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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey fellas. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with the "latest and greatest" LED bulbs that are advertised as putting out over 3,000 lumens apiece. I'm finally going to pull the trigger on a set of halo headlight housings from eBay in the near future, and I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do to get all my lighting to match. I'm likely going to go with a Morimoto 35w 6k HID kit for the low beams, and I already have "80w" 6k (1200 lumen) LED fogs, and I'm wondering what I can get for the high beam to match those. I might even replace the fog bulbs with the same style as I get for the high beams, if the prices are reasonable. Here's an example of what I'm mulling over for the highs: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390923750239?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Anyone tried these yet? Are they actually capable of putting out enough light to act as a high beam halogen replacement?
 

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I used 8k HID kit for my low beams when i switched to my halo headlights, and installed red LED's in my high beams for off road or track time when local laws dont apply. Very happy and can switch back and forth super easy. be advised that a friend of mine got led halo headlights and regrets not getting the CCFL ones i did, they are much brighter. You cant even tell when his are on at night. And the halo headlights take different bulbs than the stock headlights.
 

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
Sounds like you're on a far different track than I'm headed for (in terms of light colour), but thanks for the input. CCFL is definitely the way I've been headed the whole way, so thanks for the reasurance. I am also aware that the bulb types are different for the new headlight housings. H7 for the lows and H1 for the highs, namely. So I've been seeking the corresponding bulb types. I'm still left very curious about whether these new high powered LED bulbs can actually light up the road like their halogen counterparts. I might volunteer myself to be the guinea pig.
 

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Discussion Starter · #4 · (Edited)
Here's the type of bulb I'm considering for my fogs: http://www.ebay.com/itm/14168527198...49&var=440825270406&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT . If they work out, I might consider them for my high beams when I replace the headlights with the eBay "Eagle Eye" dual halo lights. Wish I could find some better reviews, but Amazon seems to be the only place I can get some "real" feedback. And for those of you who don't trust eBay, here's a link to TRS's (The Retrofit Source) version of the same thing (probably even come from the same manufacturer, just "prettied up" for the heavier price tag): http://www.theretrofitsource.com/led-lighting/morimoto-xb-led-headlight-bulbs.html
 

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Keep the thread posted on what you find out. These new LED bulbs are definitely intriguing. I think my concern is space - is there room behind the headlight (or foglight) for the heatsink? The foglights aren't too hard to get to, and I think there's space there. It's such a pain in the ass to change out the bulbs on the headlights, I'd hate to pull the car apart only to find out that the $$$ bulbs I bought wouldn't even fit.
 

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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
Yah, I'll post back with results once I get around to doing this stuff. I might get a set of those "new" bulbs for my fogs first, then I'll decide what I want to do with the high beams if/when I buy the new headlights.
 

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
Well, I spent a whack of money the other day and pulled the trigger on a bunch of stuff I've been procrastinating on for months now. Ordered the dual halo headlights from eBay, h7 HID kit from TRS for the lows (and another set for my Wife's Edge), H1 high power LED's for the highs, and another set of the LED's in H10 for my fogs. The LED's are coming from China, so they might be a while getting here. Then I have to get to removing the bumper to get the new lights installed, etc... So my report back could be a while. But I will report back.
 

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Wes, whatever you do with the headlights, can you get some before and after pictures and post them up here? Am interested.

Thanks!
 

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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
Wes, whatever you do with the headlights, can you get some before and after pictures and post them up here? Am interested.

Thanks!
Sure. What exactly do you want pics of? The light output? Housings? I'll be going from some pretty beat up OEM housings with the OEM HID's to these housings with aftermarket HID's from The Retrofit Source and a (likely) lower quality projector lens. I'm expecting the cutoff on the low beams (HID's) to be less crisp, but hopefully the light output/coverage is only marginally worse. As for the high beams, I'll be going from the OEM halogen bulb to these fancy new 4,000 lumen (each) LED's. So I'm going to go from "old yeller" colour to a nice, crisp 5-6k temp. Hopefully it matches the fogs and HID's fairly well. For the fogs I'm going to be going from ~800 lumen Cree LED bulbs (one of which are not working right now, so they're both uninstalled) also to those fancy new 4,000 lumen LED's. Should be a marked difference in light output from the OEM fog bulbs, as well as the previous LED bulbs.

Wish me luck!!
 

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Discussion Starter · #14 ·
I moved a few posts from the other thread into this one.
Cool, thanks! The other thread is closed/deleted then, right?

Yup. Yup. More the better.
I'll definitely see what I can do. It'll probably take a month to get those bulbs from China, so I'll have lots of time to get the "before" pics done. Then we'll have to wait and see how much I procrastinate with removing the bumper and actually getting the new headlights installed. :)
 

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Discussion Starter · #18 ·
Hey fellas. I know a couple of you were waiting for some follow up here. I got the headlights installed last week and I'm really happy with them. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the LED bulbs I'd hoped to use for the high beams and fogs. While they seemed very well made, and were definitely the brightest LED bulbs I've ever seen, I'm returning both pairs for a refund (Yes, eBay stores/vendors DO have fantastic customer service if you don't mind working with their english language barriers a bit). I wasn't able to get the LED bulbs seated properly into the high beam location due to the size and shape of their heat sinks and the "springy wire" method of securing the bulb that these new headlights employ. There just wasn't enough room to work inside the housing, and I wasn't about to completely dismantle my brand new headlights. The bulbs I was going to use in the fogs was EXACTLY the same bulb, just with an adapter wire which fit it to the proper 9145 (H10) plug. These fit fine, and had lots of room for the heat sink, etc. Unfortunately they didn't satisfy my OCD in terms of their colour. They're definitely closer to a 4500k than the 6000k that they advertised. I'm going to start searching again for another "high power" LED bulb that's closer to 5000-5500k for my fogs.

Unfortunately I was on a time constraint to get all this done so I could bring the car back to the body shop who was repainting my hood and front bumper for me, so I wasn't able to take as many pictures of the install procedure as I would have liked to. Sorry about that. But here are a few of the headlight fitment, appearance, and the fog bulb colour that I wound up not being happy with. I'd love to get a shot of the colour of the low beams but my phone just picks up on the glare all over the place and you can barely make out the picture when I try that. I'll add a photo of the light output against my garage door though. I was only about 8 feet back from the door, and the car was not squared up or anything though... for the record. The new lights DID (very easily) adjust to exactly where my OEM ones were though; so that made me happy.







NOTE: These were taken a little too soon. I'd JUST installed everything and was excited to have it all working. I wound up loosening up the mounting bolts and getting the lights to match up to the fender MUCH better than shown here. It just took some finessing and a little elbow grease. They're not PERFECT, but they're pretty damn good. Good enough for my OCD, which says a lot.




Location of new ballasts, in OEM location. Just trimmed off one end of the "box" so the wires could exit and the ballast could sit in there flush:


Removed washer fluid lines, removed "T" that sends a line to each headlight, plugged main line with random large stainless bolt/screw and a couple gear clamps for good measure:


Game face:


Light output/cutoff. I'm pretty close to the garage, so I'm not sure the "hot spots" are so "hot". At a proper distance, it's a pretty uniform light output. Very happy with the cutoff and adjustability:


Ugh, these look so disgusting now:
 
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