Has anyone changed the headlights on their Toyota Sienna?

[kaichu dento]

Just got a 2005 Sienna XLE Limited and found out that all of the lower models came with halogen bulbs but the top Limited edition has a full factory stock HID setup. Problem is that I'd really prefer to have halogen, but am also interested in finding out if I can just order a set of LED bulbs that will work with the HID drivers.

If there isn't too much effort other than replacing the headlight assemblies and removing the HID drivers then I'm perfectly fine with going that route too.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Not that simple. Completely different type of driver/ballast. Completely different light source. If you could manage it (you can't without a lot of work), it would not be safe or legal. LED in HID fixture is as unsafe and illegal as HID in halogen fixture.

Suggestion: forget about type of light (HID, LED, halogen incandescent, etc.) and concentrate on and research optical performance. What will have the beam pattern you want, in an acceptable color (no obnoxious blue)?

Nothing wrong with halogen headlights, IF THEY DO THE JOB. Given that your charging system is not short of power, the type of light is irrelevant. Performance matters.

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Just got a 2005 Sienna XLE Limited and found out that all of the lower models came with halogen bulbs but the top Limited edition has a full factory stock HID setup. Problem is that I'd really prefer to have halogen, but am also interested in finding out if I can just order a set of LED bulbs that will work with the HID drivers.

Sorry...what? This question (such as it is) makes no coherent sense. It sounds like you have a top-line van with HID headlamps, and you'd rather have halogen. You can swap in a set of the halogen headlamps, but...why would you want lower-performing headlamps instead of higher-performing ones?

Also no, you cannot put "LED bulbs" in a halogen or HID headlamp and wind up with anything but a random mess of light. Headlamps have to use the kind of bulb they were designed to take—halogen bulbs in halogen headlamps, HID bulbs in HID headlamps. Otherwise you won't have a safe, effective, or legal distribution of light.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Not that simple. Completely different type of driver/ballast. Completely different light source. If you could manage it (you can't without a lot of work), it would not be safe or legal. LED in HID fixture is as unsafe and illegal as HID in halogen fixture.

Suggestion: forget about type of light (HID, LED, halogen incandescent, etc.) and concentrate on and research optical performance. What will have the beam pattern you want, in an acceptable color (no obnoxious blue)?

Nothing wrong with halogen headlights, IF THEY DO THE JOB. Given that your charging system is not short of power, the type of light is irrelevant. Performance matters.

I knew this was going to be tough since people tend not to actually read the OP and just respond to the title instead.

Nothing at all wrong with halogen headlights, as we can both agree on, and the beam pattern I want is already available in the lower level trim packages.

The best I can glean from your post is that I'll have to re-wire the headlights and replace the sunfaded light housings to go to halogen.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Sorry...what? This question (such as it is) makes no coherent sense. It sounds like you have a top-line van with HID headlamps, and you'd rather have halogen. You can swap in a set of the halogen headlamps, but...why would you want lower-performing headlamps instead of higher-performing ones?

Also no, you cannot put "LED bulbs" in a halogen or HID headlamp and wind up with anything but a random mess of light. Headlamps have to use the kind of bulb they were designed to take—halogen bulbs in halogen headlamps, HID bulbs in HID headlamps. Otherwise you won't have a safe, effective, or legal distribution of light.

Of course it makes sense. I want a fully legal, standard headlight setup that Toyota offered in the same year, same vehicle (different trim package), which fits my personal preferences.

Unless I'm mistaken, I can't directly put halogen bulbs in place of the D2r HID bulbs without first getting the proper headlight fixtures (which I was already going to have to deal with since the old ones are in need of attention) and removing the drivers for them. The majority of cars on the road are still using halogen headlights and I prefer them, whether I'm behind the wheel or having them shining in my eyes.

Don't want a "random mess of light" and just wanted to make sure that there weren't any bulbs that I wasn't aware of before dismissing that as an option.

Thanks for confirming what I already thought, that I'll end up having to replace the whole lighting assemblies and rewire them.

 

[Hilldweller]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

...
Thanks for confirming what I already thought, that I'll end up having to replace the whole lighting assemblies and rewire them.

Get the factory set, not a cheezy set from Spyder or the other Amazon players.
Check out what halogen bulb they run and we can point you to the best in breed to stick in there.
Also, running a bypass harness to the battery via a relay will give the bulbs optimal power. They won't last as long but, like Marilyn Monroe, they will shine brightly.

 

[pungo]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

You're the first person a heard of wanting to go from a Xenon to a Halogen. Generally Xenon will outperform Halogen on the same vehicle. Do the Xenon in your vehicle suck and the Halogens are better or do you just really like Halogen lights?
LED bulbs with HID drivers will not work. If your vehicle was not offered with LED headlights then you shouldn't try to adapt them.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

You're the first person a heard of wanting to go from a Xenon to a Halogen. Generally Xenon will outperform Halogen on the same vehicle. Do the Xenon in your vehicle suck and the Halogens are better or do you just really like Halogen lights?
LED bulbs with HID drivers will not work. If your vehicle was not offered with LED headlights then you shouldn't try to adapt them.

I just like halogen and don't like blue. The warmest I've been able to find in the D2r is 4000k and I just thought I'd post up and see if anyone else had messed around with them.

The vehicle came with halogen on three different trim packages but they went up to HID on the Limited trim package. At this point I'm just planning on getting a new set of headlamp assemblies which will come with the proper reflector for halogen bulbs and get rid of these to someone wanting the HID package.

There's lots of conversation in the forum about which tints are best and it's well established that everyone likes what they like, and for me it's the same with the headlights. Some like cold, hard 8000k headlights, probably most like 4000-6000k, but I like the tint that my high beams and fog lights have; standard halogen.
I find it particularly annoying that they don't match. Go to low beams with no fog lights and it's cool white, turn on the high beams and all of a sudden it's warmish neutral. Low beams with fog lights and it's warm neutral right in front of the car and cool white everywhere else.

 

[pungo]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

So what you're saying is that you don't have bi-xenon, meaning you have HID lows with halogen high beams? I could see why that might be a little annoying, though I have HID projector lows and Halogen highs on my 2001 BMW 525i and I've been living with those for 18 years without issue. I do have HID fogs at least the lows and fogs match. I've never been a fan of reflector type HID, so I can also understand why you're not too happy with them since in my opinion, they are not in the same league as a good projector HID. Good thing is, you shouldn't have any problem dumping those reflector HID as long as they are in decent shape.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

So what you're saying is that you don't have bi-xenon, meaning you have HID lows with halogen high beams? I could see why that might be a little annoying, though I have HID projector lows and Halogen highs on my 2001 BMW 525i and I've been living with those for 18 years without issue. I do have HID fogs at least the lows and fogs match. I've never been a fan of reflector type HID, so I can also understand why you're not too happy with them since in my opinion, they are not in the same league as a good projector HID. Good thing is, you shouldn't have any problem dumping those reflector HID as long as they are in decent shape.

That's what I've been thinking the last few days here. There are great videos about refinishing the lenses and I think I'll do that after I install the replacement fixtures and put the HID ones up for sale, with a set of spare bulbs even. The lenses aren't nearly as bad as on some of the cars I see running around, but I actually suspect I'll be seeing more light on the road with the brand new halogen headlights than I am with the somewhat compromised HID's.

You're right too about the contrast between the beam colors. It would be far easier to get used to a tint that's cooler than my preference, if all the forward lights were the same color. Well, pretty soon they will be.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Here's a post from Toyota Nation weighing in on the excellence of the Sienna halogen headlamps and I'm looking forward to having the same tint on all my forward lighting. (I almost feel that this should be posted in the Incan forum! I've always been an incan fan, but for flashlights the ability to dim and get long runtimes outweighs the tint advantage, whereas with a car, I'm not concerned about those issues as the battery is constantly being charged. Automotive; tint wins out for me.)




"Also, for those of you that from time to time consider investing in HID headlamps for their 2004-2009 Sienna's: don't waste your money! The 2004-2009 Sienna halogen headlamps are as good as it gets in passenger car lighting.

The low beam reflectors (parabolas) on these lamps are HUGE (~7" round) and collect and reflect a ton of useable light onto the road. This subsequently makes an upgrade to the HID headlamps (option on the XLE LIMITED) of questionable value since the base halogen lamps are so very good.

I have tested just about every passenger vehicle with a HID headlamp option in this part of the world and most HID headlamps provide a dramatic improvement over their halogen counterparts.

However, the '04-'09 Sienna HID headlamps do not provide the dramatic improvement everyone expects because the halogen lamps are already so good –thereby narrowing the performance improvement potential between the two lamps. Now, that doesn't mean that the HID lamps aren't great lamps. They are. However, the base halogen lamps on this particular vehicle are some of the best I've ever seen on any vehicle -thereby lessening my motivation to pop for the HID lamps on this vehicle."

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

I don't believe swapping your HID for Halogen headlight assemblies are a simple swap since I think the wiring is different. I would polish your current headlight lenses since a cloudy lens can severely reduce usable light output. The color may not be what you're after, but if the lighting is better, it may be acceptable?

I don't think so either, but I'm going to do it when I get around to it. You may have missed my previous post (#18) about at least one persons view comparing stock halogen to the HID option.

At any rate, I didn't open the thread to find out if others thought I should or shouldn't be interested in getting rid of the HID setup, but rather what experience some may have had with doing the same as I'm planning on doing. I'm going to change from HID to factory stock halogen fixtures, and having driven other Siennas with them, already know that I prefer them.

Other views are welcome of course, but the most hoped for responses would be ones from anyone who already knows the wiring changes I'll have to do. Since the vehicle came with both options I would assume it wouldn't be more than a day project to get the lights I want.

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Off-topic material deleted -- sorry for contributing to your thread going astray, Kaichu.

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Off-topic material deleted -- sorry for contributing to your thread going astray, Kaichu.

Ha, it's all good if I can get some help with the wiring! I'm assuming that it's going to not be fun at all, but if I can come out at the other end successful, I'll be happy.

Besides, just reading the other opinions taught me a few things that were helpful, one of which was that the HID foglight wasn't going to be a good thing. Truth is, I might not even be considering this if all the bulbs (high, low, fog) had been HID. Anyway, always a warmish neutral HiCRI fan, and that's one thing the halogens definitely have going for them. (cheap and ubiquitous too, compared to HID)

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

All that's true, and because the halogen lamps take 9005 high beam and 9006 low beam bulbs, you can easily (and in this case, safely) upgrade to HIR1 high beam and HIR2 low beams -- assuming, of course, that you're putting them in new-condition, genuine Toyota headlamps (I've seen 'em up in the $400+ range, but a little searching shows you can do a lot better) that are aimed precisely and properly with an optical aiming machine.

As far as wiring goes, in principle it shouldn't be difficult: high beam wiring probably won't need to change at all. On the low beam side, the HID ballasts have + and - wires, which would be going instead to the low beam bulbs. Use quality sockets if you have to install new ones, and make sure any patch wires you have to install are of adequate gauge size.

Of course, that's just in principle. You may find yourself struggling with it all weekend long :-(

 

[kaichu dento]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

All that's true, and because the halogen lamps take 9005 high beam and 9006 low beam bulbs, you can easily (and in this case, safely) upgrade to HIR1 high beam and HIR2 low beams -- assuming, of course, that you're putting them in new-condition, genuine Toyota headlamps (I've seen 'em up in the $400+ range, but a little searching shows you can do a lot better) that are aimed precisely and properly with an optical aiming machine.

As far as wiring goes, in principle it shouldn't be difficult: high beam wiring probably won't need to change at all. On the low beam side, the HID ballasts have + and - wires, which would be going instead to the low beam bulbs. Use quality sockets if you have to install new ones, and make sure any patch wires you have to install are of adequate gauge size.

Of course, that's just in principle. You may find yourself struggling with it all weekend long :-(

You know, I spent more time driving, and actually paying attention to the lights tonight and realized that with the newer bulbs that I just installed (4300k) that I might go ahead and leave the lights alone if I could just find something more in the 3500-3800k range. Think I'll start doing some checking around and see if they even exist.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

realized that with the newer bulbs that I just installed (4300k) that I might go ahead and leave the lights alone if I could just find something more in the 3500-3800k range. Think I'll start doing some checking around and see if they even exist.

Koito has some 3900K CCT D2S capsules, but they may require jumping through hoops to get (ordering from Japan).

 

[-Virgil-]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

Looks like the Koito 3900K D2R and D2S are discontinued, but I'm pretty sure they supplied them for Polarg (another Japan-market brand), and that's still available, it looks like. Don't speak Japanese or have a Japanese credit card and shipping address? That's what FromJapan Shopping is for.

 

[Hilldweller]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

I helped my buddy put some Toshibas in his wife's Toyota --- the color's not that bad...

 

[Magio]

Re: Any LED bulbs that will replace HID; or change everything to halogen?

If those bulbs in the OP's van are the original bulbs it's possible that they have a lot if hours and have color shifted to the cooler side of the spectrum. Just replacing them with new bulbs could drop the color temp a lot from where they are currently.