08 Low Beams H11 to H9

A

AE1M

Member
I decided to swap out my low beam bulbs because they suck.

I didnt want to go the HID route. Our low beams are H11 bulbs which are basically 1350 lumens and H9s are 2100 lumens. The H9s are about 65W and the H11 about 55W. Difference of less than 1 amp.

I didnt want to modify the stock harness, so I made an adapter using a H11 female harness to a H9 male harness. Each were $3.49 at www.autolumination.com
The housing on my 4R accepted the H9 bulb OK even though there is supposed to be a 3mm piece of metal tab you need to snip off the H9.

I created this page to show the difference.
Diagrams

There is a big difference, I like it a lot better. Just used basic Sylvania H9s. May try to order some MTECs.

Bob
 
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AE1M said:
I decided to swap out my low beam bulbs because they suck.

I didnt want to go the HID route. Our low beams are H11 bulbs which are basically 1350 lumens and H9s are 2100 lumens. The H9s are about 65W and the H11 about 55W. Difference of less than 1 amp.

I didnt want to modify the stock harness, so I made an adapter using a H11 female harness to a H9 male harness. Each were $3.49 at www.autolumination.com
The housing on my 4R accepted the H9 bulb OK even though there is supposed to be a 3mm piece of metal tab you need to snip off the H9.

I created this page to show the difference.
Diagrams

There is a big difference, I like it a lot better. Just used basic Sylvania H9s. May try to order some MTECs.

Bob
Click to expand...
:worthless
 
Out of curiosity, why did you avoid going the HID route? I'm intruiged about your solution. Do you have any pics of the output difference? Personally I've always been impressed with the 2008 stock light output, but I've been tempted to going the HID route just to get because I like the look.
 
CaliDreamer said:
Out of curiosity, why did you avoid going the HID route? I'm intruiged about your solution. Do you have any pics of the output difference? Personally I've always been impressed with the 2008 stock light output, but I've been tempted to going the HID route just to get because I like the look.
Click to expand...

Hello my friend,

I did not want to go with HIDs, primarily due to the legality issue as I am also a Constable. It is not legal to make that modification in MA. A ticket given by any LEO with a burr up his butt would be a serious increase in insurance here in MA. Also, I personally do not like the blinding light from HIDs on other vehicles as it is sometimes blinding. I feel it is a safety risk for my family. I am sure I will get flamed by those who spend hundreds of dollars on them.

I have not taken any pics. If Eskimoass thinks that makes my pics worthless, so be it.

Bob
 
yup, the H9 mod is great upgrade & well worth it for someone not wanting to go the HID route.im glad someone on this forum suggested it to me. i went with it for the same reasons, in my town police like to pull cars over with blinding , blueish lights & give em the sheet of paper test ,to me, even if they arent issued a ticket, it just wouldnt be worth the hassel. they have started to relax it a bit since so many newer vec.s are coming with them from the factory.
 
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The lumen rating specs looks pretty close to the low beam 9012 bulbs. The HIR 9012 are rated at 1875 lumens at 55W. It would be cool to see a beam shot comparison of the H9's vs. HIR 9012.

Your upgrade is still pretty slick. I think I still might go the 9011 & 9012 route though.
 
all i can say is ,i had osram nightbreakers +90 rated at 1750 lumens first which was a good bit better than the stocks, but then i replaced them with the H9, rated at 2100, yes, on paper it doesnt seem like much, but they blow the nightbreakers away, not only brighter , but whiter. tempsho, i dont think you could use an H9 anyway since you've got the 04 non-projector headlights, the base is very different from the 9012, like wise, he couldnt use the 9012 in his 08 projectors, so the only choice is the H9, & as far as i know, they wont be making H9 or H11 based HIR bulbs.
 
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I also did the H9 swap, even friends in my truck are amazed at how bright my lights are and how much better they illuminate the area infront of the truck!

H9 swap is easy and cheap. Plus if you have a dremal there is no need to get any different harnesses for the bulbs. Just trim the tab inside the connector on the H9 bulb. If you compare the H11 to the H9 you'll see what I'm talking about!
 
I've got the '05 non projector headlamps and am running the 9012 HIR bulbs that have been trimmed to fit. Much better than stock bulbs. Thinking of going with the H9s. They should fit with modding the base a little right?
 
chaz said:
yup, the H9 mod is great upgrade & well worth it for someone not wanting to go the HID route.im glad someone on this forum suggested it to me. i went with it for the same reasons, in my town police like to pull cars over with blinding , blueish lights & give em the sheet of paper test ,to me, even if they arent issued a ticket, it just wouldnt be worth the hassel. they have started to relax it a bit since so many newer vec.s are coming with them from the factory.
Click to expand...

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but what is a sheet of paper test??
 
the H9 is for the 06+ projector headlights. it has thin metal tabs & is different than the 9006 which has plastic thicker tabs, also, the whole socket is different. the H9 is used to replaced the H11, not the 9006 in the non projector which is replaced by the HIR 9012. the paper test is when a sheet of paper is held in front of the light to check for how blue the color looks on it.
 
AE1M, thanks for the link.

Chaz, I may be wrong here, and others please feel free to chime in. Did you used to have HIDs? I installed 06+ projectors on my 04. They are OEM, not aftermarket. I got an HID kit, but to be honest, I'm not 100% happy with it. The beam doesn't look as good as I'd like and seen pics of on here. I created the conversion harness mentioned above when I installed the kit incase my HIDs go out, and I can't afford new bulbs. How do you think these rate against HIDs? Would you consider this solution a downgrade? I know the 06+ projectors aren't HID projectors so I wonder if I'd see an improvement in beam pattern with a hallogen bulb.
 
no, i didnt want to do the HIDs because in my state, they're tough on em. at least thats the way in my area of N.J. they produce too much glare & are illegal , wont pass state inspection. guys are always getting pulled over in my town, i also dont like annoying other drivers & getting flashed ,so i first upgraded to osram nightbreakers +90, 1855 lumens, i think they had a nice beam pattern too. but they were not as white as id like & could stand to be a little brighter. so a member on here suggested swapping out the H11 for H9 . H 9 are 2100 lumens, stock H11 are around 1300 something. you put 06 projectors in ur 04 & HIDs are suppose to be higher lumens than the H9, i think something like 3000 L. most seem to like them. only thing i can say is maybe try adjusting them, but ill never get HID , the H9 works very well for me so i can't say that it would be a downgrade for you. only way to find out is to try em.
 
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I saw this was an older thread, but for those of you running stock bulbs, I wanted to reiterate that this is an awesome mod to do. Not hard at all to mod the bulb, and the results are incredible. Great find :nicethread:
 
Not sure I agree with this...you're puting in a brighter bulb yet didn't do HID's because they blind people? The projector lense do a good job preventing this, its the other lense type that you'd want to shy away from. Also, if you stick with the 4300k color, it looks white, not blue. Just my experience
 
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