Aftermarket HID Issue
 

I purchased 6000K HID bulbs replacements from Diode Dynamics for my 2015 BRZ Limited. Upon opening the package I noticed 1 bulb from that set was visibly damaged, so Diode Dynamics sent me a brand new set (read: I never installed the first set, and I now have 3 perfectly fine HID bulbs). I installed the brand new set of 6000k HID bulbs and everything looked great. I do a lot of driving at night and I loved the improvement in vision that the 6000K HID bulbs offered. About 3 weeks into me having my 6000k HID bulbs installed, the drivers side bulb would go out after being on for a few minutes. To troubleshoot, I swapped out the driver side bulb for the 1 undamaged bub from the first set of HIDs I received from Diode Dynamics. After installing the other bulb, I turned on my headlights…all seemed great…but then the passenger side HID bulb started to go out after a few minutes of being on. I was baffled because I wasn’t even having issues with the passenger side bulb to begin with. I then swapped out both 6000K HID bulbs and put my OEM HID bulbs back in. I have not had an issue with bulbs going out since I put the OEM bulbs back in and it’s been a few months now.

Does anyone have any idea what the issue could be? I would love to use 6000K HID bulbs to match my LED fog light bulbs, plus the greater visibility is nice.

P.S. this post is not meant to be saying anything negative about Diode Dynamics. I think they are nice and always respond to my questions and are always willing to assist and work things out.

@Diode Dynamics thoughts??

I would first off say its probably not the bulbs but the headlight unit itself or something to do with the unit and the LED bulbs together

it's the bulbs. you proved that fact by switching back to the OEM bulbs with no problems. keep in mind that no matter what, aftermarket bulbs will not be 100% problem free, especially non-OEM brands. though, DD has excellent customer service so they will take care of you. if you want good HID bulbs, pay the premium because they are more expensive for a reason. a set of $100+ bulbs cannot compare to a set of $30 bulbs.

I already spoke with them through email about the issue a few months ago, but if they have any updates on the issue I would love to hear them.

@ryoma Do you have any particular brand you would recommend?

I currently have Osram 66440 CBI's in my car. the stock bulbs for the BRZ are Osram 66440 as well, just the non-CBI version. the CBI is about 5500k and has an almost pure white output, with a hint of blue. it is an expensive bulb though, and you need to be weary of knockoffs. I bought my bulbs from The Retrofit Source and I know that they carry legit bulbs.

The Retrofit Source is the real deal for aftermarket HID bulbs. No such thing as cost effective if you want it done right the first time.

Awesome, thanks guys! I'll give them a try.

Edit: I just purchased these: D4S Philips 42402 WX Ultinon

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...7#.Vq_krVIsA40

I will confirm if they work or not in a few weeks after install!

I would suggest working out the issue with @DiodeDynamics before dropping more money on bulbs IMHO

DD has a fantastic warranty and they are willing to work with you to fix your issue. Maybe try out at least one more set (*for free*) before abandoning a product you already paid for. Just my 2 pennies

You mean @Diode Dynamics

I too have not had one issue with them, there service is impeccable

Don't know about DD's stuff but The Retrofit Source carries morimoto bulbs and they are amazing quality with great customer service

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

you also have a chance of getting a defective bulb from TRS too with their Morimoto bulbs. both TRS and DD are great companies with excellent customer service, but really, what do you expect from bulbs made in a factory in China? TRS and DD probably have higher quality standards and rejects more bulbs though, while the eBay sellers sell bulbs for cheap at a cheaper quality. of course, that last statement was just my opinion and I have nothing to back it up lol. by going with TRS or DD, you are paying for the great customer service and not really the bulb (but it probably is still way better quality than the eBay cheapos)

Just to throw my 2 cents in here, yes, it sounds like you are having bulb issues. Maybe their bulbs do not like to "play nice" with factory ballasts. Cheap bulbs can screw your over here and there, but you can also get lucky some times with them. I had crap ddm tuning hid kit in a car that lasted 5 years with no problem, and are probably still fine but I got ride of the car and don't know for sure. I've also put ddm tuning hids in a customer's car 8 years ago, see him around every couple months and they are still kicking just fine, so cheap stuff isn't always bad, but in an application where you are trying to get some cheap aftermarket stuff to work off of factory stuff, you can run into issues. Go legit and spend the money to avoid future problems.

DDM is not the same as Diode Dynamics nor do they have cheap quality stuff