Chevrolet Malibu Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Led headlight bulbs

8.1K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  repairman54  
#1 ·
HELLO. I am looking into installing LED low beams on my 2011. I was on the Keystone website and it said that the PIAA LED bulbs would not fit on my car. Has anyone installed LEDs on their Gen 7 Malibus? If so, any recommendations or modifications that had to be done?
Thank you...
 
#2 ·
I replaced the halogens in my Gen7 with LEDs for both high and low beams. Same bulb when you use LEDs, but H11 for low and H9 for high if using halogen. The only difference is the end of the H11 low beam halogen capsule is dipped in black to prevent direct emission, which is a DOT requirement.

The kind you get is up to you. I bought the ones with the mini fans to cool them and they fit into my car without any modifications. The only thing I did to improve the low beams (somewhat) was to clock the bulb by rotating it 90Âş from how it was supplied. The high was left as-is.

The issues I ran into with the LEDs:
1. Too much light dropped right in front of the car, blinding me at night as well as oncoming traffic, and having less where it needed to be
2. Clocking the low beam resulted in less light directly in front but ended up spreading it out even more, resulting in even less usable light where it needed to be
3. 5000K is too white (if you can believe it!) so that it was a little harder to see when it was raining hard, but when it was dry they were fine

I am in the process of converting them to HID and have the passenger side mostly done. The HIDs are 4500K, so they're a lot brighter and whiter than the halogens ever dreamed of being, but still just a bit "warm" so I can see in the rain. To me they're the best of both worlds. In the process I've modified the wiring in the car so the Auto-Light feature doesn't turn them on where I park in the shade and then turn them off after I back out. HID bulbs don't like being cycled - it shortens their life considerably!
 
#4 ·
www.theretrofitsource.com

That's where I got mine. I'm not a shill for them, but they treated me well with their customer service. There were 2 adapters missing and I asked about ordering them or paying to have them built. Their reply was that they should have been included, apologized for not including them, and shipped them to me free of charge. "Integrity" is the first word I can come up with. Price was about the same as any other place, their reviews were good, and my experience with the product and their service would make me want to buy from them again.
 
#5 ·
My 'bu has had HID since I got it in '12.
I'm surprised you could fit a LED w/fan behind the light assy. .
I have had zero issues w/HID in the low beams. Because my lights have the built in metal shield in front of the low beams there is no glare and light focus is spot on. 4500k is also my choice for light temp. as higher has less reflect back from trees, roadway, etc. . Blue looks cool but ya can't see jack more than 30 ft in front of the car.
None of the replacement LED's I've seen have the distance power of the HID's . Plus in northern climates heat in the housing melts off the ice.
 
Save
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.