[ndtinker]

Like many of you, I've been on the quest to find a suitable replacement for the terrible stock headlights. I've been down the HID road (twice now) and still was never satisfied. HID's worked but the light pattern was always terrible and worse when cold I'd have startup issues or they would completely quit while driving. Bad enough when I'm in the car but unacceptable if it were to happen to my wife.

Enter the Morimoto 2Stroke LED kit.

I've been looking at this for a while and finally bit the bullet and bought a set. I got them from www.theretrofitsource.com in our 9012 style. Everything came nicely packaged in individual boxes.

One box with the lights and regulators, the other with the dustcaps and model specific adapters. There's also an envelope with a sticker, alcohol wipes and a quick install guide.

Here's what the light and regulator look like. Hello CREE XHP50!

This bulb is neat because the same unit will work with any headlight style with the use of an adapter that locks on that little nubbin at the base.

It's a big aluminum chunk with copper plates down the center and a fan on the side that blows past the copper plates to keep it cool. I tried to get a picture of it but couldn't, but the fan inside is a Sunon MagLev unit. Those are the more expensive and higher quality ones like I use in my computer cases. Nice touch there.

Here is one of the adapters with a very clear 9012 on the surface so they won't get mixed up if you have multiple types.

I started with the drivers side as there's a lot of room to work with. And once installed the bulb will look like this. The adapter just fits over the top and you give it a turn to lock it in place

Here I've pulled out my last crappy (read: cheap) set of HID's. I had previously drilled out the center of the dustcap and installed the rubber grommet with the wiring there.

As you can see, the center of the LED and HID are in the same spot so the light distribution should be about the same.

And here you have our lovely bulb housing. It's a simple push and turn to lock the bulb in.

..but it wouldn't go in.. I found the green gasket that comes on the 2Stroke bulb is too thick and I couldn't get it to seat in the housing. I popped off the red gasket from my old HID bulbs and put it on the 2Stroke. Popped right in. It may only be like this on the Volt, or even just my Volt, but wanted to point out I had to do that.

Now here is with the bulb and regulator installed. Note how much the bulb sticks out past where the dustcap should be..

Something I did for the old HID ballasts I did for the LED regulators too which was attach some industrial Velcro and attach them to the side of the engine bay so they're not dangling around.

And with it all Velcro'd up

Next I started working on the passenger side. It's..tighter..

So out came the airbox and lots of room is to be had! There's a metal bracket you can undo with a flathead screwdriver, then undo the mass airflow sensor clip and the whole thing just pops out. Might take a little wrestling but it'll eventually work free.

So now you have all this room to work with

Same as the other light, you'll need to swap the gasket for the thinner one and pop it in.

I did some Velcro for this side too.

It's really nice these lights also come with a set of extended dustcaps for the extra long bulb unit, but unfortunately the don't fit our large dustcover opening.. I guess I'll find some aftermarket ones later.

And now for the first test firing... And they work! First try!

And here's with the airbox back installed. It's a tight fit but it works. I don't think it will be possible to fit a dustcover on at least the passenger side at all. I'm not sure what the need really is anyway, the bulb housing itself it sealed by the bulb.

It was too bright to really do any testing so to burn some time I gave the Volt a much needed bath.

Here's what they looked like once I pulled in the garage

Here's the cutoff with the low-beam lights

And with high-beams

So the verdict? I love them so far. The light spread is very even and clean, no hot spots or dark spots. Road signs and street lines all illuminate brightly like they did with the HID's, it's really nice. I'll get more shots in the dark as time goes on and the real test will be interstate and long dark country roads.

I'll report more as I have it. I hope this helps someone else looking for LED options.

Goodnight everyone!

 

[turboguy327]

You must have had some terrible quality HIDs if you think LEDs perform better. LEDs don't have the power to shine far down the road like halogen and HID do. LEDs are known for great foreground lighting but you'll outdrive them at highway speeds.

 

[firehawk72]

You must have had some terrible quality HIDs if you think LEDs perform better. LEDs don't have the power to shine far down the road like halogen and HID do. LEDs are known for great foreground lighting but you'll outdrive them at highway speeds.

I personally installed the Morimotos Elite XB 4500 in my 2012 Volt. They are extremely bright. Zero complaints. Great cut off. I would go with them again with no issues whatsoever.

To the OP, great job detailing your install. I am sure many will find it helpful

 

[coderedcomputing]

So for this setup, you don't need to reinstall the OEM dust covers? The bulbs appear to be sealed up, just wondering about weather/temp/etc without the dust cover installed even in that small diameter that is left (on the OP passenger bulb).

 

[SuperJ]

You must have had some terrible quality HIDs if you think LEDs perform better. LEDs don't have the power to shine far down the road like halogen and HID do. LEDs are known for great foreground lighting but you'll outdrive them at highway speeds.

The new wave of LED lights is much better than what was available a year or two ago. I'm not saying they're better than HID, but they've definitely come a long way.

 

[turboguy327]

The new wave of LED lights is much better than what was available a year or two ago. I'm not saying they're better than HID, but they've definitely come a long way.

I know, I've tried them, they aren't that great. They appear nice because they make a nice bright white light, but they still don't have the balls to shine far down the road.

 

[2VoltFamily]

Nice write-up. I have never considered adding different bulbs. Don't know if the $ is worth it since I never noticed a problem.

Interesting that the new bulbs look like a piston with a rod attached in the picture.

Also, since these are 2 stroke, Do they require oil to be added?

 

[SSonnentag]

I know, I've tried them, they aren't that great. They appear nice because they make a nice bright white light, but they still don't have the balls to shine far down the road.

The new LEDs are just as good as HIDs and don't have the warmup times to worry with. If you haven't had good luck with LED, it is most likely due to your bulb depth adjustment being off. I'll never go back to HID.

 

[turboguy327]

The new LEDs are just as good as HIDs and don't have the warmup times to worry with. If you haven't had good luck with LED, it is most likely due to your bulb depth adjustment being off. I'll never go back to HID.

Not a OEM HID setup they aren't. Warmup time? By the time I have my seat belt on they are up.

 

[SSonnentag]

Not a OEM HID setup they aren't. Warmup time? By the time I have my seat belt on they are up.

My truck's HID's take a full 15+ seconds to reach good brightness. My Dodge Charger and Durango would reach full brightness faster, but they weren't nearly as good at lighting up the road and roadside as my Volt LED's.

I can only compare the systems I've owned.

 

[ndtinker]

I just tried out "Flash to pass" and since they are instant-on, that actually works again. HID warmup time made blipping the hi-beams basically useless.

 

[ndtinker]

From what I can tell from looking in the housing, all that plastic stuff around the glass lens is what the dust cover is actually protecting. But even if that filled full of sand, the glass lens area is sealed by the gasket around the bulb itself and there's no way anything is getting in there.

 

[SSonnentag]

I just tried out "Flash to pass" and since they are instant-on, that actually works again. HID warmup time made blipping the hi-beams basically useless.

Absolutely! Not to mention being hard on the strikers/ballasts. I have some LED bulbs to replace my OEM halogens when I find time to make the swap. I'm not a fan of the white LED low beams mixed with the orange high beams. I do a LOT of night driving on rural highways, so it is annoying enough for me to want to make the swap. Just have to get our move over with so I have some free time again.

 

[telveer]

Nice write-up. Please consider posting a review after you use these LEDs for a few months in different conditions.

I am a little concerned with the lack of dust covers in your setup. While dust will not enter the projector itself (the bulb seals it), it can still enter the rest of the housing and foul up the insides. I hope you find an elegant solution to that. At a minimum, I suggest blocking the gaps with good electrical tape (something that does not melt from the LEDs heat sink)

I had originally installed TRS Morimoto Elite HIDs back in 2013. The original basslasts had issues and were recalled/replaced by TRS at no cost. But the kit eventually started failing (last year). I wanted to try LEDs ... so I replaced them with CREE LEDs (don't remember the brand now). While the LEDs looked nice, I was not satisfied with the beam pattern and throw -- which looked fine against my garage door but not in real life road conditions. So, I switched back to a cheaper Innovited HID kit from Amazon. They have been working fine for the last one year. I prefer 4300K because they are slightly yellow/amber and seem to perform better in rain/snow/fog.

 

[telveer]

I just tried out "Flash to pass" and since they are instant-on, that actually works again. HID warmup time made blipping the hi-beams basically useless.

I had that apprehension too but I did not face that issue with the two HID kits I used (Morimoto and Innovited). Good Modern HIDs seem to fire up very quickly, even from a cold state. In fact, they are extra bright when they are flashed because they get an extra voltage boost from the ballast when firing up initially.

 

[Dutch]

I know, I've tried them, they aren't that great. They appear nice because they make a nice bright white light, but they still don't have the balls to shine far down the road.

I have a theory about this effect, see this thread.

 

[turboguy327]

I have a theory about this effect, see this thread.

I care about low beams as I typically drive with other cars on the road.

If headlights take more than a brief moment to fire, something is wrong.

A HID projector retrofit is the way to go over any bulb swap.

High end LED bulb on top morimoto D2S 4.0 on bottom.

D2S 4.0 installed in my volt headlight housing.

 

[black12volt]

Turboguy
Please tell me more about your D2S conversion!! How much and who did them? I wanted to do this yeas ago when I got my Volt but taking the housing apart proved very hard due to the permaseal used. Would love to have this and use some Osram CBI bulbs again

I have a theory about this effect, see this thread.

I care about low beams as I typically drive with other cars on the road.

If headlights take more than a brief moment to fire, something is wrong.

A HID projector retrofit is the way to go over any bulb swap.

High end LED bulb on top morimoto D2S 4.0 on bottom.

D2S 4.0 installed in my volt headlight housing.

 

[ndtinker]

I measured and 90mm dustcaps should fit, there's a smaller lip that measured at 90 and a slightly taller one about 92mm so as long as it's a rubber stretchy one it should go on fine.

 

[turboguy327]

Turboguy
Please tell me more about your D2S conversion!! How much and who did them? I wanted to do this yeas ago when I got my Volt but taking the housing apart proved very hard due to the permaseal used. Would love to have this and use some Osram CBI bulbs again

I did them. I used morimoto D2S 4.0 and osram CBIs.