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Headlight Replacement Guide For 2001-2005 Optima

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51K views 37 replies 15 participants last post by  Nietos Kia  
#1 ·
Hey Fellow Optima Owners. I'm not sure if any of you had this question, but I did. So I did some research online and found a guide for headlight replacement for the Optima from 2001-2005. Here's what I've found, hope it helps! :thumbsup:

2001 - 2005 KIA Optima (From the Sylvania Website)

Low beam headlamp
H7
H7ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen
H7CB Cool Blue Halogen Upgrade: White Hot; Super Cool; 100% Street Legal
H7LL Long Life Halogen: Lasts two and a half times longer

High beam headlamp
H7
H7ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen
H7CB Cool Blue Halogen Upgrade: White Hot; Super Cool; 100% Street Legal
H7LL Long Life Halogen: Lasts two and a half times longer

Parking light
2357
2357LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front turn signal
2357
2357LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Rear turn signal
1156A
1156AST Silverstar Signal Lighting: Complete the Look: Crisp, Clean, Style
1156ALL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Tail light
2357
2357LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Stop light
2357
2357LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Fog/Driving light
H1-55W
H1ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen

License plate
168

Back up light
921
921LL Long Life Upgrade: Up to twice the life of the standard lamp

Front sidemarker
168

Rear sidemarker
168

Map light
64111

Dome light
DE3175

Step/Courtesy light
168

Trunk/Cargo area
DE3022
 
#10 ·
Originally posted by hattee@Oct 30 2005, 08:44 AM
Thot there are 3 settings for healight. Low-Intensity Beam, High-Intensity Beam and High Beam. The latter requires the level to be pull back. The first twos only turning the beam selector.

May I ask what's the bulb for the Low-Intensity Beam?
THREE SETTINGS??? For the headlights on the KIA OPTIMA?.. no.. not possible.. there are only two for headlights - LOW BEAM and HIGH BEAM...

The only other thing is DAY-TIME RUNNING LIGHTS... those are on cars from Toyota, Lexus, Chevy, some Dodge cars. But those use the LOW Beam. Other than that, I've NEVER heard of a car that had THREE headlight settings. NEWayz, hope that helps...

OH BTW, the bulb for the LOW beam is "H7" Just like the high beam.

Low beam headlamp
H7
H7ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen <-- (This is what I personally use - $40 @ Advance Auto Parts.)
H7CB Cool Blue Halogen Upgrade: White Hot; Super Cool; 100% Street Legal
H7LL Long Life Halogen: Lasts two and a half times longer

High beam headlamp
H7
H7ST Silverstar High Performance Lighting: the whitest and brightest Halogen
H7CB Cool Blue Halogen Upgrade: White Hot; Super Cool; 100% Street Legal
H7LL Long Life Halogen: Lasts two and a half times longer
 
#12 ·
Originally posted by hattee@Oct 31 2005, 09:51 AM
you mean you cannot get 2 settings by turning the level and 1 more when pulling it back?
Ok, I need to make sure that I understand what you're asking.. so I'm going to explain it like this. Here in the US.. the Optimas that we drive have two main settings for the headlights. ON and Pull back for HIGH BEAM. Now some models such as the EX, comes with the option for fog lights, which ARE a separate switch in which you turn.. is that what you mean? If so then ok..
 
#13 ·
In my Magentis, I have 2 Light Selectors at the right lever. Turning One Selector for Headlight - Off, Low-Intensity, High Intensity. Turning the other for Fog Light - Off, On. And pulling back the lever for High Beam.

Wondering anyone knows what's the smaller bulb for the Low-Intensity Beam.
 
#14 ·
Originally posted by hattee@Nov 2 2005, 09:52 AM
In my Magentis, I have 2 Light Selectors at the right lever. Turning One Selector for Headlight - Off, Low-Intensity, High Intensity. Turning the other for Fog Light - Off, On. And pulling back the lever for High Beam.

Wondering anyone knows what's the smaller bulb for the Low-Intensity Beam.
Ok, just to make sure we're on the same page.. if possible please take pictures of what you're talking about.. thanks! :57:
 
#15 ·
Can't TELL you how helpful your research is. I've been to AutoZone, O'Reilley Auto Parts, NAPA, CarQuest, and Advance Auto in the past few days, and none have been able to tell me what bulbs will fit my 2001 Optima. Thank you!

Do have a question, however. Does anyone know what bulbs are appropriate for the lights in the vanity mirrors on the visors? They look exactly like Buss fuses, but I can only assume they are actually festoon lights (i.e. glass cylinder with metal base on both ends and sits in U-shaped tension mounts). The folks at three of the above stores were not very helpful--they couldn't even make an educated guess.

Should mention, however, that O'Reilley went the extra step and had THREE different sales reps come outside and crawl under the car trying to remove a fog lamp to find a replacement. Never did get it out, but the effort was commendable. ;-)
 
#18 ·
Kool.. thanks for the info.. but I already have them installed.. and having them for the past year, to me it's just an expensive 'alternative' to REAL HID! Just want to warn you,.. Silverstars DO NOT last long! I've already had to replace two bulbs. I believe that the lifespan of the bulbs are around 1100lumines hours, which is VERY short. My passanger side is already starting to fade.. and it's the SECOND PAIR... grr! NEWayz, enough paying $20 a pop to replace burnt bulbs,... next on the list: Upgrade to either 6000K or 8000K HID! :thumbsup:
 
#20 ·
Originally posted by 04lxoptima@May 24 2006, 05:52 AM
I went to change my High Beams and they say 9011 not H7? My low beams are H7's I have changed those but why do my high beams say 9011 and have a harness instead of just a plug for the H7's metal prongs?
Rodney
hmm.. iono.. I might have to do some research on this one.. interesting! :thumbsup:
 
#24 ·
04lxoptima said:
Ok. I knew what the bulb was I was just wondering why it has that instead of a H7 and how they got it in there and how come I do not have a H7 harness on the High Beams?
Thanks greatly though.

Mine are the same way for my 2003 Optima SE. When I went to change my high beams they were a totally different design from the H7 low beams. I was swapping out all my headlights to H7 7000K HID Hi-Lites when I noticed the difference. According to everyone and even some e-Bay sellers the high beams are suppose to be H7's like the low beams. But they are not, something totally different with the Philips logo. Even the harness like you mentioned is totally different. In fact it looked like a pain in the a$$ to get out so I left them alone. Low beams turn off when you use the high beams anyway so it's not like anyone will notice I have mix matched low and high beams.

What's the easiest way to take out the fog light bulbs? The manual says the cover should unscrew to get to the bulb. But I don't think it's possible to do that and get it through the hole. Any suggestions?