2006 Lexus Gs430 Headlight Issues

[TxFlexus]

I have an issue with the level of light projection from my car, I just replaced the OEM headlights with a Phillips 6k HID bulb but i'm still not satisfied with the projection of light downrange. I am considering changing my fog lights and then raising my headlight angle. Would like to hear thoughts on how others have achevied better light projection downrange by tweaking the lights and also what equipment they used, IE. HID upgrades to fog lights, bulb choices, etc. Thanks!

[1990LS400]

For one thing, 6000K bulbs emit far less usable light than OEM 4100K bulbs. Please do not put HID bulbs in foglights designed for halogen or raise your headlight beam level above specification - dangerous and painful for other drivers.

[TxFlexus]

I am not looking to blind other drivers certainly as it would be unsafe, however with the lack of projection I currently get it appears unsafe to me now. Going down a dark street i'd estimate I have a visibilty field of approximately 30 feet before it's blacked out, that's ok if you're going 15 mph on a residential street, but at highway speeds that's atrocious. In comparison my last car was a 2006 Infiniti G35 with HID headlights, and in that car I had a huge range of visibility both downrange and side to side and never did I have someone flash their lights at me thinking mine were on high beam. I'm just looking to have a better line of visibility so i'm curious to see what other options there are in equipment or adjustments.

[1990LS400]

Why did you put lower output 6000K bulbs in your headlights? I've done headlight mods numerous times since the 60's and I'm not understanding.

[TxFlexus]

I considered 4300k simply because of the fact that it puts out more light, but I prefer the slight blue tint in the 6000k and thought i'd give it a try. I only tested the lights one night but my first impression was that it appeared brighter, might be the particular brand bulb choice and not the 6000k that makes it appear brighter, but I haven't solved the issue with distance. My fog lights put out a genreous amount of light and to essentially the same distance as my headlights so I thought perhaps my headlights need raising. They might just be out of balance from a previous ower, but looking through threads on this subject i've found numerous similar complaints but little info on what was done, other than raising the level of the beam.

[1990LS400]

I've never understood why some people love the blueish tint of higher K bulbs or those trashy short life blue coated halogen bulbs. Maybe it's because some European cars have slightly blueish tinted headlights but those (e.g. BMW) still use 4300K bulbs with no reduction in output with the slight blueish tint caused by other factors in the design. Generally, 5000K seems to be seen as the highest K bulbs that can be used that generate enough visible light that the decline in output is not very noticable.

Are your plastic headlight lenses in good, clear condition? By the time the lenses on my eight calendar years old (not model years) the light output of my 00 LS headlights was horribly diminished by the foggy, cruddy lenses. A headlight lens restoration kit made them look like new and improved the light output dramatically - attached are before and after photos of when I last restored mine.

Could something be wrong with the voltage going to the headlights? Do they seem dim? Have you had them properly aimed?

As Consumer Union has reported numerious times, HID headlights are not necessarily better than halogen headlights. The halogen headlights in the cheapo $14K Smart rental car I recently drove for a month were some of the best headlights I've ever experienced and better than many HID.

HID bulbs in foglights defeats their purpose besides often spewing out uncontrolled blinding light. The yellowish light of regular OEM 3000K halogen bulbs picks up the detail of the road and shoulder surface in blowing snow and heavy rain better than HID with its whiter light.

[UCF3]

I've replaced my halogens for HIDs pretty much on all my cars. I agree 6500k is too blue, and if you're state is like mine, the cops will pull you over. I personally prefer the 4300 or 5500k because they are brighter and I can see more definition .