Focus Mk2.5 Headlamp Upgrade

[Dave_TDCI]

I've recently fitted 5000K HID's to my Focus Mk2.5 but the light output is sh*t, its bright but the light beam is all over the place, probably because HID's in reflector type headlamps don't usually work well anyway.

I've decided to upgrade to the projector style headlamps as these are usually far better for use with HIDs.

I've come across a few different replacement headlamps on ebay:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Ford-Focus-MK2-2008-2011-Chrome-DRL-Devil-Eye-R8-Head-Lights-Lamps-Depo-Pair-/291190342206?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43cc4c023e

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/FORD-FOCUS-MK2-MK3-08-10-BLACK-DRL-STYLE-PROJECTOR-HEADLIGHTS-/351088159724?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51be7c2bec

and these

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/310462400024?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I'm just wondering has anyone installed any of these or what their thoughts are?

Are they a good upgrade?

And how bright are the leds on these?...Do they look good or are they cheap?

Almost definitely going to get one of the following so just wondering had anyone any experience on these :)

[mrmetallica]

if you do fit either of them you will need to get headlight washers working or wil be ilegal

[Dave_TDCI]

if you do fit either of them you will need to get headlight washers working or wil be ilegal

Oh yeah I know, in order for them to be fully legal with HID's they need headlight washes and an auto levelling system.

Although this is the case, it doesn't seem to be enforced yet in Ireland unless it comes to NCT time, which I would simply take out the HID Kit and put back in standard H7 bulbs to pass

[Dee_82]

thought the mot wording was a bit ambiguous, says something like "may have auto levelling"?

I have the bottom ones with normal bulbs, high and low beams are great, very clear cut off on dipped, the side light leds are fine for twilight use but are not bright enough for day time. install some fog drls if you want them.

the devil eyes above appear to be mass produced, ive seen them everywhere on the net but nothing in the way of real world use reviews and pictures makes me nervous so chance if you like but as far as I could find youd be the first person to openly review them!

the top ones confused me a bit, wheres the high beams? only has an H7

id check with all of then for fitting hids, I know the bottom two are sold as normal bulb headlights and on some sites say not for hids, that could be just down to not having correct wiring or connectors, I don't know enough about hids to comment

[Dave_TDCI]

thought the mot wording was a bit ambiguous, says something like "may have auto levelling"?

I have the bottom ones with normal bulbs, high and low beams are great, very clear cut off on dipped, the side light leds are fine for twilight use but are not bright enough for day time. install some fog drls if you want them.

the devil eyes above appear to be mass produced, ive seen them everywhere on the net but nothing in the way of real world use reviews and pictures makes me nervous so chance if you like but as far as I could find youd be the first person to openly review them!

the top ones confused me a bit, wheres the high beams? only has an H7

id check with all of then for fitting hids, I know the bottom two are sold as normal bulb headlights and on some sites say not for hids, that could be just down to not having correct wiring or connectors, I don't know enough about hids to comment

Thanks for the reply Dee_82.

In comparison to your original headlamps, would you see an improvement is light intensity with the aftermarket ones you installed? Obviously one of the reasons for me installing these is for appearance but light distribution and visibility would be the main factor for me.

The devil eye ones I couldn't find any info or reviews of anybody who installed these so I'm a bit reluctant towards them.

The top ones are made by Depo which is a brand I've heard of before so that's what interested me with those ones. As you said I'm not sure what way the high beam works, I would imagine that the H7 is for both high beam and low beam and the cutoff shield is just lowered for high beam use...again I'm just guessing this and not sure. Also raises the question would it need to be wired differently for the cutoff shield if this is the case

[Dee_82]

the pattern is fine, pretty good solid across the horizontal, the kick to the left is good

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\_______ \________

light intensity is good, in fact id be happy to install those fake xenons that just filter out the yellow an reducing overall output as I think it´'ll keep it bright enough.

only thing I have to complain about Is there is some prism effect on the cut off, its not much, but slightly visible, probably because the optics are not perfect, but im more than happy with them. they do the job well, the high beams are as good as OEM with similar patterns.

[Dave_TDCI]

I decided to order a pair anyway and opted for the same ones as yourself so looking forward to them arriving now. It's H7 in low beam and H1 in full same as original yeah?

By that prism effect do you mean a purple or bluish line at the very top of the beam pattern?...That seems to be common in a lot of projector headlights, I've had that effect on previous cars and I actually quite like it

[Dee_82]

that's the ones, its probably just the nature of refracting light through a lens that creates it and is probably visible on all but the most perfect lenses, but as I said, its fine, I like them but if you were after perfection then it is a tad shy on that front. the side lights are fine for evening / morning use but they make the yellow bulbs look even more yellow which is a shame, definitely need to replace the bulbs. Not sure I can be bothered with going through the hassle of installing HIDs though, how did you (are you) going about yours?

[Dave_TDCI]

I already have a HID Kit but I won't install it on my current standard focus lights as they give off far too much glare in a reflector housing.

I've bought aftermarket projector headlamps for previous cars I've owned and with the HID's they give off great light and aren't blinding towards other drivers (provided they are correctly levelled).

They are very easy to install, will only take me 5mins altogether in the focus.

I currently have 4300K bulbs which I will use but planning to upgrade to these ones http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/bulbs/morimoto-xb35-h7-bulbs.html#.VFjp1fmsWSo

which are ment to be possibly the best aftermarket HID bulbs that can be bought.

Getting a 4300K or 5000K bulb will give you a very OEM look and also give you the most lumens, once you go over 5000K the bulb brightness starts to drop off as the colour temperature rises.

I'll post pictures when I have it all set up :)

[Dee_82]

cool, the legalities though seem to be all over the place, must be e marked bulbs which cant be checked as they cant dismantle, MOT guide says they may have auto levelling and washers, and state if they are available and not working its a fail. IF they are available.

So from what I gather, if you have reflectors and HIDs your probably screwed as its unlikely it will pass the pattern tests. But if you have projectors or good reflectors your probably all good if it passes the same pattern test. IF you have levelling and washers assuming they are working your fine, if they aren't then its a fail. that's as clear as mud, does that mean if you don't have them your OK as long as it doesn't blind folk...

probably been asked a million times but it all seems a bit of a mess if you ask me.

[Dave_TDCI]

The legalities here in Ireland don't seem to be straight forward either. There are hundreds of cars going around with blinding HID's in reflector headlamps and I've never heard of anyone been stopped by the guards. That being said there could be a law but it might not often be enforced.

I do know in the NCT which is our equivalent to the MOT the laws were changed last year which ment in order to pass with HID's they need the auto levelling and headlamp washers.

My car is NCT'd for two years so when it comes to time I think I'll simply just put in the standard halogen bulbs for the test. It might still pass with the HID's but why risk it.

You wouldn't have a hope of passing with hid's in reflectors however as it's impossible to align the beam correctly

[Dee_82]

sounds as good a plan as any, personally, if they don't blind folk then whats the problem. washers are a joke any way and auto levelling from what ive seen isn't perfect either.

be interesting to see how you get on with this, maybe add it to the list!

[Dave_TDCI]

Headlamps arrived yesterday and installed them.

As you said Dee_82 the leds aren't all that bright, can be seem at night or evening but wouldn't see them from much of a distance during the day.

I installed a 4300K HID Kit in them and in comparison to the original headlights they are far superior.

Before I put in the projector headlamps I installed the HID Kit to see what it was like, in the reflector lights it didn't give the beam much throw and light pattern was very patchy. With the new projectors the light is distributed evenly and it throws the light almost twice the distance of the original headlamps,really lighting up the road.

Very happy with them :)

[Dee_82]

ah that's good to hear :)

I considered modding the side lights to act as DRLs and dim when side side lights are turned on, the only problem is they LEDs were already bumped from 12 to 19v, I doubt they would take much more punishment then that so I scrapped the plan and went for broke on the fog DRLs, apart from the slight miss match in colour, they are great! just need to get some silver bulbs for the fronts indicators now!

how much effort would be involved in swapping out the HIDs for regular halogens for an MOT?

[Dave_TDCI]

Yeah installing the LED DRL fog bumpers will be one of my next projects, think they would match nicely with the led headlights. Did you bump up the power from 12v to 19v yourself?

I have already replaced the fog lamp units themselves with aftermarket led fog lamps and they give off far more light and again aren't blinding.

Changing the HID back to halogens for the MOT/ NCT is only a ten minute job at most. Easiest way to do it is to remove the headlamps themselves. On the aftermarket lamps the bulb is held in with a wire clip, the HID bulb is also able to fit in place with this clip.

When the weather dries up in the next few days I'll make a guide for doing this if your interested

[Dee_82]

no they come pre modded, if you look at the base of the head lamp there is a small box screwed on to the bottom, that's a wee step up transformer, they did what I was planning on doing, cept I was going to take it further with some auto dimming etc but it seems the LEDs are simply not good enough, getting inside the lamps looks a pain in the AR$E too, so would be a job an a half to refit them with something better.

The Fog DRLs are amazing, at night in a street lamp lit area its all to easy to forget you don't have head lights on such is the spread of the light, but they would blind the buggery out of anyone in front of you so Dimming with side lights needs to be done, even then they are pretty bright still, definitely comparable to the likes of BMW and Audis dipped DRLs, only down side is they are not an exact match on the head lamp LEDs, not to noticeable when you face them, but with reflections you can see a difference.

aye a guide an some pics would be really handy, ive got some pics of my fog DRL install somewhere should you get some