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HID problems? Got almost zero brightness.

2K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  Henry987 
#1 ·
Hey there, bought an MR2 Turbo a bit ago, and I want to fix my garbage headlights. The PO installed an HID kit, and it does not really work right. It's got the ballasts and everything, but they only work on dim? And you get almost zero visibility. Then the brights are just regular bulbs and there's no HID, and night driving is seriously sketchy. I got the factory housings, but will they just work with all the HID garbage installed? I'm willing to spend like $200 on headlight stuff in order to get proper lighting.
 
#2 · (Edited)
You can either switch to a halogen setup or doing a projector retrofit. You can also go the LED route; a few guys here have tried them out.

If you go halogen, get good housings such as Hella or Cibie H4 conversion housings with good H4 bulbs from reputable companies such as Philips or Osram (not Sylvania).

If you go with a projector HID retrofit, you'll have to get good projectors - preferably OEM but at the very least the Mini H1, Mini D2S or FX-R from TRS (The Retrofit Source). The H1 projector seems to outperform the D2S by a little bit but you have the ability to use retail D2S bulbs whereas you'd have to use aftermarket H1 HID bulbs that don't always have the best quality control. On top of buying projectors, you may also have to buy shrouds if the projector is an open design that will leak out light. To finish off the package, you'll still have to buy 7x6 headlight assemblies but with a clear lens and tools to do all this work. I myself used bixenon projectors off the 2010-2011 model RX-350 and had to cut the fiberglass headlight bucket a bit to get everything to fit.

LED: http://www.mr2oc.com/215-lights/558153-ge-nighthawk-led-headlight-review-comparison.html

Mini D2S: http://www.mr2oc.com/215-lights/603257-bi-xenon-projector-headlights.html

Picture of my RX-350 projectors: http://www.mr2oc.com/215-lights/550641-new-ddm-hid-projector-retrofit-kit-thoughts.html
 
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