Headlight difference?

[Operator]

One reason people perceive BMW's Lexus's and the liek for being higher than 4000k is because the bulbs have color-shifted and are no longer 4000k.

 

[oaklandopen]

One reason people perceive BMW's Lexus's and the liek for being higher than 4000k is because the bulbs have color-shifted and are no longer 4000k.

color shifted as in gotten old? i've read that xenons have a lifespan of about 30k hours, and the color will change and take a longer time to start up before it gets so old it won't work anymore

i understand the idea of a different type of lens used by the "higher" quality line of cars like the bmw, caddies, and the lot, and it makes sense to me. soooo since ppl are swapping does that mean the lenses can be easily swapped? retro-ing those evo lenses into the gt sounds like fun to me

 

[Operator]

Right. Take a OEM Philips 85122 bulb which is 4100k. Over time it will shift towards 5000k and possibly a little higher.

 

[iredremix]

i took mine out and switched it with ultinons 6k

 

[Operator]

Just wanted the color?

 

[Yoo Shin]

Lense makes a big difference epsecially for the MS3. There's several how-to thread on swapping lenses with the Evo lens but it's very hard to find the Evo lenses. Besides, I'm not sure if I'm willing to bake my headlights.

I was really hoping to get the HID quality that my wife's CX7 GT has. The CXs is very much like my friends Acura TL. A very crisp clear blue/white with a solid cut off.

 

[iredremix]

our stock housing/shrouds suck. the acura tl projectors are nice, they shoulda put those in the ms3

 

[RichB]

So does anyone know if the Halogen housings are the same as the HID housings? The only replacement housings I see are Halogens.

 

[Operator]

The HID housing have a different projector and parts for a leveling motor.

 

[AutoEuphoria]

The sport version's housing is fine for HIDs, though...I installed them the day I bought the car and haven't had an issue.

 

[RichB]

Is it possible to take the leveling motor off of a GT headlight and put it on a sport headlight?

 

[mx-p5]

One reason people perceive BMW's Lexus's and the liek for being higher than 4000k is because the bulbs have color-shifted and are no longer 4000k.

also, what people see coming out of the projector that is purple and blue is the cutoff.

Here are my TL's with a lens swap and shield mod. The bulbs are 4300K but the cutoff is blue/purple

 

[Sport6]

We back to the original question. . I don't think they are the same housings. However, that being said, the halogen headlight housings of the Sport model work extremely well with aftermarket HID kits. The cutoff is excellent.

Infact my Apexcone 55 Watt 6,000k HID kit I got from Xenonexpert.com is brighter than the factory HID in the GT model (factory HID is only 35w and ~4,300K). I did a side-by-side comparison with one at a local meet and the owner of the GT agreed mine were brighter. I highly recommend them. The new DDM kit has slim ballasts and can be had for around $150 a set.

I ended up doing the fogs as well. So I have 55W, 6,000K Apexcone HIDs for the headlights, and the 55W 3,000K kit for the fog lights. Best investment i ever made. Lighting improvement is huge - there's no comparison.

I thought 55w HIDs in the small foglight housing had a chance of melting it and was not recommended?

 

[Operator]

also, what people see coming out of the projector that is purple and blue is the cutoff.

Here are my TL's with a lens swap and shield mod. The bulbs are 4300K but the cutoff is blue/purple

Yeh my 3 has a nice blue cut-off.

These are 3900k.

 

[hollar1211]

More like $1,500, which was the diff between a Sport and GT after negotiating both.

seriously. if you're going to spend 24, why not spend 25 5. probably the best cost to upgrade package of any car on the market. i wonder what other manufacturer's would charge for the Zenons, Bose system, rain sensing wipers, leather or suede inserts, and led tails.

 

[oaklandopen]

seriously. if you're going to spend 24, why not spend 25 5. probably the best cost to upgrade package of any car on the market. i wonder what other manufacturer's would charge for the Zenons, Bose system, rain sensing wipers, leather or suede inserts, and led tails.

he's right, and some cars you would expect to have xenons as at least an option don't at all. ie the new wrx's (why are xenons limitted to the sti?), pontiac g8, camry, just to name a few. and those are just ones that already have projector housing (which really are the best for xenons)

i can understand why manufacturers might keep the HIDs for their upper-class vehicles (honda/acura, chevy/cadillac), but there are plenty of consumers out there that would like that feature on more models.

after owning 2 cars with HID i don't think i ever want to go back to conventional halogen

 

[squidmotion]

i find the mazda lights in the sport we have sufficient, but not great... now my tundra? HOLY CRAP!! best lights i have EVER had on a vehicle... one thing i don't like while driving the truck...constantly getting flashed by other drivers to turn down my high beams... i almost hate showing them what the high beams look like...

like having aircraft or train lights on a truck.

 

[UHATEIT]

I believe the headlight housing is the same for sport and GT. But someone mentioned they thought it was different because of the control for moving it up and down on the gt version. Its acually a little box behind the bulb that attatches outside the light and has an orange plug. The gt is plugged in and it angled the bulb/adjusts it. I dont think whats inside the light is different, its what is attatched to the outside