Vland headlights - quality + bulb questions

[Gallo24]

A bit of background:

I've had my 2013 BRZ for closing in on a year now. I love the car but am slowly moving to the phase of making useful DD-friendly modifications to make it even better. One thing which has bothered me since I got the car are the headlights. I love the design and boomerang DRL but I didn't notice how cloudy they were when I first saw the car and it is slowly getting worse. Most likely the UV protection has started to fail. Additionally, there are some scratches visible too, they look fairly superficial but i cannot be certain. I had considered getting them restored with a ceramic coat but am worried the scratches can't be easily fixed + I'm not a fan of the cheap looking indicator which doesn't suit the modern LED DRL and bi-xenon lamp.

Just for reference going forwards, I know very little about car lighting but have done my best to educate myself from existing forums. Also, I am Australian based and will use AUD values.

$1 USD = ~$1.50 AUD

For around $100 I could get the lights restored and coated which might not make them look brand new but would get me close. However, I always admired the clean lines of the Vland lights and with a big sale on them locally, now seems like the time to buy. If I sold my current lights, I anticipate a $300 net spend.

My questions about the Vland lights are twofold:

1. How is the build quality?

I understand these lights are made in China and have seen some reports of them cracking/fading within months. Are there any owners here who can back this up or is this just people who think China = cheap and are making assumptions?

2. How easy is it to install better bulbs?

I understand these lights come with weak H7 halogen bulbs and many owners have complained about these projectors. My intention would certainly be to buy some high quality bulbs to go with the lights. Is the answer as simple as buying 5000k H7 lights or would it be necessary to seek out D2S HID bulbs? Also, is the process as simple as slotting the replacement bulbs in or are more steps required?

Lastly, the whole install process is plug-and-play for a BRZ correct? I'm not that experienced with a wrench but from what I understand, the installation process isn't too difficult.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

[Irace86.2.0]

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135751

Check out that thread four threads below your new thread, which is thread about Vland headlights threaded with good content, all in one thread. Thread.

^^^See how too many threads are bad?

[Yoshoobaroo]

Vland lights are crap compared to the oem BRZ units. It’s a severe downgrade in light output even with an aftermarket HID kit. The only aftermarket lights that measure up are the morimotos. That or save up for a set of 2017 OEM units.

[Gallo24]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135751

Check out that thread four threads below your new thread, which is thread about Vland headlights threaded with good content, all in one thread. Thread.

^^^See how too many threads are bad?

Thanks for the tip, I'll read it through, hopefully it answers everything!

[Gallo24]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Vland lights are crap compared to the oem BRZ units. It’s a severe downgrade in light output even with an aftermarket HID kit. The only aftermarket lights that measure up are the morimotos. That or save up for a set of 2017 OEM units.

Is this coming from experience using Vland lights or are you just saying that? From what I've read, the only real issue is the poor quality bulbs the lights come with and I am factoring in a replacement into the purchase price. I don't understand how installing a good quality HID would still result in a severe downgrade in light output. I can respect Morimotos are good quality but the price is out of my budget and their appearance doesn't really appeal to me.

I'd love to get 2017 OEM lights but I can't find a supplier at a reasonable price. I may have to see if anyone is selling them off post-facelift cars which are being scrapped.

Like I said, I could always restore my lights, but I think given their current condition, I would feel more comfortable having a new pair...

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Vland lights are crap compared to the oem BRZ units. It’s a severe downgrade in light output even with an aftermarket HID kit. The only aftermarket lights that measure up are the morimotos. That or save up for a set of 2017 OEM units.

If someone is doing a lot of off grid driving at night then maybe that could be an issue. I don’t.

[norcalpb]

Originally Posted by Gallo24

Is this coming from experience using Vland lights or are you just saying that? From what I've read, the only real issue is the poor quality bulbs the lights come with and I am factoring in a replacement into the purchase price. I don't understand how installing a good quality HID would still result in a severe downgrade in light output. I can respect Morimotos are good quality but the price is out of my budget and their appearance doesn't really appeal to me.

I'd love to get 2017 OEM lights but I can't find a supplier at a reasonable price. I may have to see if anyone is selling them off post-facelift cars which are being scrapped.

Like I said, I could always restore my lights, but I think given their current condition, I would feel more comfortable having a new pair...

It's not the quality of the bulbs but rather the quality of the projectors. Even if you install nice bulbs, the output will be limited by the projectors.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by norcalpb

It's not the quality of the bulbs but rather the quality of the projectors. Even if you install nice bulbs, the output will be limited by the projectors.

yup, Vland uses generic Chinese optics like Spyder and other brands in the same quality range. I don't have experience with vland specifically, but I've had enough aftermarket headlights to know that a $400 pair of lights doesn't work well at night. HIDs will make them brighter but the light distribution will still be uneven and the cutoff blurry. Even with brighter than stock bulbs you'll likely see less at night. IMO save up for a set of 2017 lights off eBay (~$500 each usually), or get the morimotos for $800, they're the only aftermarket lights that actually outperform the stock HIDs.

[explosivo85]

I just installed these headlights and put in D2S HID lamps. The light output is perfect and easily adjustable.

They also have electronic adjustment if you have a BRZ with the selector switch. I'm using in an FRS and just have them manually set.

No complaints what so ever. They perform just as well as the Winjets i had in a previous FRS, and just as good as the FRS factory projectors.

[Irace86.2.0]

These guys below were just assuming because they were from China and cheap, but the projectors are good. My Vlands are better than many OEM projectors at light output. OEM projectors are usually not clear lenses, and these are, so that is one reason why they will perform better than OEM lenses. My wife's Audi Q5 has a brushed lens that dims and softens the beam pattern, so my Vlands outperform her vehicle by a wide margin.

Originally Posted by norcalpb

It's not the quality of the bulbs but rather the quality of the projectors. Even if you install nice bulbs, the output will be limited by the projectors.

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

yup, Vland uses generic Chinese optics like Spyder and other brands in the same quality range. I don't have experience with vland specifically, but I've had enough aftermarket headlights to know that a $400 pair of lights doesn't work well at night. HIDs will make them brighter but the light distribution will still be uneven and the cutoff blurry. Even with brighter than stock bulbs you'll likely see less at night. IMO save up for a set of 2017 lights off eBay (~$500 each usually), or get the morimotos for $800, they're the only aftermarket lights that actually outperform the stock HIDs.