Pro’s & Con’s of HID vs LED Projectors
Bi-Xenon Projectors
- (Optionally) If your car came with OEM Hid projectors, we’ll select a projector that can reuse these parts, as oem bulbs & ballasts have a much longer lifespan than aftermarket
- Smaller footprint & light weight. Aftermarket HID projectors come in a variety of sizes, and don’t need large heat sinks, so they can fit in smaller places often found in aftermarket headlights.
- Bulb burnt out? No problem, remove the cap in the back, take out bulb and put in a new one. Unlike LED projectors, where the entire headlight will need to be opened for a replacement.
- Cheaper. At the end of the day, we/you can select if you want $455 in parts, or $195 in parts, they’re both going to way out perform your stock headlights, especially halogen reflectors.
Bi-LED Projectors
- Tired of waiting 10 seconds for your lights to warm up? LED may be for you.
- Want to have an output pre-tuned from factory for maximum output without the risk of not inserting the bulb properly? LED may be for you.
- Downsides? If you projector burns out… you (or we) have to open your headlights. If you thought removing your headlights to change a bulb was too much work, opening it might not be for you. Some LED projectors (Morimoto Mled), have external drivers, and sometimes that could be the issue. But other like the NHK IV, the projector is an all in one unit, and if it fails….everything must be swapped.
- For this reason, we’re still not recommending Bi-LED projectors to customers we are retrofitting them in to a halogen reflector, as we use a nut & bolt method to make them as secure as possible….which also makes they very difficult to remove. But if you’re using an adapter bracket…fire away!
The Contenders
Morimoto D2S 5.0 – Product Link
Price: $220 + Bulbs ($50-$84), Ballasts ($150-$157), Relay Harness ($30-50)
G5R H4 V2 – Product Link
Price: $150 + Bulbs ($50-$84), Ballasts ($150-$157), Relay Harness ($30-50)
Morimoto MLED 2.0 Bi-LED Projector – Product Link
$510. External driver, so you still have to mount a driver when installing onto your vehicle.
NHK IV Plus Bi-LED Projector – Product Link
$395. Internal driver, making your headlights as plug and play as possible. Overall, best width, best distance, best high beam (by a long shot), cons being more foreground light.
Special Mentions
NHK Pro Plus Bi-LED Projector – Product Link
$250. Internal driver, making your headlights as plug and play as possible. Better than most HID projectors, and pretty much any OEM projectors, but not quite there when compared against the big boys like the Morimoto 5.0, NHK IV Plus or MLED 2.0. But then again… it’s $250…. It’s also a little more compact than the IV Plus, and all HID projectors
NHK G5-X – Product Link
Price: $150 + Bulbs ($50-$84), Ballasts ($150-$157), Relay Harness ($30-50).
Chosen due to your requirement of its smaller rear footprint, as well as the fact that it can hold D1S, D3S as well as D2S bulbs.
Mini H1 V8.0 – Product Link
Price: $208 + Bulbs ($45-64), Ballast ($130-165), Relay Harness ($30-50)
Chosen when it’s real tight in there, as it has a much smaller footprint around the shield, with the rising cost of Morimoto products, it’s no longer the budget option.
Mini H1 V7.1 – Product Link
Price: $75 + Bulbs ($45), Ballast ($75 (our budget ballast), Relay Harness ($30-50)
Chosen when it’s real tight in there, and in your wallet. However, you’re still gunna double your OEM halogen reflector output.
