I’ve replaced mine in my 16 and 17 with LEDs. There is no problem as long as the pattern and bulb are adjusted correctly.
I disagree. Trust me, i've played with a lot of lights over the years. While the projectors can cover up a good amount of bad lighting, you can get a superior lighting from the correct source of the light. Every reflector housing, projectors included, is designed around harnessing the light emitted from the light source as desgined. The filament in a halogen bulb is located at a different location and emits light differently then an LED or a HID bulb. Adjusting the light source location and pattern within the housing adjsuts how the light is refracted within the housing. While some lights can be controlled better then others, and some do a better job of replacing a halogen with LED, they almsot always have misplaced light rays and hot and cold spots.
Here is an example of some of the testing i was playing with, 2 different higher end expanesive LED drop in bulbs. The bulb on the left is better, however it still has hot and cold spots and the beam isn't as well as controlled as it should be
Here is another example, left set are Supernova V3s which i had found to be the best controlled in a reflector housing at the time, however there is a signifanct hot spot and peripheral blead of the light, due to the light source (and LED Diode) not emitting light the same way a filament would, therefore even though it was perfectly placed, the reflectors in the housing could not control the light properly. The pair on the left was a cheap set of LED drop ins that got really popular for a while until people really started looking at their light outputs
But if you want good light, you need to go with true HID projectors. Thats how you get light like these. These are retrofitted D2S projectors, and quite frankly, the light output is amazing, and perfectly controlled
Now lets comapre to the Morimoto XB housings with purpose built LED projectors I will say, they are quite good and worth every penny. The D2S HID projectors are better, but significantly more work. for a drop in, plug and play solution for high quality lighting that makes a true different on the road, the Morimoto XB housings are the way to go
Now with that said, yes they are expensive. but you get what you pay for. I've put LEDs in just about everything. i had some of the first high quality LED drop in bulbs when they hit the market nearly 20 years ago now. I played with the LED bulbs that looked really bright until you got out onto the road. I've been there and done that across many vehicles and many housings and many miles. At the end of the day, you have 3 choices.
In a reflector housing, if you need more light, you can run a hotter bulb. it will burn out and need replaced more often, but you will get the best light out of it.
In a Halogen projector housing, You are looking at the same thing. Run a hotter bulb, filament will burn out more often, but you'll get the best light out of it.
In a HID projector, HIDs will be your friend here. You can run 55w bulbs in 35w housings, but you run a risk of melting the housing, so i recommend running the correct wattage of bulb in the housing as it is designed for. Factory HID projectors don't have the precise cutoff line that aftermarket ones do. If you want the cut off line like i posted with my previous HIDs, you are looking at a retrofit project. They are time intensive, but worth it. or you can hire it out. Takes some getting used to while driving, but i find it sexy personally. Factories don't do a sharp cut off line because early on people complained since they were used to reflector housings and halogen bulbs. Newer cars are getting sharp cut off lines from the factory
And now, if you want to run LEDs. you need a housing DESIGNED for LEDs. you can buy cheap LED housings now, and you get what you pay for. Cheap LED reflector housings are out there on the market, but if you are spending the time and money to upgrade your vehicle, do it right. From what i've found, the Morimoto XBs have the highest build quality and light output. You can also buy Morimoto LED projectors to retrofit into your headlights if you want to do a retrofit set up. I see that Diode Dynamics is starting a US assembled headlight option which i am very curious about, their quality has been top notch over many years, so as their offerings expand, i will be curious to see what they are and how they stack up. Alpharex is generally a decent economy brand. the Morimotos outperform in real world testing, but when you pay 2/3s the price, you get 2/3s of the quality is what i can chalk it up to.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. if you want to truly upgrade your lighitng for cheap, you need to put in work by way of doing a retrofit job. if you want to upgrade your lights without work, you need to put in money. As someone that's been there done that, the Morimoto XB housings offer the best compromise of quality, cost and time. When that changes i'll be the first to admit it and try it. As it sits on this day, that's where the stars align.
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