Quote:
Originally Posted by N0OS3
they have H7 LED bulbs, they're pretty common... i seen a set of 120 LED that put out 500 lumens for a pretty penny.
Exactly my point about the HIDs, i don't want to put them in my low beam because, yes, that would defeat the purpose of high beams all together. I thought about blacking out the housing and put in an HID kit to cut back on light reflection but i'm not so sure i want to take the face off my headlight [again].
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About those H7 LEDs...common, yes. Quality, no. They have no heat management at all, use inappropriate current control systems, and don't direct light where it needs to go.
The LEDs will have a comparable problem to putting HID's in halogen reflectors. Essentially, the brightest point of the bulb won't be hitting the focal point of the reflector, and will proceed to blergh light everywhere. The LED may "look" bright if an outsider is looking at it, but you won't see much usable light on the road.
On to the heat management problem--take a look at these LED bulbs
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#.UL9qroPAd8E
The heat sink here was designed purposefully to move heat away from the emitters and the driver. Those cheapie H7 bulbs have no such thing at all. So they will burn out very quickly if they're used in a scenario like this. And I highly doubt they put out 500 lumens--to me that sounds like a theoretical number, like "if all of these LEDs were operating at peak-efficiency, you would see 500 lumens".
So yes, I would stray away from HIDs, but I would stray away from LEDs too.
If I were you, I would get
http://www.highperformancebulbs.com/nost2cowhh7t.html Note put more strain on your electrical system being high-wattage bulbs.
But I think you should open up your headlights again, put in REALLY good low-beam HID projectors (RX330, TSX, (not bixenon, you have halogen high-beams that you seem pretty set on) if you want a whiter, brighter light.
You seem like a rather discerning owner who won't settle for crap in your car. And I'm telling you that you will never be fully satisfied with some color-coated halogen bulbs--there's just no way. They reduce light output, and the color is never going to be where you want it--just a limitation of the technology. If you really want to avoid opening your Perma-Seal headlights again, Snag a set of the DEPOs, and retrofit those.