Brighter Headlights?

Hi All,
New to Mazda CX-9. day 2. The headlights aren't so bright. I came from a jeep wrangler that had fantastic LED headlights. Nice and bright. Can I switch out the bulbs to something brighter?
 
Hi All,
New to Mazda CX-9. day 2. The headlights aren't so bright. I came from a jeep wrangler that had fantastic LED headlights. Nice and bright. Can I switch out the bulbs to something brighter?
Oh wow, almost all cars on LED's now I find are quite bright. I'm wondering if it's he projector beams that are making it seem like it's not very bright? Did you Jeep not have projector beams by any chance?
 
Yes they were Bi-LED projectors in the Jeep. They were very bright and I could see fine. With the Mazda they don't project far enough and not nearly as bright.
 
Does yours not come with leds? Mine piss off everyone on the road. Like I drive home late at night from work and I take a different route so I'm not blinding oncoming traffic on the fun back roads.

I also almost never use my high beams because the leds are more than bright enough, even on the curvy back roads
 
What year is your CX-9, and what type of headlights are in it now?

If it's the standard halogen type headlights with the H11/9005, then the upgrade is cheap and easy. Replace the H11's with H9's, and replace the 9005's with 9011's. You'll have to slightly trim the tabs on the new bulbs to make them fit, but it's trivial and takes only seconds with a pair of wire cutters.

Plus, the H9's and 9011's are halogen (just a different design) so they will absolutely work properly with factory halogen housings, and best of all, dirt cheap! Only about $10 each!
 
Yes they were Bi-LED projectors in the Jeep. They were very bright and I could see fine. With the Mazda they don't project far enough and not nearly as bright.

Interesting. My only other experience with LED projectors are 2018 CX5, but the system I'd argue are basically the same, so no complaints here. Sorry, this comment doesn't really help your case.

I find most new cars with LEDs are way too bright. Add in the idiots that drive around with highbeams on in a major city and you've got one very unhappy driver.
 
If you check, one of the reasons the cx9 was given such a high safety rating was due to the headlights being as bright and even as they are. With the LEDs of course
 
I guess an idea would be to fit a bull guard on the front and install extra aftermarket driving lights.

I did this with my old Exploder, and wired them to the high beams via relays. Made a huge difference on back country roads at night. I don't think it was exactly legal though. That said, I never once got pulled over because of it, either.
 
I guess an idea would be to fit a bull guard on the front and install extra aftermarket driving lights.

I did this with my old Exploder, and wired them to the high beams via relays. Made a huge difference on back country roads at night. I don't think it was exactly legal though. That said, I never once got pulled over because of it, either.

I believe legally, you can only have 4 front lights on at a given time while driving (ie. two head lights + 2 fogs).
 
That's probably true. But I can tell you this, on my Silverado, I wired it to have the lows, highs, bumper, and drls on at the same time when the high beams are active! The road glows like the midday sun! :D
 
That's probably true. But I can tell you this, on my Silverado, I wired it to have the lows, highs, bumper, and drls on at the same time when the high beams are active! The road glows like the midday sun! :D

LOL. That is a $h!t load of lights. I personally don't really care as long as the driver was courteous enough to turn off the highs to oncoming cars. Law Enforcement may not share the same opinion as me.
 
Mazda they don't project far enough and not nearly as bright.
New2, what country are you in? Different countries get different Mazda lights.

Check the aim of the lights. You can get an idea of this yourself. On a level flat surface park a few feet away in front of a wall or garage door. Shine the low beams on the wall. Do the beams seem to go straight ahead (a bit out to the edge of the road, right in the U.S.), and do they seem to be almost level with the car's lights, down very slightly? If you can, back safely straight back and see where the centers of the beams go. On an empty flat straight road, where to the lights show? Down too close to the car? To one side or both sides? Maybe up where they can't be seen? (Do other cars flash their lights at you?)

If you think the lights aren't aimed correctly your dealer can fix that...it should have been part of the predelivery check, but that's often done in a slap dash fashion. And, maybe they aren't as bright as the Jeep's, and you'll learn to live with what you've got.
 
All of the 2nd gen CX-9s have LED headlamp assemblies. Entry trim models may not come with the adaptive headlights (the ones that swivel as you turn), but with yours being a GT, it should have the adaptive lights.

"Dim" headlights were a concern for some people, including myself. With these units (and I'm guessing most other OEM LED headlamps from other manufacturers), the LEDs are integrated into the headlamp, so there are no bulbs that can be replaced or upgraded. With that said, it is possible to adjust the cutoff of the headlights so that it's higher. I think if you do a forum search or check the Resources, it should pop up. I had planned to adjust my own, but I guess I just got used to them over time and now I find that they're perfectly fine. IME, having crossed paths with a few other 2nd gen CX-9s and CX-5s on the road, I find that their lights are aimed just right so that they don't blind oncoming traffic.
 
Since it is brand new i would get the dealer to check the headlight alignment and the auto-leveling mechanism.

Otherwise, Aim then higher. The cutoff is very sharp and pretty low from factory (at least on my 2018 GT). Of course don’t aim them so high as to blind incoming traffic, but you can probably raise them a notch. A trick i found is also to aim the right side higher than the left, light up the side of the road better and doesn’t blind incoming traffic as much. Search the forum for the procedure, all you need to do it is a screwdriver.
 
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