Right side is my Atlas with OEM LEDs. They are reflector housings. Clearly designed for-purpose. Left is my Sportwagen with LED bulbs retrofitted into OE halogen reflector housings. They are designed with the diodes at the same location as the halogen filament. Work well with min. scatter. Did a lot of testing with following/head-on and don't note any issues with causing issues for other drivers.
OEM Headlights upgrade to LED White Bright Headlights
- Thread starter Escape08
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WOW. Tbh I was being gentle with my evaluation because to walk with a guy and have hearing, relationship is important. By every indication, the right side is awful. That mirror image is real glare, the distribution below is sloppy, and the illumination on the upper trim of the garage door is really bad. And you say those are oem. To my eye, your aftermarket LEDs provide LESS glare to oncoming traffic than oem. Surprising.
Power consumption supposedly.
Yep. I've been flashed in the Atlas plenty of tines...not in my Sportwagen but the group think on this topic is always that retrofits ate horrible. In 2024 they don't have to be.
I have a Morimoto HID conversion (5K bulb temp) in my Tacoma with the factory projector low beams. After re-aiming them the are every bit as good or better than the OEM HID’s in my Chrysler.
What I do know about the LED is the actual thickness of the LED tower has to be every close to the thickness of the halogen filment bulb for proper light dispersion and no shadow.
I prefer not to use a bulb that needs a cooling fan thus my decision to go HID. Sure it’s a little more work to install but my last Morimoto HID kit lasted 7 years and I sold that car with them still working.
It is critical to correct the aiming as to not blind anyone. I’ve tested my Tacoma and they have less glare than most factory LED set ups…….some of the new cars with LED are terrible.
It’s hit or miss with retrofit, you’re at the mercy of how well the lamp was originally designed.
What I do know about the LED is the actual thickness of the LED tower has to be every close to the thickness of the halogen filment bulb for proper light dispersion and no shadow.
I prefer not to use a bulb that needs a cooling fan thus my decision to go HID. Sure it’s a little more work to install but my last Morimoto HID kit lasted 7 years and I sold that car with them still working.
It is critical to correct the aiming as to not blind anyone. I’ve tested my Tacoma and they have less glare than most factory LED set ups…….some of the new cars with LED are terrible.
It’s hit or miss with retrofit, you’re at the mercy of how well the lamp was originally designed.
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I guess %-wise it makes a difference, but as I recall it goes like 55W halogen, 35W HID xenon, 25W LED (although this may have improved)
To say 33% less energy but the trade off is blinding oncoming traffic, doesn't seem that great of a decision.
It's not nothing, it's bad. It's like the funk we were in when we were still using 1 of 4 kinds of sealed beams, and Canada and the rest of the world had flush mounted headlamps with replaceable bulbs...that was like up to 1984 because I can think of 1985 when the Camry had flush headlights...
I do have 2 relic cars with adaptive xenon, one German, one Japanese. I think the German is superior as the left headlight does not swivel as much into a left turn, as the right. That's thinking imho. The Japanese, both act similarly. But one key thing to me is the leveling based on the vehicle's position, that goes beyond courtesy.
This is the same problem they had with the newer led traffic lights...NO heat and they would get full of snow and ice...
The only recent vehicle that that I can think of that has leds with a projector are the Toyota Corolla and maybe the BMW I3. The Corolla is super easy to spot as the headlights have a violet purple glow due to the cutoff. I still think hids are far superior as they had brighter output and less glare plus eventually were able to become mercury free. GE makes a 4800k 3400 lumen bulb that was supposedly available on some Cadillacs and was supposedly the most neutral color and best brightness available.
The original halogens in my 2020 RAM were so bad they should be illegal. I live out in the country.
What got me on this path was my Mini has OEM LED self leveling headlights, best headlights I have ever had in a vehicle.
I'd drive my RAM and couldn't see worth a darn.
I was hesitant and not an early adopter due to all the bad things I was reading here and other places.
In spite of all the parroting I've seen here and the improvements in LED bulbs and placing the actual LED elements in the same location as the halogen element, I gave them a try in the low beams. I didn't buy the most expensive, nor the cheapest.
I did extensive testing and measuring against a wall at 25 ft before and after.
I did not want to be the guy blinding people. That was my absolute major concern. I had my son drive my truck so I could meet him head on in the road just to make sure.
The key here is getting the bulb oriented properly in the reflector housing. This may not be possible on all vehicles. I cannot speak for them.
Night and day difference. It's not that I can see much further down the road, it's that I can see what's being illuminated with white light, instead of brown. I'd have to say the industry has responded to the feedback from customers.
Every morning on my way to work every morning I encounter new vehicles with blinding headlights, and this is from the seat of a RAM 1500. In my Mini its worse. As far as feedback goes, I think that if you are blinding others, they'll flash you. I have not been flashed once in the 3 months since I did the conversion.
The moral of the story is don't knock it till you try it.
I have since upgraded my high beams and fog lights.
What got me on this path was my Mini has OEM LED self leveling headlights, best headlights I have ever had in a vehicle.
I'd drive my RAM and couldn't see worth a darn.
I was hesitant and not an early adopter due to all the bad things I was reading here and other places.
In spite of all the parroting I've seen here and the improvements in LED bulbs and placing the actual LED elements in the same location as the halogen element, I gave them a try in the low beams. I didn't buy the most expensive, nor the cheapest.
I did extensive testing and measuring against a wall at 25 ft before and after.
I did not want to be the guy blinding people. That was my absolute major concern. I had my son drive my truck so I could meet him head on in the road just to make sure.
The key here is getting the bulb oriented properly in the reflector housing. This may not be possible on all vehicles. I cannot speak for them.
Night and day difference. It's not that I can see much further down the road, it's that I can see what's being illuminated with white light, instead of brown. I'd have to say the industry has responded to the feedback from customers.
Every morning on my way to work every morning I encounter new vehicles with blinding headlights, and this is from the seat of a RAM 1500. In my Mini its worse. As far as feedback goes, I think that if you are blinding others, they'll flash you. I have not been flashed once in the 3 months since I did the conversion.
The moral of the story is don't knock it till you try it.
I have since upgraded my high beams and fog lights.
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- Oct 30, 2023
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- 33
The problem with drop in LED/HID kits in halogen (either reflector OR projector), is physics.
We're measuring performance by looking at wall shots, having other people drive in the opposite lane, putting LED diodes in a similar position as a halogen filament, etc. These are absolutely NOT how engineers have made these lights work safely, we're doing preschool levels of testing here in comparison -- which ultimately means nothing in the end -- it doesn't work correctly. Like, we don't have any of their equipment beyond a lumen's meter lol. All the physics part of a headlight is done with rigorous testing with different types of expensive meters engineers use for the beam pattern especially.
I never flash anybody that blinds me, I'm too busy looking at the road. I don't think people not flashing you is a good indicator your lights are not blinding.
A beam pattern has spots within in the beam that has to correspond with the laws in place and also for your eyes to see the road and not to overdrive them. Our eyes are the worst thing to base on how well we see things believe it or not. It blew my mind when I read up on this. Like lighting engineers make specific lawful beam patterns so you have distance vision and peripheral vision while you're flying at 50mph at night and not have basically a flood light in front of your car. Which is what people believe is "I see so much better!" when they toss in an HID or LED kit in their halogen headlights, because the front of their car is basically a flood light lol.
I used to be an HID kit guy but when I read into it and it "clicked", I see why many are saying not to do it. It's dangerous.
We're measuring performance by looking at wall shots, having other people drive in the opposite lane, putting LED diodes in a similar position as a halogen filament, etc. These are absolutely NOT how engineers have made these lights work safely, we're doing preschool levels of testing here in comparison -- which ultimately means nothing in the end -- it doesn't work correctly. Like, we don't have any of their equipment beyond a lumen's meter lol. All the physics part of a headlight is done with rigorous testing with different types of expensive meters engineers use for the beam pattern especially.
I never flash anybody that blinds me, I'm too busy looking at the road. I don't think people not flashing you is a good indicator your lights are not blinding.
A beam pattern has spots within in the beam that has to correspond with the laws in place and also for your eyes to see the road and not to overdrive them. Our eyes are the worst thing to base on how well we see things believe it or not. It blew my mind when I read up on this. Like lighting engineers make specific lawful beam patterns so you have distance vision and peripheral vision while you're flying at 50mph at night and not have basically a flood light in front of your car. Which is what people believe is "I see so much better!" when they toss in an HID or LED kit in their halogen headlights, because the front of their car is basically a flood light lol.
I used to be an HID kit guy but when I read into it and it "clicked", I see why many are saying not to do it. It's dangerous.
I haven’t come across LED bulbs that have a good down road beam pattern In halogen housings. That’s what usually blinds oncoming drivers. If your vehicle has projector housings you’ll most likely get better results.Anyone here upgraded from OEM Headlights to LED Bright White (20000 LM) with built in electric fan headlights? Will these blind drivers from incoming vehicles like might result to road rage? Just worried.
I'm thinking of upgrading my Escape's to LEDs
Thanks for any inputs...
I think going to LED's depends on your application. On my Harleys, all my lights are LED DOT approved, with headlight modulators. I WANT TO BE SEEN, and my ass depends on them to stay alive. The whiter light of the LED's get noticed easier during the daytime.
On my 2001 Blazer, I switched to GTR CSP Mini's for the low beams. It took a few times of trial and error and night time driving to get them properly aimed and rotated properly, but the improvement was well worth it. Also, they draw a less power, and I don't have to worry about my weak alternator needle dipping downwards anymore when I put the defroster on high LOL. Another point is, they do not have fans, I don't see the point of putting in a new LED in place of your halogen, only to have to replace it in the future due to fan failure.
In my Avalon, I swapped my stock halogen 9005's for the Toshiba halogen 9011. It produces more light and keeps the factory cutoff. I would have considered LED's, but these are projector style headlamps and LED's don't do well in those at all.
One last thing. Even some new cars have irritating lights. You can never avoid blinding someone because ther's always a slight dip and rise on a road. A hill, or a corner. One way or another a car's headlights are blaring right into your eyes for reasons that have nothing to do with what kind of bulbs or headlights they have. Not everybody drives on an interstate in Nebraska with flat roads.
It;s called reality, deal with it.
On my 2001 Blazer, I switched to GTR CSP Mini's for the low beams. It took a few times of trial and error and night time driving to get them properly aimed and rotated properly, but the improvement was well worth it. Also, they draw a less power, and I don't have to worry about my weak alternator needle dipping downwards anymore when I put the defroster on high LOL. Another point is, they do not have fans, I don't see the point of putting in a new LED in place of your halogen, only to have to replace it in the future due to fan failure.
In my Avalon, I swapped my stock halogen 9005's for the Toshiba halogen 9011. It produces more light and keeps the factory cutoff. I would have considered LED's, but these are projector style headlamps and LED's don't do well in those at all.
One last thing. Even some new cars have irritating lights. You can never avoid blinding someone because ther's always a slight dip and rise on a road. A hill, or a corner. One way or another a car's headlights are blaring right into your eyes for reasons that have nothing to do with what kind of bulbs or headlights they have. Not everybody drives on an interstate in Nebraska with flat roads.
It;s called reality, deal with it.
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