Headlight bulb upgrade?

[PCM]

Well... having checked (supplying my IQ car reg) with a well know Toyota online supplier. I bought some Optibright bulbs.

I was sent some OptiWhite H11 bulbs.

I'm no expert, but having taken out one of my old headlight bulbs, I see it has a different fitting.

Is it me?

 

[PCM]

Well... having returned the OptiWhites that were meant to be OptiBrights on the website, Toyota tell me they don't sell (OptiBright) them anymore.

So I bought two Osram bulbs (HIR2) elsewhere. Also inspired by the comment that Halogens deteriorate over time, having watched a couple of YouTube videos and read the car manual, I changed them myself. I've kept the old bulbs, which had an odd curved design and replaced both with these.

The difference in their better definition and light output was noticeable when driving in the dark this morning; much better!

The job took me about 30 minutes. So a sense of achievement.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

The Optiwhite HIR2 bulbs were made by Philips who, at the time, didn't sell their own upgrade bulbs in this fitting in the UK. They do now though:

[Touring_Dave]

See post "2 months with my iQ & 1 new exhaust later" for other comments about headlight bulbs

Edited February 11, 2023 by Touring_Dave
Spelling correction

[eein]

Last year I just stuck a pair of these in. Straight plug in replacement and work with no issues. 5 minute job. Makes the car look very modern.

FOR TOYOTA IQ 2 X 9012 DIPPED BEAM HiR2 HALOGEN REPLACEMENT HEAD LIGHT BULB | eBay

 

I also did all the other lights with LED replacements from this website. Again all drop in replacements, although the indicators needed to be changed as it flashed too quickly, the replacements are find, albeit quite bright, but figure that's a good thing! The reverse light makes an amazing difference - can actually see the driveway when reserving in to it now!

LEDs and Xenon HID conversion kits for Toyota IQ - 2009 - 2015 (ledperf.eu)

 

Been through 2x MOTs since fitting them all.

[Comfy]

As im now hooked on doing upgrades to my little IQ after doing the first bit of serious work on it (the clutch) im looking at all aspects of upgrades and coming across this...lots of different opinions which are all good to hear.... im more of a biker....done lots of work on bikes over the last 30 years and used the car as it was "just a way of getting around in the rain and bad weather"....one of the things i have done (to my bikes) is a HiD upgrade (my RSV4 was the last one) - i would say all aspects of the hid upgrade were positive. Brighter lights, even spread of light and the full beam (on the bike) was definately better. While i am swayed to do a HiD upgrade to the IQ i might go for the upgraded Toyota bulbs....i really am 50 50 on it. The only reason im swaying towards the toyota bulbs is the cover might not fit on the lights.... as i say...it was good to see what people have been using and what they think...

[Touring_Dave]

Hi Comfy,

I found I got better results by having a lens refurb, certainly improved the light strength and pattern on a 14 year old headlight...

[PCM]

23 hours ago, Comfy said:

As im now hooked on doing upgrades to my little IQ after doing the first bit of serious work on it (the clutch) im looking at all aspects of upgrades and coming across this...lots of different opinions which are all good to hear.... im more of a biker....done lots of work on bikes over the last 30 years and used the car as it was "just a way of getting around in the rain and bad weather"....one of the things i have done (to my bikes) is a HiD upgrade (my RSV4 was the last one) - i would say all aspects of the hid upgrade were positive. Brighter lights, even spread of light and the full beam (on the bike) was definately better. While i am swayed to do a HiD upgrade to the IQ i might go for the upgraded Toyota bulbs....i really am 50 50 on it. The only reason im swaying towards the toyota bulbs is the cover might not fit on the lights.... as i say...it was good to see what people have been using and what they think...

Having researched...

I cleaned my lenses, swapped in better/newer halogen bulbs, adjusted the height, and they have been noticeably better!

[Comfy]

Bought some of these of Amazon....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B425X2BV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Bit of a pain to fit but, very impressed - marked improvement over the stock ones. The pain was theres a collar on them which detaches (thats the twist and lock bit) i took that out first and the rubber seal (theyre already sealed in so it doesnt matter) twist that in first then the led after that....

Well worth the money.

[Monkeyboy2283]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:54 PM, FROSTYBALLS said:

The Optiwhite HIR2 bulbs were made by Philips who, at the time, didn't sell their own upgrade bulbs in this fitting in the UK. They do now though:

I have recently fitted these Philips bulbs and can say they are easily the best conventional bulbs you can get, after using the upgraded Toyota ones for the last year. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08KZLC38J

[PCM]

I fitted these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Osram-9012-12-HIR2-Blub/dp/B00I409JK0/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2PP2NM0XOT4V&keywords=osram%2Bhir2%2B12v&qid=1681292623&sprefix=osram%2Bhir2%2B12v%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-3&th=1

 

[PCM]

... I also changed the front 'side light' bulbs to LED. Bright but not too bright. 

Always switch my side lights on when daytime driving...

 

[Pete.Z]

I replaced my what looked to be original bulbs with these led bulbs, they are street legal in Germany for a lot of cars, and they give a very nice bright light, no glare, and are a perfect fit. Really makes the car look more fresh, and they do give a bit more light then the halogen bulbs, but not extreme. Also replaced the 5w5 bulbs for the drivinglights with Osram leds, looks great now.imho.

I found them for 69 euro the pair on Amazon btw, so not much more expensive the  the standard bulbs.

also important, no canbus trouble.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-ultinon-essential-led-hir2-twin

[Touring_Dave]

1 hour ago, Pete.Z said:

I replaced my what looked to be original bulbs with these led bulbs, they are street legal in Germany for a lot of cars, and they give a very nice bright light, no glare, and are a perfect fit. Really makes the car look more fresh, and they do give a bit more light then the halogen bulbs, but not extreme. Also replaced the 5w5 bulbs for the drivinglights with Osram leds, looks great now.imho.

I found them for 69 euro the pair on Amazon btw, so not much more expensive the  the standard bulbs.

also important, no canbus trouble.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-ultinon-essential-led-hir2-twin

These looked interesting right up to the  description '...PLEASE NOTE: These headlight bulbs do not have ECE approval and are currently not approved for use on public roads: their usage is limited to ‘off-road’ applications. '

So that's an MOT fail isn't it 🤷‍♂️

[FROSTYBALLS]

In the UK it would be an MOT fail anyway due to using LED bulbs in headlights designed for halogen bulbs - 

 

[Pete.Z]

These bulbs give the exact same light pattern as halogen bulbs, but I suppose mot is more strict then our apk system. But it takes 5 minutes to change both back to hir-2 if needed. Officially these are not allowed, thats for sure, but they are not cheap Aliexpress bulbs that shine everywhere except on the road, and nobody will see the difference.

[Pete.Z]

I like how the led bulbs look. A bit “fresher” then the yellow halogen.
Funny enough we thought the same when halogen was introduced, I must be getting old.

[Witless]

So having wet sanded and polished my lights to restore the yellowing lenses, the two birthday candles apparently fitted as standard were still not up to the job. I didn't want to risk an MOT failure by upgrading to LEDs, so went with a pair of Philips X-tremeVision Pro 150 HIR2. They are a marked improvement and good enough for me.

Fitting them was more fiddly than it really needed to be.

Standard practice of gloves on and no touching the bulb glass in order to avoid future hotspots. Passenger side wasn't too bad. As you look at the side of the cluster facing into the engine bay there's a circular twist-off cap. Use the flanges to rotate it about a quarter turn anticlockwise. There's an internal seal which will keep it seated until you pull it out and up. Unclip the plug on the butt end of the bulb. Rotate the bulb counterclockwise a quarter turn and remove.

Driver's side was a pest as accessed was pretty limited. No idea why as it's not like there's a V8 crammed in there. Anyway, I unclipped two plugs around the area to free up some space. Even then there's a fuse box across the bottom of the cap, and worst of all the funnel for the washer refill which is actually positioned in a way that fouls the lug of the cap, preventing you from fully turning it. I unclipped the front of the fuse box lid and managed to free up the clip on the back. Couldn't get the funnel to release for love or money, so had to separate the pipe at the junction and carefully twist the top section just enough to rotate the cap.

Anyway, like I said whilst not quite LEDs, the Pro150s are far better than the shameful efforts fitted as standard and came in at £23.95 each.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08KZLC38J/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

[PCM]

On 3/15/2023 at 8:22 AM, eein said:

Last year I just stuck a pair of these in. Straight plug in replacement and work with no issues. 5 minute job. Makes the car look very modern.

FOR TOYOTA IQ 2 X 9012 DIPPED BEAM HiR2 HALOGEN REPLACEMENT HEAD LIGHT BULB | eBay

 

I also did all the other lights with LED replacements from this website. Again all drop in replacements, although the indicators needed to be changed as it flashed too quickly, the replacements are find, albeit quite bright, but figure that's a good thing! The reverse light makes an amazing difference - can actually see the driveway when reserving in to it now!

LEDs and Xenon HID conversion kits for Toyota IQ - 2009 - 2015 (ledperf.eu)

 

Been through 2x MOTs since fitting them all.

A while back I had the front side lights changed to LED, which I have on during the day...

You also changed the rear tail ( not brake, although they might be the same bulb? ) lights?

If so, was it easy, were they 501s?

I like the idea of being a little more visible, in a small car.

Regards.

Edited June 11, 2023 by PCM
Addition.

[smeller]

 

I installed these and they give way more light than the halogens. They are also plug and play..

9012(HIR2)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004358495049.html

[Touring_Dave]

11 minutes ago, smeller said:

 

I installed these and they give way more light than the halogens. They are also plug and play..

9012(HIR2)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004358495049.html

If you are UK based I believe your iQ will fail it's MOT, no idea about other countries though.

[eein]

Interesting about the MOT. Mine's been through a couple with LEDs now. Fitted them to every single bulb on the car.

[FROSTYBALLS]

13 minutes ago, eein said:

Interesting about the MOT

See:

What else has your MOT tester missed .....

[eein]

It's the local Toyota dealer, so unlikely they've missed anything that actually matters.

If I wanted a 'I known you'll fix it' MOT I'd got back to the place I used to use for our real mini we had before the iQ!

[PCM]

On 8/14/2023 at 9:08 PM, eein said:

Interesting about the MOT. Mine's been through a couple with LEDs now. Fitted them to every single bulb on the car.

Including the tail lights? Any issues at all?