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Anyone interested in LED headlight retrofit?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by beefchowmein, Nov 17, 2009.

  1. beefchowmein

    beefchowmein New Member

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    I recently found out one of my relative is in the LED business. After talking with him about my prius, he said he can build a headlight enclosure replacement with LEDs.
    If there are enough interests besides myself, I might start to buy some parts for R&D and have him manufacture it.

    My goal is a direct replacement of current halogen lamp enclosure using all the same harness. Of course you wouldn't get the auto leveling and it would only be for "Off Road Use" Only.
     
    #1 beefchowmein, Nov 17, 2009
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  2. banshee08

    banshee08 Member

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    I would be very interested.
     
    #2 banshee08, Nov 17, 2009
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  3. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yes but wouldn't it be quite expensive esp. since you're replacing the entire headlight unit? Currently an HID kit runs about $150-$200 (a good quality one, not one off ebay).
     
    #3 Tideland Prius, Nov 18, 2009
  4. tjp74

    tjp74 New Member

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    Complete housing will cost more than a cheap HID kit for sure. On ebay I see aftermarket light assemblies with things like helo rings (a.k.a angel or cat eyes), different shape etc for not too much, couple of hundreds of bucks or so.

    If you are going to make one, it must have different shape than the helogen type and it better look cool otherwise there is no compelling reason to buy those rather than simply retrofit $50 HID kit on existing housings.

    Halogen vs LED, hell yeah but HID vs LED??? Difference is not huge in light quality.

    If aftermarket unit can simulate factory LED light housing on package V or something close to it then I think we have a market.

    FYI, factory LED light assembly, complete with LED lights minus the control module is about $550 from discounted toyota parts dealers like parts.com (listed at like $790).
    Control module is $350 or so.

    If there are aftermarket copy of factory LED light assemblies, with decent beam pattern and output I am willing to pay upto $500 for a set. If you can get the Audi style LED daytime running lights incorporated into the housing somehow, that will be an icing on the cake. And get the yellow side reflector out like european and Japanese models.
     
    #4 tjp74, Nov 18, 2009
  5. beefchowmein

    beefchowmein New Member

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    I not sure what the pricing will be. Just trying to see if there is even enough interest to market such thing.
    I already did the HID conversion on mine. But I did struggle between the IV vs. the V because of the LED or the sunroof. I'm sure there are others out there with the same struggle.

    for R&D, I would be buying a set of V housing and modeling something after that as well as doing some modifications such as the Audi look or the angel eye look, etc. As far as installation, I'm shooting for just swapping out your old housing for the new one and plug & play with existing harness. Currently still in the planning process, Not even sure if it will be made.

    Anyone have feedback or feature request, post them here.
     
    #5 beefchowmein, Nov 18, 2009
  6. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    I'm interested, but it depends on the look and the price.

    I would think it would be cheaper to add a controller than do a plug and play, but maybe controllers have changed. Love a switch to put colored led's on.

     
    #6 austingreen, Nov 18, 2009
  7. tjp74

    tjp74 New Member

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    Yeah I wanted the LED light and 17" wheel but I wanted the sunroof more and I figure I could add those later. I actually picked up an used LED housing without the controller for $155 few days ago on ebay.
    Just the passenger side only. Believe it or not there is another one on ebay, brand new one but only the passenger side. $250 or best offer. I suggest get that and save few hundred bucks.

    2010 TOYOTA PRIUS RIGHT HEADLIGHT NEW WITH HID:eBay Motors (item 110457619051 end time Nov-21-09 09:41:57 PST)

    This is what I got. Show above seller this and my be he will accept lower offer.
    Used OEM 2010 Toyota Prius Right Headlamp:eBay Motors (item 370284515793 end time Nov-07-09 11:55:39 PST)
     
    #7 tjp74, Nov 18, 2009
  8. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yup. Chalk me up as one that debated between LED vs. solar roof. I really do like the design of the V's headlight so I would have no complains if it looked like that. Audi-esque DRLs would be awesome but I'm not sure how that'll fit into the design of the Prius. (maybe replace the upper parking lamp with an LED triangle to match the shape?)
     
    #8 Tideland Prius, Nov 19, 2009
  9. BBaggins

    BBaggins New Member

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    Would love to have a set!
     
    #9 BBaggins, Nov 19, 2009
  10. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    One really neat mod I would like to do is replace the fake LED dimples inside the headlight unit with real ones and call them DRLs. I would have already done that but it appears one would have to separate the clear cover to getter done and I am not really interested in doing that.

    So this might be another service you could provide.?
     
    #10 spiderman, Nov 19, 2009
  11. tjp74

    tjp74 New Member

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    Actually LED housing doesn't have the fake LED dimples as helogen housing ones do. I was just hoping something similar can be incorporated into the new design.
     
    #11 tjp74, Nov 19, 2009
  12. beefchowmein

    beefchowmein New Member

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    looks like there are some interests. I'm going to do more research on this to see what it really would require to make something that's useable. If anyone have already researched and have info regarding retrofit, feel free to post it here or pm me.
     
    #12 beefchowmein, Nov 19, 2009
  13. Manksgloob

    Manksgloob Member

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    Has there been any progress made on this front?

    How about for GEN II models? :p
     
    #13 Manksgloob, Feb 12, 2010
  14. hlkc

    hlkc New Member

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    I'm interested as well.
     
    #14 hlkc, Feb 12, 2010
  15. Hy-Bird

    Hy-Bird Junior Member

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    Im interested but can you make it like OEM housing?
     
    #15 Hy-Bird, Feb 16, 2010
  16. ScottG10

    ScottG10 Member

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    This is a big item on my list too. Still waiting for someone to do the leg work for me :D
     
    #16 ScottG10, Feb 16, 2010
  17. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Assuming the owners intend to use these on US public roads, I would start by finding out what is and is not legal from the NHSTA. I know they state than no aftermarket HID conversions are legal, I suspect (but am not the NHSTA so my opinion is not law) that you will find the legal hurdles insurmountable.
     
    #17 JimboPalmer, Feb 16, 2010
  18. r_egan

    r_egan Junior Member

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    Coming from somebody who works in automotive lighting I can tell you that an LED retrofit wouldl be non-compliant. The only right way to do this is to design the lamp around the LED light source which obviously is far too costly an option for an aftermarket upgrade.
     
    #18 r_egan, Feb 17, 2010
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