3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

The OEM LED headlight assemblies covered in post #3626 here and are the recommended headlight. They have excellent improved low beam and high beam, better than stock with upgraded bulbs, with unmatched quality. While the Morimoto v1.0 assemblies failed to meet the output intensity of the OEM LEDs, the Morimoto v2.0s upped the output intensity to greater than the OEM LEDs, but failed in other parts of the headlight execution such as lacking necessary uplight and less than ideal build quality. See the full v2.0 review in post #4548 here.

The lack of uplight on the Morimoto's is a significant flaw. This is why people say the beam bounces, or the cut off is super crisp. Without uplight you cannot see beyond your low beam cut off, the high intensity difference at the cut off literally blinds you with your own lights. This also makes the cut off distracting. A properly designed headlight has uplight, reduced light intensity above the cut off, so that you can see beyond the low beam and not have that distracting cut off or be blinded by your own lights.

Also, as posted a few posts back, Morimoto no longer has exclusive distribution rights to CoPlus XB headlights, meaning any brand is now able to pickup the exact same XB headlights that Morimoto sells and sell them for less under their own name. TBD on how that plays out.

 

I’ll be looking/waiting for the OEM’s. Thank you for the awesome response. This is one of the main reasons I love this forum.

 

Can you get me a set for $1263?

 

@crashnburn80 - I know you have heard it a lot, but never hurts to say it again - thank you. As a 48 year old with never that great eyes (all relative), the proper lighting to me is getting more and more important. I follow this thread, your auxiliary lighting thread, and fog thread as a matter of how to see better at night the right way. thank you for your continued dedication to this. Great stuff and much appreciated.

 

by the time you add shipping it would be easier/cheaper to buy them from one of the dealers online

 

ya know FWIW - the other thought i have is dont wait until your 48 like me with bad eyes to rely on this stuff. learn from a person that has done it wrong for like 20 years and do it right the first time.... just sayin...

 

Sparks parts has non-pros for 1327+25% off shipping right now. Or this sparks parts has them for 1412+$200 off shipping. Not sure which would be a better deal for you if you gotta have ‘em.
If you wait for a holiday a lot of the Toyota parts sites will have really good sales. Labor Day was just 10 or 15% off and $200 off shipping.
I got mine for 1140 shipped to Alaska on Memorial Day when it was 25% off parts

 

CoPlus definitely seems to no longer feel the love from Wheel Pros/Morimoto, making it clear Morimoto does not own the XB headlight products anymore and never designed them while aggressively pitching for new distributors to replace Morimoto.

I'd speculate under Wheel Pros, Morimoto may be shifting to cheaper Chinese manufactures for headlights causing significant quality and performance losses while increasing profit ratios and souring relations with Morimoto's previous exclusive higher end Taiwanese CoPlus headlight supplier. CoPlus, the sole manufacture of Morimoto XB headlights, continues point out they are no longer with Wheel Pros/Morimoto, and looking for business to replace them.

 

At least y'all have an OEM LED option. The poor GX470 didn't even offer a HID option. So I'm stuck with H9 as the best I can do unless I spend a lot of money on a proper retrofit. Lol

 

soooo does that mean the "morimotos" are about to become cheaper?

 

If you want my humble opinion, no. Look at it this way, COPLUS was selling the lights to Morimoto and making money on each set. But, Morimoto was marking them up and reselling them at a higher price. Now COPLUS can sell them for what Morimoto was selling them for and skip the middleman and their profits. I kind of doubt they'll sell them for less.

 

Except CoPlus doesn’t sell direct, they are looking for another brand to pick-up the XB headlight line, so it will depend on who picks it up.

 

Hmmm. Maybe Morimoto didn't meet CoPlus's sales & marketing expectations?

 

Unlikely. Morimoto excels in sales and marketing for aftermarket headlights.

 

Hey dave, I just placed an order for your led conversion harness. You probably get asked this a lot, but do you have an idea of how soon it'll take for you to put it together and ship out? I literally just placed the order a few minutes ago and I know it's Saturday night/Sunday so even if there was a harness all ready to go, it wouldn't ship for a few days.

 

Bought two sets of Philips 9011 bulbs in May and installed it in the wife's Sienna. One burned out and put in the second set of Philips 9011 last week. I usually like to have a extra set on hand just in case they burn out. Found some Toshiba 9011 bulbs from local Toyota dealer for 28$ plus tax each. Part number is 90981-13066 if you're wondering.

 

Hmmm, appear to be HIR too. Interesting.

 

Those were available under the ACDelco brand on Amazon, but they superseded the part number with non-HIR bulb versions, I’m not seeing the originals on Amazon anymore. The new Korean Sylvania 9011s are still a little better, but a bit tricky to find since they are not distinguished between from the lower performing German bulb.

 

Look who is going to SEMA as an independent for the first time, no longer under TRS/Morimoto.

 

CoPlus appears to have free F150 LED headlight assembly upgrades to those willing to lend their truck in the Vegas area.