Opinions needed: New headlights for 01 Outback.

[Perkul8r]

So I am looking for new headlights for my 2001 Outback. They are really bad yellowed and I dont know for sure if i can get them clean again.

I was looking at the JDM hid headlights for the car. Mainly these ones:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-JDM-SUBARU- ... 99&vxp=mtr (http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-JDM-SUBARU-LEGACY-BE5-B4-BH5-BH9-HID-HEAD-LIGHTS-OEM-/221367574169?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item338a891e99&vxp=mtr)

They are close to the same design as the lights in the car already.

I am looking to find out how the light output is on these. And if they have any issues with glaring. It seems odd to see an Hid in what looks like to be a standard housing...

Has anyone here had this style? If so what did you think of them?

[Muse]

These seem to be A-C type headlights, so they should fit without the gaps that D-type lights would cause.

[rkrenicki]

Yes, exactly what Muse said.

I have owned and used both the A-C type and the D type lights. They are essentially the same in light output, and I think both are a significant improvement over the standard Halogen headlights. Not all HIDs are in projectors, in fact the "R" type bulbs (D1R, D2R, D4R) are specifically designed for Reflectors, that is what the R stands for. Both types of BE/BH JDM lights use D2R bulbs.

As for glare, I personally modified both of my headlight sets to be a "flat" beam pattern. There is a thread on this forum somewhere that shows you what to do for that, I will search around for it and post it here.

Both JDM headlights use a different electrical connector than the USDM lights. You will have to either adapt your existing wiring (cutting off the connector and soldering on the JDM connector), or build some sort of adapter harness. Either option is fairly straight forward.

[amgarrety]

Also, to add to what rkrenicki said, and to further clear up why you don't normally see HIDs with reflectors, that's because most reflectors are made for halogen lights, and are incapable of reflecting HID light without blinding people. These lights, however, were designed for HID bulbs from the start, and the reflector is designed with HIDs in mind. If you get them, look at the two reflectors (USDM and JDM) side by side, and you'll see they are constructed differently, with a better cutoff in the HID version.

[Perkul8r]

Yes, exactly what Muse said.

I have owned and used both the A-C type and the D type lights. They are essentially the same in light output, and I think both are a significant improvement over the standard Halogen headlights. Not all HIDs are in projectors, in fact the "R" type bulbs (D1R, D2R, D4R) are specifically designed for Reflectors, that is what the R stands for. Both types of BE/BH JDM lights use D2R bulbs.

As for glare, I personally modified both of my headlight sets to be a "flat" beam pattern. There is a thread on this forum somewhere that shows you what to do for that, I will search around for it and post it here.

Both JDM headlights use a different electrical connector than the USDM lights. You will have to either adapt your existing wiring (cutting off the connector and soldering on the JDM connector), or build some sort of adapter harness. Either option is fairly straight forward.

I found a couple threads on here about the BE/BH jdm lights. but nothing on how to modify them for LHD. I seen a post about someone saying they did, but no pics to show what was done.

I am not worried about wiring them. I have JDm's in my BD so I have dealt with rewiring the headlights.

[Perkul8r]

Also, to add to what rkrenicki said, and to further clear up why you don't normally see HIDs with reflectors, that's because most reflectors are made for halogen lights, and are incapable of reflecting HID light without blinding people. These lights, however, were designed for HID bulbs from the start, and the reflector is designed with HIDs in mind. If you get them, look at the two reflectors (USDM and JDM) side by side, and you'll see they are constructed differently, with a better cutoff in the HID version.

I found a couple threads last night that said the HID JDM housings and the US housings where almost the same. Supposedly on the low beam light it says h7 0r D2R. I haven't looked at my housings to see if they say it, but I wanted to go with a already HID headlight. I really hate HID's in standard housings.

[Regardie]

So I am looking for new headlights for my 2001 Outback. They are really bad yellowed and I dont know for sure if i can get them clean again.



I would not discount your ability to clear your headlights. I did mine following the 2nd gen DIY with the Helmsman spar urethane finish and they came out pretty well. It is all about the wet sanding and polishing before the finish. I would try that before trying to replace them with a set of JDM that will need to be modified before you can use them. The headlights are quite easy to remove so I pulled mine and did it in the house where it was warm.

[rkrenicki]

The back half of the housing is used on both the HID and Halogen version of the lights, so it has both bulb types printed on it. The reflector bowl is different between them. They did not just put HID bulbs in Halogen bowls.

The US housings do not have HID bulb options listed as they never had it as an option here.

[Perkul8r]

So I am looking for new headlights for my 2001 Outback. They are really bad yellowed and I dont know for sure if i can get them clean again.



I would not discount your ability to clear your headlights. I did mine following the 2nd gen DIY with the Helmsman spar urethane finish and they came out pretty well. It is all about the wet sanding and polishing before the finish. I would try that before trying to replace them with a set of JDM that will need to be modified before you can use them. The headlights are quite easy to remove so I pulled mine and did it in the house where it was warm.


The only modification that needs to really be done is the wiring on the JDM headlights. And thats easy. I had to rewire my 99 to get the jdms in that one too. So its no biggie.

Only drawback to refinishing the stock headlights, is i still cant put hid's in them and have the right cutoff. Thats why I want the jdm ones. They are hid housings.

[Perkul8r]

The back half of the housing is used on both the HID and Halogen version of the lights, so it has both bulb types printed on it. The reflector bowl is different between them. They did not just put HID bulbs in Halogen bowls.

The US housings do not have HID bulb options listed as they never had it as an option here.


Thank you for clearing that up. :smt023