2012 Toyota Camry XLE HYBRID – Headlamp upgrade review – Credit: J. Nipper

I got into this situation after I took on a new job that requires me to commute 90 miles one way. Yes it is a long commute, but when your unemployed and have a large family to support distance is not a show stopper. Since my current vehicle was aging, and it’s fuel economy left a lot to be desired, I decided it was time for my son to inherit my old vehicle and I would get a comfortable new car with good fuel economy. I looked hard at options and decided to go Hybrid since my commute is not limited to highway driving. After test driving several, I chose the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid because my wife despised the Prius. Two weeks after buying the car I ended up taking out the front bumper, a headlight bucket, and the lower grill when a 50 pound raccoon decided he had the pedestrian right of way. I attribute this act of vehicular homicide to not being able to see him until seconds before impact. While I do admit that the 2012 Camry does have excellent lighting from the factory, on these dark country roads I found the super sharp cutoff left me blind on the driver’s side shoulder area of these 2 lane country roads. As a result of my above pointless rambling that no-one really cares about, I wanted to upgrade my lighting in order to enhance my visibility during my early morning commute.

 [Factoid - The 2012 Camry Hybrid owner’s manual has two lines in the bulb replacement size chart. “Halogen” size “A” (H11) is listed on the first line and the second line lists “Discharge” size “C” (D4S HID). So it seems non-USA Spec Camrys get an option for factory HID.] 

I searched several websites and ended up buying from KBcarstuff.com (XenonDepot) upon my boss’s recommendation. After debating between 6000K vs. 8000K, I purchased the XenonDepot Xtreme 6500K kit. The kit arrived quickly and it was very easy to install. Installation took me about 20 minutes. Toyota does reverse the polarity of the H11 connector so I did have to swap the interface pins on the ballast’s harness. This was straight forward and the instruction manual illustrates how to swap the pins around without cutting. Fact is I found that the hardest part of the install was finding a space to place the ballasts. Since I have a Hybrid and all of the vehicle batteries are in the rear of the vehicle I took the lazy route and chose to power the 35w ballasts directly from my factory wiring harness, skipping the use of the well-constructed relay harnesses that were included in the kit. I do not have any flicker or strobing, direct connection works flawlessly on my Camry.

My opinion of the XenonDepot Xtreme 6500K HID kit are as follows:

My first impression was “SWEET!”

From a distance the 6500K lights appear very white, but the closer you get the more bluish-violet they appear. I spent about 4 weeks driving with the 6500K kit and I have to say they sharpen everything up. Better illumination over the stock halogens is apparent. The color of the light reflected off the pavement looks icy bluish-white and reminds me of a black light in the way the color fluoresces pavement markings making them razor-sharp and highly visible. This extra clarity really helps to reduce driver fatigue in my opinion. Newer road signs reflect the light a very bright violet as does the reflection off the paint of the cars in front.

Both shoulders of a two lane roadway are illuminated well. The lighting bias is still toward the passenger side but that’s due to the projectors cutoff design and not the bulb. The bias is by design, and it intended by design to help prevent blinding oncoming traffic, so please don’t mess with your cutoffs…

Now here’s what I don’t like about the 6500Ks. There is a lot of new black top in my area and when the pavement is wet I have a hard time discerning any visible light reflected off the pavement. If it were not for the pavement marking fluorescing it may be difficult to see the road surface. I believe this is important for early spotting of road surface hazards such as potholes or debris. Additionally, out here in the smog free farmlands, we have a few certain times of a day that I like to refer to as “The Blue Hour”. During blue hours it is also very difficult to see any of the 6500K light reflected off of the asphalt. For this reason I highly recommend AGAINST installing 6500K HID’s in both your headlights and fog lights simultaneously.

The 6500K’s light is fairly diffused by my projectors, however there is one very noticeable hot spot coming from the driver side.

Going further into personal opinion, I feel that the bluish-violet color temperature gets old after a few weeks. Being a fully grown adult, paranoia kicked in and I started to feel like a cop magnet. I didn’t get pulled over, nor has anyone flashed their high-beams at me… I just started to feel like I might be drawing a little too much attention and that the color could be bordering on a bit tacky for this kind of car. In my opinion the color is something you would see in a tuned import and not a corporate weenie-mobile. My stock halogen fog lights, which I felt looked extremely white when I got the car, now look very yellow sitting beneath the 6500K HIDs. I am certain this is why some people choose to push it to the extreme yellow by adding 3000K HIDs or something like a Jet Yellow Putco bulb. Since I do not like any yellow cast in my light output, I ordered a set of H11 OSRAM Night breaker Halogens for my fog lights.

(Note: Because I have the benefit of having H11 in my headlamps and fog lights, I am going to first install them into my headlamps to see how well they do as a halogen upgrade for the Camry.)

Summarizing my opinion of 6500K HIDs… I found that 6500K left me wanting more distance. Looking around at other cars, it just seemed to me like I could get better light. This desire caused me to give Steve at XenonDepot a call. During our conversation I learned that the 6500K lamps are rated at 2500 lumens. I agree that 2500 lumens is in fact adequate illumination, however given my commute has me on the road at 4am I desire enhanced visibility. After talking with Steve and doing some more homework, I found that it is fairly unanimous amongst the internet forums that the OEM HID color temp of 4300K is the best for illumination/range. So I ordered a set of Philips 85122 rebased bulbs from Steve. The Philips 85122 bulbs are rated for 3200 Lumens, so it should add the extra distance that I desire.

My opinion of the XenonDepot Xtreme 4300K HID kit with genuine Philips 85122 bulbs are as follows:

The fitment is spot on, however I am kind of concerned about the seal because the XenonDepot brand HID bulbs were very tight, I had to muscle them to get them to turn into the bayonet socket all the way. I felt comfortable with the XenonDepot 6500K seal because of the tight fitment. The Philips 85122 bulb on the other hand twisted into the socket very smoothly with little effort. This concerns me about the seal a bit, but I am sure it is fine. Other than the install difference, cosmetic differences are the igniter rod faces downward in my bucket whereas the XenonDepot 6500K bulb faced up. Other differences that are trivial is that the XenonDepot bulb came with a wire loom netting over the harness, the Philips bulb is not loomed. This makes for a less factory appearance. The XenonDepot bulb looks more professional in this regard.

Driving around, I find the pizazz of the violet hue is completely lost. These Philips 4300K bulbs are bright. I am kind of nervous because they are so bright since it is not my goal to blind oncoming traffic.

The light reflection off the road surface appears brightly but perhaps closer to an eggshell white in color. Signage reflects very white. I have seen a hint of blue on signage from either a far distance or right as I am passing the sign, but not as a constant like the 6500Ks were. Pavement markings do not fluoresce at all… they reflect nicely, but they do not pop out at you like with the 6500Ks. On wet pavement you can see a decent amount of light reflected from the pavement, so this is an improvement in my opinion. The color of the 4300K comes close to matching my high-beams. Ya, not perfectly, but I do not see a discernible difference in color from behind the wheel like I did see when running the 6500Ks.

Summarizing my opinion of the rebased Philips 85122 4300K HIDs… I really have nothing that I do not like about the 4300Ks to say,… yet. I like them enough I believe I am done with my search, at least for low beams.

{Update: Since first publishing this review, my 4300K HIDs have color shifted. I am now seeing light blue reflections off signage and other vehicles.}

My opinion of the OSRAM Night Breaker Plus H11 Halogen bulbs are as follows:

I first tried them out in my headlight bucket even though these bulbs were always intended for my fog lights. I did this to satisfy curiosity. The Osram Night Breaker Plus Halogen Bulbs do put out pretty good light. They are eggshell white in color and they illuminate the road decently. They look much whiter in my projector headlight buckets than they do my fog lights (because of lens design). I will admit though, I only used them for a few hours before moving them to my fog lights as I was just not happy with the output compared to my HID’s. The NBP bulbs are bright, but just don’t come close to being an HID substitute. I understand that not everyone can afford HIDs, or even wants HIDs, so I would think for the person that has not yet been spoiled by HID, the Night Breaker Plus bulbs are probably going to make you happy.

[Factoid- The 2012 Toyota Camry shipped from the factory with H11 OSRAM 64211 L+ bulbs installed in the Low Beams and Foglights. The OSRAM Night Breaker Plus bulbs are 64211NBP bulbs. The L+ is the long life OEM offering and in my opinion, I strongly feel that the NBP is just a tad whiter than the already excellent bulbs Toyota is using from the factory. After all they are from the same bloodline.]

Here is a photo I took for fun:

 [Credit: J. Nipper]

Available colors…

The Volt HID kit’s slim digital ballasts are much smaller in size than many thick, bulky ballasts available on the market. This allows for greater flexibility when mounting in a vehicle that has limited space in the engine compartment.

Here is an example of XenonDepot’s Volt HID kit installed in the fog lights of  a Lexus SC430. With its deep, yellow tone the 3000k color temperature is the perfect choice for fog lights. The yellow color does a great job at penetrating through fog, rain and snow.

The Xtreme HID kit is perfect for vehicles that have automatic headlights (auto switch) as the ballasts have a very low start up draw (9V-12V).  The kit also comes with a relay harness which allows you to power the bulbs directly from the battery to ensure they receive a constant 12V.

Stock halogen -

With Xtreme 4300k HID kit installed

Notice the defined cut off from the Projector headlights -

This customer also installed Philips CrystalVision bulbs to better match his fog lights to his HID lights. Notice how much whiter the Philips CrystalVision bulbs (driver’s side) are compared to the stock bulbs (passenger’s side).

We Recently had a customer (Richard) that had installed the XenonDepot H11 4300k Volt HID kit in his 2010 Chevrolet Equinox contact us in regards to the Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs that we carry on our website. Richard was looking for a bulb to enhance his high beams due to long distance drives and wanted to know what differences he could expect to see from these bulbs. The Chevrolet Equinox uses a 9005 high beam bulb meaning that a 9005 Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulb was installed. Take a look at the pictures that Richard was kind to send over.

Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulb vs OEM High beam halogen bulb

Osram Nightbreaker plus headlight bulbs will produce 90% more light than your stock halogen bulbs

Philips D1S HID bulbs, Philips D4S HID bulbs and Philips D2R HID bulbs

These HID bulbs are a direct replacement for your 4300k OEM D1S, D4S and D2R bulbs. There are a lot of counterfeit Philips bulbs being sold in the market today. Buy from KBcarstuff – a trusted and authorized Philips dealer.

Philips Blue Vision 194 T10 LED bulbs

These super bright LED bulbs will replace any 194/168 bulb. Some common applications include map lights, license plate lights, dome lights and courtesy lights.  They are a direct replacement for the stock bulbs and will produce up to 6x more light than a stock halogen bulb. These LED bulbs will draw significantly less power than a halogen bulb and are heat resistant. Pick up a set and see the difference!

Philips Blue Vision Festoon LED Bulb

Philips Blue Vision Festoon LED bulbs are a direct replacement for your OEM halogen festoon bulbs. Some common applications for these bulbs include map lights, dome lights and license plate lights. These bulbs will provide you with up to 5x more light output over stock and draw a lot less power than a traditional halogen bulb. With the quality assurances you would expect from Philips, these bulbs will definitely last a long time.

Philips CrystalVision Ultra Halogen bulbs

Swap out your dull, yellow factory halogen bulbs with a pair of Philips Crystal Vision Ultra halogen bulbs. These bulbs will improve nighttime visibility and will also provide you with the distinctive blue/white look of HID’s. Available in 9005, 9006 and H11 fitments.

Philips LED Daytime Running Lights

These  LED driving lights utilize Philips high power Luxeon LED’s for maximum light output. Their ultra compact design and easy click-on attachment provides greater installation flexibility. The Philips LED Daylight is the perfect choice for gaining daytime/nighttime visibility and is completely road legal. Available in 4 LED or 8 LED configuration.

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The GMC Terrain uses H11 bulbs on the low beams meaning you will need an H11 HID kit. The same H11 bulbs are used for Daytime Running Lights which operate on reduced power. As a result  you will need to install capacitors and a relay harness to prevent any flickering when performing this upgrade. These parts are available with XenonDepot’s HID kits and will plug right in using the existing connectors – no wiring or splicing necessary. The Terrain’s Projector Headlights make it the perfect candidate for an HID conversion kit. With the Projector Headlights you will get a very sharp cut off and a defined beam pattern with minimal bleed.

Here are a few pictures from a customer who installed a 4300k Xtreme HID kit in their 2012 GMC Terrain. Going with 4300k for the color temperature will get you the most light output and will give you that “factory installed HID” look. There’s no comparison between halogen and HID!

WeatherTech recently introduced many new Floor Liner and Floor Mat fitments for various 2012 and 2013 cars, trucks and SUV’s. Now you can find the right WeatherTech Floor Liners or WeatherTech Floor Mats for your brand new vehicle!

WeatherTech All-Weather Floor Mats

• 2011-2012 Ford Explorer Floor Mats
• 2010-2011 Ford Focus Floor Mats
• 2012 BMW 6-Series Floor Mats

WeatherTech Front Floor Liners

• 2013 Mazda CX-5 Front Floor Liners
• 2012 Kia Rio Front Floor Liners
• 2010-2012 Cadillac SRX Front Floor Liners

WeatherTech Rear Floor Liners

• 2012 Volkswagen Passat Rear Floor Liners
• 2013 Mazda CX-5 Rear Floor Liners
• 2012 Kia Rio Rear Floor Liners
• 2012 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Rear Floor Liners

WeatherTech Cargo Liners

• 2011-2012 Volkswagen Touareg Cargo Liner
• 2007-2012 Honda CR-V Cargo Liner
• 2012 Ford Focus Cargo Liner
• 2011-2012 Scion tC Cargo Liner

Here is a great pic from a customer who installed our 6500k Xtreme HID kit in their Camry. As you can see the stock halogen bulbs just don’t compare!