[Catalina09]

Ok two part question:

Will headlights from a 2011 cts work on my 2009 cts4?

And is there anyway to tell if they have adaptive tracking by looking at the headlight and housing itself.

 

[NorthernSRX]

They should work. If your 2009 has Xenons (HIDs), you should stick with those. All Xenons on the gen 2 CTS are adaptive throughout the model run AFAIK.

Xenons:

Halogen:

 

[Padgett]

I have HIDs on the CTS but ran tests on my garage door from 25 feet and prefer Sylvania SilverStar Ultras on other cars.

 

[cawengr]

Padgett, if those HID's are original they might be losing some brightness over time. Might want to get a new set of bulbs.

 

[NorthernSRX]

Padgett, if those HID's are original they might be losing some brightness over time. Might want to get a new set of bulbs.

Agreed. My xenon bulbs lasted 10 years and were still pretty decent when one burned out. I replaced both at that time because I assumed that the new one would be much brighter than the aged one. I ran a test at night (with one new bulb) and there was a difference - not huge but it was noticeable.

 

[tinman]

Agreed. My xenon bulbs lasted 10 years and were still pretty decent when one burned out. I replaced both at that time because I assumed that the new one would be much brighter than the aged one. I ran a test at night (with one new bulb) and there was a difference - not huge but it was noticeable.

Plus as soon as you replace only one bulb and put the front end back together, the second bulb will burn out. I think that's a law or something!

 

[NorthernSRX]

Plus as soon as you replace only one bulb and put the front end back together, the second bulb will burn out. I think that's a law or something!

Gotta respect the law. Plus, I found it easier to do the two at the same time than 2x the effort of having removed one of those assemblies.

 

[Long]

I can remove the bumper in a few seconds.
Reinstallation is a bit spendy though.