OEM HID Replacement

M

Murphcm

Member
Location
Minneapolis
Car
2003 FX45
Name
Chris
This weekend I had a local shop put in 5k HID fog lights so that visibility would increase, and I would get rid of the yellow OEM's... Now I want to match the factory OEM's with a 5k bulb so it doesn't look funny! The guy who installed it though, said that I shouldn't just replace the factory bulb with any 5k aftermarket bulb, and that it might not work properly with the ballast... I am not sure if I buy that logic, or why a 35w bulb would care what ballast it's connected to, but if anyone has any input id appreciate it!

I know there are a lot of HID threads out there, but most seem to be a few years back now... has anyone done a replacement in the last 6 months or so and did any research on which newer brands/models put out the most lumens these days?? I would love to kick up the quality of my OEM's with switching to a 5k at the same time!

Thanks much
 
Hi Guys, Just following up on this since its getting a lot of views and not a lot of replies! I assume that there are quite a few people out there that have changed out their stock low beam HID's, so the question is just: Did you have to get a certain type of OEM bulb at about 4300k, or has anyone used aftermarket 5000k color bulbs and had success without changing ballasts??
 
You should be fine as long as you buy a quality bulb and the right socket. I believe we use a D2S bulb. I would suggest upgrading to the Sylvania CBI Xenarc, great upgrade from OEM and excellent quality. You can find them on Amazon.

Rob
 
I bought a set of cheap Chinese bulbs once, they were worse than my 8-year-old OEM bulbs.

Go with a high quality bulb, it's worth the extra money.
 
Yeah I see on Ebay that there are the $50 for 2 Osrams from China and the $150 for 2 that ship from the US, so that must be the difference! Little tough to spend $150 on bulbs, but if you guys think the light from these is worth the money, I just might pull the trigger, Merry Christmas Me....

Has anyone had the same success with bulbs closer to the $100 level or less? I think I saw a few brands thrown around in another thread, but I definitely want the most lumens/quality as possible... has anyone seen these before? 2016 Genuine Philips LED Head Light 7,800Lm Seem pretty crazy!! Do a quick Ebay search on them, I can't post links yet, haha.

Thanks
 
Yeah I have definitely seen those on Ebay as well.... The forum's and research ive done say that the ones in the cardboard boxes are the Chinese knockoff's and don't put out anywhere near the light that the "real" ones do... Can someone verify that's correct, or if anything that is not shipped right from China is in fact real? Thanks!
 
You know what they say you get what you pay for. When I replaced my HID bulbs on my 08 FX35 I don't remember how much I exactly paid for the bulbs but i know it was pricey.
 
Murphcm said:
Yeah I have definitely seen those on Ebay as well.... The forum's and research ive done say that the ones in the cardboard boxes are the Chinese knockoff's and don't put out anywhere near the light that the "real" ones do... Can someone verify that's correct, or if anything that is not shipped right from China is in fact real? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Not sure if a knock off or original. The seller is from the UK. Osrams are European made. Germany if I remembered correctly. These are still more expensive than Morimotos - Japanese made. So far I don't have any issues with mine. No flickering, excellent light output.

At the end of the day, it is your decision to make. Some decisions to consider what trade offs are you taking. If you wanted to be assured of a very good brand, pick up the most expensive - at least that's what common logic would tell you as there is always a correlationship between quality and price point. In many applications, the mid range price point offers good tradeoff between quality and pricing. My 2cents.

---------- Post added at 03:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:22 PM ----------

There's Garax too. Some members here used this brand too including the mechanically and technically inclined: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120918919007?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
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I bought mine from TRS and their bulbs came to me in the cardboard boxes. And TRS is highly respected, so I don't know if the cardboard box theory is accurate.
 
^ This.

TRS bulbs by the way are made by Morimotos (Japanese) and are far cheaper than the Osrams link I posted. Morimotos are $40+. In this time and age where everybody outsource their manufacturing to China, who's to know what product you receive in your hand. You could be staring at a shiny new toy marked Samsung, Apple or whatever. Flipped it and find the "Made in China" stamp.
 
Thanks guys, went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Osram CBI's, so Merry Christmas me! :) Now just need to figure out how to replace the drivers side with the whole 2 inches of clearance it looks like we get! Is it easy enough to do without moving/taking out the air filter box? I didn't see a DIY w/ pictures on the site, so let me know if anything exists...
 
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