This would have the possibility of melting the wiring harness and/or reflector in the headlight, as well as being a fire hazard. I would do it at your own risk.

Wiring in modern vehicles isn't really built with upgrades in mind- the car was wired for what it needed from the factory. 10w may not sound like much, but 840 lumes on 10w will create drastically more heat in the lamps and more current flowing through the wires. I wouldn't want to take the chance on it melting a harness and short circuiting something in the BCM- not only will it not be covered under warranty and expensive to fix, it could lead to a fire under the right circumstances.

Hopefully it works out for you with no ill effects, but I think it'd be wisest to keep the stock bulb fitment and upgrade to Silverstar Ultras

Also, search before posting next time- this was discussed in detail here.

 

Two things;

One, I think you got your title a bit backwards [shhh]

Two, I put H9's in my headlights and after about a week, I had one bulb "burn out". After I got a chance to look at the bulb, I found that I had actually melted the H11 connector in the headlight housing. I'll admit that I very well may have not had the bulb completely seated in the connector, and that couldn't have helped. SO, I put my H11's back in and ordered some ceramic H11 pigtail connectors. I wired the H9's back in with the ceramic connectors, and have now been running them for a few months without issue.

So, just a heads up to people that you should be cautious when doing this, but that issue could have been caused by user error, in part at least [8]

I do agree that there is a noticeable light output increase, so that is a plus for sure [thumb]

 

I used Hella H9 bulbs and had no issues. Perhaps using cheap bulbs will lead to melting. I ran mine for about 9 months with no issues. Upgraded to HID, so they're still working I just don't have them installed any longer.

The light output was OK (better then stock), but not a huge improvement. I think springing for HIDs is worth it.

 

From Fusion form also Auto Zone sales the H9 pigtail looks like a harder bake-o-lite plug just change the housing and when you want to go back to H11 like sell the car change it back.

 

I had tried this on my last Ford. Worked OK. no problems.[popcorn]

 

Cost: I bought a cheapo pair from ebay, untinted for $4.50 cdn shipped for two!

Perhaps using cheap bulbs will lead to melting.

Exactly. [facepalm]

Why cheap out? Buy quality bulbs and do it right.

 

This mod has scorched the reflector on an MK3 before:

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=269744

I keep wanting to do this mod, but I don't think I'm willing to risk damaging the headlight or the wiring harness for 10 more watts. I think I'll stick to my upgraded H11s.

 

When I had them in for a while, my drivers side did get a dipped bulb error later. Checked the connector and ya, heated it up a bit but it was because it was not fully seated and was shorting. Cleared up connector and took away a bit more of the connector on the electrical side of bulb; I'm golden now.

So yeah, I could have spent $60 on premium bulbs and been a little happier on install, but from my experience, those bulbs only last maybe a year (yes, even the top silverstars). I do have h11 HID's for my fogs, only after I learned of the dipped bulb error when you put in HIDS for the headlights (I know of the workaround).

As I'm not going to wire up HID's in a reflector housing (I've seen toooo many cars do this now and the glare is terrible), I might wait till I get a proper projector style headlights and do the HID's then.

Fun times either way

 

When you say it wasn't fully seated you mean because part of the H9 bulb that you have to remove was still there? So no damage to your headlight, just the wiring was getting too warm?

 

Canuckrigging.

 

Yeah, when I checked the connection, it wasn't pushed all the way in as it should have, causing it to short (as it would have to jump/arc). Headlight is fine, no marks or any heat issues at all. Since the headlight has a lot of room I don't see there being an issue with the added heat and light output. Now that everything is fitted properly, no issues with the connection that I can see.

I'd only warn people who change out their side signal lights with something brighter as my brother who bought a used '12 has a scorch mark on his turn signal area.

 

This was an issue with several other members; Most of them were able to get the headlights replaced under warranty.

Here's the original thread for more info.

 

Long term update

So 3 years and 80k miles since i put in H9 bulbs in place of the H11 low beams. I used the basic $15 Phillips ones you can find on Amazon. One of them burned out finally (not complainging, expected with that time/mialage, most of the time with the lights on) so i was re-searching these strings.
I checked the lenses, apsolutely no marks like that other poster showed. Stock wires/connectors look like new, no issues there either. Cant imaging where these problems are coming from unless they used some strange/bad/extra powerful H9s or didnt get the connectors all the way seated.
I found the 10 extra watts (65 vs 55) noticibly better, its dark ussually for my commute. Was the very first mod i did after purchasing my 2012 Focus new. The one extra amp that equates too, didn't seem to have any negative effect to my car. Never had anyone "flash me back" either, with the caps in front of our bulbs, the extra power and not having the grey paint on the tip doesn't seem to bother others.
Rather than wait for delivery again from Amazon since one was out, just went to the local autozone and picked up another regular H9 basic buld for $15. It was in Sylvania packaged (on the bulb itself it said Osram brand). Hopefully works/lasts as long as the first Philips.
Like shown at the begining of the string, just have to carefully cut out/shave down one of the plastic tabs, other than that fits just like the Stock ones. I just used a razor knife and a little file.
Still the best/easiest/cheapest mod i've done yet! Highly recomended if youre not interesting in the expense and time to go with the more complex options.

 

Nobody care/concerned with blinding the other guy? Just askin

 

Nope.

 

I'm guessing you mean HIDs in reflector housings? Aka the $40 ricer mod where you just stick HIDs into stock reflector housings? That's much worse than actual projector HIDs that are somewhat misaligned (if anything, probably affects the driver more than anything on the latter).

 

I did the H9 upgrade on one side of my '13 SE. It is a bit brighter than the H11 and the cutoff seems sharper. I used a cheapo Sylvania H9 from Autozone.

The headlamp housing has a little silver "cup" covering the end of the bulb so I don't think the H9 could blind anybody. Visibility on the road is better!

 

Anyone who has done the H11 to H9 conversion still running after a while with no problems? I finally blew my first headlight bulb after 4+ years with the car and I plan to replace with H9s tonight.

 

How did it go? I replaced my H8s with H11s in my fogs.