Need Lighting Gurus- HID help- 5th Gen Specific.

I don't think you are over thinking it at all. Just because 'everyone' is using them doesn't mean there isn't a risk.

Heat is a big reason I haven't done HIDs yet. I've used them in the past they weren't in an enclosed area like the T4R head light housing.

After seeing our pics I'm pretty much sold on not doing HIDs. I'm not worried about the ballast. Main concern is, similar to yours, and the HID bulb. Maybe I'll do HIDs in the future, but for now I'll wait and watch LEDs.

I'm going to do the H9 conversion with an H11/H9 harness. That gets me more lumens with low risk.

Thanks about the pics again
This seems like a sensible solution. Did you do this? Links to harness?
 
Ordered the XenonDepot kit from a lot of advice here. Philips 4300K option
Kit looks pretty nice, lots of crap to find spot for though!
I wasn't a big fan of the double sided tape for the ballasts so I made some brackets. Other than that the look pretty good
The lights seem a little more yellow than I was expecting especially the drivers side...thinking they will burn in and may change to more white with use?

Anyways here's the install pics, I'll update after a few thousand miles, hopefully I can steer someone on the fence one way or another

Side note: anyone know off hand wether my headlight will need adjusted down? I've never touched the factory setting and the halogen bulbs were aimed correctly. It's storming outside and I won't get to drive it at night for about a week.
You will probably need to adjust them down a bit, its typical. more light means the effective cut off point is just a little bit higher

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This seems like a sensible solution. Did you do this? Links to harness?
LED are objectively not as good as getting light down range, they just flood the foreground.

I am not aware of a single heat issue with HID low beams and I can't think of a theoretical reason who you should

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It's always nice to see the different ways different people will install the same thing. I'm also very glad to see a low heat reading on the ballast given my placement of it. Congrats on the install, enjoy seeing much more of the world at night, and of course convincing everyone to get out of the left lane when you're behind them!
 
Ordered the XenonDepot kit from a lot of advice here. Philips 4300K option
Kit looks pretty nice, lots of crap to find spot for though!
I wasn't a big fan of the double sided tape for the ballasts so I made some brackets. Other than that the look pretty good
The lights seem a little more yellow than I was expecting especially the drivers side...thinking they will burn in and may change to more white with use?

Anyways here's the install pics, I'll update after a few thousand miles, hopefully I can steer someone on the fence one way or another

Side note: anyone know off hand wether my headlight will need adjusted down? I've never touched the factory setting and the halogen bulbs were aimed correctly. It's storming outside and I won't get to drive it at night for about a week.

I felt the same way regarding the color temp of the 4300K kit. They do burn in and even out a bit. According to XD this usually happens within the first 100 hours of usage. I think when it comes down to it 4300 is still going to look relatively warm. Whenever I look at my lights by themselves now they're slightly less white than I'd prefer, however when I'm driving alongside a halogen equipped car they appear much more white by comparison.
 
Ordered the XenonDepot kit from a lot of advice here. Philips 4300K option
Kit looks pretty nice, lots of crap to find spot for though!
I wasn't a big fan of the double sided tape for the ballasts so I made some brackets. Other than that the look pretty good
The lights seem a little more yellow than I was expecting especially the drivers side...thinking they will burn in and may change to more white with use?

Anyways here's the install pics, I'll update after a few thousand miles, hopefully I can steer someone on the fence one way or another

Side note: anyone know off hand wether my headlight will need adjusted down? I've never touched the factory setting and the halogen bulbs were aimed correctly. It's storming outside and I won't get to drive it at night for about a week.

I am at the same boat as you.. Did you drill the weatherproof housing? And btw, you are not overthinking it.. Some people just want to be dead accurate with what they want and totally respect that.. I am following this thread so please post update.. I am literally searching for HID's as well..
 
got my Xenon Phillips 4300k kit.... going in this weekend.... looks pretty straight forward although I bouth a Milwaukee #9 step bit and it was 50 flippin dollars! Kept the receipt that fugger is gong back to Home Depot when I am done lol

havent popped the back of the headlight off yet, assume the clear housing around the bulb comes off? or does the whole damn thing slide in?
 
got my Xenon Phillips 4300k kit.... going in this weekend.... looks pretty straight forward although I bouth a Milwaukee #9 step bit and it was 50 flippin dollars! Kept the receipt that fugger is gong back to Home Depot when I am done lol

Yeah, I bought one of those bits myself as well. Works great for this purpose, but it ain't cheap. Drills a very clean hole.
 
got my Xenon Phillips 4300k kit.... going in this weekend.... looks pretty straight forward although I bouth a Milwaukee #9 step bit and it was 50 flippin dollars! Kept the receipt that fugger is gong back to Home Depot when I am done lol

havent popped the back of the headlight off yet, assume the clear housing around the bulb comes off? or does the whole damn thing slide in?

you talking about the protective cover that screws on? You remove that, then slide your bulb through the dust cap and get grommet in place then install bulb then install the dust cap. Place your old bulbs in the protective case , they wont fit exactly but use some electrical tape on the bottom and they will stay protected. Throw this in your console or somewhere and you will have backup bulbs.

Wear gloves when doing all this, do not touch the bulbs or get any oil from your skin on the bulbs
 
you talking about the protective cover that screws on? You remove that, then slide your bulb through the dust cap and get grommet in place then install bulb then install the dust cap. Place your old bulbs in the protective case , they wont fit exactly but use some electrical tape on the bottom and they will stay protected. Throw this in your console or somewhere and you will have backup bulbs.

Wear gloves when doing all this, do not touch the bulbs or get any oil from your skin on the bulbs
LOL I was just being Stifler..... but thanks. Gonna get these in this weekend
 
So I had my 4300K Philips kit installed for a bit now and have a few observations.

  1. The light output is noticeably warmer/yellower than I expected. I thought OEM HIDs were all 4300K and have what seems to me to be a significantly whiter output. Is this just due to the halogen projector housing?
  2. The cutoff line almost seems to have even more yellow in it and actually some shades of green (maybe blue mixing with the yellow). Does anyone else notice a greenish hue to their lights? It's doing one of those weird effects to my eyes like if I was wearing ski goggles. Your eye gets used to the color shift over time, then when you are away from the color shift (i.e. get out of truck/take off goggles) reality seems to be shifted to a different color. Seems like way too much green to me and this green color is my primary complaint at this point.
  3. Factory aim was very high with the stock halogens. I noticed this even with the halogens in there as I would light up the trees above me driving down my street. Got a middle finger directed my way while sitting behind a compact car at a light. So I adjusted them downwards quite a bit and now it seems much more considerate to others as the cutoff line is on the ground in front of me instead of up in the sky.
 
So I had my 4300K Philips kit installed for a bit now and have a few observations.

  1. The light output is noticeably warmer/yellower than I expected. I thought OEM HIDs were all 4300K and have what seems to me to be a significantly whiter output. Is this just due to the halogen projector housing?
  2. The cutoff line almost seems to have even more yellow in it and actually some shades of green (maybe blue mixing with the yellow). Does anyone else notice a greenish hue to their lights? It's doing one of those weird effects to my eyes like if I was wearing ski goggles. Your eye gets used to the color shift over time, then when you are away from the color shift (i.e. get out of truck/take off goggles) reality seems to be shifted to a different color. Seems like way too much green to me and this green color is my primary complaint at this point.
  3. Factory aim was very high with the stock halogens. I noticed this even with the halogens in there as I would light up the trees above me driving down my street. Got a middle finger directed my way while sitting behind a compact car at a light. So I adjusted them downwards quite a bit and now it seems much more considerate to others as the cutoff line is on the ground in front of me instead of up in the sky.
How long have you had them or what's the approximate milage on those lights before you started noticing the greenish color? Also do you see it up close like in front of the garage door or did you notice it on the ground looking out as well?
I just got mine in last week and other than the aim I have not really noticed a greenish or yellowish line. If anything they look completely white to me, at least for now.
 
After re-reading this thread, couple things:

- 4300K is the temp recommended by experts (XD for example) because this temp yields the most lumens. After all, you're upgrading for better lighting, right? Now, if you're after "the look", higher temp ratings will appear whiter/bluer to the eye, albeit at lower lumens.

- As to headlight adjustment, you really should check this after installing HID. If you'll use the search feature I cited at the thread beginning, for something like "headlight adjustment", or "headlight aiming", you'll find how-tos. Our 4Rs sit high and you'll scorch eyeballs in that Corolla's RV mirror.
 

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