HID vs. LED Headlights Real World Test! (Should You Switch?)

I replace my tired D1S HID (high intensity discharge) headlight bulbs with LED (light emitting diode) replacements of 2023’s standard in my 2005 Audi A4. LED headlight tech has advanced quite a bit over the last few years! Do these bulbs have what it takes?
Socials & website links - linktr.ee/fizzo20
Car Rover LED bulbs on Amazon (6000K, 18k Lumens) - www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BP2638N1?r...
Headlight Revolutions’ quick guide to LED headlight tech - • Why You Should Avoid M...
Eric The Car Guy’s more-in-depth comparison video (few years old but still good) - • HID vs LED vs Halogen ...
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[@paulsp2693]

Most likely your projector reflector needs re-coating as it might have faded away the reflective coating cause of exposure to the outside atmosphere, the process to recoat reflective coating is called "vacuum metalisim.

[@nicholaswatson3896]

Real world test, for real world people. Thank you.

[@kohlpee3732]

Based on my recent test, LED is the way to go. Beat my OEM and aftermarket HID projectors - these are new bulbs that I used and are expensive. Most of the testing out there are done with a white background and check the lumens. But these guys who test don't test it in realworld scenarios other than a controlled environtment - white background. My testing just supports your claim that LED is better that HID bulbs specially in a projector housing for low beam. It is the type of light that the LED produces that the HID bulb cannot duplicate. The LED light has a different wavelength or light spectrum that when it is projected, it gives you a better contrast of the area that makes what you see stand out. HID bulbs just could not do it specially with 6000 kelvin and up. Guys, don't wasre your money on HID projectors or HID bulbs.

[@ThePupil]

With the before/after you can clearly see that with the LED there is way more light output but also more light bleeding. This happens when the bulb is not matching completely with the type of lens and cut off mechanism. So although you have a projector lens, and a cut off mechanism you still get annoying light bleeding which annoys drivers on the road.

[@Fizzo20]

I suppose you could be right but I haven’t had any complaints or oncoming traffic flashing me. At least it’s a far cry to those that put LEDs in a reflector housing!

[@dongchim]

10:12 thanks for the honest assessment. HIDs may be safer as the LEDs illuminate the foreground more, making it more difficult to see further away. No point lighting up the ground in front of you since you can't avoid anything that close.

[@Fizzo20]

It's not that bad. I haven't had any issues trying to see in the distance.

[@Triggzism]

I can say that this was not a fair comparison. #1 rule! Do not be caught up with the marketing hype of lumens as the actual real world test is going to be based on LUX testing(usable light)at a certain point or distance with a light meter. I am pretty sure that if you would have replaced your old oem HID bulbs even your ballasts with newer ones from Phillips or Osram especially if they were in the range of 43 to 4800k,they would have been far more superior than those LED bulbs as your housings were designed for HID not LED. Also you will get better visibility down the road if you actually aimed the light pattern at a distance from 25 feet to a wall on a flat surface measuring from the ground to the center of the headlight versus eyeballing it. But that's just my 2 cents 😊. If you really want to compare the 2 in a shootout, then get a new set of HID bulbs,Ballasts and a light meter and do another video as this was not really a comparison. It was more like a conversion because you had old worn out bulbs.

[@Fizzo20]

I completely agree with all points. I’m not caught up in anything, just stating what is. This video wasn’t really planned and I didn’t think it would get so many views or comments. For some reason I just wanted to try the LED bulbs even though I agree HID bulbs + new ballasts would be superior but I figured why not document it and show my experience. Hence why I said “not a scientific comparison.” Maybe I should’ve titled it as a conversion but it’s done now. Perhaps I’ll switch back to HID bulbs down the road and make another video but for now the LED bulbs are working great. Appreciate the comment though, I often learn from them as well.

[@Triggzism]

​@Fizzo20 Looking forward to it brother! Sorry for the late response.

[@ZenAuraya]

❤❤❤

[@subayakambeyanda]

HID’s fade with time maybe that’s why you feel the LED is better than the HID but if you were to use a new HID I guess the performance would be of more competition to each other

[@Fizzo20]

Yep I did mention that in the video, hence a more “real world test”

[@bunster4322]

i see that it was already a month, how are they fairing? i Currently got Xenons in ny passat b6 but Saw there are options for Led bulbs, do they help you?

[@Fizzo20]

They are working well and I love them so far! They help a lot!

[@nelq8186]

thinking of doing the same for my E90. Mine is also d1s. I changed the HID bulb to 6000k HID but i dunno if they will last. how is it holding up???

[@Fizzo20]

So far the LEDs are holding up great! Super bright, I'm pretty happy with them👍🏼

[@300spartan2222]

@@Fizzo20 2008 mustang bullitt d3r xenons here... after 3 months they shine 50% less :( Will try to mount Xstorm D3R LED replacement for it ^^

[@magnuspettsson]

Thinking of this on my Saab 9-5 with Xenon though I am wondering what happens the day the fan dies on the LED lamp isn´t it any risk for say a small fire in the housing?

[@Fizzo20]

I would guess that if the fan died, the circuit board/electronics would overheat, causing the LED itself to fail before it could get hot enough to ignite. I’m also assuming there’s not enough oxygen inside the housing for it to catch fire for long. However, as with any aftermarket modification, please proceed at your own risk!

[@user-nh8tc9po2l]

Blb replacement on Audi is complet front with headlight and bumper removal 😆😆😆😆

[@dylangajdosik964]

LEDs are only decent for housings specifically built/designed for LED chip placement and even then, i'd still give the win to HID as far as down road lighting goes. Color temperature too. If LEDs were 4300k like factory HID, then maybe they'd have a shot. I find LED color temperature too cool for inclement weather.

[@darrenjohnson1952]

Swapping back made a massive difference.. now they look Equal..

[@Lonnie91a]

The inside of your Oem projectors are burnt and darkened. You need to replace the projector reflector bowl to get them bright again.

[@Fizzo20]

Thanks for the info! I’m pretty sure it was the ballast that was on its way out but I’ll check out the projector again. Either way, the lights are insanely bright now

[@erikprivette4765]

@@Fizzo20 I'm guessing that you bypassed the original ballasts, or the new LEDs would have died immediately. That said, I'm impressed that the beam pattern/cutoff was so close to the stock HIDs. That's the hardest part to dial in with any LED replacement in a factory HID projector. Or even harder to accomplish is getting that pattern correct with a factory halogen projector to LED swap. I have Morimoto Mini H1 projectors retrofitted into my old school Toyota Tundra housings, and running Morimoto H1 HID bulbs. It's awesome. I have tried roughly 5 different Amazon LED bulbs in the setup, and nothing would line up properly. So I'm sticking with HID in my case!

[@sashaghovanlou8175]

@@Fizzo20 Glad you are happy with your setup now! One thing to note, if your ballast was on its way out, it would either turn the lights on or not at all. There would be no in between. In your case, id be 98% sure that the main culprit was a burnt projector bowl. Which is why even when you changed to LED, the dimness still followed. More than likely, the reason your lens looked pitted was the reflective coating of the bowl burning up and leaving residue on the inside of the lens.

[@Fizzo20]

@Erik Yeah maybe it is in fact a burnt reflector bowl and not the ballast causing the dimmer output. I'm also impressed with the cutoff beam; I was a but skeptical when I saw that the connector was placed slightly higher on the LED bulb but luckily it all lined up! Morimoto has some wicked products, good to hear some positive feedback on them👍🏼

[@Fizzo20]

@sasha Good to know, thanks! That makes more sense.

[@robertplant6667]

Heart tells me LED, brain tells me Philips Xtreme Vision gen2. I do a lot of driving in the night and probably xenon would be the right choice. Now i have Osram CBB and they were great.

[@Fizzo20]

Fair enough! HIDs are tried and true and arguably better than LED in some cases. I think HID has more range/distance so might be better on highway vs. city for example. But so far the LEDs have been great around the city

[@sashaghovanlou8175]

If your projector was designed for HID's and you already have CBB's in there, I wouldnt bother changing that setup unless the bulbs are a few yrs old. You arent going to get a boost in output unless you modify/upgrade the projectors. Definitely don't slap LED's in an HID projector.

[@paulsp2693]

i used to belive the same thing until tried led bulbs and I'm not going back to HID.

[@804MRMAN]

*Hid projectors and Halogen/Led projectors are NOT THE SAME! They each have different style of lenses and housings.*

[@crs1474]

Is it just the camera or is the LED side hotspot very low?

[@Fizzo20]

At which timestamp?

[@crs1474]

Pretty much the whole on the road portion. I’m not sure if it’s just the camera though

[@Fizzo20]

In terms of height they are equally level now but the I think the left side is a bit brighter still. The camera makes the difference look more pronounced than in real life. I did look again when driving at night, any uneven lighting is almost negligible.

[@TakeThis_L]

Calgary? nice

[@Fizzo20]

Yep!

[@pattygq]

9:42 Did they just light up 100% then drop to a lower output within 4-5 seconds?

[@Fizzo20]

No that's the camera auto adjusting the exposure. The lights stay at a constant brightness as soon as they turn on👍🏼

[@pattygq]

@@Fizzo20 Ah okay thanks. I assume a year later no issues?

[@Fizzo20]

No issues!

[@pattygq]

@@Fizzo20 Awesome dude. Thanks!

[@jonmanilenio]

I think you should standardize testing of lux based on the distance of 10m, then putting the lux meter on the correct area of the light which is 1.5 degrees down, 2 degrees to the right (for reference: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXW4Xp-VfJ11aNU&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE) to find the one with the best lux or candela result. Your right seems to be lower than the left though? Isn't is supposed to be the other way around?

[@Fizzo20]

Nah, again only supposed to be a real world test. I was doing it already so figured I’d make a video. Based on what other commenters are saying, the right side reflector bowl was likely burned, reducing light output. Swapping the headlight housing back to the original fixed it.

[@user-nh8tc9po2l]

when did you want replace your cracked windscreen pls no asslicker answer

[@streetdisciple30]

video too long jus get to the point

[@boliteracku]

Sry bad englulish i have a4 b8 with xenons can i just put led bulps or i need to change something ?

[@Fizzo20]

I think it depends on the type of headlight you buy. Make sure you look for something “plug-n-play”. In my case it was plug-n-play and I left the original ballasts in the headlights as they were