Rx300 Prjector Beams And Hid

[cfiiman]

Hey everyone I have a 2002 Rx300 and really have it where I want it style wise. I added some really nice aftermarket rims and want to class up the headlamps. I really want projection beams with HID low beams. I know people have done this but iam looking for the easiest way. I found these on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RX300-01-03-BLACK-CCFL-Projector-Headlight-LEXUS-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem1c03e55828QQitemZ120324446248QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1396wt_722

this seems the easiest but I worry a bit about spending 600 on something from tiwan does anyone have any advice on the best way to do this. Oh and I did just look at upgrading to a 330 but it appauledme what the offered me for my car that I really do enjoy.

[cduluk]

Those MOTHER$*@%&!!!!!! They STOLE my idea!!!

A few years ago when i had my Rx300 i did a headlight retrofit, adding LS460 projectors into my Rx300 headlights. The projectors in that ebay auction LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE SHROUDS ON THE LS460!!!

Here's the ones you pointed out on ebay:

And here are the pictures of MY retrofit from... Dec 7 2008

Here's the link to the thread i started on HIDplanet.com when i did the conversion back in 2008.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=44998&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=ls460+rx300&start=0

And here's the link to some pictures i posted on HIDplanet.com after they were completed.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46408

If you are unable to view the pages, login with my credentials:

user-name: cduluk

password: lexus

There is NO flippin way they came up with that design without seeing mine. Those projectors look JUST like the LS460's... There are THOUSANDS of projector designs out there, but this company just happens to choose and design a LS460 look-alike with no knowledge of how it would look in the Rx300 housing??? It took me MONTHS to find one that would fit!

I've never seen these aftermarket headlights before... I've seen some really cheap ugly halogen ones, but not these--these are new. If you look closely at the first ebay picture, embedded at the top left there's a smaller picture of the headlight, but notice the projector is different and the inside housing is chrome... whereas the bigger pictures have the LS460-looking projectors and black housing. The headlight in the corner is the old ugly halogen type that showed up on ebay last year...

From my experience, aftermarket projectors are usually of poor performance and the halo's never last... If you can maybe ask the seller what type of projector is in there that may help. You want to make sure you get a very sharp cutoff line (with maybe a little blue in it) vs a fuzzy one with a lot of glare.

Another issue you may have with those is getting them installed and working. From the pictures, i can't tell if it's for HID or halogen. In one of the pictures, written in red is "Need use HID and H7 bulb." Only problem is, H7 is a size for halogen, not HID. My guess is that you'd need to buy an H7 conversion bulb, aka an HID bulb that's been retrofitted to an H7 base. And it doesn't appear that ballasts are included (HID bulb ignitors) which means you'd need to buy an HID kit. BUT... if your present Rx300 already has HID, that'll give you bigger problems since from the factory the ballasts are built into the headlight housings... You may need to do some MAJOR wiring to get these functioning. Also, if your Rx300 has HID it also has auto-leveling. From the pictures it doesn't appear the ebay ones have the capability for auto-leveling since the motors aren't included (they've been turned into adjustment screws). So you'd have to lose your auto-leveling feature, and you'd have a yellow warning light come on in the dashboard (since an error occurs when the plugs are disconnected from the motors).

Too bad i sold my Rx300 with my retrofitted headlights still installed... i could have sold them to you! I had LS460 Bi-xenon projectors in there (some of the best and widest), with custom blue shields and clear STI lenses... AND, i kept the auto-leveling function...

Here's a video i took of my old Rx300 with the LS460 projectors. Upon start-up you can notice the auto-leveling. You'll also notice the gauge cluster i customized (i wired it with LED's and made it so the needles illuminated before the rest) etc..

http://www.viddler.com/explore/cduluk/videos/2/

Can you tell me if your Rx300 has HID or halogen?

[cfiiman]

hey man thanks for the response. Yeah I want to retrofit but I'm not sure what all is involved in that. Is that a cheaper way to go? Reading your story sounds like you spent a bunch too, but I figure it is going to cost 700 if I go with those ones on ebay and buy an aftermarket hid kit. How do you retrofit? Do you just take your lights apart and stick the projectors of something else in there? If so how? Do you cut stuff and glue it or pressure fit it or screw it or what? Please let me know, thanks, oh and my lights are just halogen currently,

Jason

[cduluk]

Well, making your own retrofit overall will cost much less than $600, only additional cost is the projectors and bulbs and ballasts... but with the ebay headlights it appears you'd need to buy your own bulbs and ballasts anyway.

The only negative to completing a retrofit is that... it's difficult to do, and it takes a LOT of time... a LOT of time. It's a pain to get the headlights apart (some people melt the glue and separate the two parts, others such as myself just cut them open) and it's also a pain to get them adjusted properly.

Upon opening them up, i just cut out a giant circle in the low beam reflector, stuck the projector in, adjusted it, and glued. See here: Use my username and password i provided in my first post to log-in. This shows the process of one of my retrofits, one that i did for another Rx300 driver. Used Infiniti M45 projectors.

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46219&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=rx300&start=0

Some retrofitters use screws, but that's an even harder process. The glue i used (i think i named it in the hidplanet thread) is AWESOME and worked perfectly.

Since your Rx300 has halogen, in the least you'd need to purchase a pair of ballasts and a pair of bulbs. You could just get a "kit" but all of the "kits" out there are CRAP. The best bulbs are the ones put out by Philips, either 4300k (same ones in cars with factory HID) or 6000k (bulbs i use, a little more "white" than yellow). And for ballasts i'd recommend denso, the same company that makes them for all Toyota's and Lexus'.

You can get a pair of ballasts on ebay for ~$150 and a pair of bulbs for ~$180.

[cfiiman]

How did you just cut into the low beam side without smashing the reflectors to pieces, did you use a dremel or something and tape them or what? Also maybe I should just buy a set of headlights out the junk yard or something so if it goes wrong I'm not stuck, heck you can get an aftermarket pair of the halogens on ebay for like 150 new, although they are not OEM so hopefully the fit would ok? Thanks man!

[cduluk]

Yeah, i just used a dremel to cut the hole in the low beam side reflector. The reflector's made of a weird composite material, it feels like metal but it's not. It does "break" easily if you try to bend it too.

I'm not sure how the aftermarket headlights hold up, they "look" OEM but the materials might be different. I'd try to find a used set of OEM headlights...

Do you think you're going to try a retrofit? What projectors do you want to use?