Hi all. Not long purchased a 2012 focus titanium x with bi xenon headlights. Live in the country side so not many  street lights and noticed my headlights wasn't good at all so just purchased a set of osram nightbreaker laser xenarc in the hope they would brighten the road up a bit but no, I can see the trees and hedges at side of road fine but the beam on the road is shocking. I know it sounds like a alignment problem but I've tried adjusting them every which way. Max up and down an left an right with no joy. Also the beam pattern when against a wall doesn't look right. From what ive seen it s meant to be a straight cut off with a step down to the right but mine curls up each side from each beam .

I must be doing something wrong but what ? 

Its driving me mad. If I could see that is  .

Any help please. Thank you in advance

the xenons on my titanium x 2013 model are also in my opion crap. very bright but cant drive fast as cant see the road up in front. normal h7 bulbs seem to be better

Xenons have a very different beam pattern and much sharper cut-off than halogens. This means a wider and more consistent spread, but very little illumination above the cut-off.

From the description it sounds like your beam pattern is ok. Mine are as you describe, and don't illuminate the road that far when I'm driving in the countryside. Aftermarket bulbs will change the light colour or give you brighter light, but won't do much for the throw - i.e., it won't add much extra distance to the beam.

Main beam is a different story...

Michael you say the beam doesn't light up road ahead. Does yours have sharp cut off as erictcleric mentions.? Because mine isn't sharp at all. The beam pattern is all over the place.  No wide spread  or throw, just shards of light everywhere with a great dark patch in middle of road. The side of the road is lit up more than in front. And I've put in supposedly the best bulb on the market, the osram nightbreaker laser xenarc!

It will light up the sides, but should be a fairly even spread without big dark patches in the lit area. I would check the bulb has gone in correctly. If it's wonky then you can get uneven lighting. 

rob. i really cant say.  reason im too busy trying to see the road to notice the cut off points etc etc.  mine also seem to light up to the side of the road and pavements pretty gud.  and the lights when turning corners pretty gud.  the high beam when on in conjunction with the xenons are awesome.  i get cars miles ahead fladhing me up.  but xenons on their own are pretty hopeless in my opi ion. some people say change them coz the lifespan isnt that ling  but iv seen posts from others who have say it made no difference. i do a lot of nightime driving and im happier following someone else. iv had other cars with xenons nxt to me and iv looked at their beam and im sure they are better than mine.  mayb its just the way they r.  hopeless is my answer. 

Well may I say thank you to all here. 3 times I took out the bulb and refitted it. I would insert it twist till it seemed to seat then tightened ring. But alas it must have been slightly twisted wrong way. Surely would have thought there would be a guide pin or something so cant be misaligned.   any way it's done and what a difference. After the originals these osrams are literally like night and day.

So Michael I can recommend the osrams. 

I've also adjusted them up slightly so they throw a bit further down the road an nines been flashing me yet so not too high as to blind others.

Thank you all again.

Good to hear it's sorted. 

Re: comparison with other cars. The Focus headlights aren't great, but I've seen worse. Lighting technology has moved on in the last few years though, so comparing them to newer cars isn't much of a contest! 

rob. thankyou.  nice to get an honest opinion. i shall indeed try the osram xenarc??.were they a job to fit.  did you have to remove headjamp units  or if not other bits.   

You do have to remove the headlights,  but that is easy enough 2 screws either end of headlight.  The hardest part is undoing the ring holding the light in. Theres not a lot of room to get your fingers in there. Then once out the plastic ring pulls up off the light although this can be stiff to get off.  Then once new light fitted and ring locked in . As to not make same mistake I made . Park in front of a wall or fence , turn lights on and make sure you get the sharp horizontal cut off with the step down. If not aand you have a curved v shape cut off then the grab the ballast and twist in the housing till you get the flat cut off. 

Then as I keep doing dont forget to fit the rubber dust cap .

Also as you were saying your throw wasnt very far you could also adjust lights up slightly while your there. It's the white hex nut looking at you if looking from top down. Watch your cut off against the wall / fence and 1 full turn will move it up quite a bit.

What precautions are needed to change xenon bulbs safely? The ford manual contains the following warning: Have Xenon bulbs changed by a trained technician. There is a risk of electric shock. There must be some safety rules to follow to avoid getting zapped.

As with all bulbs, dont touch the glass an turn off your lights an ignition. I have never disconnected battery to change a bulb. An to be fair to get mine to seat properly I had the lights on so I could see the cut off. So cant see much risk of getting zapped . 

rob. i see the hexagonal adjusters on both lamps. do u screw them clockwise(down )or anti clockwise(up) to raise the beam slightly so it shines a bit further in front of the car

Sorry Michael I cant for the life of me remember. If you have a wall to park in front of It is quite obvious as soon as you start adjusting which way is which. Then just count the turns you make an do both same. 

Sorry couldn't be more help.

I want to change mine too. Do you have a link of the bulbs your bought? 

https://www.hids4u.co.uk/d3s-osram-night-breaker-laser-xenarc-200-35w-pair.html

Cheaper on ebay

Hey folks which ones do i need for my 2015 plate focus ? confused with these bulbs https://xenons4u.co.uk/hid-d3s-xenon-bulbs.html or https://xenons4u.co.uk/hid-d1s-xenon-bulbs.html? by the way what is difference between them ? to me it looks like the same LOL

D3S for the European Focus.