XenonDepot HID vs LED, initial photo. (Pics reposted)

UPDATE: Had to get rid of photobucket, what a horrible service that was. Swapped to IMGUR, but holy lord the photos are huge now, but they still get the point across. Now, as for the lights. I swapped up to the 6200K because I wanted less yellow. Still 100% satisfied with no problems after even 2 years. If there's one critique, the seals they put on the cables that come through the dust caps should be of a size that match one of those circular drill saws to prevent moisture from getting in. It hasn't been an issue, but the potential is there. Glad to see this post is hanging in there.

Had a talk with Steve from XenonDepot regarding the output of the LED lowbeams in projector housings, but first let me say how impressed I am by their service, truly a class act.

Anyway, in my opinion the projector housings werent suited for LED bulbs that only have one diode per side, they're more for open housings such as the kind on the pre-refresh models. They're still brighter than stock, but the volume of light left a bit to be desired especially if the road is wet due to the blue-ish color temp.

So I decided to go with the 4300k HID kit. Install took 20min. Utilizing a saw-bit on the drill to make the perfect size hole in the caps to fit the grommet that the ballast wires run through, and the 3M adhesive for the ballast components though I'll probably do a more permanent mount after I move.

Haven't had time to do night pics just yet; but let me tell you, these are the way to go. There's a bit of yellow in the beam, but Steve told me that they'll get a bit more blue after they burn-in at about 100hrs. These combined with the LED fogs give an impressive spread. Super happy with this upgrade, as well as all the advice from XD.

I'd say I have the LED lows for sale, but instead gave them away to a fellow forum member (PopSmith) for helping me with my front shock install (took 3hrs). Seemed like a fair trade.

Here's a daytime side by side of the HID vs LED, more pics up tonight. Cheers.


So here's the breakdown. On top is the 4300k HID, Middle is the LED lows, bottom is sylvania ZXE. So far I haven't been flashed by other drivers, but admittedly I'm in town so the effect isn't quite as extreme as it would be on empty rural areas. Worth every penny. If you're wanting to upgrade, HID is my recommendation if you have projector beams.

very nice. I'm glad I took their advice as well and stuck to hids for the lows. Was on the fence as well

So your opinion is the LED's would work well on the pre-facelift? Can you expound on why?

I just picked up a 2012 and am weighing options between a HID retrofit and a set of LEDs. But I have no experience with LEDs and that makes me extra cautious.

R Burgundy said:

So your opinion is the LED's would work well on the pre-facelift? Can you expound on why?

I just picked up a 2012 and am weighing options between a HID retrofit and a set of LEDs. But I have no experience with LEDs and that makes me extra cautious.

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My reasoning (which could be flawed) is that the LED had a diode on each side. When in the projector housing one of the diodes is pointing backwards. Although light gets reflected back, there's still a great deal that gets blocked due to the "stick" the diodes are mounted to being a solid piece of black plastic.

The standard housing on the pre-refresh models allow each of the diodes to emit directly to the reflector and out. So it's possible they will work better than in a projector. Either way, the LED is still brighter than the stock bulbs and the sylvania ZXE bulbs I had before that.

As far as fogs go, Phillips LED all the way. They're awesome.

Just my 2 cents on it.

The HIDs look good and thanks for the LEDs. Installed them last night, only took about 10 mins. Now you have me looking for fogs and high beams.

Looking like I'll be doing the same thing anyone wanna buy some led low beams? Lol

PopsSmith said:

The HIDs look good and thanks for the LEDs. Installed them last night, only took about 10 mins. Now you have me looking for fogs and high beams.

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Awesome, glad you like them! You didn't happen to take any before/after pics did you? It'd be interesting to see how they work in the conventional headlight housing. Thanks again for the assist on the install. Looks like I'm gonna need UCA's after all. Know where I can get them for a reasonable price? Icon's are friggin expensive.

Paragon1 said:

Awesome, glad you like them! You didn't happen to take any before/after pics did you? It'd be interesting to see how they work in the conventional headlight housing. Thanks again for the assist on the install. Looks like I'm gonna need UCA's after all. Know where I can get them for a reasonable price? Icon's are friggin expensive.

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I didn't take before/after pics. I could uninstall one since they are pretty easy to get to.

Cheapest UCAs are Light Racing at amazon for 400. I got my TC from toytec. They were around 550. I think icons are running in the ~600 range.

Added a comparison pic.

I was looking into them when i upgrade my light, now i will be getting these!!! thanks for the info and pictures!

Thank you for the comparison. Do you have any with the fogs?

So, you suggest a ~4300k HID for wet roads?

I had a hard time in the rain with the stocks and yellow/orange street lights on the highway. My beam seemed to disappear due to the color similarity and the wet surface.

Awesome photos. I bought the same 4300 kit a few months ago. What a huge difference. Did you purchase the phillips bulb upgrade as well?

Led H11 in the fogs

Has anyone installed the H11 led xenon depot headlights bulbs in the fog lamps?
The reason I ask is because I to got the Xenon depod led's for my 2015 , but also came to the conclusion that I needed Hid's instead. So Now I just placed a new order for some Volt hids from xenon depot, but i'm stuck with the Led's I initially bought:roadkill:
I know they would be brighter, but I can reposition them lower, i'm more concerned with the higher wattage doing any damage.

I just finished my install yesterday from Xenon Depot. I went with the 5000k instead of the 4300k, so far I'm happy.

I did notice that both ballasts make a loud electrical whine which quiets down when the warm up, I assume this is normal as both are doing it but neither car with factory HIDs that I owned made any noise.

Hopefully they can comment on this whine.

stamonkey said:

I just finished my install yesterday from Xenon Depot. I went with the 5000k instead of the 4300k, so far I'm happy.

I did notice that both ballasts make a loud electrical whine which quiets down when the warm up, I assume this is normal as both are doing it but neither car with factory HIDs that I owned made any noise.

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Yes mine have the same whine. Gets quieter as they warm up. I have had the kit probably 4 years and it's always done it.

Lexusbstrdchild said:

Yes mine have the same whine. Gets quieter as they warm up. I have had the kit probably 4 years and it's always done it.

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Thanks! that's good to know.

Paragon1 said:

Awesome, glad you like them! You didn't happen to take any before/after pics did you? It'd be interesting to see how they work in the conventional headlight housing. Thanks again for the assist on the install. Looks like I'm gonna need UCA's after all. Know where I can get them for a reasonable price? Icon's are friggin expensive.

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Paragon1, the HIDs look great! What did you do with the high beams and fogs? Thanks. Cheers!

I'm getting ready to buy a set of HIDs, but I'm a bit confused with the exact bulbs i need. I know H11, however, TRS offers an H11B which is said for Japanese vehicles. Is this an important issue due to having a 2015?

etc. said:

Thank you for the comparison. Do you have any with the fogs?

So, you suggest a ~4300k HID for wet roads?

I had a hard time in the rain with the stocks and yellow/orange street lights on the highway. My beam seemed to disappear due to the color similarity and the wet surface.

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Yes, 4300HID had the best overall performance when the roads were wet. Color-wise I'm still partial to the LED, but the bluish tint works against you when it's wet.