Is this the lowbeam?

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Aug 2, 2018
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09 Elantra Touring Wagon. Drove the car at night for the first time yesterday and the lights were awful. High beams seemed okay. Is the bulb indicated below the low beam?
They are on but very very dim.

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The bulb looks a little burned out but is not the high beam, the left appears to be the low beam and the right the high beam and that little one looks like a daytime or parking light. Where'd you get those low beams? I almost bought low beams on amazon for cheap i think $4 each which had a heavy blue tint but reviews said they had no brightness even compared to the cheapest basic bulbs locally. Those white low beams look dim to me. If you wanna see what your high beams are just push your high beam stalk forward and check the front.

Many think the dim burned out bulbs are meant to be like that then get led junk that has nothing but issues when new good quality bulbs like philips would have fixed the brightness issue and last longer. I got my silvanias from amazon since they had them for a less on sale and it was direct from amazon but there's other brands like philips which are better. But the no name ones that are real cheap should be avoided and they usually have a heavy blue tint in the photo.

I go for the second tier silvanias since going to the 3rd or 4th have a huge drop in bulb life but no real difference in light output but i do see a decent difference from the basic to the one above basic which i have on my yukon and sierra now and i have zero issues seeing at night. Maybe if i was a fool who tinted his windshield maybe but i would never tint my windshield beyond the top 4-5 inches.
 
Those bright white LED's on new cars just blind oncoming drivers. The blue ones are useless at night . I put some Blue bulbs in my wife's car cause that was what she wanted. I drove it at night and couldn't see so the original bulbs went back in.
 
The projector lens toward the outside of the car with blue trim around it should light up for low beam.
It appears to be a H11B bulb which is easily replaced by opening the hood and removing the bulb from the back. No need to take anything else apart.
 
I didn't buy any bulbs for this car, only owned for a month or so now. If it's the outer projector style one then it's either a garbage bulb or aimed way too low. I'll have to investigate when I have some spare time in the evening.

I would probably agree that the lower recessed bulb is just a parking lamp. On rock auto if I narrow down to the touring wagon, the low beam option gets grayed out.
 
Does the owner's manual say anything?

Also, what does the RA catalog have listed for for low beams for models other than a touring wagon?

How easy are they to reach? (<< big question)
 
Just FYI on these LEDs unless the reflector was specifically designed for it then it is unsafe for you and oncoming traffic. This is why a lot of LEDs look like garbage. If it's a replaceable bulb it's almost guaranteed that it was not equipped with LEDs to start with. Check out Daniel Stern Lighting for more information on that if you're curious (and this is BITOG, so you probably are): https://www.danielsternlighting.com/
 
Those bright white LED's on new cars just blind oncoming drivers. The blue ones are useless at night . I put some Blue bulbs in my wife's car cause that was what she wanted. I drove it at night and couldn't see so the original bulbs went back in.
Yeah I too feel that the blue filter just filters out too much light. The eye can see daylight better than warm light but filtering the warm light leaves almost nothing left. I can see great with the second tier Sylvania bulbs without the blue tint but couldn't tell a difference with the 3rd tier silvanias with the blue tint other than spending more and having to replace them faster.
 
I didn't buy any bulbs for this car, only owned for a month or so now. If it's the outer projector style one then it's either a garbage bulb or aimed way too low. I'll have to investigate when I have some spare time in the evening.

I would probably agree that the lower recessed bulb is just a parking lamp. On rock auto if I narrow down to the touring wagon, the low beam option gets grayed out.
I'd just replace all the bulbs at once. Probably some no name cheapo junk from amazon or ebay given how dim but still very blue white the light is i know it's those.
Example. $4 for 2.

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If it lights up but doesn't project light down the road like it should, it's either the wrong bulb or the optical system in the housing has degraded.
 
If it lights up but doesn't project light down the road like it should, it's either the wrong bulb or the optical system in the housing has degraded.
The projectors themselves almost never fail unless the circular mounting on the housing is broken and let water in but you'd see it from within. The oem projectors on my yukon are still good as new internally. These are both very dim and very blue still which makes them look like no name junk bulbs.
 
I recently replaced the halogen bulbs in our 2010 Nissan as they were so poor at night that it was getting dangerous. The bulbs that were in there were marked Philips 9003 LL which is Long Life and I learned they have significantly less output when new and will degrade (slowly) with time. The new bulbs are Philips 9003 VP (VisionPlus) which are a mark or two "above" the standard halogen, this means they are brighter and will not last as long. l also polished & clear-coated the outer plastic with Cerakote as they were looking a little foggy and yellow. The difference is dramatic and I'm definitely happy with the visibility now. I was thinking of going with LED or HID but after researching for the last few years I could not come up with a good solution that wasn't going to cost hundreds of dollars.

TLDR, don't use LL halogen bulbs and make sure your headlights are not yellow / foggy. Stay away from LED or HID "upgrades" unless you are willing to pay to do it right.
 
Just FYI on these LEDs unless the reflector was specifically designed for it then it is unsafe for you and oncoming traffic. This is why a lot of LEDs look like garbage. If it's a replaceable bulb it's almost guaranteed that it was not equipped with LEDs to start with. Check out Daniel Stern Lighting for more information on that if you're curious (and this is BITOG, so you probably are): https://www.danielsternlighting.com/
Projector housing is perfectly ok to use LEDs, light pattern is same as with halogen bulb and is tight. When I was replacing bulbs in my 2 cars in sig the level and pattern didn't change but light was sure brighter.
Many clueless drivers replace halogen bulbs in reflector type housing and that scatters light in all directions thus blinding oncoming drivers.
 
That little bulb is an accent light. The one above it is the high beam. High beams are typically inboard and low beams outer, at least that's my observation.

If you a ultrabright LED bulb in there I will personally come to your house and open your headlight with a grinder and remove it. :ROFLMAO:
 
So does that projector lens within the headlight itself adjust without the entire assembly moving?
 
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