Standard HID vs LED HID

[MrBrownPants]

I know this subject of HIDs has been beaten to death, so apologies if this was stated somewhere in an old post (I did search!) My main question is there any advantage of standard OEM HIDs (like Osram night-breakers) versus going with a quality LED HID? I know our ballasts are pretty fragile, so will LED HIDs cause the ballast go out early? I do not have a lot of knowledge in subject of HIDs, so thank you all!

 

[Ta2dResqr]

The advantage to HID is that the reflectors in the headlight are designed for HID light. LED bulbs give off life in a different way and you generally end up blinding oncoming drivers and poor light patterns. Osram Xenon Night Breaker Laser D3S is the best bulb i have found for our application.

 

[SHOdded]

blinding should not be an issue with projectors. we have had many successful transitions from halogen to aftermarket hid and aftermarket led, as well as hid to led based hid in our projector equipped ford edge vehicles.

but light projection is potentially still an issue. HIDs are well known for long range and even spread of light. LEDs are typically brightest up close and dim the further out you go. hence the ridiculous lumens claims on aftermarket LED kits right now. very few oem LED performers based on IIHS testing too, surprisingly.

you should give both the osrams and LED HIDs (off of amazon) a head to head comparison and judge for yourself.

 

[MrBrownPants]

So there isn't any correlation between LED HID and failing ballasts, or any other significant reliability issue? I just really don't want to start experimenting with lighting and it cause other issues, when all along it was a known issue that using non OEM style would cause other components to fail.

 

[SHOdded]

have not heard of any issues mentioned. i will ask an edge owner how his experience has been overall to confirm tho.

 

[MrBrownPants]

Thank you very much for your information, I appreciate it!

 

[Junkyard_Mad-Scientist]

Ive found a way to use a headlight switch from a lincoln MKT that adds the pull out fog light switch seamlessly, money got tight as soon as i finished the research so I havent done it in practice yet but from what im seeing about our lighting options and set up is that its pretty limited and not great for visibility. I'd suggest adding a driving light and wiring it to the lincoln switch if down-road visibility is the main concern. its 2 extra pins that with power will illuminate the little indicator built in to the switch and can operate independently from the rest of the car so there's no integration other than mounting the light in a place of your choosing. theres a thread i started with all the info i found if youre interested

 

[SHOdded]

Thank you very much for your information, I appreciate it!

no issues thus far, owner is still happy w the led hids.