Swap out H11 low beam bulbs to H9

I searched in vain to find a post on this Gen III forum and debated about whether to post up or not b/c it's such a common conversion, I figure it's old hat to everyone here. But regardless of what search terms I used, I couldn't find any results.

I just swapped out my low beam H11 bulbs with H9's. It entailed having to slightly modify the H9 connector by having to remove a portion of plastic on the inside of the plug to make it compatible with the H11 connector. I also had to grind a small bit off one of the 3 metal locking tabs on the bulb, but was quick work with a Dremel.

I'm guessing y'all are going to reply with something like "Old topic!", so I won't belabor the point, but will just add that it'd definitely a worthy upgrade, especially when you consider that H9's can be had from Amazon for $8 for good-quality Sylvania or Philips bulbs versus $25-50 for one of the many upgraded H11 bulbs out there.

 

The color output is the same as the H11s. I don't know the Kelvin numbers for both bulbs, but I suspect they're similar. The light output is greater simply because of the higher lumens of the H9 vs the H11 (roughly 2100 vs 1200). I did this same mod on my wife's Volvo V70 and the difference was much more noticeable mostly because the H11s I replaced had become progressively yellower and dimmer after 7 years of service. Perhaps that's the root of the comment on Amazon that the light is whiter: it's not that it actually is, it's that the fresh bulb is brighter than an older, dimmed bulb. Chances are that yellower, dimmed bulb was just as "bright" when it was new as the new H9.

As CdotK mentions, going to HID is the way to go for a color change or whiter light. Personally, my interest is just in seeing the road better, color notwithstanding. I'm satisfied with the H9 swap but of course the trade-off is shorter bulb life.

I bought my '10 II model just this past summer ('13) and within a couple of months, both low beam H11 bulbs burned out, about a month apart. I thought that was rather odd for two reasons: they burned out very close to one another, and 2) you'd think H11s would have a longer life. Being previously owned, I can't know for sure but maybe the previous owner ran with the lights on all the time, day or night. That'd partially explain the shorter-than-expected life. But on the other hand, the H11s in my Volvo DO run all the time as the low beams are the DRLs and there's no way to turn them off, so after 7 yrs and almost 100K miles, they were still in service! Go figure. They (H11) were all Osram/Sylvania bulbs so you'd think they'd behave the same, but alas, that's just the way it is with bulbs. The only other possibility is an issue with my Prius's electrics that contributed to the shorter bulb life, but I doubt it.

In all, a great, quick and cheap upgrade for a grand total of $16 for both bulbs from Amazon (yes, $8 a piece).

As an aside, I also put in some LED bulbs in place of the std 168 bulbs for the parking lights. They're extremely white and almost too much so in relation to the halogens, but I had the opposite issue with the std 168s in that they were yellower than the halogens. I first tried some crummy Sylvania Silverstar blue tinted 168s in hopes of matching the color to the low beams, but the improvement was slim to none. I then laid down $10 for these two LED 168s and like I said, they're really, really white. Bluish almost, I guess as you'd expect from LED. Looks cool if I just run with the parking lights on, for sure, and the light output is much greater. In a dark garage, if I turn on the parking lights, the little LEDs actually throw good light out in front whereas the std ones didn't throw any. The mismatch doesn't bother me all that much.

 

Thanks, zhenya, good idea. I'll wait to upgrade given how little I use the brights, but when/if one burns out, I'll replace the set with HIRs.