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Philips DiamondVision 5000K bulbs for low beam

31K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  acwwat 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, I'd like to share my experience in replacing the low beams with Philips DiamondVision 5000K bulbs. While the Philips CrystalVision 4300K bulbs are readily available in North America and should actually match the LED DRLs, I've decided to be a bit more adventuruous and go for the 5000K ones that are only available in Japan/Asia. I've got my hands on two pairs today (for replacing low beam and fog lamps), and after assessing the difficulty in replacing each set, I've decided to only swap the low beams for now.

Installation was a bit more time-consuming than I thought, but overall it was easy. I printed out the instructions from the DIY maintenance PDF file on Lexus.com, which are easier to work with than the owner's manual, and headed to my car. To ensure that I don't accidentally put oil onto the bulbs, I wore a pair of cleaning glove and dusted it with baby powder. If you are very careful, you actually can replace the bulbs without touching it - you just need to hold the socket part. It took me, a novice, about 15 minutes to finish the job.

In some angle, the DiamondVision bulbs do look more blue than the LED, but for the most part they match enough. In terms of brightness, they should be weaker than the CrystalVision bulbs, but are stronger than the stock bulbs. See below for couple photos I took (I apologize if they don't provide a good comparison since the the lights and body color constrasted too much). Overall I am pretty satisfied, and I'll comment more once I take my CT for a drive later. I also hope to build up enough confidence to replace the fog myself and will certainly provide some more feedback when that it completed.
 

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#3 ·
They're definitely brighter than stock bulbs but not very bright. I still haven't driven at night with them on, but I'll take more photos in a few days. If I can figure out how to swap the darn fog lamps I can do a left-right comparison.
 
#7 ·
Oh I have some questions for you then goinkin :) Did you have to take out that stupid clip that works differently than the ones in the hood (that is, pushing the center doesn't make it pop out)? Also, does the panel/cover swing inward (towards the middle of the car) or outward (towards the wheel)? I am still having trouble with it and I am about to give up on swapping the fog lights myself :(
 
#6 ·
I've just taken my CT out this rainy evening and took some photos. They are a bit blurry because my camera couldn't auto-focus well, but the light-off/light-on shots show the coverage and the front shot shows light color between the DiamondVision and stock bulb (fog lights use the original low beam bulbs). Hope this helps to compare the bulbs.
 

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#11 ·
I have finally swapped my fog lights with my other set of DiamondVision bulbs! I was able to swap the bulb on the driver's side by reaching down from the hood. But for the other side I still had to swing the bottom panel away and reach in. That ended up taking me 30 minutes since it took me two tries to swing the panel back into place correctly. But thanks to those who replied I got some confidence back in attempting again.

Now all my front lights (ignore the high beams) are matching and I am happy with the look. But I do hope that the new fog lights can perform on rainy days. I'll upload some photos shortly along with my new Tom's shift knob that blends in very well.
 
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