Led Headlights: My Experience

07gts197 said:

On a side note has anyone seen the new raxiom s550 style headlights for our cars? I dont like the look of any aftermarket heaflights for these cars but these new ones look pretty cool!

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Those do look cool, but if you aren't into the LED running light feature, Amazon.com: Spec-D Tuning LHP-MST05JM-RS Black Projector Headlight (Retro): Automotive look pretty nice.

You can get the same headlight fit half the price on eBay as well.

I'm sure the projector inside are not the highest quality but it will be better than oem halogens.

Ive seen those on ebay but I dont like them because they look like a projector retrofit and I dont like the look of them on our cars. The s550 ones on am look good to me because the projector is larger and it doesnt look like a retrofit lol.

I put the Gen 2 style headlights for the 05-09. No issues at night. Good lighting w/LED bulbs. So far, as good as OEM.

Juice said:

I put the Gen 2 style headlights for the 05-09. No issues at night. Good lighting w/LED bulbs. So far, as good as OEM.

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I dont like them as much as I used to but I found a similar set on ebay that Ive been watching.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/381960960354

I like that the reflector bowl is omitted and its all black instead of chrome like a retrofit. To me it looks like a purpose built clean slate design instead of others Ive seen that look more like a stock headlight with a projector slapped into it. I dont know how I feel about the halos though and that it has an amber "turn signal" built into it. Its for looks and I dont care for that. I thought about rigging it to where that would actually be the turn signal but I didnt know what to do with the turn signal in the bumper (that wouldnt be functional after the swap) so I scrapped that idea. The s550 style lights look at home imo.

By the way has anyone noticed that those lights are referred to as 10-12 style headlights but the 10-12s never had a projector... theyre a copy of the 13-14s lol.

07gts197 said:

By the way has anyone noticed that those lights are referred to as 10-12 style headlights but the 10-12s never had a projector... theyre a copy of the 13-14s lol.

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LOL WUT?

'10-12 had HID projectors available from the factory as an option. The "base" models had halogens with the large reflectors, and an upgrade was the HID projectors.

These are stock HID projectors on my '11 GT:

I could have swore in my hid thread that I asked about hids and someone said they werent available in 10-12s. I have never seen those either. I did look it up though so I take back what I said.

07gts197 said:

I could have swore in my hid thread that I asked about hids and someone said they werent available in 10-12s. I have never seen those either. I did look it up though so I take back what I said.

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The '10-12s have the cleanest-looking projectors, in my opinion. They don't have those stupid LED DRLs like the '13-14s, either.

Sky Render said:

The '10-12s have the cleanest-looking projectors, in my opinion. They don't have those stupid LED DRLs like the '13-14s, either.

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Well thats good to know. Ive never seen them but yea they do look good.

Alright thanks to Irma-geddon I havent been able to experiment more or post. So I bought a new set of headlights and a set of led fogs. Both have leds on the sides and a few under a "projector" lense on the front. The pictures will follow as mobile wont let me post pictures directly into a thread.

Moving on, so I installed one headlight first with the other led light that I wrote about earlier. My whole theory on the projector was a toss up. I thought the projector would spread out the light and then the cob chips on the sides would suppliment the light output by also filling the reflector bowl with light. But on the other hand the leds under the projector dont have a cutoff shield so I thought it could also project light all over the place, including up towards drivers eyes. In one pic you can see they look pretty identical looking right at both but as soon as you look at the different beams you will notice the new bulb doesnt put out the light the old led does. Attached are some pics for comparison and one from outside my neighbors house where I do all my testing. I wish I took a pic of the street from the drivers seat like I was driving, it was like someone glued a keychain flashlight to my bumper thats how bad the light output was. Also the light was projected everywhere as I predicted. In short, these were a fail. Luckily though the seller gave me a full refund and even asked how he could improve their design. Will he take my advice I dont know and frankly I dont care lol.

Now on to the fogs. Another ebay special that looked similar to the headlight bulbs so I didnt expect much better performance. Well the idiots who designed them didnt realize they are polarity sensative so they only work if I plugged the connector in backwards! As you might have guessed the bulbs would not fit with the plug on backwards so I couldnt even test their output. Oh well, at least they also gave me a full refund.

Anyway I did buy another set of fogs that are of a different design that I cant wait to test soon. They look better in terms of design and dont look too ebay-y lol plus they did cost a few dollars more, hopefully for good reason. The only thing Im leary of is that this design has an led attached to a flat piece of plastic or metal, sort of like what the power steering fluid dipstick looks like on a small block ford. Well there is either one led that lights up both sides or each side has an led. Anyhow, my concern is that being mounted where they are and with there being this "stick" there might be blind spots. Its not like a bulb that has no obstructions because the filament is surrounded completely by glass. Im not too worried but I have my doubts as to how its going to perform.

Next time I think Im going to try a similar design for my headlights or as previously posted there is a design Ive seen where the leds are positioned about where the low beam and high beam filaments are on a corresponding halogen bulb. It should perform more like stock.

Im open to suggestions and if anyone wants me to test any particular design or send some funds my way dont hesitate to lol. Also Ill try to keep the pics in order. Enjoy.

Edit: I dont know why but the pics uploaded in reverse order of my thread... also the drivers side is the one I replaced with the new led in the pics if you couldnt tell.

Onto the next adventure! The new foglight leds came in the mail today. They are of a different design I have not tested yet. They look like an led on each side of a flat piece of metal but theyre slightly recessed. Following will be pictures so you wont have to use your imaginations lol. They look to be of good quality but my concern was with them not having a heat sink, and if they were wired in reverse like my last set lol. To my amazement they were wired correctly and work!

Once I got them in and turned on I critiqued them thoroughly and honestly I really like them. The cutoff is really sharp and they put out light in a uniform manner. I was also concerned about a blind spot because of the way the leds are mounted but that was quickly disspelled when I turned them on. They are brighter than the factory bulbs but they id not blind me when I stood directly in front of them at varying distances so they most likely wont glare. As you can see in the pics that there is a nice color difference like when I switched out my headlights. Theyre a nice clean white. Going back to the heat sink, I dont think it will make a difference but it may shorten the life of the bulbs. I used to almost always use my headlights and foglights when it was dark because I love the look but I think Ill refrain from that for the most part. All in all Im happy with my $11.29 purchase, I would highly recommend them. If anyone wants a link to the ones I bought Ill post it.

I think next time Im going to swap out the headlights a similar designed led as these foglights.

Attached are multiple pics of one stocker with one led, both leds, just foglights, fogs and headlights, drivers seat view and in front of the car. My phone does not take the best pics and Im no photographer lol. Enjoy.

Would LEDs (or even HIDs) be workable with DRLs? My SJB (stupid junction box) got wet and now I have DRLs, and don't feel like paying $250 just to see if the local dealer can turn them off.

Im not 100% sure but I believe so since they dont need a lot of current to feed them and drl's are given a reduced current. And even if theyre not dimmable your drl's wouldnt work so you wouldnt need to turn them off at the dealer lol.

07gts197 said:

I dont like them as much as I used to but I found a similar set on ebay that Ive been watching.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/381960960354

I like that the reflector bowl is omitted and its all black instead of chrome like a retrofit. To me it looks like a purpose built clean slate design instead of others Ive seen that look more like a stock headlight with a projector slapped into it. I dont know how I feel about the halos though and that it has an amber "turn signal" built into it. Its for looks and I dont care for that. I thought about rigging it to where that would actually be the turn signal but I didnt know what to do with the turn signal in the bumper (that wouldnt be functional after the swap) .

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These do look good. I don't know anything about how the turn signal is wired but maybe there's a way to have them switchback from the lights in the bumper to the ones in the headlight.

46addict said:

These do look good. I don't know anything about how the turn signal is wired but maybe there's a way to have them switchback from the lights in the bumper to the ones in the headlight.

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I was thinking the same thing but I wouldnt want to use the ones in the bumper. Then there would be a turn signal in the bumper that doesnt do anything and would look weird imo. Most projectors dont look good on these cars imo but those and the new raxion s550 style headlights are my favorites.

I like my new projector retrofit I did. I'll post pics later when I get home

That would be cool to see, post em up! I like where this thread is going. If anyone else wants to add anything by all means do so.

Realized I dont have a pic with the bumper on, and my bumper is currently not on the car.
Will get a better pic another day but heres from the day i installed

07gts197 said:

Onto the next adventure! The new foglight leds came in the mail today. They are of a different design I have not tested yet. They look like an led on each side of a flat piece of metal but theyre slightly recessed. Following will be pictures so you wont have to use your imaginations lol. They look to be of good quality but my concern was with them not having a heat sink, and if they were wired in reverse like my last set lol. To my amazement they were wired correctly and work!

Once I got them in and turned on I critiqued them thoroughly and honestly I really like them. The cutoff is really sharp and they put out light in a uniform manner. I was also concerned about a blind spot because of the way the leds are mounted but that was quickly disspelled when I turned them on. They are brighter than the factory bulbs but they id not blind me when I stood directly in front of them at varying distances so they most likely wont glare. As you can see in the pics that there is a nice color difference like when I switched out my headlights. Theyre a nice clean white. Going back to the heat sink, I dont think it will make a difference but it may shorten the life of the bulbs. I used to almost always use my headlights and foglights when it was dark because I love the look but I think Ill refrain from that for the most part. All in all Im happy with my $11.29 purchase, I would highly recommend them. If anyone wants a link to the ones I bought Ill post it.

I think next time Im going to swap out the headlights a similar designed led as these foglights.

Attached are multiple pics of one stocker with one led, both leds, just foglights, fogs and headlights, drivers seat view and in front of the car. My phone does not take the best pics and Im no photographer lol. Enjoy.

Click to expand...

How are these fog lights doing? Please post the link for the fog light LEDs. They look great


I also have a question.

Currently I'm running the Raxiom 2010 style projector headlights.

These came with H9 bulbs, and even with the sylvania silverstar ultras, on high beams, I can barely see at night. I've wanted to upgrade to an LED in these, but don't know what to buy. I know these take a H9, but the stock bulbs were H13.
Do I buy a H9 LED?
How many lumens should they be?

Thanks!

Looks pretty good man, I like the size of the projector. Most ones Ive seen look puny and look out of place.