[Seltos22NC]

Hey All,


New to Kia vehicles, the Seltos, and forum posting. I recently purchased a '22 Kia Seltos LX, and while I love the car already, I wanted to upgrade the OEM headlights.

I started with upgrading the main headlight bulbs (9005), and went with Auxito LEDs from Amazon. I've been running these bulbs in another vehicle of mine without problem, and so-far-so-good with them. Here's a link. And some before and after photos:

Before

After

No nighttime driving experience yet--but if they are anything like the ones in the my other vehicle, I know they will perform well. BUT! That's not why I come here today.
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I've recently purchased bulbs to replace the side indicators (Parking light? DRL?) pictured above. Note the amber-ish coloring, which I wasn't the biggest fan of.

I decided to go with Sylvania Zevo 1157s, as these seemed to be the LED-equivalent for the bulb. I only say "seem to be", because when I asked my local parts store for the bulb size, they told me the Seltos is too new and they didn't have any information on parts in their database. No surprises there, as online searching came up short as well.

I went ahead and installed the new bulbs without any issues, and they illuminate and seem to work well as well! Win-win! Before and after below:

Before

After

Note that they are visible, and bright! I was outside in evening sunlight when taking these photos. I can get more in the dark later.

NOW! I come to you today to ask:

Why does the original 2375/2057/1157 bulb for the indicator have two filaments?

I tried all possible combinations of ambient light, switches, and drive modes to illuminate both filaments with no luck. I do believe the LX models do NOT have DRLs, and I could not say the second filament is specifically for DRLs. The original bulb, and replacement 1157 bulb, illuminated with the same intensity across all settings (with the obvious difference being light quality).

I assume the same bulb is used for S+ models which, as far as I am aware, are equipped with DRLs, and thus the second filament would be utilized. Did I just have an unused filament in the second bulb?

Overall, 10/10 for user-DIY on the Seltos...unlike my previous vehicles, I DON'T have to remove the bumper or headlight housing to change the bulbs!

I can't wait to see what aftermarket parts become available, I think Kia really hit a homerun with the Seltos platform!

 

[SHCS]

Why does the original 2375/2057/1157 bulb for the indicator have two filaments?

I tried all possible combinations of ambient light, switches, and drive modes to illuminate both filaments with no luck. I do believe the LX models do NOT have DRLs, and I could not say the second filament is specifically for DRLs. The original bulb, and replacement 1157 bulb, illuminated with the same intensity across all settings (with the obvious difference being light quality).

I could be wrong. But even in the LX/EX (non-LED headlamps) aren't the DRLs considered the small LED strips around the top of the housing? A styling choice.

So it would make sense that the main bulbs DRL functionality isn't used, despite being there as that bulb wouldn't be specific to a make or model, its a shelf part.

Alternative thought could be the second filiment is your brights, not your DRL. Had you tried hitting your brights? And even if you did, your automatic headlight feature may be turning them down before you get around to see them. I think thats a feature in all trims of the Seltos. I believe the car will dim the brights under select scenarios like oncoming traffic. Could be doing it as well being daylight.

 

[Seltos22NC]

I could be wrong. But even in the LX/EX (non-LED headlamps) aren't the DRLs considered the small LED strips around the top of the housing? A styling choice.

View attachment 1337

So it would make sense that the main bulbs DRL functionality isn't used, despite being there as that bulb wouldn't be specific to a make or model, its a shelf part.

Alternative thought could be the second filiment is your brights, not your DRL. Had you tried hitting your brights? And even if you did, your automatic headlight feature may be turning them down before you get around to see them. I think thats a feature in all trims of the Seltos. I believe the car will dim the brights under select scenarios like oncoming traffic. Could be doing it as well being daylight.

Maybe it's "part of" the brights, but the main bulb housings (9005) are actuated to move a cutoff shield up when brights turn on, projecting more light downfield. If you have your hood open and car on but not running, you can hear the click as the "shutter" opens fully. Even in dusk light, I did not see further illumination on the side indicators. Maybe an auto-dimming from reflection on the garage door, but that would be odd for an indicator.

Most likely as you described, a shelf part. Interesting choice, seeing as there exist single-filament bulbs. Good to know that, perhaps, the single-operation LED bulbs will work without causing issue.