2015 Mondeo Headlights

[Jonro2009]

Hi wcy971

Welcome to the forum. Yes, the lights are laughable and quite honestly Ford have obviously made a right mess of the lenses as the upgraded bulbs do little to enhance the actual usable light output. I can't figure out if it's the projectors or the way the beam pattern is but it's just not right. My wife has a 2016 fiesta tit with standard bulbs and on dipped they perform better than my mondeo on high beam.

If you have halogen DRLs then you need 2x H7 for your dipped and 2x H15 for the main beam/DRL it's a dual filament bulb. If you have LED DRLs then it's 4x H7. If you are doing the front bulbs then I would recommend you change the side lights too, if you put upgraded bulbs in the dipped then quite often you will notice an obvious colour difference between the two. I suggest a decent w5w bulb with an output equivalent to 6000K, don't get actual blue bulbs though. I have experimented with bulbs a lot in the past ian different cars and found night breakers to be good bulbs but they have a poor life span and tend to fail much sooner than most upgraded bulbs. Ive gone with these https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NMEEV9W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_-i8vybA3VY2Z2 and then these https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DWJJYX0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_Ck8vyb12K23NR I've had both sets in since Feb and they are still fine. I believe the OEM bulbs I removed were Bosch. If you are able to take the bumper off yourself then I'd recommend trying an HID upgrade kit, I think that's the only way to get a proper light that you can use but don't be tempted to use a cheap Chinese kit.

These are just my own preferences, others may have different setups that they feel are best but this suits me.

Jon


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[Proz]

How much space is there inside the actual light unit ... I would like to try the led option I tried in the Vauxhall. But the bulbs are a bit longer and I would like to find out if there would be room before buying the kits

I have tried nightbreakers in the past but they blew after 3 months .... Philips extreme as well but halogen bulbs just don't cut it.

Best halogen bulbs ive ever used were Mtec's but these led units look good.

When I had the led in my Vx the difference was amazing....beam pattern was spot on and crisp.

Not cheap but I'm tempted to stick them in the Mondeo.

http://www.horizonleds.co.uk/headlamp-cree-led

[Jonro2009]

Proz

That's interesting that you favour the LED kits over HID. In my limited experience I have found the LED units to boast a brighter light but in practice I have found there is less 'usable' light on the road. The reach seems to be less than a HID Kit. As for legalities it really is grey but I'm sure once LED after market kits become more popular the wording for MOT testing will change to something more in line with the vague ambiguous wording for HID kits. I'm sorry but I don't have any pictures of the units as I didn't fit the bulbs, I had to pay a garage to do it for me because I can't take the bumper off myself. That's a ridiculous idea in itself, how can you change a bulb at the roadside? The dealers charge you £150 to remove and replace the bumper! I don't know if there would be much space for everything inside the unit itself, however aren't the actual units pretty well hidden due to lack of space? I guess you would have to get a slim CANBUS driver/ballast, the fan is quite large on a lot of the LED Bulbs I have seen. Do you have any pics of your vx with the LED units? Showing the lights on.

Jon


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[Proz]

4 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

Proz

That's interesting that you favour the LED kits over HID. In my limited experience I have found the LED units to boast a brighter light but in practice I have found there is less 'usable' light on the road. The reach seems to be less than a HID kit. As for legalities it really is grey but I'm sure once LED after market kits become more popular the wording for MOT testing will change to something more in line with the vague ambiguous wording for HID kits. I'm sorry but I don't have any pictures of the units as I didn't fit the bulbs, I had to pay a garage to do it for me because I can't take the bumper off myself. That's a ridiculous idea in itself, how can you change a bulb at the roadside? The dealers charge you £150 to remove and replace the bumper! I don't know if there would be much space for everything inside the unit itself, however aren't the actual units pretty well hidden due to lack of space? I guess you would have to get a slim CANBUS driver/ballast, the fan is quite large on a lot of the LED bulbs I have seen. Do you have any pics of your vx with the LED units? Showing the lights on.

Jon


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I'll see if I can dig out some pics of them in the Vauxhall .

[Jonro2009]

Proz, I've not used that site before. The kits look interesting, they're certainly not cheap kits and I like the reversible base on the H7 kit, could be the difference between fitting and not. I think that I have come up with a solution that would be unarguably the most effective.

http://www.horizonleds.co.uk/cree-led-work-lamps/cree-led-light-bars-off-road/10-inch-cree-led-light-bar-off-road/50w-cree-led-off-road-led-light-bar-10-inch


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[Proz]

Not the best pics but here are the Philips Luminex ... this was inside a well lit garage with the door down to see beam pattern.

Standard Vauxhall Insignia halogen headlights . I should have taken a pic with one led in one side and the halogen in the other to show the difference but never thought about it at the time.

[Jonro2009]

Not the best pics but here are the Philips Luminex ... this was inside a well lit garage with the door down to see beam pattern.
Standard Vauxhall Insignia halogen headlights . I should have taken a pic with one led in one side and the halogen in the other to show the difference but never thought about it at the time.

That's great thanks. Is the second picture of the lights working showing high beam on?


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[Proz]

Yeah the last picture must be the full beam on ..... I had led in my fogs as well but I'm 99% sure that would have been the full beam.

The cap on the Vauxhalls bulb access was quite large and did allow everything to sit inside the unit ... Just though lol

[Jonro2009]

The beam has a well defined kick which is better than my experience with the kits. It's just the space issue that gets me too, but I think that will get better as the manufacturers will most likely build bigger units as standard now.

Looking at the site you linked to I have looked at the H7 fast start 35w HID Kit, it looks a good kit and the fast start technology should be good, I think lol. Have you any experience with their kits and after sales etc?


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[Proz]

1 hour ago, Jonro2009 said:

The beam has a well defined kick which is better than my experience with the kits. It's just the space issue that gets me too, but I think that will get better as the manufacturers will most likely build bigger units as standard now.

Looking at the site you linked to I have looked at the H7 fast start 35w HID kit, it looks a good kit and the fast start technology should be good, I think lol. Have you any experience with their kits and after sales etc?


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I've not had any other experience with them other than buying the led kits.

I took them out of the VX and sold them separately before trading in the car

[Jonro2009]

I'm actually really looking forward to getting the car, warts and all!
the test drive I had was great, I don't understand some of the criticism of the steering.  I found it really well weighted and responsive.
Im getting the Econetic with its silly little alloys, however I also believe it's got the sports suspension, any experience of this?
Lat

Sorry, got carried away talking about the lights and forgot about your suspension question. I've got 16s with standard susp and find the ride to be pretty good, possibly a bit 'wollowy' round bends at speeds that are neither fast nor slow if that makes sense? At normal speeds it feels comfortable and when you're pressing on it feels pretty tight, in between that it doesn't have any feeling really. Can't explain it very well. The ride is smooth over bumps too.
There is a susp thread and there is some decent info on that, some say that the 16s with sport suspension is the best of both worlds.


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[Jonro2009]

I've not had any other experience with them other than buying the led kits.
I took them out of the VX and sold them separately before trading in the car

So the products are decent enough?


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[The Latman]

12 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

 

Sorry, got carried away talking about the lights and forgot about your suspension question. I've got 16s with standard susp and find the ride to be pretty good, possibly a bit 'wollowy' round bends at speeds that are neither fast nor slow if that makes sense? At normal speeds it feels comfortable and when you're pressing on it feels pretty tight, in between that it doesn't have any feeling really. Can't explain it very well. The ride is smooth over bumps too.
There is a susp thread and there is some decent info on that, some say that the 16s with sport suspension is the best of both worlds.


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Thanks dude!

Interesting to see if the lights can be improved significantly.

[Proz]

23 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

 

 

 

 

So the products are decent enough?


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Seemed good stuff to me ... they were Philips Luminex so must have been ok . Never had any problems with them till I got rid of the car.

I've sent them a message to see if the "Fast Start " hid would be suitable for the main beam.

If its an instant full light it just may be fine.... failing that I'll be looking at the led's again.

[Jonro2009]

Normal HID upgrades are no use at all for high beam because of the startup time so I would be interested to see if the 'fast start' is any good for that, if you could keep me posted I would appreciate it. I'm also very wary, as in past kits I know they don't like to be flicked on and off for flashing etc. not sure if the same would apply to these new sets


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[Proz]

18 hours ago, Jonro2009 said:

Normal HID upgrades are no use at all for high beam because of the startup time so I would be interested to see if the 'fast start' is any good for that, if you could keep me posted I would appreciate it. I'm also very wary, as in past kits I know they don't like to be flicked on and off for flashing etc. not sure if the same would apply to these new sets


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Ive had a reply but all it said was "Yes they are suitable for full beam".... I may do a bit of research or maybe a phone call to them to ask about the flash etc

[Jonro2009]

Ive had a reply but all it said was "Yes they are suitable for full beam".... I may do a bit of research or maybe a phone call to them to ask about the flash etc

Companies are always very non committal with their new products. I wouldn't be able to get them for the high beam in my car as they are H15 bulbs and there are no kits out there for that figment.
I'm toying wi idea of checking around the scrappies to see if there are any mk5's getting scrapped with rear/side damage with the xenon units without bulbs so I can just pop a kit in that way. Do you think that would work? I would have to play around with the cars wiring as the DRLs would then be separate to the high beam. I'm pretty sure an auto elec could do that with out much problem.


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[Proz]

I don't want to meddle with the cars wiring ... I may go for HID Kit for dipped and led for the main / drl .

There are H15 leds apparently but would be worth more investigation.

So if I have halogen DRL do I need H7 for dipped beam and H15 for the DRL/ Main beam ??

[Jonro2009]

Yes, if you have the halogens you need an H7 and an H15 plus w5w for the sides.

I would be interested in seeing what an H15 LED kit would be like, it would solve a lot of problems if it was any good. If it was I would go down the same route as you say, he reason I thought about new units was because I wouldn't be able to change the H15 bulbs to match HID in the dipped but LED would solve that and would then give me LED DRLs too. If you look in to it further please let me know, could be an option


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[wcy971]

Hi  Jon thanks for taking the time to respond to my question so comprehensively and i have read with interest your discussion with Mark, it seems that its still an ongoing topic and one that i will watch with interest, I dont think I will be changing my lights until the spring, so i do have a fair bit of time to do some further research. Are hid upgrades illegal forthe uk? And if so are there any particular makes that are better quality as i really only want to do this the once, but equally in a couple of years time i dont want the car to fail its first mot! 

Regards Andy.

[Jonro2009]

Hi Andy, no problem. I will be seeking out and speaking to an auto electrician over the next month or so about fitting a kit. As I said, I would do it myself but after breaking my back I am not able to remove the bumper myself. I've always used kits from www.car-mod-shop.co.uk but others have used kits by London Colour, over on the Skoda forum they love London Colour, personally I prefer Car Mod Shop. Ive never had a dodgy kit and when I first started out on my WR Megane many years ago they talked me through the fitting over the phone. I would recommend a colour temp of 5000K if you want pure white light which is close to daytime driving or 6000K if you want a very slight blue tinge like BMW and Audi etc. I've always gone for 6 but will be going for 5 this time purely because I want to see the difference. I would recommend slim CANBUS pro ballasts as they are easier to place and 35W not 55W as the difference is minimal between the 2 and the lenses and cars wiring harnesses may not be up to it.

Legality, there lies a very grey area. People go on about needing self levelling and washers if you have HID, in truth the MOT regs state that 'where present' they must be in working order. Which means they don't have to be present, it's subjective and ambiguous. As long as the beam pattern meets the standard you're golden. Plus, if you are able to hide the ballasts in the light housing themselves then a tester would have to be able to prove you had changed things around, and as they are not allowed to remove things (lens covers) during testing there would be no proof.

As long as there is a well defined cut off on the projection and the 'kick' sends the light the correct way and there is no 'scatter' then no one would worry. The one thing I would always say is never fit a kit in a reflector lens or when used for full beam. It's also my own personal preference to not fit them in the fog lights, you don't need your fogs to match in colour wise as they should only be used in fog.

After I have fitted a kit I have always taken my car to a local garage with a resting bay and had them set the beam correctly, they usually don't charge and are grateful for some beer tokens.

Sorry for the long post

EDIT: link for London colour http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XENON-HID-CONVERSION-KIT-H1-H3-H7-H9-H11-HB3-HB4-9006-/330379335700

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[wcy971]

Hi  Jon thanks for taking the time to respond to my question so comprehensively and i have read with interest your discussion with Mark, it seems that its still an ongoing topic and one that i will watch with interest, I dont think I will be changing my lights until the spring, so i do have a fair bit of time to do some further research. Are hid upgrades illegal forthe uk? And if so are there any particular makes that are better quality as i really only want to do this the once, but equally in a couple of years time i dont want the car to fail its first mot! 

Regards Andy.

Hi Jon, thanks again for your advice, i will have a look at your link and go from there. Excuse me for probably asking a stupid question but on the legal side of things why do you need self leveling and washers of you fit HID is that self leveling suspension and head lamp washers?

Thanks Andy.

[Jonro2009]

Hi Andy

Sorry for the late reply. Yes it is lamp washers and self levelling suspension. I'm not sure why the washers are part of the requirements, I've always found them to be of little benefit TBH. The self levelling suspension is self explanatory, sorts the beam out if the car is fully loaded or on a rough road, although I'm not sure why these bulbs need it and halogens don't.


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[tompka]

Hi All,

 

Sorry for late reply, been working away a lot so haven't had the chance to get online and give an update.

Plus side to this is, I've had a few weeks of driving with the "adjusted headlights".

When the headlights were adjusted I also swapped the bulbs to brighter ones just to see if any difference was made.

The garage told me that the headlights were out of alignment in accordance with the MOT specification, so they were adjusted accordingly.

I noticed the difference straight away, however it still wasn't as bright as it should be...Having 2 other cars in my household I compared them against the Mondeo, one does have HIDs and the other Halogen, but both were brighter and shone further than the Mondeo.

I was driving back from London to Birmingham then to Newcastle yesterday and noticed I couldn't see the road. This was the same as when I first noticed the issue. I started having to guess where the lines were, and sit behind other cars to follow them.

The car clearly has some sort of defect within the headlights, I'm not sure if the manual adjusters aren't secure enough or if the headlights do not provide enough power to make the bulbs as bright as they should be through a projector lense. I was tempted with an HID upgrade, but knocked that one on the head, I'm thinking of going down the LED retrofit kit instead, brighter than HID's and roughly the same price off eBay with no additional work to add.

I've booked it into a Jennings garage on Monday to have them look at it and see if they can locate the fault and fix it.