Wow, that looks like a bunch of work.

 

It's actually pretty quick. And a tip for those replacing the bulbs for the first time: remove your old bulbs before buying new ones and check what type they are. I looked in the manual to see which ones I'd need (H7), bought them online, and found out during installation that the manual was wrong and they're actually H11. This was for the low beams. I wouldn't trust the manual for the high beams either, though.

 

The H7 are for the HID high beam. my manual lists H11 for the halogen lows and H9s for the halogen highs.

Fun fact: you can buy some H9s that have the same base as H11, or if not, take a metal snipper and cut one of the three tabs shorter to make it fit in H11. Instant upgrade from 1300 lumen to 2100.

 

10 watts may not seem like much but that is almost a 20% increase heat and almost an amp increase in current. Agreed the wiring most likely can handle this increase in current but the CEM drives the headlights in these cars. I don't think I would risk damaging the headlight driver electronics by pulling an additional amp through it.

 

DEFINITELY bring the bulb in to check it out. I bought h11 bulbs, but come to find out they are $150 d3s HID bulbs.

Edit: I found them on Amazon for $87 a pair.

 

LED option?

Has anyone tried retrofitting LED into the Halogen Assemblies? It looks like there no clearance for the Fan/Heat sink. The access covers on the OE HID look to have an extra bulge. https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/images/parts/volvo/fullsize/GR-343611.jpg

 

Has anyone tried retrofitting LED into the Halogen Assemblies? It looks like there no clearance for the Fan/Heat sink. The access covers on the OE HID look to have an extra bulge. https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/images/parts/volvo/fullsize/GR-343611.jpg

I would not put an LED into a halogen fixture; beam pattern is inextricably tired to the specific size, shape, location and specific emissivity characteristics of the light source for which it is designed. The use of anything other than the light source for which the lights were originally designed will cause the beam pattern to vary unacceptably from the intended design. No matter what LED companies claim, it is impossible for and LED to properly replicate all the characteristics of a halogen filament light source, so using LEDs in a halogen housing will create glare for oncoming drivers and will result in a sub-optimal beam pattern. In short, do not do this.

 

I don't care about being any brighter than OEM, but I would like the color of my halogen headlights to match or come close to the LED strips in the bumper. I also don't want to bother with any sort of LED retrofit. What do you guys recommend getting that will match the color? I don't mind a shorter service life than OEM to get the look I want. But I would prefer something that would last at least half as long as the OEM bulbs.

 

Did anyone try to switch the high beam bulb to LED? I still not finding any answer to this question on here or on the web.
knowing that I had HID headlights.

 

Here I am close to 2 years after install and the H11s are still alive.