I have a US 2002, 3.0, AT with HID headlights. I’m looking for recommendations for the fog lights. The recommended bulb is the H1. I notice the H1 Halogen bulbs are relatively dim. The owner’s manual doesn’t specify the wattage, 55w, 60w, 100w, etc.
I’ve been researching LED bulbs, and it appears they all run hot, some coming with built in fans, others without.
With anyone upgrading their Main (High) beam and fog lights with LED, which bulb type was used to increase output light? With or without fans, do the fan units still allow the covers to be installed, etc. I don’t want an LED that will produce so much heat as to melt the sockets, headlight assembly or the fog light/socket assembly. Thanks in advance

 

RBaczek, when it comes to LED bulbs, from what I have read here, you will not find an LED bulb that will fit inside the headlight housing that you can still put the rear cover back on. Some have cut a hole to allow the fins to stick out and others have left the covers off. So, if you are looking to go that route, unfortunately, you have to leave the back off.

You say you have HID lighting in the car. When was the last time you replaced the HID bulbs? I only mention it as the HID bulbs do loose intensity over time (kinda like a standard filament bulb). So, simply putting in new HID bulbs may fix your issue. Also, how clear is the covers on your headlights? If they are starting to frost over due to sand and whatnot hitting the front of the car, polishing up the headlights may also fix your issue. The last thing that I would consider is how well your headlights are aimed. Because of the fragile internals of the X-Type headlights, your problem may not be so much the type of lighting as the fact that it may be pointing straight down at the ground or up in the air to the clouds. That will drop your light output considerably. parking in front of a wall to see where the headlights are aimed is a quick check to see if this is your issue.

As for fog lights, simply stepping up from the halogen bulbs to HID bulbs will net you twice the light (from 1500 lumen a bulb to around 3300). If you go HID, then you are going to get a 35 watt (yes, 35, not 50/55). The wiring and relay will handle the extra current surge. If you get the H1 HID bulb, then it is almost a complete plug and play conversion as a lot of the kits come with the H1 connector. So, it is a matter of getting the polarity right, find a spot to mount the ballast (there is a structural support right next to the fog light that works good for this). That should give you all the light that you need from the fogs.

Now, asking a silly question here: If you have changed your HID bulbs, did you get 35W or 50/55W bulbs? Most people think that you need the 50/55W bulbs for your main headlights. That is not the case with the HID bulbs. If you put 50/55W HID bulbs on a 35W ballast, that could very easily be the reason for your low light output.

If you are looking to get max lighting from your high beams, then I would be looking at getting a 50W HID kit for the high beams. You will want to get a relay kit as this kit will pull too much power for the High/fog light relay to handle. But, this will give you enough light to do x-rays with. Your high beams will be outputting around 4600 lumen each (stock is only 1500 lumen). Please keep in mind that by definition, this setup is illegal. You are in a state that loves their car inspections and hate to see you install something that you end up pulling right back out. You can back off to say the 35W HIDs and that would still be a dramatic upgrade to what the halogen bulbs output.

Something else to ponder with the HID's. If you are after maximum light, then 4300K light color is what you are after. Stepping up to 5000K is a 100 lumen loss, 6000K is another 100 lumen loss (ie, you are now down to 3100 lumen from 3300). the further you go from 4300K, the more light you are going to lose and the worse that this light will reflect back for you to see things.

 

Thermo, thanks for the information. My HID headlights are OEM. They’re still bright. However I will be replacing both headlight assemblies. Both have broken adjusters. I have two used assemblies that I rebuilt with new adjusters to put in the car. (Just have to get the courage up to remove the front bumper). I’ll rebuild the assemblies I pulled out and sell them.
As for the fog lights, I have found a couple of H1 led bulbs that are the same length as standard Halogen H1 (49mm), just trying to find one rated at 55w (standard wattage for H1). I’m aware the higher the wattage, the higher the temperature. Also the higher the wattage, the more load, the more load, the wiring and relays can’t handle the new power requirements.
I like the LEDs as they last longer versus ultra bright halogens which have a life of half the standard bulb

 

RBaczek, that is why I am saying to upgrade the fogs to HIDs. You get the improved lighting and not a lot of heat (as they are only 35W), much easier to find in a shop that will fit right into your housing. If you need some additional information, let me know. I have done a few of the HID upgrades in the fog lights and it is really simple if you get the H1 HID bulbs.

 

Thanks again Thermo. There are several HID H1 35w upgrade kits out there. Most about $45+. Which do you suggest/recommend? I believe I’ll delay swapping out my headlights until I receive a suitable kit. I’ll then upgrade the fog lights at the same time while I have the bumper off. That will also give me room to mount the ballasts in the best locations.

 

RBaczek, while hard to find, I found for aftermarket HIDs the brand to go with was "MaxLux". The other brands I tried, the ballasts seemed to go out after about a year of use. MaxLux seemed to go for many years (5+) with no issues. After that, see what others say. I haven't had a need to buy HIDs in awhile and have no idea of who makes a good kit and who makes junk.

 

https://headlightreviews.com/kensun-hid-kit-review/

https://kensun.com/collections/hid-c..._w_hid_kit_h11