R7000

I just got a new 2009 Accord and immediately wanted to upgrade the low beams by installing 9005 bulbs in place of the stock 9006s. I did the tab trim job which was quite simple. The bulbs were cheap, like $7 ea at Wally (GE).

Results: awful.

The low beams were shining up into the trees and all over creation. There was no real cutoff so reaiming the lights was going to be futile.

I really wanted this to work but the light pattern is so distorted I went back to my garage and switched them back. :-( I think the lack of the anti-dazzle cap on the 9005 allows light to hit part of the reflector that is not intended to be hit. All of the desired light is hitting the reflector but the light from the front of the bulb is causing distortion. The Accord fixture has a cap over the bulb which I thought would prevent the distortion but it did not.

My opinion, this is a waste of money (but not much money) and time.

I wish it would have worked. Looking for the next hack :-)

Tom

PatrickGSR94

iTrader: (1)

Is this an Accord sedan or coupe? Coupes have projector lights and the conversion should have worked fine. Sedans have reflector lights, and the 9005 conversion may not work so well there, but the light should have still been going on the ground.

When you say the light was going up into the trees, that tells me the bulbs were not seated properly. The only way for the light to be going in such a drastically different direction is if the bulb filament is not in the same location as the original bulb.

But having said all that, I think your best bet will be 9012 HIR bulbs instead of the 9005 conversion. 9012's produce the same light output as 9005 but draw the stock 55W like 9006, and also last MUCH longer than 9005 bulbs.

www.hirheadlights.com

R7000

It is the sedan. I've posted a pic with the stock bulb in the left and the 9005 in the right. You can see the distortion and height difference. With the 9005's in, the low beam (against the wall) appeared to be aimed higher than the high beams.

It would seem there is only one way to seat the bulb, that is with a quarter turn to the right, all the way down.

In any case this did not prove satisfactory for me.

Thanks
Tom

Outrun

Stick with 9006 or 9012 HIR. Headlight designers are smarter than us.