When I purchased my “new to me” LX570 2 months ago I was disappointed to learn that they do NOT have HID headlights. Even my 2004 Volvo XC70 has HID lo/hi headlights so I was surprised that a 7 year newer and 3x priced vehicle did not. So I set out to upgrade the stock headlights taking advantage of recent advances in LED lighting.
So I wanted to share my results of upgrading/retrofitting the headlights on my 2011 LX570. This will apply to any 2008-2011 (there is no 2012 model year) LX.
The LX570 comes with self-leveling headlights with AFS “Adaptive Front-Lighting System”. Essentially the low beams will move right to left with steering wheel input as you drive around corners. It is actually pretty neat. Additionally the LX headlights are “sealed” with dust caps over the access to area to change bulbs. These features can cause some problems with clearance when it comes to retrofits.
LED bulbs essentially have 3 parts, the bulb, the heat sink/fan and the “driver”. Some bulbs have all three parts in one assembly (the ARB IPF bulbs) and it makes them pretty big. Others have the driver encased in a separate little box in line with the cable. This makes for a more compact bulb assembly. This is very important when it comes to the LX headlight assembly since the space is tight due to the dust cap. When installing IPF bulbs one has to modify this dust cap (cut the center out and glue in a new silicone “cup” to extend the opening).
The LX570 Headlamps consist of a projector type low beam, a reflector type high beam and a parking light bulb that shares the reflector housing with the high beam.
I found that the Hikari LED retrofit bulbs fit with no problem inside the LX570 headlight housing, including the wire harness and driver, AND retain use of the dust cap without modification. The light assembly is still able to move up and down and side to side to retain the self-leveling and AFS features!
Now to the bulbs. The LX570 from 2008 – 2011 use 3 bulb designs for lighting.
H11 – Low Beam
HB3 – High Beam
194, T10, W5W “Wedge” Bulb Parking Light
When the lights are “Off” and DRLs are “On” the HB3 High Beam receives a lower voltage signal to run the bulb at a lower brightness, your DRL.
When “parking lights” are chosen the orange corner lights come on, the DRLs turn off, and the parking light comes on. (T10 bulb within the high beam reflector).
When lights are turned “On” low beam H11 bulb comes on and the T10 parking light stays on. Fog lights can be turned on or off at this time.
When high beams are selected the low beam H11 stay illuminated and the HB3 high beam comes on, the 194 parking light turns off.
I set out to replace all three bulbs with ones that provide cool 6000k light like modern cars with factory LEDs and similar to HIDs. I chose the Hikari’s based on their size (would not interfere with headlight operation), their reputation (excellent Amazon reviews), and their use of Tier 1 name brand LED chips (CREE and Philips), and of course their reasonable price.
I started with the Hikari H11 CREE XHP50 bulbs at an advertised 9600lms at $69 (pair). The build quality was very good; they fit with no issues and provided very good light. Good enough that 2 days later I purchased the Hikari HB3 CREE XHP50 high beam bulbs and installed them. The light these bulbs put out from the reflector housing is crazy!
2 days after I installed these I decided to upgrade the parking light bulb to 6000k as well as it was the only “yellow” hued bulb left. The Philips Vision 194LED ($13/pair) bulbs worked perfect for this. Philips makes 2 of these bulbs in 6000k (as well as amber and red). There is also an Ultinon version of this bulb but it is too bright in my opinion to be on constantly as a parking light, perhaps better for turn signals. The standard halogen bulb is only 5watts and I wanted to keep close to that. So I picked up the regular 194LED version.
Then, after tripping Amazon’s artificial intelligence algorithms with my purchase, 2 days later up pop the Hikari bulbs that use the Philips Luxeon Z ES LED chips. Damn. These bulbs at $89 (pair) use a trio of smaller LED chips (per side, 6 total) that much closer mimics the geometry of the filament in an incandescent halogen bulb. They claim 12,000lms for these bulbs. While I was happy with the Cree XHP50 based bulbs, I still felt they did not provide as much distance and the crisp cut off of the projector HID systems I was used to (Lexus ISF, Honda S2000, Volvo XC90, Porsche 996mkII). Tempted by the improved design and increased output I felt it was a good bet that the projectors would perform better if the light source were right in the “sweet spot” of the lens design. So out comes the wallet again and I ordered the Hikari H11’s with the Philips bulbs.
Tonight the new Hakari bulbs arrived and about 15 min later I had them in the car. I’ll tell you I spent more time dealing with the stupid plastic engine covers of the Lexus… It was immediately clear that these bulbs were far superior for these projector beams. There is more light, a clear and sharp cut off and much better distance. I really think it is the placement and geometry of the chips in the same place as a filament that make the distance here. I’m really glad I gave them a try. I will also note that Hikari is one of the only brands (on amazon at least) that actually names the manufacturer of their LED chips and uses CREE and Philips. Beware of other knock offs using subpar chips. This makes all the difference, especially in longevity. Hikari’s come with a 2 year warranty!
So in summary, I am running the Hikari H11 Philips LumiLED Luxeon Z ES LED bulbs (low beam); Hikari HB3 CREE XHP50 bulbs (high beam); and Philips 194LED wedge bulb in the parking lights.
Additional comments: I will stay with the CREE bulbs in the high beams as the reflector design is not likely to really benefit as much from the geometry of the LED chips like the projector did. Plus I don’t use the high beams very often and additionally I have 7” HID trail lights on my ARB front bumper.
Bonus! The DRL function of the high beam also continues to work. Many LEDs are non-dimmable, however Hakari has designed the driver to pass a lower current to the HB3 to allow a lower light level for DRL duty. Which is unexpected and nice.
Double bonus, the Hakari bulbs do NOT trigger any CELs due to lower electrical resistance from the LEDs, the drivers take care of that too!
Triple Bonus, I talked to Hakari and they just told me to return the first set of H11 CREE bulbs back to Amazon for a refund! Their customer service is excellent. They seem to be deserving of all the praise they are getting in their reviews.
Installation is pretty straightforward and detailed in the owners manual and in other threads here so I’ll let you find them yourselves. You do have to remove the battery bracket to get to the back of the driver’s side headlight; but you don’t have to remove/move the battery.
Here are the goods at Amazon:
Hikari Philips LumiLED http://a.co/cN45Jrb
Hikari CREE XHP50 http://a.co/8JD3aPy
Philips 194LED http://a.co/6DFTu0w
I am in no way affiliated with Hakari Technology and I paid for their products myself.
Pictures of truck with bulbs in to come
So I wanted to share my results of upgrading/retrofitting the headlights on my 2011 LX570. This will apply to any 2008-2011 (there is no 2012 model year) LX.
The LX570 comes with self-leveling headlights with AFS “Adaptive Front-Lighting System”. Essentially the low beams will move right to left with steering wheel input as you drive around corners. It is actually pretty neat. Additionally the LX headlights are “sealed” with dust caps over the access to area to change bulbs. These features can cause some problems with clearance when it comes to retrofits.
LED bulbs essentially have 3 parts, the bulb, the heat sink/fan and the “driver”. Some bulbs have all three parts in one assembly (the ARB IPF bulbs) and it makes them pretty big. Others have the driver encased in a separate little box in line with the cable. This makes for a more compact bulb assembly. This is very important when it comes to the LX headlight assembly since the space is tight due to the dust cap. When installing IPF bulbs one has to modify this dust cap (cut the center out and glue in a new silicone “cup” to extend the opening).
The LX570 Headlamps consist of a projector type low beam, a reflector type high beam and a parking light bulb that shares the reflector housing with the high beam.
I found that the Hikari LED retrofit bulbs fit with no problem inside the LX570 headlight housing, including the wire harness and driver, AND retain use of the dust cap without modification. The light assembly is still able to move up and down and side to side to retain the self-leveling and AFS features!
Now to the bulbs. The LX570 from 2008 – 2011 use 3 bulb designs for lighting.
H11 – Low Beam
HB3 – High Beam
194, T10, W5W “Wedge” Bulb Parking Light
When the lights are “Off” and DRLs are “On” the HB3 High Beam receives a lower voltage signal to run the bulb at a lower brightness, your DRL.
When “parking lights” are chosen the orange corner lights come on, the DRLs turn off, and the parking light comes on. (T10 bulb within the high beam reflector).
When lights are turned “On” low beam H11 bulb comes on and the T10 parking light stays on. Fog lights can be turned on or off at this time.
When high beams are selected the low beam H11 stay illuminated and the HB3 high beam comes on, the 194 parking light turns off.
I set out to replace all three bulbs with ones that provide cool 6000k light like modern cars with factory LEDs and similar to HIDs. I chose the Hikari’s based on their size (would not interfere with headlight operation), their reputation (excellent Amazon reviews), and their use of Tier 1 name brand LED chips (CREE and Philips), and of course their reasonable price.
I started with the Hikari H11 CREE XHP50 bulbs at an advertised 9600lms at $69 (pair). The build quality was very good; they fit with no issues and provided very good light. Good enough that 2 days later I purchased the Hikari HB3 CREE XHP50 high beam bulbs and installed them. The light these bulbs put out from the reflector housing is crazy!
2 days after I installed these I decided to upgrade the parking light bulb to 6000k as well as it was the only “yellow” hued bulb left. The Philips Vision 194LED ($13/pair) bulbs worked perfect for this. Philips makes 2 of these bulbs in 6000k (as well as amber and red). There is also an Ultinon version of this bulb but it is too bright in my opinion to be on constantly as a parking light, perhaps better for turn signals. The standard halogen bulb is only 5watts and I wanted to keep close to that. So I picked up the regular 194LED version.
Then, after tripping Amazon’s artificial intelligence algorithms with my purchase, 2 days later up pop the Hikari bulbs that use the Philips Luxeon Z ES LED chips. Damn. These bulbs at $89 (pair) use a trio of smaller LED chips (per side, 6 total) that much closer mimics the geometry of the filament in an incandescent halogen bulb. They claim 12,000lms for these bulbs. While I was happy with the Cree XHP50 based bulbs, I still felt they did not provide as much distance and the crisp cut off of the projector HID systems I was used to (Lexus ISF, Honda S2000, Volvo XC90, Porsche 996mkII). Tempted by the improved design and increased output I felt it was a good bet that the projectors would perform better if the light source were right in the “sweet spot” of the lens design. So out comes the wallet again and I ordered the Hikari H11’s with the Philips bulbs.
Tonight the new Hakari bulbs arrived and about 15 min later I had them in the car. I’ll tell you I spent more time dealing with the stupid plastic engine covers of the Lexus… It was immediately clear that these bulbs were far superior for these projector beams. There is more light, a clear and sharp cut off and much better distance. I really think it is the placement and geometry of the chips in the same place as a filament that make the distance here. I’m really glad I gave them a try. I will also note that Hikari is one of the only brands (on amazon at least) that actually names the manufacturer of their LED chips and uses CREE and Philips. Beware of other knock offs using subpar chips. This makes all the difference, especially in longevity. Hikari’s come with a 2 year warranty!
So in summary, I am running the Hikari H11 Philips LumiLED Luxeon Z ES LED bulbs (low beam); Hikari HB3 CREE XHP50 bulbs (high beam); and Philips 194LED wedge bulb in the parking lights.
Additional comments: I will stay with the CREE bulbs in the high beams as the reflector design is not likely to really benefit as much from the geometry of the LED chips like the projector did. Plus I don’t use the high beams very often and additionally I have 7” HID trail lights on my ARB front bumper.
Bonus! The DRL function of the high beam also continues to work. Many LEDs are non-dimmable, however Hakari has designed the driver to pass a lower current to the HB3 to allow a lower light level for DRL duty. Which is unexpected and nice.
Double bonus, the Hakari bulbs do NOT trigger any CELs due to lower electrical resistance from the LEDs, the drivers take care of that too!
Triple Bonus, I talked to Hakari and they just told me to return the first set of H11 CREE bulbs back to Amazon for a refund! Their customer service is excellent. They seem to be deserving of all the praise they are getting in their reviews.
Installation is pretty straightforward and detailed in the owners manual and in other threads here so I’ll let you find them yourselves. You do have to remove the battery bracket to get to the back of the driver’s side headlight; but you don’t have to remove/move the battery.
Here are the goods at Amazon:
Hikari Philips LumiLED http://a.co/cN45Jrb
Hikari CREE XHP50 http://a.co/8JD3aPy
Philips 194LED http://a.co/6DFTu0w
I am in no way affiliated with Hakari Technology and I paid for their products myself.
Pictures of truck with bulbs in to come
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