Celica Forums General Discussion General HIDs...

may be a little off-topic but does anyone know the HID manufacturer that Mercedes Benz is now using in their new cars?? I drove next to one yesterday and he made my Xtreme PIAA's look like stock halogens...thanks for any help!

go to mercedes website and see if it tells you...
other than that, ask a mercedes dealer or someone who owns one or e-mail mercedes.

Sorry I don't know the brand but usually OEM hids are 4000k color temp (which are the brightest.) My hid's are 5300k and are as bright as BMW and lexus hid's. Well, atleast when im next to them at a stop light, but they will never be as "pretty" as OEM.

i thought it was illegal to use other car companys hids?

I thought making a loud custom exhaust was illegal yet ppl still do it.

bellof i think...

I have done a lot of research on this. The best combination is Philips HID bulbs and Hella ballasts.

Hella ballasts are standard OEM on BMW, MBZ, Lexus, etc.

Philips HID bulbs are available in two types: D2S and D2R. The "S" stands for Shield, and the "R" stands for Reflector. D2S are used for cars with projectors housing with Shields. D2R are for non-projectors such as the new 350z. OEM bulbs from Philips are rated at 4100K and 4300K color temperature. Philips also makes a 6000K bulb, but it is illegal to use in the US.

Color temperature at 4100K & 4300K are pure white with the highest output of lights. This is why they are standard OEM choice. Higher color temperature would give you a bit more color (blue, purple), but the light output decreases.

Some people buy HID retrofit kits such as K2, Eagle Eyes, or Misterjungs thinking they just pop it into the Celica's housing and they would be just as bright and pretty as the BWM's or MBZ's. Or they buy the higher temperature kits such as 8000K thinking that it would give them the S2000 look. The truth is that everything has to do with the light housing. The S2000 uses the 4300K bulbs, which shines pure white if you look straight into it. The pretty prism effect (blue/purple) that you see when a S2000 comes down the street is caused by the optical design of the projector, and not the color of the bulbs.

The Celica has free-form projectors. Unfortunately, it does not have shields (light shines everywhere). Fortunately, the Philips D2R bulbs fit perfectly in the H7 slot. How do I know? I have the HID kit from an Infinity G35 with Philips D2R on my car. The D2R bulb has a built-in shield which shields off the sides and the bottom-half of the bulb. This reduces the glare and gives it a much sharper cut-off. And it eliminates the shadows caused by the return wires.

If you want your Celica to look like the S2000 or BMW, the best thing to do is to replace the stock projectors. I found that the projectors from an Audi TT (very small) would fit nicely in our Celicas. These projectors are designed for HID's, and would give you the pretty prism effect. Of course, you would have to take your headlights apart to do this. A complete HID kit with Audi TT projectors, Philips HID bulbs, and Hella Ballast would run about $450. There are companies out there that would do the installation, including HID kit for $800 - $1000. You would have to ship your headlights to them. The whole process would take 3-4 weeks.

Checkout: http://www.illusion-lighting.com/

I started off with the Mcculloch 5300K retrofit kit. It was bright, but the lights were everywhere (lack of shield in our projector). So, I replaced it with the G35 kit. And I am very happy with it. But, it is still not as pretty as the S2000 because our projectors weren't designed for HID's.

Hope this helps. Damn, this has got to be my longest post.

What would you recommend us to do if we want HIDs for a decent price? Where did you get your g35 kit from tony?

Try eBay Steven.

survey says...EBAY for 100pts lol sorry got carried away

great info tony!

I agree with Tony and will retrofit some ECE projectors into my celi and put in some brighter hids (have 6000k and not so bright.)...but first, practice by putting in some in my moms 95 camry .. clearing out the ripples in the lens and bam custom hid ready projectors on a 95 camry

Anyone ever try installing the new HID's from the 04 celica's into the older ones? or is the housing completely different for the new HIDs?

Tony...is there any HID Kit you would recommend?

XenonDepot 4100K?

i just dont want to go through all that housing thing.

2kVeilsideGTS i have the OEM HID celica housing (one side anyways) and I'll see it can fit in my 01 celica when i get time to install my AEM CAI

no matter what kit anyone gets it won't have the purply look
performance yes but not as good as a projector designed to house hid..

check link below for...

Difference of Stock vs HID Celica headlamp pictures
https://celicahobby.com/ubbthrea...&PHPSESSID=

i dont really care about how they look...

all i care about is that if i can see more at night

Basically what you'd want to get for the best lighting is 4100K or 4300K color temperature.

I'd recommend covering up the two holes in each projector as it causes a lot of glare for some drivers.

you'd need to get a rebased bulb that is configured for H7 as that is the size the celica low beams are. and usually rebased bulbs have the same focal point as regualar bulbs. Xenon depot has some. also their faq can answer a lot questions

http://xenondepot.com/faq.html


good luck

Click below for just a ton of info on hid's
[hidforum.com]

if you have PIAA extreme white+, yeah, they're pretty weak...

I don't get it. I thought the higher the heat color, the brighter the light. So how is 4300k brighter than 5,000k? Somebody wanna explain?

sancho i think what the problme is is that hte higher emp color, the more blue purple you get, so therefpore the less bright it woudl become. i dont knwo if thats right but thats my guess. Goign back to the topic of the stock his in celica vs regula celi housing, is the hid housing set up for the prisom light liek in the s2000? i have the hid but never been able to see it driving at night

the temperature color of the light i.e. 6000k refers only to the color of the light not the brightness. you could have a 8000k bulb that has much less brightness than a 4300k bulb. Higher temp. color doesn't necessarily mean more brightness.

a 18000K you will get a black light... get the idea?

imo, 5000K - 6500K is the best

4300K is just too...yelloish.

^ true.. but yellow is best for bad weather situations rain, fog..etc..


also for quality bulbs Osram and Philips is the way to go but..

Osram-Sylvania's highest color temperature bulb is 5400K
Philips' highest color temperature bulb is 5800K (marketed at 6000K Ultinon).

other companies make the higher color temps... but quality and longevity of the bulb might not be there

^^^ Erick is daman, better listen to what he says, he's the HID, FOG & Strut Bar expert on here.

In reality the high the temperature the more light and the more powerful the light is however!!!our eyes cannot see that light in our spectrum so thats why it seems like less light