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SUCCESS!!

I have a 2019 Cadillac XT5. Just picked it up used last month. The halogen bulbs were horrific (I had 6500k bulbs I was accustomed to in my Highlander, 4Runner, and Harley).

I did a lot more research than I cared to, and many seemed self promoting, but in the end I went with Diode Dynamics SL2 PRO. I was worried about any error codes, any odd functions etc. I called their support folks and was assured that they build a quality product that avoids all that. I was also worried about the fact that the fan was at the tip of the LED meaning it would be inside the bulb housing to blow heat away, but in reality even if that fan is outside the bulb the weather cap that goes behind our bulbs these days keep the heat in regardless. But I will add that the diet itself is fairly solid and has some weight to it which to me indicates a lot of metal heat sink that they’ve designed into it.

Anyhow, they are 200 bucks a set, but the good news is this Cadillac has a dual high beam and regular beam bulb meaning I don’t need two sets. And they work perfectly. The one thing to consider however, is that on projector lens type bulb lenses the beam pattern is especially critical. These Diode Dynamics LEDs come with the very small hex key that allows you to rotate the bulb housing if needed, and I may need to, because I have a slight and mild shadowing in a couple spots, but again 10 times better than those real crappy original halogen bulbs that came with it. I live in an area where there are a lot of deer, and I need to see as far as possible as clear as possible. On my 4Runner, I had only changed the regular headlight to LED because the projector bulb does take a very special and expensive LED and I wasn’t looking to spend that cash, and the high beam is where I really need the light. But I did buy a set this time around and put them in the 4Runner and they are perfect going right in, and no shadows at all. Which is probably the norm. But I will call Dynamics on the shadow and I’m sure that they will help me fix that up, but I cringe at working with those bulbs to adjust those things if it involves a trial and error method. There’s a minor chance that perhaps I didn’t quite twist one of them in exactly right, because as mentioned later it is quite a task to get at these bulbs from under the hood but doable.

One last note, getting at those bulbs is not easy, but it does not require removing the bumper like a lot of others say. Cadillac does have some structural framing right behind that bulb housing opening, but I could remove the caps and with some twisted manipulation and using two fingers at once kind of thing, I was able to get the bulbs out, though admittedly I was worried if it’d be as easy to get the bulbs in. I suggest having needle nose pliers and a screwdriver handy only because they help act as a smaller finger for reach the odd time if you need to manipulate something or the wiring for removal or putting back in. It was a little bit more challenging putting the back in, but not much more (taking them out seemed a little bit difficult then I would have expected because they’re kind of in there solid and have been untouched for a few years, and you’re not sure if you’re doing it wrong or if they’re just stuck a little bit, so of course I’m worried about breaking them).

Couple things to watch for… When you pull out the halogen bulb make sure that the rubber o-ring is still on it. On my driver side headlight, when I went to go put in the LED bulb, I noticed what look like a little elastic band in there, right at the entrance, and that ended up being really the o-ring. I’m really glad that didn’t fall inside the housing because that would have been disastrous – I’d suggest that after you turn it counterclockwise to remove it, perhaps put it back in lock mode clockwise, then counterclockwise again, so that it might free up that o-ring as well as it may have been stuck to the housing after 5 years of heat. The passenger side came out with the o-ring with no problem which is probably the norm. The other thing to consider is that on the passenger side you do need to remove the air filter box. This is actually pretty easy and in fact I probably disassembled it more than I needed to. It actually just pops right off without needing to take the cover or the filter out but I wasn’t sure until after I did that. You do need to remove the gear clamp to separate it, and then after you wiggle that out it should just lift off what looks like three bolt heads that don’t need to be removed – they just fit tightly inside the rubber grommets.

So I did it, successfully, using those bulbs. Their customer service was a person and quick response. So, early indicators are that the service quality is good, and if that matches up to their warranty, then their lifetime warranty should be good.