Mk 2.5 Aftermarket Headlights

[Kye]

Taken the screws out and there is no getting the unit apart. It's sealed up like a goodun! Annoyingly there seems to be something inside the unit where the motor would sit. I can't work out if it is one or not. Hmmm....

Decided to just move on from the motor now.

Just put a new unit on the car and the fall of the light is quite different and improved! I only tested the right side. From about 10 feet back from my house wall, the light sits about two house bricks further up from the original and fairly in line too. I am resisting the urge to put the new ones on and run around with them.

I've got no idea how to align headlights myself (also the left headlight shines down the side of the house) so I think I'll book the car in and take the hit by getting somewhere to look at it and adjust.

[Kye]

Bit of an update on these.

I sent them back. I took them into get adjusted and there was little movement in the adjusters. The light the put out was awful, so decided not to go any further with them. A shame as it did improve the look of the front.

However.... Is it possible to install the projector lens units found on the ST and RS at all? I can imagine so in principle. My query is how it would work with the levelling. I see that the motors come installed. I don't have the suspension sensors and all that jazz though.

What I'm wondering is, would I be able to use the manual level adjust to control the beams?

Also are they easy to adjust? Can they be left on the car and adjusted? The ones I sent back were a god awful design for that.

Cheers

[salsheikh]

i dont think you can fit the St/RS lights as they have 10 pin connectors whereas we only have 7. Someone else tried in vain to do this after spending a lot of money on the project if i remember correctly.

[Dee_82]

Little curious what was so bad about then, the adjustments range from rooftops to 6 foot in from of the car, but they are a pain in the !Removed! to set I agree!

When you say the light was awful do you mean pattern or intensity? Reason I ask is I'm more then happy with mine but it might be helpful for others to know if making the same choices

[Kye]

I took them into Kwik fit (probably an error) and their MoT tester spent about 15 minutes with them . It was reported that there as little movement in each of the bulb units in any directions and the beam shape itself was not 'normal. With the way they were he said that the MoT would fail them.

It was either a load of stuff he was spouting off or they were useless (huge black spot on the right side). Not putting out decent light with the chance they might not be that adjustable (can only take his dubious word on that)and not having the time to get them sorted, I sent them back. The lack of motors was concerning as well. I often carry a fairly weighty load in the back.

So all that along side a truly awful design to adjust them. I have reverted back to the original units. If there is anything else out there that has the motors and a better method to adjust them, I'll look at that. At the moment, the potential to not be 100% right and the large amount of time needed that I don't have to put it right, has put me off.

[salsheikh]

Were the lights E marked at all?

[Kye]

They had the markings. How legit that marking is, I don't know. Likewise, I don't know how honest the MoT tester was being either. A Friday afternoon, wanting to go home.... Who knows.

I don't think you can fit the St/RS lights as they have 10 pin connectors whereas we only have 7. Someone else tried in vain to do this after spending a lot of money on the project if i remember correctly

Is that even with the wired connector having all 10 wires installed in the car?

I'd love to have projector headlights, you could see a different in light despite the funny angles (name that film), but I fear this might be a somewhat limited and potentially risky path to tread.

[salsheikh]

I'll look into the marking as i work for a type approval company and if they marked but not approved then that is naughty....

[Dee_82]

i got mine from a company called ultra auto

http://www.ultraauto.co.uk/Tabs/ProductDetail/tabid/292/_request/openpath/_cat/5_1_1_320209/Default.aspx

be interesting to know if they are at it with the e numbers though, I think it looks fine, the dipped beams ive levelled myself, "lots" of faffing around in the dark, having to take the lamps out to adjust them only to find ive not seated it back in perfectly so have to go back again. it was a real pain in the !Removed! so I could imagine someone with little patience could not be bothered to do it properly!

I still need to sort out the High beams a bit, left one still a bit too far to the right and converges in the middle at a distance, but the weather has been utterly crap, do the highs get checked on MOT for pattern and levels?

[Dave_TDCI]

I also found these lights a nightmare to align as well but they're aligned properly now thank jesus.

Unlike the factory headlights which are relatively easy to align, the screws on these seemed to take ages of turning to move the beam very slightly. The projectors definitely do give a better beam than the reflector ones though.

Think it makes a big difference to the front of the car too, looks more aggressive.

Only thing really now that is annoying me is how weak the LED's are. Very tempted on retrofitting half decent ones instead of them if I could find suitable ones

[Dee_82]

I think replacing the LEDs is straight forward enough but getting to them would be a pain in the !Removed!. The other thng is, at night you don't want them any brighter, but more of them would make it better, just looks a bit patchy an just now it looks like some shoddy eye lashes! Using them for DLRs is a lot of hassle for not much gain, easier to just pop in some drl fog surrounds.

I'm contemplating HIDs now I know they are actually legal, would match the colour of the LEDs of the drls and make it a bit brighter on the road.

[ScorpionSX]

Little off-topic, but HIDs are legal? Does this apply EU-wide? What are the conditions of using them? No more washers/auto-leveling? :O

[salsheikh]

Little off-topic, but HIDs are legal? Does this apply EU-wide? What are the conditions of using them? No more washers/auto-leveling? :O

When i contacted the DVLA they said that you dont need wadhers or levellers if they have been retro fitted. If they came factory fitted then you do. Happy Days.

[Kye]

That's the next option for me. I'd love to try the RS lights out if I can ever find a set. My connector for the lights has all 10 wires in it. Would that be a good indicator that RS projector units might work? I presume that they would fit the same way.

Edit:

Seems like the answer is yes going by this thread.

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/31747-mk2-facelift-retrofitting-bi-xenon-headlights/

Now to find some ST headlights.

[Kye]

Hello all.

Does anyone have any experience with using Xenon headlights from germany at all? I'm looking at some from over there.

http://www.ebay.de/bhp/ford-focus-xenon-scheinwerfer

Can they be configured for right hand drive?

Are they easy to align (two adjustors?)

Can they take H7 bulbs in the projector lens? These models all seem to refer to D1S (?) fittings.

Cheers

Kye

EDIT:

Found what I am after pretty much! The left hand side light is out there as well

http://www.ebay.de/itm/SCHEINWERFER-rechts-fur-FORD-FOCUS-MK2-2-08-in-SCHWARZ-KURVENLICHT-HALOGEN-LWR-/380873161082?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item58adcf397a

It's just these two questions I have now:

Can they be configured for right hand drive?

Are they easy to align (two adjustors?)

Another question.

My car is a DW10 platform (I think) while the lights I'm looking at are DA apart from the obvious RHD and LHD issues, is there anything else I would need to look out for?

[Dave_TDCI]

I'm not 100% but as far as I'm aware the headlamps need auto levelling to actually work, otherwise when you install these headlamps the beam will just aim downwards. If you ever take note of a car with factory HID's, when they turn on the headlights, the beam is original aimed straight down at the ground, then it moves up and down a bit and self aligns, without the auto levelling module this doesn't happen and the beam stays directed straight down which isn't of much use to you when driving.

As for the LHD to RHD or vice versa, I'm not sure, but from what I know it's not straight forward anyway

[Dee_82]

changing a LHD to a RHD is doable, from what ive seen about on the net there is one of two methods, one has a small bar that just needs rotating, the other has a solid plate that needs turned around.

I saw some amazing head lamps from them, but ive heard pulling them apart is a real pain in the !Removed!, people where talking about using ovans to heat them up to detach them because hair dryers and heat guns were too direct. once your in it should be easy enough but I weighed it up and decided I didn't want to blow that amount of money on something I might end up wrecking

https://www.sw-tuning.de/en/angel-eye-headlights-Ford-Focus-Mk2-08-11-CCFL-halo-rims-black::2348.html

[Kye]

I've decided I want to stick to OEM parts, or parts that use the same adjustment methods as Ford use. I'll have to email a few places in Germany and see what they say.

If they can be changed easily/ without pulling the lights apart much, I could be sorely tempted to take a chance.

A couple of listings seem to be for the adaptive headlights. I doubt I have the electronics in place to make them work but provided they can aligned and stay in place, I'm good with that. I do have a two pin connection branching off of the main headlight loom though. Interesting....

Then there is the xenon and bi-xenon thing to look into! Ideal want lights that will take H7 bulbs in the dips and then install H7 HID bulbs.

This subject has suddenly got a lot more involved than I thought it would be!

[Dee_82]

I found some cheap HIDs that look identical to all the other HID clones out there except they are a fraction of the price, for 25 quid I figured id take one for the team and see how they last, looking at the 50 - 100 quid models, they all look exactly the same, just different packaging. We shall see! :)

I spoke to a couple of places and the ones that actually bothered to get back to me said whilst its possible its not something they would do. I even suggested paying them to do it and they wouldn't which leads me to think that these are actually Far east imports, I checked them out too, they sell exactly the same type, with RHD if needed but they aren't E marked. Makes you wonder if this E marking business is all faked on after market units.

http://www.wplamps.com/Showprot.aspx?id=350

[Kye]

I'm going to see how I get on with these ones I have found in Germany. I'm applying the logic that if it is German, it will be legit. My experience with the ones I sent back has left me very wary now.

If it looks positive, great! If not then I'll keep my eyes open for some ST lights. If the price is right. Xenon headlights are chuffing expensive here! Speaking of which, can the ST lights take halogens as well?

[Dee_82]

Well heres hoping, I found dozens of mark 2 head lamps of all shapes and colours but the 2.5 is much much more limited. I cant see why but there just isn't a massive market for them. Oz sells some good 2.5 lamps as well, but the delivery chargers were huge, so much so I could justify it.

http://marsperformance.com.au/Black-DRL-LED-Projector-Head-Lights-Ford-Focus-LV-09-11

but again they all appear to be exactly the same as the german ones, which makes me thing they are all just Chinese imports

[ScorpionSX]

In my experience, all these aftermarket headlights/taillights are actually made by DEPO. I bought ones for my MK2 and they are pretty solid. I wouldn't be afraid to compare them to OEM lights.

[salsheikh]

I spoke to the guys and work and they say that sometimes the market gets flooded with Chinese copies of german approved items and this is a major issue.

if you get a good pair that work then your a lucky sod!

[Dave_TDCI]

Would you consider retrofitting aftermarket HID projectors into your original headlamps?...I've researched this quite a bit and these give off far better output than any aftermarket HID Kit in a projector headlamp. These projectors are specifically designed for HID bulbs which mean you can use OEM Osram or Philips bulbs which are far far better and brighter than any other aftermarket HIDs.

In my last car I had factory fitted HIDS, I bought a pair of Osram Nightbreaker Xenarc Unlimited for €140 (not cheap) but they were the best bulbs I have ever come across!...My light was better than almost any other car I passed with factory HIDs.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/

This site sells these projectors and anything else HID related. Th have a few good read ups and guides on their site, well worth a look!

[Dee_82]

I'll tell you once ive tried it, got a cheapy set of HIDs that look identical to some of the 100 quid ones, now im not expecting much and as you say the lens is designed for halogens but it should give me an idea of what it looks like.

If I could easily get inside them id happily DIY the whole thing but it looks a complete pain in the !Removed! and I don't want to ruin anything