j3st3r

What bulbs are you using now?

If I recall correctly 50w/55w actually over drives the bulbs. TRS states 20% brighter but 20% less life and - 1000k color temp. So a 6500k bulb ran at 50w/55w will be closer to 5500k color as opposed to the 6500k color at 35w which is what HID's are made to run at. 5500k has less blue and more white than 6500k.

Good point. Unless you get the xb55's which only carry a 3 year warranty from TRS.

I wouldn't say the build quality is on par with morimoto but I can't tell that the morimoto ballasts put out any more light than the opt 7 ballasts and they warm up as fast or faster than the morimoto ballasts. The only issue I've had with the opt 7 kit was the bulbs. If the 9012 bulbs have the plastics base instead of the metal base then you probably won't have those issues. I had the 6000k bulbs and they are much more white/blue than the morimoto 6500k bulbs.

The morimoto kit is no more plug and play than the opt 7 kit and considering you can get the opt 7 kit and then order morimoto bulbs and still come out almost $70 cheaper than getting the morimoto kit why would you not? Granted I have no long term experience with either brand, but so far the opt 7 ballasts run the morimoto bulbs just as bright, warm up just as fast if not a second or so faster, and have the same color output as the morimoto ballasts. As for me, I'll save the $70. Now don't get me wrong, if the opt 7 ballasts prove less reliable and the 2 year warranty runs out, then I will be more than happy to spend the money the next time on all morimoto parts if they prove more reliable.

I got the bolt ac series 55w kit and added the relay harness. Only difference would be the bulbs. Yours are 9012. Mine are h11.

As far as ballast go, the warm up time is almost identical. Close enough that I can't tell the difference. The morimoto ballast and ignitors seem to be a better build quality; but the opt 7 have been trouble free for the 4 months I've had them. I will say that the morimoto bulbs are definitely better bulbs. Not any brighter that I can tell but the output is cleaner if that makes sense. The opt 7 bulbs have a metal mounting base with no rubber bushing or o-ring. They fit kind of loose in the projector housing causing the hotspot to be off skew. The morimoto bulbs have a plastic base with a rubber bushing or whatever you call it that makes a nice tight fit. Also, even though the opt 7 bulbs were labeled h11b they were definitely regular h11 bulbs. The grounding electrode that runs the length of the bulb is opposite of the morimoto bulbs and that causes the opt 7 bulbs to have the tire track shadows where as the morimoto bulbs have a clean output. They also have better coverage on the sides of the road. That could be because they are actually seated in the projector more snuggly, I really don't know. The color output also seems more accurate. The opt 7 bulbs were 6000k and were more white/blue than the morimoto 6500k bulbs are. The only reason I ordered the morimoto ballast is because I am fixing to change my high beams to hid from led. I wanted to see if the morimoto ballast were any better than the opt 7 as far as warm up time and output brightness. They aren't. Hindsight being 20/20, if I knew then what I know now I would have ordered the opt 7 kit and then morimoto bulbs separately and still would have come out cheaper than the complete morimoto setup. Your mileage may vary.

The left side (passenger side) is the morimoto xb55 and the right side is the opt 7 55w. Morimoto 6500k bulbs both sides.

It'll be tomorrow night more than likely. I pulled the morimoto ballast and hooked the opt 7 ballast back up since I'll be using the morimoto ballast for my high beams. It'll only take a few minutes to hook the morimoto back up but I don't get off work until midnight or so. What do you want pics of? The output comparison of the morimoto ballast against the opt 7 ballast? Or of the almost non existent color difference between the 5500k and 6500k morimoto bulbs? I will say this. If you decide to go with the opt 7 hid kit I would advise just getting the ballast and relay harness from them and morimoto bulbs. They are definitely better bulbs. I could tell no difference in brightness between the 2 ballast.

Are you referring to my post above?

So the fact that the opt 7 6000k bulbs were so much more white blue than the morimoto 6500k bulbs is probably because they are cheaper bulb and not as accurate with the actual color temp?

Have a problem that's kind of stumping me. I drive a 2015 LTZ with factory projectors. A couple of months ago I installed opt7 HIDs. I know I know. Cheapies. Anyway, I was actually surprised by the output of them, they are the 55w 6,000k. Nice white light with a very slight hint of blue, at least at 55w. Would probably be more blue at 35w. What I haven't been impressed with was the bulb fitment. It uses a metal base to attach in the housing and it's kind of a loose fit causing the hot spots to be off center and they have the "tire track" shadows because even though the bulbs were labeled H11b I'm pretty sure they are regular H11 bulbs. So I decided to order morimoto bulbs to see if they were any better. They are. They use a plastic base with a rubber bushing so the fit is much tighter and that solved the hotspot problem. It was a world of difference in light spread. I can see so much better on the sides of the road and the "tire track" shadows disappeared. Anyway, I ended up ordering 2 sets of morimoto bulbs, the 5500k and the 6500k to see which ones I liked better. Here is where the problem lies. I can not tell any difference between them. I first installed the 5500k bulbs expecting a more pure white light after having the 6000k opt 7 bulbs. Looking at the lights head on they have a white/yellowish hue. Not pure white and no blue at all. When facing a wall the hotspot has a blue tint but that doesn't show at all on the road. So I then installed one of the 6500k on the drivers side to see if had more of a pure white or white with a hint of blue output like the opt 7 6000k bulbs had and the output color is pretty much identical to the 5500k. Close enough that I thought I installed the 5500k back in by mistake. So I pulled it back out and verified it was the the 6500k bulb. Mind you this is still using the opt 7 ballast. So I said what the hell and ordered 2 morimoto xb55 ballasts figuring it was just the cheap opt 7 ballast that were underperforming. So the morimoto ballasts arrive and I install one on the passenger side and left the opt 7 ballast on the drivers side and fire up the headlights to see if the morimoto ballast is any better. It's not. It's no brighter than the opt 7 ballast and the color is the same as the opt 7. What I didn't change when doing all this was the relay harness. I didn't order a morimoto relay harness since I already had the opt 7 relay harness mounted and wires hidden and it's been working just fine. Could that really be the problem with why the 5500k and 6500k bulbs look almost identical in output color?

Sorry about that. I misread your question.

It won't. I asked the same question in an earlier post.