Fiesta Mk7.5 Titanium-X LED Stop/Tail bulbs

[Dazza993]

Hello all,

So I've purchased a 2014 (64 plate) Titanium-X Mk7.5 for our daughter and one of the first things I want to change is the ancillary bulbs for LED equivalents.
I'm planning on buying a range of AutoBeam bulbs for indicators, reversing lights, number plate lights etc. (not doing headlights just yet).

Looking at the AutoBeam site there's 2 types of brake & tail lights.  A 380 version (double contact) and a 382 version (single contact) - yet both are listed for the MK7.5

Now I could wait till the car turns up next week, but ideally I'd like to order the bulbs this week so they're here when the car is delivered.
Does anyone know with certainty whether a 64 plate Titanium-X 5-door will have the 380 or 382 bulbs - or am I just going to have to wait and check the car itself.

From what I can see on the AutoBeam website there's also a 382 rear fog light.  Does this at all differ from the 382 brake/tail light ?

I was also considering the  number plate unit rather then simply replacing the bulbs but the existing holders look like they're rubberised so I'd expect they seal the recessed in the boot panel quite well to stop any water ingress.  Has anyone fitted the AutoBeam number plate units - are they a decent fit or are there any rubber seals to keep water out?

[liamstears]

Autobeam bulbs are extremely overpriced, don't get me wrong you can't knock the quality or the customer service but it's a shame the prices are so high, also their website can be misleading as none of the prices include VAT.

I would recommend checking out Auxito bulbs on eBay, I currently am swapping to them and have some interior bulbs and indicator bulbs from them and the quality is excellent (and they are much more reasonably priced)

Rear bulbs differ depending on which light unit is installed. There is a standard set of rear lights that use all bulbs and that requires the double contact bulb and there's an led set of rear lights which again use all bulbs apart from normal rear lights which are led and are clear to see by the distinct straight lines in the casing, these require the single filament rear brake bulb.

LED number plate lights I use the autobeam ones myself, these are something you can't cheap out on, I've had cheap ones off eBay and they go brittle and break eventually, the autobeam ones are a good solid sealed unit and I've had no trouble with them at all. Because of the way they fit though you will have the contacts in the bulb holder just loose behind the unit and you will end up with water in the contacts if you don't protect them, easiest thing to do is when you fit them and checked they are working just wrap the connection up in some electrical tape and get a nice seal to keep the water out 👍🏻

[Dazza993]

Thanks for the feedback @liamstears - good catch about the VAT on the AutoBeam website, I hadn't spotted that.

I guess it makes sense for me to maybe wait for the car to turn up and check the brake/tail lights first.  I'll also have a look at the Auxito bulbs you mention.  I think I'll still get some AutoBeam products though - such as the number plate units, the replacement boot light unit and the scrolling indicators for the wing mirrors - which seems to be the best I've seen.

Cheers

[DG97]

To be fair, Autobeam stuff is quite good quality and the service is good too. 
I do think some of their products are way overpriced though, especially when you factor in VAT which they conveniently add on via checkout. 
seems very common practice, especially in the automotive world, to list the non-vat price then add it on - presumably for trade etc but when buying light bulbs, come one stick the full price up. With the VAT added on, IMO their products do become too expensive to consider

[Dazza993]

I think I'm going to do a mix & match of the AutoBeam vs. Auxito bulbs.

For example - a pair of reversing light (955 / W16W) bulbs are £18 + VAT from AutoBeam compared to £5.49 for the Auxito ones from eBay - with free P&P

I think for interior lights I'll also go with the Auxito ones, but for the scrolling/sequential Audi-esque wing mirror lenses, plus the number plate & boot lights I'll go for AutoBeam.

 

[liamstears]

3 minutes ago, Dazza993 said:

I think I'm going to do a mix & match of the AutoBeam vs. Auxito bulbs.

For example - a pair of reversing light (955 / W16W) bulbs are £18 + VAT from AutoBeam compared to £5.49 for the Auxito ones from eBay - with free P&P

I think for interior lights I'll also go with the Auxito ones, but for the scrolling/sequential Audi-esque wing mirror lenses, plus the number plate & boot lights I'll go for AutoBeam.

 

I think those are some pretty solid choices 👍🏻

Good luck hope the car is what you wanted and if not checked already I recommend checking the turbo pipes for rust 👍🏻

[Dazza993]

Thanks @liamstears - It seems a nice car.  Two owners, only 34k miles and it's Titanium-X but with the dress up kit which really sets off the car.  I'd been looking at ST_Lines or Zetec S' but I really wanted parking sensors and powerfold mirrors on those and most car local to me didn't have those - esp. in my price bracket.  Thankfully the TX has those and more.  I've become very accustomed to a rear camera on my car, so having that is going to help me more than anything.

I did check the turbo pipes for rust - yes there's a tad of surface corrosion on the bend in the pipe but it doesn't seem bad and where the pipe connects to the hose seems clean and rust free.  It has a full service history and a clean set of MOTs (no advisories etc.) too.

To be honest I think I'm getting more excited about the car than my daughter.  I have a relatively new, well specc'd BMW X3 so there's nothing much to do apart from a weekly wash - so I'm really looking forward to getting a car where I can tweak and upgrade aspects of the car without breaking the bank. Looking forward to a couple of days next  week sorting the paint work (touching up stone chips, machine polishings & ceramic coating).  Takes me back to my youth then I used to upgrading / improving aspects of my early cars.

If anyone can recommend other mods that won't impact the insure (so no performance related ones) then do let me know.  A gas bonnet strut seems like a sensible choice for one.

I'm probably going to need some new floor mats - so if anyone can recommend a decent set, less than the £90 that Ford want for their velour ones - nice as they are, then I'm open to recommendations.

[liamstears]

2 minutes ago, Dazza993 said:

Thanks @liamstears - It seems a nice car.  Two owners, only 34k miles and it's Titanium-X but with the dress up kit which really sets off the car.  I'd been looking at ST_Lines or Zetec S' but I really wanted parking sensors and powerfold mirrors on those and most car local to me didn't have those - esp. in my price bracket.  Thankfully the TX has those and more.  I've become very accustomed to a rear camera on my car, so having that is going to help me more than anything.

I did check the turbo pipes for rust - yes there's a tad of surface corrosion on the bend in the pipe but it doesn't seem bad and where the pipe connects to the hose seems clean and rust free.  It has a full service history and a clean set of MOTs (no advisories etc.) too.

To be honest I think I'm getting more excited about the car than my daughter.  I have a relatively new, well specc'd BMW X3 so there's nothing much to do apart from a weekly wash - so I'm really looking forward to getting a car where I can tweak and upgrade aspects of the car without breaking the bank. Looking forward to a couple of days next  week sorting the paint work (touching up stone chips, machine polishings & ceramic coating).  Takes me back to my youth then I used to upgrading / improving aspects of my early cars.

If anyone can recommend other mods that won't impact the insure (so no performance related ones) then do let me know.  A gas bonnet strut seems like a sensible choice for one.

I'm probably going to need some new floor mats - so if anyone can recommend a decent set, less than the £90 that Ford want for their velour ones - nice as they are, then I'm open to recommendations.

Nice 👍🏻

Still get those turbo pipes sanded off n covered with a decent high temp paint, you don't want those rusting through

Mods:

Change front grille to honeycomb type

Head unit upgrades (Sat Nav?)

Reverse camera

Paint wheel centre caps to match care colour (check my threads out for this one)

Gel overlays on badges

Shorter aerial (look on the forum and only use the genuine ford one, richbrook etc are not good for reception)

Floor mats can be had on eBay, I think it's about £25 for a standard set and £35 for the velour set

If I think of anything else I'll add to this post

[Dazza993]

Being a Titanium-X it already has the Sony DAB/SatNav head unit and a reversing camera.
I quite like the chrome grill - as it matches the chrome belt line trim along the side and on the rear tailgate.

Good call about the aerial I hadn't realised how long the stock one is.
I'll investigate the other suggestions too.

[fleamoo]

Good luck with the new car. Just a quick heads up that you might have to swap the exterior bulbs back to original for the MOT.

[liamstears]

5 minutes ago, fleamoo said:

Good luck with the new car. Just a quick heads up that you might have to swap the exterior bulbs back to original for the MOT.

I've had no issues with bulbs so far, I use LED completely, I have no incandescent bulbs on my car at all and I've had no issues going through an MOT even at a Ford Dealer 👍🏻

[fleamoo]

That's good news Liam! might get a set for the wife's Passat which has a total of 8 rear side light bulbs which can be a significant drain on an elderly battery if left on all day accidentally, as I found out to my cost! Should add this is a 2003 era Passat not a newer one. God knows why VW chose to fit so many.

[Dazza993]

I thought that some LED headlight bulbs could cause MOT failures due to having too high a colour temp.  Some are 6000k and I thought I'd read somewhere there was a legal maximum (4800 or 5500k) ?

I wasn't planning on changing headlights (main or dipped) or foglights just yet - or maybe replace with better halogens (Philips X-treme Vision or similar)

I would hate to think I'd have to change LED indicator, reverse, brake/tail and fog lights back to halogens just for an MOT

[liamstears]

10 minutes ago, Dazza993 said:

I thought that some LED headlight bulbs could cause MOT failures due to having too high a colour temp.  Some are 6000k and I thought I'd read somewhere there was a legal maximum (4800 or 5500k) ?

I wasn't planning on changing headlights (main or dipped) or foglights just yet - or maybe replace with better halogens (Philips X-treme Vision or similar)

I would hate to think I'd have to change LED indicator, reverse, brake/tail and fog lights back to halogens just for an MOT

There is a lot of misconception on LED but I will share some things which are facts

Colour temperature, fact - cars are manufactured with LED Bulbs at 6000k

LED rear lights and indicators, fact - cars are manufactured with them

I have never seen anything definitive in documentation about an MOT which would specifically say a retrofit LED light would fail an MOT, indicators in an MOT basically say if fitted they need to work.

Another fact is that "MOST" MOT testers just check that a bulb is working, they don't take the time to check what type of bulb it is or whether that type of bulb is factory fit to the vehicle, to be fair they don't really have time.

Face - Low beam headlights if LED must be in a projector lens (ours are projector lenses)

Hope this post is helpful

 

EDIT: Found this well written article which give some information that is useful: https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/are-led-headlights-legal-in-the-uk/#mot

To sum up that article LED Bulbs are technically not road legal BUT should pass an MOT without issue.