Installed OEM HID's on Canadian Non-HID Prius

I have always loved HID's. Not so much aftermarket ones, but OEM HID's. I wanted a nice crisp cut off line, and zero glare. I traded in my E46 M3 for my 08 Prius and decided I needed to install the OEM HID's from the USDM Prius to my Canadian non-HID Prius. For those that don't know, HID's are not even an option for the Prius here in Canada. :canada: Most likely because of the daytime running light system. Will get into that more later.

Now before I get flamed, I have to mention that I did not install the headlight auto leveler. I may consider doing that next though.

For anyone interested in doing this "upgrade", here is a list of what I did.

I purchased the two OEM HID headlight assemblies from Carson Toyota. Cheapest price I could find on the net @ $236.18 a piece. These assemblies come complete with the leveler motor, and lower bracket (the one that slides under the front bumper).



I purchased two new OEM HID ballasts with harnesses from integra9006hid on eBay @ $128.88 each ($257.76 total). These would have been $201.79 a piece from Carson. Lee was very helpful and even threw in some H4 male connectors for me to make it more plug-n-play.



I purchased two new OEM Philips XENECO D4R HID bulbs from akinaboy on eBay @ $98.49 for the pair. These would have been $235.67 a piece from Carson.



So that was it for ordering parts.

Now I had to figure out what I what I wanted to do with my daytime running lights. The factory halogen setup uses an H4 bulb (two filaments). A single filament is used for both the low beam and the DRL. The problem is that DRL's run the bulbs at a lower power, or pulsed. HID's don't like this (atleast the Prius HID's don't). I opted to scrap the DRL's (disconnect them somehow) and to just use my parking lights during the day. I live in Toronto and police here really don't seem all too picky about DRL's. I've had two other cars where I've had DRL's disconnected (I don't have anything against DRL's mind you) and have never had a problem.

Now to the installation. The most difficult part (and it really wasn't all too difficult) was to remove the front bumper. My car is brand spanking new so it was fairly easy. I used NoMoShocks' directions which can be found in this thread. After the front bumper was off I had to wire up the HID's. I thought this would be fairly straight forward as it was simply a 12V and Ground wire that needed to be wired for each low beam. I decided to do it the plug and play way and used the H4 female connectors that Lee had provided for me and crimped and soldered them to the ballast harness. If looking at the original H4 bulb from the back with the single horizontal prong on top, it is ordered Ground, Low beam, High Beam from left to right.

So I wired that all up, installed the headlights, plug-n-played, and tested my work. Turned the Prius on and got some rapid flickering from the HID's. I had forgotten to disable the DRL's. I popped open the fuse box cover and removed the 7.5amp fuse for the DRL's. Tried again and still got flickering! I contacted my friend that works for a dealership and he mentioned that you can't normally disable DRL's by the fuse on newer cars like we could before on older ones. So I was SOL as I had no idea where the DRL relay was (I was wrenching at home and had all my tech info at work). I decided to just get the low beams working for now and to figure out a solution for the DRL's the next day. So I tested the low beams and they also didn't work! Instead of flickering, I just got darkness! Used a volt meter and everything showed OK. Had 12V and ground...I assumed not enough juice/amperage. This was a shock to me as I had always read that HID's use less power than halogens! :shrug: By this time it was dark out and I was starving (hadn't eaten dinner yet) so I called it a day. I decided to leave my headlights disconnected and finish the rest after work the next day.

The next day I drew up a small relay diagram and implemented it. I used the unswitched 12V battery jump source from the fuse box, fused and relayed to each ballast, with the original halogen low beam 12v signal as the trigger. Each ballast also got a new chassis ground. Worked like a charm! Nothing like drawing up a diagram, spending an hour or so wiring everything up pretty, and having it turn on on the first attempt. I was stoked. :rockon: I turned my headlight switch to off and had completely forgot that the DRL's would kick in. Last thing I wanted to do was to damage the ballasts with the DRL flicker...but low and behold...no flicker! eace: The HID's were working fine in DRL mode too. I had to think about the logic for a second. Then it occurred to me that the DRL's work on the negtive end and not the positive end. I had completely bypassed the negative end when I gave each ballast a new chassis ground. So now I have low beams on basically all the time (other than when the car is off). This works for me...and I suppose more legal too.

Now, before some of you go off on me...Yes...I know I did not hookup the high beams or the auto leveler. I know it's not totally legal...yet.

The high beams should be pretty straight forward to anyone that wants to do it. The HID high beams work by shifting the reflector inside the headlight assembly (not by making the bulb brighter). Everything is there already (reflector, motor, connector, harness). You just need to give it the power and ground it wants. I'm not sure if it's negative or positive trigger yet (probably positive)...but that's not too difficult to figure out with a volt meter. You'll just need to wire whichever one to original high beam prong (the one we didn't use) which I assume goes to the headlight switch which you pull back for high beams. You'll also need to wire another relay to keep the low beam HID's on when you do this. If you remember, the original H4 setup has two filaments. One for low, one for high. When you trigger the high beam, the low beam turns off. When I wire this up, I may just wire up the low beams to be on full time as soon as the car is on. That way there won't be a split second on/off when the high beam relay switches.

As for the auto leveler...I believe there is a sensor by the rear control arm, and an ECU under the dash. The ECU is available from Carson for $93 and change. I have not priced out the sensor yet but I believe that can be obtained from Carson, or even AutoBeYours who by the way I'd also like to thank for help on this project. He was the one that told me I could manually aim the HID's should I decide not to do the auto lever. I'm not afraid of a little wiring, so I don't imagine that to be all too difficult. It also helps if you have access to the circuit diagrams. I have the diagrams for the headlights saved so if anyone needs them please let me know.

I know this post isn't the greatest since it doesn't have DIY pictures (I'll try to post some of the finished product later on) but for someone wanting to do the same swap...they'll find it very useful.

:thumb:


Darryl

 

PS. I forgot to mention that the only part I had forgotten to order the first time 'round was the back cover for the HID headlight assembly. These are $9.26 each from Carson

I have them ordered and in transit to me as we speak.

Darryl

 

I'll try to get pics up.

 

Yeah, the setup wasn't exactly cheap. Coming from a BMW I did not want to waste money with aftermarket HID kits that would light up purple and blind everyone with glare. , I also wanted something of quality that would last, and not give me any electrical issues.

I can't say it's legal at all, but I doubt I will ever have any problems with them. They are OEM, have a proper cut off line, and shine as they should. Plus, the car isn't a Civic

 

If you plan to buy any replacement parts from a Toyota dealership other than Carson Toyota it will get expensive. I personally don't think $230 is all too much for a replacement OEM headlight. Worst case scenario, you could always revert back to your old halogen setup if you didn't want to fork out for HID lamps.

What do you mean by Consumer Reports rating HID's as poor?

 

HID's are not an option on any Canadian Prius model.

Well I've had both halogen and HID now, and I can assure you that the HID's are superior in lighting the road.

A police officer would probably have to be a Prius owner or enthusiast to know that HID's were not offered on any Canadian model. He would not be able to tell anything had been altered in my engine bay.

As stated, I do not have the auto leveler functional. This may be something I will look to add in time, but at this time I don't see it as being necessary.