OEM LED vs Morimoto XB/Vland vs Retrofit

[19CivicSportNH]

I'm trying to figure out headlight upgrades for my '19 Civic Sport. While the stock projectors are okay, the projector-retrofit in the Escape that's in my stable clearly outperforms it. As stated from my previous thread (here), I'm trying to figure out my options.

The ones so far include:

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OEM LED​

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Morimoto XB or Vland​

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Projector Swap:​

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/trs-retro-quik-kit-install.22272/​

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As for my indecision, here is the thread from Tacoma World that started it all: 3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

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EDIT: jump to this post for results​

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/oem-led-vs-morimoto-xb-vland-vs-retrofit.70714/post-1152581​

 

[NazTehRpR]

I like my morimoto/vland OE+ LED, that combined with the Morimoto XB Foglights (Type-S), I feel extremely safe driving at night. Just had to adjust both with some trial an error is all. The XB headlight is good with a sharp ass cutoff line but past installs ppl have broke the adjuster, I think it’s a max 3 turns. But that was probably for the old batch, the new ones should be fixed. The OEM is good but the OE+ comes with sequential if you a fan and it’s a whole lot cheaper. I got my headlight and fog on modbargins and got a 5 year warranty on both. a projector swap is you ultimate solution as much would say if you’re able to put them in or pay someone to do so. But w/e the decision get the fogs in combo.

 

[19CivicSportNH]

I like my morimoto/vland OE+ LED, that combined with the Morimoto XB Foglights (Type-S), I feel extremely safe driving at night. Just had to adjust both with some trial an error is all. The XB headlight is good with a sharp ass cutoff line but past installs ppl have broke the adjuster, I think it’s a max 3 turns. But that was probably for the old batch, the new ones should be fixed. The OEM is good but the OE+ comes with sequential if you a fan and it’s a whole lot cheaper. I got my headlight and fog on modbargins and got a 5 year warranty on both. a projector swap is you ultimate solution as much would say if you’re able to put them in or pay someone to do so. But w/e the decision get the fogs in combo.

That's my predicament. The Morimotos look amazing, but I'm having a difficult time trying to decide if I want Diode Dynamics SS3 Maxes or the XB Fogs. While the SS3s lack the OEM looks, their output is out of this world, lol. As you said, get the fogs in combo. I have no intention of taking off the front bumper for two separate installs. However, taking off this bumper isn't as bad as a third-gen Ford Escape (the quantity of clips to take off).

 

[NazTehRpR]

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I did the headlights install myself but I let my dealer install the fogs for $60. The fogs are a lot tougher on the sedan to get out, alittle easier on the 9th. When I saw how much crazier they made it, $60 wasn’t to bad for installation. You can get both in 1 setting since the hatch/si you can pop the fog cover.

 

[19CivicSportNH]

I love to meet the engineers who thought it was a good idea to make it this way. It took the Focus only two T30 screws, and a bit of force. Now the Escape, that's a different story. I paid someone to do the retrofit on it (as shelling out $3k for OEM HID housings that requires modification for them to work was out of the question) but I can tell they broke a few clips taking the front bumper off. However, it was worth it. At least the Civic is manageable. The Escape was not.

Here's a photo of the output. Photos don't do it justice.

 

[Beansley]

I just got the morimoto XBs and have had OEM LEDs, the morimoto copycat version and now the XBs, the XBs easily win with the best spread, output, etc. Do note that the adjuster is extremely easy to break so keep that in mind.

 

[19CivicSportNH]

I just got the morimoto XBs and have had OEM LEDs, the morimoto copycat version and now the XBs, the XBs easily win with the best spread, output, etc. Do note that the adjuster is extremely easy to break so keep that in mind.

Do the XBs reflect off road signs similarly to the OEM LEDs (maybe I'm following the OP on the Tacoma forum too literally, ?). Still debating on the fog lights.

 

[Beansley]

Do the XBs reflect off road signs similarly to the OEM LEDs (maybe I'm following the OP on the Tacoma forum too literally, ?). Still debating on the fog lights.

I'm honestly not sure what that means..

 

[19CivicSportNH]

I'm honestly not sure what that means..

Sorry about that. Here's what the OP on the Tacoma thread said.

"Take a look at the posted reviews. OEM has better patterns and higher quality but Morimotos are higher in output intensity. Due to no uplight in the Morimotos and hard projector cut offs though that isn’t as beneficial as it seems"

And,

"If wanting a good LED headlight then yes. You could look at the Morimotos which are quite bright but they have flaws, most notably no uplight which actually makes their high intensity vision limiting on low beam."

Now this pertains to the third-gen Tacoma. I'm sorely tempted to stick to his H11 reccomendations and wait on headlights. From what the IIHS says regarding the Civic's LED headlights, while they perform well, they have too much glare. And when I installed Diode Dynamcis SL1s in the Civic, they looked like this, though not as bad (image is not mine, but from the Tacoma thread)

 

[Greggogrecco]

here are shots from my morimoto xb.

to answer an above question about road side reflections. I will say yes they d


pros: sequentials, LED projector cutoffs, slightly brighter than OEM, plug n play Great function and it really makes the car feel like stupid amount of money you paid for it haha!

cons: adjusting is scary as some mentioned from stories of it breaking. I have not had that issue. I have them out wide as much as possible and they still don’t totally line up like they should width wise. If you also see, the main hotspot is actually under the cutoff and thus you have to aim slightly higher to get good distance this also leads to occasionally getting flashed by other drivers. But that’s only happened once or twice.

oem output

xb output

50ish feet away on a neighbours house lining up the verticals

Post install, needing to horizontal adjust still,

Brights are BRIGHT

Hope this helps anyone, I used to do RSX and civic retrofits, I’ve done everything HID from the TRS Mini H1 to tuning muranos and rx330s and doing single and quads. These don’t compare to HIDs and they aren’t perfect as I would want them to be. But for a plug and play option I’m impressed. And LEDs are catching up, especially the mled2.0s now.

 

[arpypat]

@19CivicSportNH forget about the retroquik and get some nice D2S projectors!

Here are my NHK G5R projectors with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs:

 

[derbo904]

I went the OE LED route for a few reasons:

1. I was able to find a used "insurance" quality set on eBay for about the same price as the OE-style Morimotos.
2. OE build quality has a higher chance of outlasting the other Chinese counterparts in age.
3. The OE headlights I sourced were updated 2019 part numbers with lower glare.
4. I did not want to pay for the XB output so that left me comparing OE vs OEstyle.

There are multiple variants of the OE headlights. I believe the versions are: 2016-2018 version, 2019 version, and 2020-2021 version. IIHS notes differences in their reports.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2016#headlights
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2019#headlights
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2020#headlights

I am not convinced the LED headlights from the Chinese manufacturers will survive long. I had Morimoto 2-stroke LEDs fail on both v1 and v2, and I had Morimoto Ballasts fail 2x.



Output of the OE LED is acceptable brightness even on the darkest backroads for me. I want to note the high beams are a little lacking in distance though.

 

[19CivicSportNH]

here are shots from my morimoto xb.

to answer an above question about road side reflections. I will say yes they d


pros: sequentials, LED projector cutoffs, slightly brighter than OEM, plug n play Great function and it really makes the car feel like stupid amount of money you paid for it haha!

cons: adjusting is scary as some mentioned from stories of it breaking. I have not had that issue. I have them out wide as much as possible and they still don’t totally line up like they should width wise. If you also see, the main hotspot is actually under the cutoff and thus you have to aim slightly higher to get good distance this also leads to occasionally getting flashed by other drivers. But that’s only happened once or twice.

oem output

xb output

50ish feet away on a neighbours house lining up the verticals

Post install, needing to horizontal adjust still,

Brights are BRIGHT

Hope this helps anyone, I used to do RSX and civic retrofits, I’ve done everything HID from the TRS Mini H1 to tuning muranos and rx330s and doing single and quads. These don’t compare to HIDs and they aren’t perfect as I would want them to be. But for a plug and play option I’m impressed. And LEDs are catching up, especially the mled2.0s now.

Those look amazing! It's making it harder to decide.

@19CivicSportNH forget about the retroquik and get some nice D2S projectors!

Here are my NHK G5R projectors with Osram 66240 CBI bulbs:

How hard was the projector swap? Did it involve some cutting? Would have loved a set of G5s instead of the Micro D2S in the Escape (that was the only projector that could fit if I wanted to retain OEM bulbs without going MH1).

I went the OE LED route for a few reasons:

1. I was able to find a used "insurance" quality set on eBay for about the same price as the OE-style Morimotos.
2. OE build quality has a higher chance of outlasting the other Chinese counterparts in age.
3. The OE headlights I sourced were updated 2019 part numbers with lower glare.
4. I did not want to pay for the XB output so that left me comparing OE vs OEstyle.

There are multiple variants of the OE headlights. I believe the versions are: 2016-2018 version, 2019 version, and 2020-2021 version. IIHS notes differences in their reports.

https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2016#headlights
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2019#headlights
https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/honda/civic-4-door-sedan/2020#headlights

I am not convinced the LED headlights from the Chinese manufacturers will survive long. I had Morimoto 2-stroke LEDs fail on both v1 and v2, and I had Morimoto Ballasts fail 2x.



Output of the OE LED is acceptable brightness even on the darkest backroads for me. I want to note the high beams are a little lacking in distance though.

As I understand, going this route requires an adaptor harness. Where did you get yours? And how much was the OEM set? New or used? I do have a set of Morimoto 2storke 3.0, but they didn't twist into the Civic (I forced them into the Escape and destroyed the reflector bowl before I decided to go with retrofits).

 

[Greggogrecco]

Those look amazing! It's making it harder to decide.


How hard was the projector swap? Did it involve some cutting? Would have loved a set of G5s instead of the Micro D2S in the Escape (that was the only projector that could fit if I wanted to retain OEM bulbs without going MH1).



As I understand, going this route requires an adaptor harness. Where did you get yours? And how much was the OEM set? New or used? I do have a set of Morimoto 2storke 3.0, but they didn't twist into the Civic (I forced them into the Escape and destroyed the reflector bowl before I decided to go with retrofits).

I guess it depends what you have and your budget.

because I totally agree if you have the time or the money, I’d do a OEM housing with a HID retrofit. I think HID still has the top spot but the mled2.0 is getting there.

my R came with the touring lights and they’re okay but I went for the jewel eye because it kinda fits with the top end of the Acura lineup and other top end cars these days so it fits the mold more than others.

 

[derbo904]

Those look amazing! It's making it harder to decide.


How hard was the projector swap? Did it involve some cutting? Would have loved a set of G5s instead of the Micro D2S in the Escape (that was the only projector that could fit if I wanted to retain OEM bulbs without going MH1).



As I understand, going this route requires an adaptor harness. Where did you get yours? And how much was the OEM set? New or used? I do have a set of Morimoto 2storke 3.0, but they didn't twist into the Civic (I forced them into the Escape and destroyed the reflector bowl before I decided to go with retrofits).

The adapter harness can be created or purchased on eBay. You will most likely need a resistor built into the harness for the turn signals.

I bought them used as mentioned in my first bullet point.

After blowing v1 and v2 of the 2strokes I had it with LED bulbs and went back to HID. Then those ballasts started to misbehave after 2-3years so I said F this, I'm going OE.

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