Two questions, I just picked up a 2003 sunfire and after lots of cleaning and polishing it looks great, but I noticed that around the low beams is a metal shroud of some sort and it's kinda corroded/ rusty and was wondering if I can remove it all together or if it needs to be there can it be removed and painted? I'm not really sure of it's purpose because the high beams don't have one (maybe to help dim them I don't know?) and second it says that the low beams are X11's? most of the shop's are looking at me funny when I go in to get aftermarket headlights (blue ones) they keep trying to sell me H11's are they the same?
I have no clue about the shroud, but yes,
the headlight bulbs are H11, not X11. Please don't get cheap blue headlight bulbs. At least get some quality bulbs like Sylvania SilverStars/SilverStar Ultras. The cheap blue bulbs won't last and the light output will be horrible. They may even damage your headlight wiring if they put out a higher wattage then the wiring is made to handle. SilverStars/SilverStar Ultras will provide a nice, bright white light while using the same wattage as a regular halogen bulb and they will last longer then the cheap blue bulbs. They can be found on eBay for significantly cheaper then Auto Zone, Walmart, etc.
Sylvania SilverStar H11
I'm going to check out the headlight thing this weekend and see what I can do about that shroud, as for the blue headlights it's not the cheapy ones like eruolights or anything like that I was looking at a set of PIAA's and they have a slight blue tint to them when there on, not much but just enough to say there not white. I'm hit or miss with SilverStars/SilverStar Ultras I've had them in my jeep and in my 05 blazer and they weren't to bad but I recently put a set of nokya's in the blazer and I love them but the blue tint to them makes it hard to see when it's rainning at night so I was looking into the PIAA's. I found a set of X11's on a shelf and compared them to the H11's they seem identical so I don't know what the point is between the two. Ethier way thanks for the info I might just go with silver star ultra's and be done with it lol.
Sorry, but the PIAA's won't give you a bluish tint. I have them in my 03, and they still have a yellowish output that is just a bit whiter than stock bulbs. Trust me when I say they are not worth the money. If you buy bulbs that are tinted blue you will more than likely end up with a dim white output. Trust me I have tried several different bulbs in the 03-05 housings over the years looking for a bright white output. I plan on going to HIDs.