okay thank you for the response! as i was thinking your idea does sound better but more complex to wire my new santa fe for fog lights. i rather just replace a bulb and go. but as you just said that they didnt even help. how can they claim up to 50% more brightness though? and they are such a big brand! have you ever heard of these H11b bulbs at all?

I too bought "special" bulbs. Osram bulbs from the U.K. via E-bay in April '09 for my wife's Veracruiz. Needless to say one lasted 2 months and burned out. The seller saying I must have "touched it" but the bulb was broken inside the bulb. Not the outside glass. He sent me a replacement for just the shipping price.

Two months later the other side went ! I replaced it with the original "standard" H11 bulb that I took out.

Oct. 25th, '09 the "replacement" bulb went again... 4 months ! I replaced it back to the standard bulb I took out.
So 3 bulbs in 6 months.

I bought real HID bulbs to put in my Saturn Vue's high beam back in 2005. When I bough the Santa Fe in 2007 they took the same high beam bulb and bought a second set for the low beams. So the high beams bulbs still work and it's two years with the other HID set. The second HID set cost me $85. on Ebay.
These "special" Osram bulbs cost, with shipping, some $70. And they are burned out.
It's difficult to replace them with a real HID set. Yes, they carry the H11 bulbs. but they require the transformer and that is outside the plastic casing.
So cutting a hold in the plastic back the size of a quarter and getting the wires in and out is difficult. Especially on the passenger side. A BIT of help is unbolting the ABS from the frame. That gives you another 1/2 in to get your hand in. It'll still get cut up though !
The projection headlights give a perfect cutoff and the 4,500K bulbs are very nice. Don't go for the 6000K or above. They are just blue and don't give off as much light.

This post has been edited by MButkus: Oct 25 2009, 06:37 PM

thanks for your response. How long did you have your "special bulbs" on for? Maybe your used them too much (daytime use)i am just planning on useing them in inclement conditions and/or at night. and i do not want to install HIDs yet because i really do not want to mod my new santa fe too much and i have heard that it could void warranty. so i do not want to do the HIDs until i find that there is no other option at all. what is your thinking about the fog lamp installation?

I'm surprised that nobody has popped up here with your answer yet. There's a whole thread on HID lights, and the 2009 with its H7 vs H11B (a side wired H11) here somewhere not that far down the list.

In fact, here you go:

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/t36636-hid-u...11b-not-h7-.htm


This post has been edited by canderson: Oct 25 2009, 09:31 PM

Just FYI, to my knowledge (which is somewhat limited) Sylvania Silverstar Ultra bulbs are NOT high intensity discharge (HID) headlights. They are just halogen bulbs filled with xenon gas. The only way to get HID headlights on a vehicle that doesn't come with them stock is to install an HID kit with ballasts, etc. The other "HID-like" bulbs like the Silverstar Ultra are just halogen bulbs filled with xenon gas and perhaps some coating to make the light look blue.


Here's another interesting site I found with more info on HID lights and retrofit kits: Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Finally, for what it's worth, I had Silverstar Ultras in my Maxima's fog lights. They were slightly whiter, slightly brighter, but as others have reported they burned out extremely fast. Not worth it in my books. Especially in fog lights that are a b*tch to change! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

This post has been edited by jaydee77ca: Oct 25 2009, 10:08 PM

Retrofitting HID lights into a vehicle with a system that is not designed for HID lights is illegal. Even if you're fine with breaking the law, you are going to blind oncoming traffic with headlight glare. The projector lenses are designed to be used with the bulbs they come with.

NHTSA ILLEGAL LIGHTING CRACKDOWN CONTINUES


This post has been edited by ehkewley: Oct 25 2009, 10:16 PM

Unless the bulb is improperly dimensioned, there will be no blinding of oncoming traffic. An H7 or H11 or H11B has some very specific dimensional requirements, and the designers of the reflectors take that into account in the design. It is necessary to constrain the actual point of illumination to an area that is correctly reflected forward. That's all.

Anyway, my post was to point the OP to the correct answers about his H7/H11B question in a recent thread that dealt with that issue in detail. As far as HID systems go, I'm still neutral. Feel free to depart the soapbox now.

I just realized that I misread the original post. I thought the subject said "Xenon (hid)". I missed the "non", heh. That's why I pointed out that Silverstars are not HID. Clearly the OP already knew that. Sorry.

Two types of drivers buy HID conversions: those who want to look cool, and those who want to look where they are going. Unfortunately, the first group are giving the HID technology a bad name and risking getting it banned for everybody.

But... then again, I suspect the first group are the majority of the HID conversion kit buyers. Because of them and the resultant popularity of the conversion kits, the rest of us are able to buy them for less than $50 per kit.

There are many idiots on the road that compete for Darwin Awards:
1. Civics with primer-colored body kit and coffee can exhausts, riding on lowering springs so stiff their tail end bob on every little bump on the road.
2. Explorers that roll down their limo-tint windows so the whole gas station can share their rap music and badly-distorted subwoofers.
3. Blinged-to-the-max Escalades with 30" spinner wheels.
4. Jacked-up F-150 with bluish-purple HIDs on low beam, fogs and DRL lights all ON at the same time.

Just because certain aftermarket equipment are employed by these numbskulls doesn't automatically mean they are always all bad.

Be careful what you wish for. Next thing you know, your favorite automotive accessory will be up on the banned list.

There was a post above me (mistakenly it looks like by the latest update) post about HID lights, and the link you included talked about one of those aftermarket HID kits that simply apply to an existing lense housing. I'm not on some moral high horse, but I do really hate it when people install these and blind others (including myself) at night.

I don't like that, either, but that should not be an issue on the Santa Fe - the reflector design is good for that style of lighting.

Anyway, it was while people were sorting out their HID systems that they discovered the H7/H11B difference that popped up on the '09 models. Had hoped that the OP could determine from that thread what had happened.

Personally, I find that my '08 Santa Fe has very good lighting. It holds the beams to a very sharp cutoff band on the upper side (good reflector design and nice for other drivers) which squeezes the full power of the bulbs into the most useful place on the road. I'm always surprised to read about others with problems in that area, especially a lot of posts from European users. I've seen descriptions of their patterns there, and it's nothing like I have on mine. Different design?

yes me too! i just want some more lighting. Not the HIDs which will blind others and are illegal. So back to my topic question is there aynway to find an H11B type bulb in the Sylvania Silverstar ultras or similar bulb with the type H11B, so far i only found regular H11Bs? NO HIDS

This post has been edited by macbooker: Oct 26 2009, 10:01 AM

I've only seen regular H11b bulbs.

I have not heard anything about HID's becoming illegal but you may be right. No these lights will not burn up the wiring or battery because they come with a ballast which regulates the voltage to the bulbs. I have had my HID's for almost 2 years and have only been flashed by another driver maybe twice and they were both trucks for some reason. Yes Hyundai did change the bulb type in '09

Here is a link to an HID upgrade with the new H11 bulb type:

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/index.php?sh...&hl=H11+HID

I hope this helps

I too own a 09 SF and have the H11B bulbs and was looking at getting more light out and believe the only way to get more light output is to go HID. Had them on my old car and love them , though it wasn't projectors like the SF.

The only reason holding me back is cause of the H11B bulbs. There is NO true H11B HID kit out only option is to H11 and i was hopeing someone would come out with a H11B kit.

The only one i see is the one that was mentioned here before HID GUY

Just waiting for some cash and might give it a try or go H11 as some members did here.

I think HID is the only answer if you want more light output than stock and our SF projector beam housings should do a great job with hid's.

I received my H11B HID Kit from HID GUY.

I'm getting these installed tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed.

I'll take some pics and will post later.

Thanks.

By chance could you take some pics of the kit prior to the installation? I'm really interested in looking at the harness the HID Guy talks about. If it's simply a plug in to the harness in the headlight assy then it will speed up installation only slightly. I really had no problems installing mine. The gaskets worked fine as well. I'm sure there are kits out there with poor fitting gaskets though.

Congo

As far as I've heard, only Hyundai and KIA are currentlu using the H11b so I think it will be a long wait for some aftermarket options. Not sure why Hyundai only equipped the low beams with them. My high beams still use the H7.

Congo

There's a post here from someone doing an HID swap that shows how to modify things so that an H11B vehicle will hold an H11 bulb, saving the aggravation. It's just an issue of "side wired" vs the old fashioned way.

http://www.elantraxd.com/forums/showpost.p...mp;postcount=61

Here you go...

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4048411894_091e63cd43_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3507/4048412992_a8304dd225_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2613/4048413864_284ceb2a16_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/4047672779_c86cf434e9_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3506/4048415844_941cdbc9a1_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2599/4048418294_e25341b055_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2626/4048419344_fe597e78cd_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2640/4048420176_256b81fcbc_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/4047678741_4cbe55f51d_m.jpg)

(IMG:http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2466/4048417230_c86ec6181f_m.jpg)


I'll post some pics tomorrow after the install.