The name of the bulbs are called Katanas, and I bought them on Amazon. Our fitment for the FE and LXS is 9005. Make sure you buy the ones that have a seperate "processing" box. They sell an "all in one" bulb where the electronics are incorporated into the bulb, but we can't use that one because it's too long.

 

The name of the bulbs are called Katanas, and I bought them on Amazon. Our fitment for the FE and LXS is 9005. Make sure you buy the ones that have a seperate "processing" box. They sell an "all in one" bulb where the electronics are incorporated into the bulb, but we can't use that one because it's too long.

can you post a pic showing the exact lights you bought from amazon, thank you

 

Next I wanted to address the DRLs (daytime running lights) on my car. On USA Fortes that are FE and LXS trims, the DRL is actually where traditional foglights would go on a car. On S, GT Line, EX, and GT trims, they have LED DRLs installed in the main headlight assembly, so they actually have real foglights.

The DRLs on my FE uses halogen bulbs, which make it look kind of cheap, so I wanted to change that to an LED as well. After doing a bunch of research, I figured out what bulb goes in the bottom DRLs of the FE and LXS models. Contrary to what has been posted, it is NOT 1157 bulbs. They are 1156 bulbs.

I wanted to give my DRLs a more custom look so I went with yellow LEDs (3000K) to mimic having traditional foglights. I installed 3000K yellow LEDs in the foglights of my Focus RS and it looked great, so I was hoping it would look good on the Forte.

I took pics after swapping one bulb so you guys can see the difference. It looks great in person and very bright. No error codes on my dash because I used the right bulb (1156).

 

Next I wanted to address the DRLs (daytime running lights) on my car. On USA Fortes that are FE and LXS trims, the DRL is actually where traditional foglights would go on a car. On S, GT Line, EX, and GT trims, they have LED DRLs installed in the main headlight assembly, so they actually have real foglights. The DRLs on my FE uses halogen bulbs, which make it look kind of cheap, so I wanted to change that to an LED as well. After doing a bunch of research, I figured out what bulb goes in the bottom DRLs of the FE and LXS models. Contrary to what has been posted, it is NOT 1157 bulbs. They are 1156 bulbs. I wanted to give my DRLs a more custom look so I went with yellow LEDs (3000K) to mimic having traditional foglights. I installed 3000K yellow LEDs in the foglights of my Focus RS and it looked great, so I was hoping it would look good on the Forte. I took pics after swapping one bulb so you guys can see the difference. It looks great in person and very bright. No error codes on my dash because I used the right bulb (1156).

View attachment 79428
View attachment 79429
View attachment 79430
View attachment 79431

Hello may I know for the 1156. What is the pin type to use? BAU15s or ba15s

 

The DRL bulbs I bought on eBay. Seller name is VIPmotoz, and if you search "yellow 3000k led 1156" you should find it.

 

The DRL bulbs I bought on eBay. Seller name is VIPmotoz, and if you search "yellow 3000k led 1156" you should find it.

I’m still throwing a code with lasfit 1156 bulbs any ideas?

 

Next up, I'll be changing the license plate bulbs and the reverse bulbs to LED. I'm also considering changing the third brake lamp to an LED for more safety since they light up faster than a regular bulb, and it could mean the difference between getting rear ended or not.

I originally planned on changing the interior lights to LED, but now might decide against it because our interior lights have a "soft" lighting feature which don't have the same effect with LEDs.

 

Next up, I'll be changing the license plate bulbs and the reverse bulbs to LED. I'm also considering changing the third brake lamp to an LED for more safety since they light up faster than a regular bulb, and it could mean the difference between getting rear ended or not.

I originally planned on changing the interior lights to LED, but now might decide against it because our interior lights have a "soft" lighting feature which don't have the same effect with LEDs.

It dose the soft thing with led no issue i have it running no issue on mine

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Check this discussion

Switching to LED lights

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Check this discussion

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...ed-lights.105036/&share_tid=105036&share_fid=90827&share_type=t&link_source=app

[/URL]

Switching to LED lights

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Link does not work.

 

Haven't read all this yet but I have a 2019 FE I got in January, I generally like the car but it has the WORST headlights I think I've ever experienced, and I've been driving awhile. Thanks for posting this!

 

SCCA - Thanks for the continuing posts on this. After reading the thread yesterday, I found these on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hikari+headlights About 12 bucks less, is brightness the main difference? Or are these the ones that are too long? Also, getting to the driver's side low beam looks like a bit of a PITA! I did pull the cap (interesting about the packets of desiccant under the cap) but I'm wondering if you can change this side w/o pulling the fuse box?

Thanks again.

 

SCCA - Thanks for the continuing posts on this. After reading the thread yesterday, I found these on Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/HIKARI-Headl...s=katana+led+headlight+bulbs&qid=1576200008&sprefix=Katanas+led,aps,234&sr=8-15 About 12 bucks less, is brightness the main difference? Or are these the ones that are too long? Also, getting to the driver's side low beam looks like a bit of a PITA! I did pull the cap (interesting about the packets of desiccant under the cap) but I'm wondering if you can change this side w/o pulling the fuse box?

Thanks again.

They seems too long i dont advice to buy unless you want to remove the back bulb cover which might case damage to the headlights later

If you want i found one which is fit inside without any problem and the light output is decent pm me if you interested

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I would advise against the hikari.

 

SCCA - Finally got a chance to look into this a little more. There's a shop manual online for the Forte which says you have to completely pull the entire headlamp assembly in order to just change the BULBS:

http://www.kifomanual.com/head_lamps_removal-1514.html

That's not TOOOO bad, but you have to remove the entire front bumper cover to do it! Ridiculous, gotta wonder who DESIGNED this setup... I was able to get both bulbs out on the passenger side, but it looks nearly impossible to get to the driver's side low beams without either removing the headlamp assy as described, or maybe pulling the fuse panel which sits right behind the low beam cover. See pics.

Also, do the replacements recommended in this post simply twist back into place & attach to existing connectors as the halogens do? Thanks for any further info/suggestions!

Driver's side low beam w/fuse panel right behind:

Passenger side low beam:

Passenger side low beam halogen bulb:

 

SCCA - Finally got a chance to look into this a little more. There's a shop manual online for the Forte which says you have to completely pull the entire headlamp assembly in order to just change the BULBS:

Kia Forte: Head Lamps Removal - Lighting System - Body Electrical System - Kia Forte TD 2014-2018 Service Manual

That's not TOOOO bad, but you have to remove the entire front bumper cover to do it! Ridiculous, gotta wonder who DESIGNED this setup... I was able to get both bulbs out on the passenger side, but it looks nearly impossible to get to the driver's side low beams without either removing the headlamp assy as described, or maybe pulling the fuse panel which sits right behind the low beam cover. See pics.

Also, do the replacements recommended in this post simply twist back into place & attach to existing connectors as the halogens do? Thanks for any further info/suggestions!

Driver's side low beam w/fuse panel right behind:
View attachment 79449

Passenger side low beam:
View attachment 79450

Passenger side low beam halogen bulb:
View attachment 79452

What lights did you end up getting?

 

It's a pain for sure, but it's somewhat doable to swap without taking headlights out. I looked into removing the fuse box, but that is a no go.

I have pretty big hands but was able to complete the install. It's not perfect because I was never able to rotate the light enough to have it click in place, so the led base plate is not sitting perfectly vertical, but like the instructions say, you have to remove the headlight to get a good grip on the LED bulb to lock it in place and perfectly vertical. Later I will need to remove the bumper cover anyway, so I will address the issue then.

There are some weird things About the lights on our cars. For the 2nd gen forte, they has very detailed drawings and instructions on how to swap out all the bulbs, but for our generation they have decided to just say" take it to the dealership" for many of the bulbs. All the bulbs, such as turn signals, reverse lights, are instructed to replace the bulbs at the dealership.

 

I know what you mean about the "take it to the dealer" crap. I've done a lot on cars, up to complete engine rebuilds, but my last car was a 2003 Mitsubishi EVO 8 (just about perfect, if it had ONLY gotten better GAS MILEAGE... ;-) so I'm just getting up to speed with how things have changed in 16 years. Another example is shop manuals. In the past, I've always bought a factory shop manual immediately with a new car. These days, there are no print factory manuals, just online, like the link I posted, which seems to lack a lot of info, or pay out the ass for the official KIA manual at Snap On, where access for just 72 hours is $19, a full year, $1500! But as they say, this is just out of their concern for YOU, lacking specialized tools, training, etc. Yeah. Of course they don't want you to work on your own car, when they can weasel money out of you by forcing you to go to the dealer. Better not try a warranty claim though. Tried that last summer with a fuel odor problem; surprise surprise, the highly skilled "pros" at the dealer with all their tools & training just couldn't seem to "replicate the problem."

I'm going to order the bulbs this week, I will try to pull the fuse box. What trouble did you run into with that?

 

Well i have to say that i managed to change it with removing anything just back cover of bulb and little bit of acrobat move from front tire opening and its done no remove fornt bumper nor headlight assembly

Any one have managed to change drl to fog lights yet please contact me thanks

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Finally got around to installing the LED bulbs, SOOOOOOOOOO much better!!! Passenger side isn't too bad, but there is simply NO WAY I could have installed the LED on the driver's side w/o removing some bits 1st. Here're some pics of the process for the driver's side bulb. I pulled the battery, relay box (Kia's term for the fuse box in the "engine room," as they call under the hood! Sounds like we're aboard a submarine! ;-) and air cleaner assy. If you do this, remove the battery 1st, and ALWAYS disconnect the negative lead as the 1st step! The relay box has a plastic peg that goes into the fender, had to pry a bit with a small flat bar to work it loose, but doable. The badly drawn white arrows point to the low beam location. I've driven the car about 15 miles on a dark, rainy night, the light is WAY better than the virtually worthless halogens & no error message or other issues. Bulbs & converters fit fine inside the headlight assy's & the caps go right back in place. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Well glad to see that you managed to install it at least

Can you share which type of leds bulbs you have installed and dose it fit in the housing with back cover installed and what about brightness

Thanks

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Yossry - I installed these: Amazon.com: KATANA 9005 HB3 LED Headlight Bulbs - CREE Chips w/Adjustable Beam - 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit: Automotive Pretty easy to install, on the passenger side as it is, and on the driver's side once I got the relay box, etc. out of the way, which is pretty straightforward. Bulbs twist into place/fully seat just like the halogens, everything fits inside the headlight assembly, and the cover goes back on just as it had. The light output & width is MUCH better than the stock halogens.

 

Yossry - I installed these: Amazon.com: KATANA 9005 HB3 LED Headlight Bulbs - CREE Chips w/Adjustable Beam - 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit: Automotive Pretty easy to install, on the passenger side as it is, and on the driver's side once I got the relay box, etc. out of the way, which is pretty straightforward. Bulbs twist into place/fully seat just like the halogens, everything fits inside the headlight assembly, and the cover goes back on just as it had. The light output & width is MUCH better than the stock halogens.

would these fit on a ‘21 GT-Line? I would rather go LED. Having a hard time finding something on Amazon that says it “fits” my vehicle.

 

Anyway to get dimensions in MM like this?

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This one fits with no problem with me

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Most of the problem will be in the bottom part for your bulb i think the housing cover wouldn't fit with this bulb photo you attached and if it closed it might be too wide to fit in place

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I was hoping it would fit. I have been using this company for years for LEDs. I never had one fail I used them on my motorcycle with a ton of vibration.

9005 LED Bulbs

High performance LED replacement bulbs for, taillights, turn signals, brake lights, reverse lights, license plate lights, parking lights, DRLs, dome lights and more!

www.vleds.com

They also sell caps for headlight housings.

RUBBER CAPS

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www.vleds.com

[emoji848]

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Here is the link if you are interested

#Aliexpress US $39.99 40%OFF | Fit For 99% Vehicles Mini Led Bulb Car Headlamp H7 H4 H8 HB3 H9 HB4 H11 9005 9006 H1 H3 6000K 10000LM 12V 55W Led Headlight

41.4US $ 40% OFF|Fit For 99% Vehicles Mini Led Bulb Car Headlamp H7 H4 H8 Hb3 H9 Hb4 H11 9005 9006 H1 H3 6000k 12000lm 12v 55w Led Headlight - Car Headlight Bulbs(led) - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

a.aliexpress.com

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Is this what you are asking for

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Yes. Also I wanted to see Dave’s dimensions


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Anyone know if the "Katana H7 LED" bulbs will work to replace the high beams on my 2020 Forte?

 

Here is the link:

Amazon.com: KATANA H7 LED Headlight Bulbs - CREE Chips w/Adjustable Beam - 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit: Automotive

Buy KATANA H7 LED Headlight Bulbs - CREE Chips w/Adjustable Beam - 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit: Turn Signal Assemblies & Lenses - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

Anyone with true fog lights replace with LED? I have a 2020 Forte GT-line, which has true fog lights (as opposed to the DRL's which the OP has on his FE). Just wondering what the procedure is to access them, and if either of these will fit:

https://www.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-Hea...ely-Conversion/dp/B06XHDW23Q/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=9006+led&qid=1583849456&sr=8-6

Amazon.com: KATANA 9006 HB4 LED Headlight Bulbs,CREE Chips 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit,360 Degree Adjustable Beam Angle: Automotive

Buy KATANA 9006 HB4 LED Headlight Bulbs, CREE Chips 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit, 360 Degree Adjustable Beam Angle: Turn Signal Assemblies & Lenses - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

Anyone with true fog lights replace with LED? I have a 2020 Forte GT-line, which has true fog lights (as opposed to the DRL's which the OP has on his FE). Just wondering what the procedure is to access them, and if either of these will fit:

https://www.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-Hea...ely-Conversion/dp/B06XHDW23Q/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=9006+led&qid=1583849456&sr=8-6

Amazon.com: KATANA 9006 HB4 LED Headlight Bulbs,CREE Chips 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit,360 Degree Adjustable Beam Angle: Automotive

Buy KATANA 9006 HB4 LED Headlight Bulbs, CREE Chips 12000Lm 6500K Extremely Bright Conversion Kit, 360 Degree Adjustable Beam Angle: Turn Signal Assemblies & Lenses - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

I didn't know that you you have gt trim i know that it comes with led and no need for change headlight cuz you can't change and for the fog light i think any bulb can fit easily no issue the only way to change is from bottom you have to remove the plastic cover the replace the bulbs

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I'm certain that my GT-line has halogen headlights. Only the DRLs are LED. You can lookup the specs online. You'll see that LED headlights are an optional upgrade for the GT-line (which mine doesn't have).

 

Well I would love to help but i can only advice regarding the headlight in the photo i have no idea about any other different headlight.
Sorry for not being able to help

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Oh, no worries, man! You DID help. I'm going to replace both the low and high beams with the Katana LEDs from amazon. And I ordered the high beam adapter you suggested for an easier installation.

I think I've decided to just leave the stock halogen fog lights, at least for now.

Thanks!

 

Will these work on the 2020 Kia Forte GT line?

 

Yes, I just installed the Katana 9005 in my 2020 GT-line low beams and they fit. No error codes.

 

Finally got a chance to pull one of the LED's I installed & measure it. Here are the dimensions posted on the same pic Yossry used, note that the bulbs I used have a cable which runs to a ballast, which then connects to the car's connector. Measured with a dial caliper. To be clear again, this is not the actual bulb or model #, just using the pic. Measurements are in inches.

 

I thought I'd provide a final update on the LED upgrades on my 2020 Forte GT-line in case it helps anyone. Over the course of about a month, I ordered and tested 4 different 9005 low-beam bulbs, 3 different H7 high-beam bulbs, and 3 different 9006 fog light bulbs.

I ended up going with the following:
Low-beam (9005/HB3): Amazon - Sealight 9005 6000K, 8000 lumens per pair
High-beam (H7): Lasfit Pro Series H7 6000K, 7600 lumens per pair
Fog Light (9006/HB4): Amazon - Sealight 9006 6000K, 4000 lumens per pair

I spent a bit extra on the Lasfit custom H7's because it's the only bulb on the market (afaik) which has a custom adapter to fit the Kia H7 housing AND doesn't have a power supply block. I couldn't get any adapters to work with the other H7 bulbs I tried from Amazon, and the high-beam compartment behind the dust cover isn't large enough to fit a power supply block.

I went with all 6000K bulbs because I liked the pure white light. The 6500K bulbs I tried had a slight blue-ish tint that I didn't really like. And I wasn't interested in yellow fog lights - I like to keep my fog lights on all the time, and I wanted the color to match my low beams.

The LED fan noise is only noticeable to me when the engine is off and the lights are on. Radio reception seems unaltered by the LEDs. I ended up with LEDs that weren't anywhere near the highest light output (lumens) you can find, but they are still very bright and light up the road very well - much better than the stock halogens. I don't need stadium flood lights on my car, I just wanted white light that would provide good visibility without blinding oncoming drivers.

Installation was pretty straight-forward. I was able to access the driver's side low-beam without removing any other parts. It is a very tight squeeze, and you will most likely scratch up the back of your hands in the process, but it was possible for me. I used both hands to get a fingertip or two from each hand on the bulb to twist it. I used the cord of the LED as a point of leverage for the final turn to lock into place. The high-beams are pretty easily accessible. Lasfit has youtube videos showing the process for a 2019 Forte. The dust covers on the high-beams have a filler/insert that are held in place by a small screw which you need to remove. This allows plenty of space for the fan ballast. For the fog lights, you need to remove the cover underneath the front of the car which is secured by a number of plastic push-pin fasteners and four screws.


Other bulbs that I tried and returned:
Low-beam (9005)
Amazon - Katana 9005 - Blue-ish tint
Amazon - Qcheye 9005 - Poor light pattern with dark spots
Amazon - Auxito 9005 - Too bright IMO...don't want to blind oncoming drivers and be flashed all the time

High-beam (H7)
Amazon - Katana H7 - Blue-ish tint, couldn't get adapter to work, power supply block didn't fit inside dust compartment
Amazon - Diamond Vision H7 (link goes to 9005, the H7 version must be out of stock) - Couldn't get adapter to work, power supply block didn't fit inside dust compartment

Fog light (9006)
Amazon - Katana 9006 - WAY too bright...dangerous for oncoming drivers...not meant for fog lights
Amazon - Alla Lighting 9006 - Too dim, caused error code


Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Hi, I also bought a 2020 GT Line and I’m looking to switch out the bulbs as well. I follow the links to the amazon page for the bulbs, but it says they don’t fit my vehicle. I’m sure it’s wrong since obviously you already installed them. I just wanted to double check since the link to the low beam lights say high beams once you get to the amazon page.