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Hopefully not or else Ill have to remove my front end again just to change a bulb

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Hopefully with a better ballast yours will last a little longer. I opted for their ballasts which I probably shouldn't have lol. The kit came with a relay though which in not using but I might add it in.

Usually the cheap kit ballasts don't even put out the full 35W which makes the bulbs bluer and lowers light output. The Fastbright F3 from Aliexpress is a solid budget performer. Rebased bulbs are always always a crap shoot and bulb alignment is so critical to optics. You'll never get as good as OEM with rebased bulbs, most times shimming is needed to get the hot spots in the right places. If you research over at HID Planet forums I'll bet you'll find that a common OEM projector drops right in, likely a Koito from some Lexus.

My brother has had luck with the more expensive line of the Opt7? brand, bolt or gold or something like that. Anyhow he had one set in his Maxima with custom projector housings that lasted for a couple years no problems before selling it. Currently has two years or so now on the set in his Genesis, and just installed another with his mini H1 high beams and it was the same colour temperature and confirmed what we thought on the first pair and that's they have lost their tinge of blue with age. Personally if I ever go HID it'll be with some oem projectors, ballasts, and bulbs since I'll have to make custom housings anyway, but I like to make life difficult for myself.

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OEM everything? R.I.P. Wallet

It's really not that bad when you consider how much better it is and how much longer it will last. Most OEM ballasts rarely die. OEM bulbs last upto twice as long and carry their color and lumens level much longer. With OEM things just work 99% of the time, no shimming no fiddling, no worrying if the lights are going to work every time.

I've had my no-name ballast and bulbs for over 7 years, and just recently the bulbs died, but showed no signs of losing color or brightness, that I could notice. Ballasts are still working fine for me.

I routinely see 12 year old bulbs still running at work, dim but working. Ballasts almost never die unless the output or input are damaged by water intrusion or arcing. Sometimes aftermarket stuff is good, sometimes it's not, but it's more chance and luck than OEM stuff is. When you open and install a genuine Philips or Osram bulb you're guaranteed it will fit properly and the optics will be precise and the beam produced from the lamp will be correct. Aftermarket is a roll of the dice, even with good brands like Morimoto.