume the "194" are the replacement for) right next to the high beams?  I assumed these were my "DRL's" since they are always on when the car is running (and are very yellow in color).

Which type of "194" bulb will go along the BEST with the silverstars (since I know they don't make silverstar 194's)?

Thanks!

←

I have no idea why the parking lights are always on with your car when you drive. The headlight switch has 4 modes: off, "parking", on, auto. If you have it on the "parking" mode, then the 194s should be on but no lows. If you have it on or auto, then the 194s and the lows are on. Nothing should be on in off mode.

If you have DRLs, then the highs should be on at half power. There is no switch in the car to disable this. Once you turn on the headlights, then the highs (acting as DRLs) should turn off.

As for colors, I can't help. Sorry. I have 6000k HIDs and I replaced the 194s with Polarg M4s.

[deadmilenko]

kayexelate,

the 194 bulbs are your parking lights. Look at my picture posted here the blue lights are parking lights. These are different then your DRL's. As Neo and I have said before your DRL's are your highbeam bulbs on a lower wattage. So your highbeams (9005) and DRL's (9005) are the same bulb. The parking lights should only come on when your low beams are on. Your DRL's are always on until your headlights turn on. When you turn your highbeams on, your parking lights will turn off and you highbeams turn on because they share the same assembly.

I have Silver Stars in my Highbeams, Lowbeams and Fog lights. You can not get away from the yellowish tint of the DRL's because it is a highbeam bulb at 1/2 of the wattage.

Low Beam Bulb = 9006

High Beam Bulb = 9005

Fog Light Bulb = 9006

Parking Light Bulb = 194

Abear, I got my parking lights from lextasy on ebay, it was cheaper then buying them from their store. here is their web page lextasy

[kayexelate]

Thanks everyone for their help. Regarding the parking light's (194)'s. Is it illegal to have blue colored? I was debating between white vs. blue (which sometimes is referred to as "hyperwhite"?).

I think the regular "white" will probably go the smoothest with the silverstars.

The eurodezigns are pretty cheap on ebay (<$10 with S&H) and have a lifetime warranty. It was either these or Polargs but they are more expensive and no warranty.

Do these burn out quickly? How about the 9005 amd 9006 silverstars for the high/low/fog? (Sylvania's website said the silverstars last on average about a year!?!?!) I've been going on 4 years with my stock lights (and they're actually manufactured by Sylvania too!)

It seems like it would be very costly to replace these every year, or even every 2 years!

Again, Eurodezigns has 9005 and 9006's for $25 with S&H and warranty, but I don't know how these look (6000K vs. 4000K for silverstars).

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Neo]

I can only speak of my parking lights. They are Polarg M4s and they are blue coated bulbs. When they are on, however, they are white with a hint of blue.

I don't have DRLs so I never worried about it. I don't use the high beams so they are still OEM bulbs. The fogs are OEM too. I just never got around to changing them. I will more than likely put HIDs in my fogs so I did not bother looking into bulb replacements.

Lastly, as I said earlier, my lows are 6000k HIDs so I don't know about Silverstar matching other than from pics.

Here is an old pic of my car with the lights on:

[cyaltr]

Ok after reading all of this, I have a question. I have a 01 430. Have the Blue parking LED's from lextasy. Is there any HID bulb that doesn't have that yellowish color for DRL's/high beams under the low voltage? Thanks

[Neo]

Ok after reading all of this, I have a question.  I have a 01 430.  Have the Blue parking LED's from lextasy.  Is there any HID bulb that doesn't have that yellowish color for DRL's/high beams under the low voltage?  Thanks

←

There is no need to worry about HID bulbs unless you mean the HID-like bulbs. ;) The highs are not HID so it would still be a halogen bulb. As far as it being white in low-voltage conditions, I have not seen one. I am not claiming it does not exist but I have not seen anyone who has reported a good result.

[kayexelate]

Got my Silverstars--they look great. Very Crisp White look, and very easy to replace.

Put in Eurodezigns "white" 194 into the parking lights.

They still look very yellow and aren't too much different than the stock bulbs.

Any suggestions on other 194 lights that would look better with silverstars?

Maybe even the "blue/hyperwhite" Eurodezigns 194's since the are 6000K instead of 4000K like the "white" ones I have

I was thinking of the Polarg M4's---do these look "white" or "yellow" or "blue"?

Thanks.

P.S. My next little project was to swap the sidemaker lights for clear ones. The seller on ebay said to go through the wheel well--but you can't! Because you don't have access without removing something (big piece of plastic).

Neo, you mentioned going through the fog light hole after removing the fogs.

Will that give you enough space/line of sight to be able to unbolt/unscrew and replace the side markers (the person I contacted said their replacement side markers attach via 2 "bolts"). (I'm just imagining it might be tough to bolt/unbolt through the tiny hole from removing the fog lights).

Thanks.

[Neo]

The M4s are slightly bluish white. See the pic of my car above. I have the M4s.

As for install, I answered you in the other thread. :)

[deadmilenko]

Got my Silverstars--they look great.  Very Crisp White look, and very easy to replace.

Put in Eurodezigns "white" 194 into the parking lights. 

They still look very yellow and aren't too much different than the stock bulbs.

Any suggestions on other 194 lights that would look better with silverstars?

Maybe even the "blue/hyperwhite" Eurodezigns 194's since the are 6000K instead of 4000K like the "white" ones I have

I was thinking of the Polarg M4's---do these look "white" or "yellow" or "blue"?

Thanks.

P.S. My next little project was to swap the sidemaker lights for clear ones.  The seller on ebay said to go through the wheel well--but you can't!  Because you don't have access without removing something (big piece of plastic).

Neo, you mentioned going through the fog light hole after removing the fogs. 

Will that give you enough space/line of sight to be able to unbolt/unscrew and replace the side markers (the person I contacted said their replacement side markers attach via 2 "bolts").  (I'm just imagining it might be tough to bolt/unbolt through the tiny hole from removing the fog lights).

Thanks.

←

Just remove the plastic guard in the wheel well. If I remember right I went through the wheel well. Just removed acouple of screws and bent it back to get acess.

As far as the 194 bulbs for the parking lights, NEO and myself have told you where we got ours at and you can see the pictures of them. Neo's are white with a hint of blue and mine are more of a darker blue than white. Ever though they were called Hyper white.

[KANEDL]

Got my Silverstars--they look great.  Very Crisp White look, and very easy to replace.

Put in Eurodezigns "white" 194 into the parking lights. 

They still look very yellow and aren't too much different than the stock bulbs.

Any suggestions on other 194 lights that would look better with silverstars?

Maybe even the "blue/hyperwhite" Eurodezigns 194's since the are 6000K instead of 4000K like the "white" ones I have

I was thinking of the Polarg M4's---do these look "white" or "yellow" or "blue"?

Thanks.

P.S. My next little project was to swap the sidemaker lights for clear ones.  The seller on ebay said to go through the wheel well--but you can't!  Because you don't have access without removing something (big piece of plastic).

Neo, you mentioned going through the fog light hole after removing the fogs. 

Will that give you enough space/line of sight to be able to unbolt/unscrew and replace the side markers (the person I contacted said their replacement side markers attach via 2 "bolts").  (I'm just imagining it might be tough to bolt/unbolt through the tiny hole from removing the fog lights).

Thanks.

←

Just remove the plastic guard in the wheel well. If I remember right I went through the wheel well. Just removed acouple of screws and bent it back to get acess.

As far as the 194 bulbs for the parking lights, NEO and myself have told you where we got ours at and you can see the pictures of them. Neo's are white with a hint of blue and mine are more of a darker blue than white. Ever though they were called Hyper white.

It's easier if you go through the fog light opening. It should take about 5-10 minutes to remove and install each side marker. It'll be more of a hassle to go through the wheel well.

[Live//Evil]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forums.

I just bought a 94 GS 300. I know that the High beams are 9005 and the lows are 9006. My question is how do you change the fog light bulbs on them. Are the DRL also 194's? One other thing if you don't mind my asking? I have some condensation on the driver side Head light. How do I go about fixing this? Ive heard that I need to take the light out and put it in the oven and so on and so forth, or would a blow dryer work just as well?

Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot.