Xenon Bulb Upgrades

[Jay and Amy]

I have a 2000 RX300 and I am considering upgrading both my high and low beam bulbs with some of these Xenon bulbs.

A few questions.

Will this hurt the wiring or melt the bulb sockets?

Do I need to stay below a certain color temperature? 4000K, 5400K, 7000K?

Are they truly just drop in replacements?

The brands I see people selling are HILITE, ICEBlue, EURO, Sylvania Silverstar. Any big difference in any of these.

I see a bunch of them on Ebay but, I am interested if anyone know a few other good places to buy them.

Thanks for your help.

[SW03ES]

So you're looking at Xenon-look not true HID/Xenon headlamps?

[Jay and Amy]

I am looking for Xenon ideally however, I assume I can't just buy the bulbs. I assume I have to buy the kit for around $500.00. Is this true?

If I just go with the "look" in a halogen like Silver Star does it truely provide any benefit in vision and performance?

Basically I am looking for a suggestion that provides me with the look, some performance benefits and does cost a bunch or cause my vehicle harm.

Suggestions.

[SW03ES]

No for true Xenon you'd have to buy a kit that includes all of the components.

Run a search for "Silverstars" they've been discussed a lot.

Welcome to the site!

[Jay and Amy]

Thanks I will check those out.

[nguyen50]

I've swithced both, my high and low beams over to Sylvania Silverstars. There is a noticeable difference, it's almost comparable to some HIDs, in my opinion they are about 65-70% of the brightness you get out of Lexus HIDs, although no bulb replacement will be as good as true HID.

The one thing to be careful about when selecting these kind of bulbs is to go with a quality name (ie sylvannia) cheaper brands have higher chance of defect and lower quality and will blow on you after a couple of weeks. (this is speaking from experience)

The bulbs are a cheap alternative to HID and will have to do until I invest in a nice aftermarket HID upgrade kit!

:-)

[Jay and Amy]

Thanks for the information. I am going to order some silver stars from Sylvania

[rbtamms]

For bulb replacement...go for Sylvania Silverstar. There is a big difference from OEM halogen...

[Booyah]

Thanks for the information. I am going to order some silver stars from Sylvania

No need to order any, go to your local walmart or any auto parts store....pepboys, autozone, schucks ect......

$40 bucks a pair (Silverstars are a great improvement)

[PlanetLexus]

Could anyone explain the difference between Xenon and Halogens and what is HID?

I would also like to replace my headlight bulbs..but i do not know how to replace it..any instructions would be greatly appreciated?

I checked the assembly of headlight in my 99, RX300 but really not getting it where to open to replace the bulbs?

I would be really thankful for any instructions and feedback.

Thanks in advance

PlanetLexus

[SKperformance]

their is ton of info on the LOC and as well on the net if googled.

If you are interested in getting superoir light for $300-500 for a set then a free search will make your mind up quickly

[devergilio]

A few months ago I replaced my standard halogens with Silverstars and to be honest, I wasn't really impressed. They are a bit whiter and brighter, but not worth the $40 a pair in my opinion. I didn't notice much difference driving at night. Nothing compares to true HID. Also, they blew out after 1 month, both at the same time! I wouldn't spend the money on them, but that's just my opinion.

[RobNAUTICA]

i upgraded the bulbs on my old car to the blue xenon lights and noticed a big difference (didn't use silvania as they were more expensive)

Purchased from ebay, after 6 months began having problems with headlights, 2 months later i had no lights at all

i didn't put any bulb grease in the sockets so they burned and melted

going to upgrade to xenon in the lexus but this time greasing it really good :)

[rbtamms]

I changed my OEM high, low & fog bulbs to Sylvania Silverstar. There is a really big difference because it's white compare to yellow stock. I usually turn on both low beam & fog lights together, so the road in front of me is as bright as an HID.

[Rx300_coach]

for some reason my stock halogens in the rx are not too yellow at all. in fact the headlight cover has a bluish green tint over it. Looks awesome with the lights off...and still decent with the lights on..my headlights are nowhere as yellow as the headlights for example on my honda civic(also stock halogens)

i have a 2002 coach edition by the way without HID. I guess maybe you guys could try finding the 01+ coach edition headlight covers with the coloured film on top! :)

[1990LS400]

I have had very good experiences with bulbs from Wagner and GE that use a halogen / Xenon gas mix. The ones from Wagner are sold under the model name of "BriteLite" - my spelling could be incorrect. The ones from GE are sold with the letters "HO" (stands for "high output" at the end of the model number (e.g. 9004HO). Neither of the bulbs have a blue coating - the glass is clear. Both operate at standard wattages and have lasted about two years in our cars.

The bulbs from both GE and Wagner produce a very white light with no blue-ish tint. The whiter light seemed to fill in the low beam pattern of my 90 LS and was more pleasant to drive behind. I tried using one of each brand in the 90 LS and could not see any difference between the GE and Wagner in output or color. Both are quite inexpensive - I have paid as little as $15 for a 2-pack.

I have not seen the GE HO's in discount stores recently - Silvania seems to be prevailing in Wal-Marts and the like. I have purchased the Wagner BriteLite bulbs from auto parts stores and have noticed that they are available on the Internet. Here is one site that sells them:

http://www.brandsport.com/wagnerlighting.html#Brite

I previously tried higher wattage bulbs but they generally lasted only a month or two. One 80/100 watt bulb exploded (when the outside temperature was 100 degrees) and made a mess on a reflector and lens that was very difficult to fix.

[LexKid630]

.........wat i think u r trying to acheive is geting ur 00 rx headlights to light up with that bright white/light blue tint as hid xenon lights do on the later rx models..??..another thing u could do is just go on ebay and buy the whole front light assembely for the 01-03 that already include the xenon bulbs in them..there ull get a great deal..the chrome lenses instead of the 00's black and xenon bulbs for only 'round 500 dollars.....and ur 00 rx will look like the newer model rx300 cuz thats the only difference between the 99-00 and 01-03 rx's..(the front and rear lights)..........good luck

[strmrdr23]

i swapped mine out to some jdm piaa ultra whites for my high and low beams and i'm runnin' some super yellow bulbs (like the ones on the jgtc cars) on my fogs...their easier on my eyes when driving at nite...driving with regular halogens seem dark to me now...

[Rx-Fan]

I have a 2000 RX300 and I am considering upgrading both my high and low beam bulbs with some of these Xenon bulbs. 

A few questions.

Will this hurt the wiring or melt the bulb sockets?

No - they actually run cooler than halogen bulbs. HID = 35 watt, halogen = 55watt.

Forget about the high beams. With HIDs on the low beams, you won't even need the high beams (even tho they'll still work)

Do I need to stay below a certain color temperature?  4000K, 5400K, 7000K?

Well, yes. Factory installed HIDs are normally 4100k to 4600k. Above this is completely worthless to the human eye and will actually make night driving more difficult.

Are they truly just drop in replacements?

Kind of. There are components that you need to install - but no big deal. See my web page.

The brands I see people selling are HILITE, ICEBlue, EURO, Sylvania Silverstar.  Any big difference in any of these.

These are NOT HID bulbs - they are over priced halogens that have a history of not lasting very long. Might look real nifty - but they don't improve your visibilty, won't last too long and aren't even close HID!

I see a bunch of them on Ebay but, I am interested if anyone know a few other good places to buy them. 

Thanks for your help.

←

The whole HID subject has been beaten to death on car related sites all over internet. Just google the subject and you will get (literally) thousands of pages in response.

But basically - yes you can install an HID Kit to convert your bulbs to true HID.

Look at this web site for an installation on a Volvo S70 and on Page 2 an installation on a 2000 RX-300 (same as your car)

http://www.cardomain.com/id/atl99s70

With this kit you will not get the additional features of lamps that automatically level as you drive up and down hills - so you will risk blinding on-coming traffic (I didn't get flashed at too much anyhow, so I didn't worry about it).

Dig around for a source to purchase this kind of kit. Just be careful to buy only the name brand kits (Philips, Osram..) The cheapy kits on ebay are probably not a good idea.

Just remember - these kits are illegal to even sell as of (I think) July '03 - so you run them at your own risk. I never really worried about it because most police officers see a Lexus (or a Volvo) and just figure it's a stock set up - but don't quote me on that!.

Good luck!