Completed headlight replacement on my wife's MDX this weekend. The original headlamps were hazed to the point that polishing did nothing and she and our daughter complained they couldn't even tell if the lights were on.
I purchased TYC brand assemblies that were for the 2004-2006 MDX models--- same shape housing but the 04-06 used a halogen projector for the low beam. The whole job took 4 hours with 2 trips to autozone and was overall pretty painless.
Sorry no pics...
About 11 fasteners on top of bumper, 5 clips and 4 bolts below, and two screws in the wheelwells (total). 8 10mm bolts (total) held on the lamp assemblies and metal upper bumper skin brace, and it was all on the garage floor.
The newer housings use the same number of bulbs, all same type except for the low beams, which use a H11. The H11 has a slightly different connector that the 9005, but Autozone carries them in blister packs so it was easy to install the proper connector.
Fit and finish for the TYC product was fine. Even included the gasket pressing against the lip of the hood.
The TYC units have a U/D adjustment but not L/R. I don't recall if the 2002 style lamps had L/R or not. No L/R adjustment was needed, however, as the lamp assemblies firmly and pseudo-precisely fit to the structure of the car. The beam pattern is good--- smooth and even foreground with most of the light biased towards the horizon, a single hotspot on the horizon, and a crisp cutoff. There is a slight step visible on the internal shutter but it's not that apparent on the road.
Most of the improvement is likely from just having clear plastic on the front of the assemblies, but the even lighting cast from projectors is a nice touch.
Note: all the H11 bulbs I saw had between 270-320 hours expected lifespan. The 9005's clock in around 1000. I was thrown by this because that is highbeam lifespan territory, but we triple-checked the store computer and that's what it called for... H11. I bought the standard offerings, not the hyper white, blue tint, "better downrange" and all the other versions.
Very pleased, and TYC seems to have done a good job with this product.
I purchased TYC brand assemblies that were for the 2004-2006 MDX models--- same shape housing but the 04-06 used a halogen projector for the low beam. The whole job took 4 hours with 2 trips to autozone and was overall pretty painless.
Sorry no pics...
About 11 fasteners on top of bumper, 5 clips and 4 bolts below, and two screws in the wheelwells (total). 8 10mm bolts (total) held on the lamp assemblies and metal upper bumper skin brace, and it was all on the garage floor.
The newer housings use the same number of bulbs, all same type except for the low beams, which use a H11. The H11 has a slightly different connector that the 9005, but Autozone carries them in blister packs so it was easy to install the proper connector.
Fit and finish for the TYC product was fine. Even included the gasket pressing against the lip of the hood.
The TYC units have a U/D adjustment but not L/R. I don't recall if the 2002 style lamps had L/R or not. No L/R adjustment was needed, however, as the lamp assemblies firmly and pseudo-precisely fit to the structure of the car. The beam pattern is good--- smooth and even foreground with most of the light biased towards the horizon, a single hotspot on the horizon, and a crisp cutoff. There is a slight step visible on the internal shutter but it's not that apparent on the road.
Most of the improvement is likely from just having clear plastic on the front of the assemblies, but the even lighting cast from projectors is a nice touch.
Note: all the H11 bulbs I saw had between 270-320 hours expected lifespan. The 9005's clock in around 1000. I was thrown by this because that is highbeam lifespan territory, but we triple-checked the store computer and that's what it called for... H11. I bought the standard offerings, not the hyper white, blue tint, "better downrange" and all the other versions.
Very pleased, and TYC seems to have done a good job with this product.
