How Difficult To Convert 2002 Es300 To Hid Lights?

[paparazzi]

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 with the regular headlights. How difficult is it to convert the lights to HIDs (which were a regular Lexus option for this model year)?

Is it possible to simply "swap-in" the part? Can I get it from an automotive wreckers/recyclers?

I am aware of the website http://www.xenondepot.com/, but these products are designed to convert cars that never even had HID lights as an option in the first place.

Thanks for your help in advance.

[mburnickas]

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 with the regular headlights. How difficult is it to convert the lights to HIDs (which were a regular Lexus option for this model year)?

Is it possible to simply "swap-in" the part? Can I get it from an automotive wreckers/recyclers?

I am aware of the website http://www.xenondepot.com/, but these products are designed to convert cars that never even had HID lights as an option in the first place.

Thanks for your help in advance.

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You need projectors for this and I think you do not have them since you did not buy this option. So you do not have hids nor the projectors.

The problem is most kids, I use this term since they can't read or understand this (not you just in general) is that is it ILLEGAL to put HID bulbs in halogen housings. This law is for North America, not USA only.

Also after 2003 business were to STOP selling them and I have no idea how xenon Depot does it. ALL xenon depot kits are not approved for road use.

They are not legal since HIDS in halogen housing have hot spots, poor cut off and major glare which in turn blinds oncoming drivers.

The only LEGAL way is retro fit the housings (as noted above). You need the projector and then you can get the ballast, harness, fuses & relays and bulbs (D2R). you can buy these items online for about the same price as one of there kits.

PS. Welcome to LOC!!!!!

PSS I would stay away from xenon Depot. There service sucks. I know, I bought a pair of HIDS for my tractor and it took almost a month to get.

If you want pix of the tractor let me know. Once you see them you will know why they are illegal for road use. The glare is a killer.

[paparazzi]

Mike,

I figured that the best way was to simply replace everything... Unbolt the entire light figure/housing (everything glass) and replace it with the HID housing. That's what I meant by finding it at a scrap yard.

My intention was never to just replace the bulb. Some of my co-workers have replaced the bulb (and added the ballast, ignitor, etc., etc.) and the glare sucks. Also, the color sucks. Sunlight at high noon is around 6000k in color. Why would you want an 8000k bulb?

In essence, I want to know how difficult it is to source parts and convert the car to a "Stock HID set-up". Said another way: The final product will appear as if I had ordered HID lights direct from the factory.

So my question is, when I go to the scrap yard and find a rear-ended 2002-2004 Lexus ES 300 with High Intensity Discharge lights, what parts do I need to rip out of the vehicle?

[mburnickas]

Mike,

I figured that the best way was to simply replace everything... Unbolt the entire light figure/housing (everything glass) and replace it with the HID housing. That's what I meant by finding it at a scrap yard.

My intention was never to just replace the bulb. Some of my co-workers have replaced the bulb (and added the ballast, ignitor, etc., etc.) and the glare sucks. Also, the color sucks. Sunlight at high noon is around 6000k in color. Why would you want an 8000k bulb?

In essence, I want to know how difficult it is to source parts and convert the car to a "Stock HID set-up". Said another way: The final product will appear as if I had ordered HID lights direct from the factory.

So my question is, when I go to the scrap yard and find a rear-ended 2002-2004 Lexus ES 300 with High Intensity Discharge lights, what parts do I need to rip out of the vehicle?

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Let me look around. The problem will be it is expensive after the fact. Plus most cars are hid in the front ends and thus damage the lights.

[justin97]

well ur car uses a h7bulb..... so it has the same filment/ caspual lenght as a d2r bulb...so what I did was get a set of oem d2r bulbs and a set of ballasts.....i have little to no glare and excellent headlights.. and oem is 4300k

u need a d2r cause it have paint on the bulb to reduce glare.

a d2s bulb would be a little brighter but produce more glare.

it took me about 30 minutes to install the set up and secure the ballasts.

mine is a stock setup out of a 04 g35 i have had this set up for a while now.

[Neo]

I have a 2002 Lexus ES 300 with the regular headlights. How difficult is it to convert the lights to HIDs (which were a regular Lexus option for this model year)?

Is it possible to simply "swap-in" the part? Can I get it from an automotive wreckers/recyclers?

Thanks for your help in advance.

←

Disclaimer: I am basing my answers on another Lexus car, namely 98-05 GS, but I am hoping Lexus built their cars similarly. I just wanted to give some insight. Take it as you please. :) My mom has an 03 ES but I've never looked into modding it. ;)

Anyway, it should be doable for you to swap the same year headlight housings. You may have to do some investigation on the wiring because you will either need to splice some wires or build an adapter harness. Lexus HIDs tend to come with an auto-leveling system. You will not get this feature since there are other wiring and sensors involved. You will just have to manually aim the lights to an acceptable (to you and other cars around you) position.

Of course, an ES guru may come along and :chairshot: me for giving misleading info. :D

[mburnickas]

well ur car uses a h7bulb..... so it has the same filment/ caspual lenght as a d2r bulb...so what I did was get a set of oem d2r bulbs and a set of ballasts.....i have little to no glare and excellent headlights..  and oem is 4300k

u need a d2r cause it have paint on the bulb to reduce glare.

a d2s bulb would be a little brighter but produce more glare.

it took me about 30 minutes to install the set up and secure the ballasts.

mine is a stock setup out of a 04 g35 i have had this set up for a while now.

←

Hate to tell you a D2R bulb will not fit in a H7 hole in a housing. They have different bases.

D2R are not painted bulbs. If they are painted you bought cheap bulbs. D2R bulbs have a little metal shield on the bulb they really does little to nothing.

Also based on your pix, you DO have an illegal HID kit in your car since they did not make hid housing in 1997 not did you retro it either.

Please see my posts above on illegal HID kits since this applies to you. If you installed HIDS in halogen housing you HAVE glare, poor cutoff and maybe some hotspots. No saying anything new here this why they are illegal per DOT rules.

I have included a pix here of 2 bulbs that are real HIDS from Germany. Notice the housing will not fit in H7's? Also notice NO paint on the bulb. You can clearly see the shield on the D2R bulb.

You have rebased bulbs to fit in H7 housing and paint (means cheaper bulbs). Sorry

[lexus411]

I would like to see a picture of the tractor . Nice change of pace on here.

[justin97]

:whistles:

well ur car uses a h7bulb..... so it has the same filment/ caspual lenght as a d2r bulb...so what I did was get a set of oem d2r bulbs and a set of ballasts.....i have little to no glare and excellent headlights..   and oem is 4300k

u need a d2r cause it have paint on the bulb to reduce glare.

a d2s bulb would be a little brighter but produce more glare.

it took me about 30 minutes to install the set up and secure the ballasts.

mine is a stock setup out of a 04 g35 i have had this set up for a while now.

←

Hate to tell you a D2R bulb will not fit in a H7 hole in a housing. They have different bases.

D2R are not painted bulbs. If they are painted you bought cheap bulbs. D2R bulbs have a little metal shield on the bulb they really does little to nothing.

Also based on your pix, you DO have an illegal HID kit in your car since they did not make hid housing in 1997 not did you retro it either.

Please see my posts above on illegal HID kits since this applies to you. If you installed HIDS in halogen housing you HAVE glare, poor cutoff and maybe some hotspots. No saying anything new here this why they are illegal per DOT rules.

I have included a pix here of 2 bulbs that are real HIDS from Germany. Notice the housing will not fit in H7's? Also notice NO paint on the bulb. You can clearly see the shield on the D2R bulb.

You have rebased bulbs to fit in H7 housing and paint (means cheaper bulbs). Sorry

←

h7 to d2s adaptors. that is what i used. .

and paint was was refering to the metalic paint looking stuff on the "top"and sides of the bulb. no mine bulb is clear that is what i meant by paint.

that is what i meant, and it comes stock in all reflector based h.i.id's.

so dont even try to say i have a cheap kit. when i have a oem set-up.

now what............

Edited October 27, 2005 by steviej

[SW03ES]

He doesn't need projectors for the HIDs, the ES didn't have projector HIDs until 2005. The reflector housings are different though...

[justin97]

He doesn't need projectors for the HIDs, the ES didn't have projector HIDs until 2005. The reflector housings are different though...

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yes and no auto leveling.....

[SW03ES]

Well the ES with HID has had auto leveling since 2001.

[mburnickas]

He doesn't need projectors for the HIDs, the ES didn't have projector HIDs until 2005. The reflector housings are different though...

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yes and no auto leveling.....

←

You do not have OEM HIDS in your car; hence no projectors. The 97 did not even come with projectors as an option. So again you have illegal lighting in your 97 ES. Bad move here.

Just you using the adapters shows you are installing into halogen housings = illegal

Take a night pix and a cutoff pix. It will look like crap.

At least do it right with a retro kit....:chairshot:

[bartkat]

If the xenon capsule is in the proper location in relation to the reflector housing, there is no problem with glare or cutoff.

[justin97]

]

If the xenon capsule is in the proper location in relation to the reflector housing, there is no problem with glare or cutoff.

←

reflector based hid stock!!!!

navigotor

wrx sti

is300

esclade

acura rl

97-04 lexus es300

rx300

gs

lincoln ls

g35

AND i quit right there

so what hid does not have to come with projectors to be stock :D

[bartkat]

]

If the xenon capsule is in the proper location in relation to the reflector housing, there is no problem with glare or cutoff.

←

reflector based hid stock!!!!

navigotor

wrx sti

is300

esclade

acura rl

97-04 lexus es300

rx300

gs

lincoln ls

g35

AND i quit right there

so what hid does not have to come with projectors to be stock :D

←

It doesn't. I put Catz H4 xenon on my 01 Civic and took pics before and after of the lights shining on my garage door. Beams were flat at the top and I never got flashed by oncoming traffic. Drove it for a year all over the southeast.

[Neo]

OEM HIDs do not require projectors. There are both reflector and projector based HIDs. This has already been said but I just wanted to confirm.

Now, with reflector setups, putting in OEM HIDs from another car does not make your own car OEM. You would technically need to retrofit the entire HID system (if your car has available HIDs) from your car make and model. Most of the time, this is not feasable since the auto-leveling is a HUGE PITA and no one does this. Bulb and ballast does not make a setup OEM. Even if you got the OEM (for your car) ballasts and bulbs and put it into halogen housings, that is not optimal either. The reflectors in the housing of HID and halogen setups are different. They are setup to optimize (projection, cutoff, glare) the light that it is expecting. HIDs in halogen housings are hit and miss as you can get "lucky" with the results. In general, you do get more light, just not as focused.

As for the whole legality of it all, anytime you modify your car, there is a good likelihood that you have added something illegal. This can include intake, exhausts, headers, suspension, lighting, ... heck, driving without a front license plate (for aesthetic reasons) in many states is illegal.

If you like how your car is set up and is willing to take the risk of problems with law enforcement, just enjoy it. There are people who will not modify their car at all and others who go hog wild. There is really not worth the effort to get upset over someone else's opinions. Take it for what it is and move on. It will always be one of those "agree to disagree" issues.

Just my .02. :D

[bartkat]

I think a welldone retrofit kit setup beats hell out of all the damn painted blue blue blue lights you see going down the road, legal wise.

[SW03ES]

No, OEM HID does not require projectors. Projectors yeild the best light which is why most car manufacturers are moving back towards them, but they are not required.

The reflector pattern IS different for HIDs and halogen though so if you're upgrading your 02 ES, might as well buy a set of the HID reflectors as well.

[mburnickas]

If the xenon capsule is in the proper location in relation to the reflector housing, there is no problem with glare or cutoff.

←

So you are telling me I can put a HID bulb into my stock 98 ES reflector is 100% legal? Even though the cutoff sucks, and the glare is bad?

http://faqlight.carpassion.info/

[bartkat]

If the xenon capsule is in the proper location in relation to the reflector housing, there is no problem with glare or cutoff.

←

So you are telling me I can put a HID bulb into my stock 98 ES reflector is 100% legal? Even though the cutoff sucks, and the glare is bad?

http://faqlight.carpassion.info/

←

What is it that you want me to see at the website you linked?

I don't think I addressed the legality of that, if you read my posts.

However, as best I can find out, there has been no final ruling/interpretation to the application of the revisions to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108.

I'm pretty sure though that if you install the crappy system you mention, not the "proper" system that I've mentioned, you'll most likely get pulled over by the cops, and justly so. Same thing would happen if you persisted in driving around with your halogen high beams on all the time and refused to dip to low beams. Not a good setup. Same thing would happen if you drove with seriously misaligned halogen low beams.

I hope this clarifies for you the difference between running a quality, HID retrofit setup, actually designed for your reflector housings, as opposed to some botched, poorly designed,misfit setup.

This is the latest info that I've been able to find on the issue.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NC...LARE_PERCEP.pdf

http://search.google.dot.gov/NHTSA/NHTSASe...&I1.x=4&I1.y=11

http://content.sema.org/content/?ID=25377

[mburnickas]

What is a crappy sys here? What is a proper system here?

So far all I can see online is that if you installed any HID bulb into a halogen housing it is illegal.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/nhtsa4304.htm

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/nhtsa2103.htm

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

From a honda forum-

"A little bit of background. NHSTA/DOT has been trying to introduce new laws to regulate the sale of HID... well.. they just decided to BAN ALL HID KITS. They do not have a set regulation because HID does not use a filament.. therefore, no matter how accurate the HID kit is, it fails because of that ONE requirement. Well, DUH, HID has no filament, so it automatically fails.

After 8/15/2003, HID kits as you know it will never be sold again unless new laws are made. I'm sure there are all types of legal issues here,for one, this has all been done without anyone knowing. After 8/15/03, there will be a $5,000 fine PER DAY for vendors selling HID kits.

All HID kits are now on sale on our website. Parts will still be available and warranties will still be honored after the above date. After 8/15, only parts sold for warranty purposes will be allowed.

--------------------------------------------------------

Just some FYI:

http://orca.st.usm.edu/~jmneal/tiburon/hids.htm

[bartkat]

What is a crappy sys here? What is a proper system here?

So far all I can see online is that if you installed any HID bulb into a halogen housing it is illegal.

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/nhtsa4304.htm

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/nhtsa2103.htm

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/rulings/glare.html

From a honda forum-

"A little bit of background. NHSTA/DOT has been trying to introduce new laws to regulate the sale of HID... well.. they just decided to BAN ALL HID KITS. They do not have a set regulation because HID does not use a filament.. therefore, no matter how accurate the HID kit is, it fails because of that ONE requirement. Well, DUH, HID has no filament, so it automatically fails.

After 8/15/2003, HID kits as you know it will never be sold again unless new laws are made. I'm sure there are all types of legal issues here,for one, this has all been done without anyone knowing. After 8/15/03, there will be a $5,000 fine PER DAY for vendors selling HID kits.

All HID kits are now on sale on our website. Parts will still be available and warranties will still be honored after the above date. After 8/15, only parts sold for warranty purposes will be allowed.

--------------------------------------------------------

Just some FYI:

http://orca.st.usm.edu/~jmneal/tiburon/hids.htm

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You defined the crappy system in your legality question post. I've defined the "proper" system in my previous posts.

Guess what. I don't give a red rat's !Removed! whether you think it's illegal or not. If it's working right and don't bother nobody and you don't get pulled over for it then all your concerns are moot.

[mburnickas]

Guess what.  I don't give a red rat's !Removed! whether you think it's illegal or not.  If it's working right and don't bother nobody and you don't get pulled over for it then all your concerns are moot.

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I am not starting a war here trying to find it out since you are right, the info is hard to get.

I am looking for links to documentation to state what is legal and what is not. I do not want to go by working right and don't bother nobody and you don't get pulled over".

So far all the info I found states if I put a HID bulb in my halogen reflector is it not legal. So that blow the theory of reflector based hid stock in my 1998 ES300.

gee, mr grumpy B)

[bartkat]

Guess what.  I don't give a red rat's !Removed! whether you think it's illegal or not.  If it's working right and don't bother nobody and you don't get pulled over for it then all your concerns are moot.

←

I am not starting a war here trying to find it out since you are right, the info is hard to get.

I am looking for links to documentation to state what is legal and what is not. I do not want to go by working right and don't bother nobody and you don't get pulled over".

So far all the info I found states if I put a HID bulb in my halogen reflector is it not legal. So that blow the theory of reflector based hid stock in my 1998 ES300.

gee, mr grumpy B)

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We have a saying about beating a dead horse, sir.