2016 Mk3 Titanium X Headlight Upgrade

[Pooh]

Hi everyone.

Just got my 2016 1.5 Eco boost Focus and am very happy with it in general. Really nice car to drive with only 18K on the clock. I'm enjoying discovering the various toys in the car. Wil need to look at getting a Sync3 upgrade at some point I think.

Headlights are a bit pants though and I was wondering what the best options were to upgrade the main and dipped beams.

I did have a trawl through the sticky Focus bulbs thread but couldn't really find the answer.

I did a bit of looking around and found these https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h1-hid-conversion-kit/?finder_tab=abd_hid

Does it complicate matters because it has the adpaptive headlights ?

Just trying trying to tap into the huge knowledge base in the forum and see what are the best options for upgrading the bulbs.

Many Thanks

[karlbbb]

The TitX has bi-xenon headlights (which means one bulb doing dipped and high beam/flash. It's in the big black, eye-looking part of the headlight unit) so you don't need a conversion kit. You need to look at D3S bulbs, and prepare your wallet. The other bulb you see in the headlight unit is the cornering lamp. 

Be aware that the unit is regarded as "pants" as far as xenon units go, giving a lower output than most cars with xenon technology. This is likely due to cheap - or naff - reflector bowl design inside the unit, so even upgraded bulbs won't give you that much boost. If you want pure light output, have a look at the Osram XenArc Nightbreaker Laser D3S bulbs, they're about the brightest you can get. They'll be around £140 for the pair.

In mine, I went to Osram XenArc Cool Blue Intense as I wanted a whiter light from standard. There is a slight difference but they still look yellow if you compare to a car with lovely LED lights - they're not much brighter at all than stock xenons, though.

[Pooh]

Thanks karlbbb just what I was after

I did speak to a Ford dealer today, gave him my reg number and he told me that  my car used H1 bulbs.

I've ordered a set of H1 Philips  X-treme +130% set for the time being. Only £17 on amazon and see how they perform.

Not expecting miracles but as I managed to get a 3 year Ford Warranty extension at a silly knock down price I don't want to start tinkering too much with the fabric of the car.

If it's wrong I'll just send them back to amazon

[Pooh]

OK A bit more research on it.

 

Spoke to decent parts person at a Ford dealership

The main Xenon unit is as you say a D3S bulb which they charge £205 ex VAT for 😲

The one for cornering at low speed is the H1. Doesn't seem much point in upgrading that one.

Re potential replacement DS3 bulbs I've ordered a set of these at £136 for a pair. Thanks for the pointer

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XENARC-BREAKER-brightness-discharge-66340XNL-HCB/dp/B07FY78JBQ/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=51693448285&dchild=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA48j9BRC-ARIsAMQu3WQCDzh0vanUQ8JhDL1oJZIIfZuVcOi3yuVI2y-PNbjU-l2RcYMVGG4aAlR-EALw_wcB&hvadid=259057336492&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1006672&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=18161985709599071933&hvtargid=kwd-302330005588&hydadcr=9531_1775468&keywords=d3s+bulbs&qid=1605538412&sr=8-5&tag=googhydr-21. 

 

[erictcleric]

The Lasers you linked to are definitely better, but don't expect miracles. That said they were better than the stock when I had a Focus. 

[karlbbb]

46 minutes ago, Pooh said:

Thanks karlbbb just what I was after

I did speak to a Ford dealer today, gave him my reg number and he told me that  my car used H1 bulbs.

I've ordered a set of H1 Philips  X-treme +130% set for the time being. Only £17 on Amazon and see how they perform.

Not expecting miracles but as I managed to get a 3 year Ford Warranty extension at a silly knock down price I don't want to start tinkering too much with the fabric of the car.

If it's wrong I'll just send them back to Amazon

Yea, Ford don't seem to track which cars have xenon headlights well so usually just say H1. As you've found out, you do actually have H1 bulbs in the highlight unit, but those are the cornering lamps. I'm actually thinking of upgrading mine to a "fake xenon" type of H1 (usually just a blue coating) as the bulb looks so yellow compared to the xenon part of the headlight 😆

[Pooh]

I'm working on the assumption re fitting that it's a straight swap for the OEMs.

Unscrew the headlight unit for access and just swap the bulbs.

Any landmines to watch out for, apart from not handling the bulbs.

[karlbbb]

8 minutes ago, Pooh said:

I'm working on the assumption re fitting that it's a straight swap for the OEMs.

Unscrew the headlight unit for access and just swap the bulbs.

Any landmines to watch out for, apart from not handling the bulbs.

In theory yea it's a straight swap - my OEMs were actually Osram XenArcs so it's the same manufacturer of bulb too. The thing that got me the most was the collar.

When you look in the headlight unit, you'll see the back of the xenon which is a big metal cube. Just ahead of that is a black collar, and then you'll see a silver "cone" stretching in front of that - that's the reflector unit. So, the black collar twists anti-clockwise, but the bulb and reflector unit do not move or twist when this happens - the black collar is effectively locking the bulb into place within the reflector bowl by twisting. Mine was particularly stiff and there's not much wiggle room in the back of the unit. You can move the entire assembly side-to-side very gently (this is how the adaptive part of the headlight works around bends) to give yourself a little more room. Once the bulb is out you take the black collar off the old one and put it on the new one. It's a pop-off collar which just needs a little bit of a wiggle to get off. Exactly the same both sides - be sure not to touch the glass at all. Also the cube on the back of the bulb (the ignitor) remains fairly warm for a while after use so watch those finger tips! I found it very useful to take the entire headlight unit into the house and sat it on a towel so I could twist and align it to make everything easier for myself.

[Pooh]

Perfect thanks for the tips. I was going to remove the unit for better access and the guide for fitting is much appreciated.

Got to say, first interaction on the forum and it's been a good one.

Let's see what happens but any improvement over the OEMs will be good.

[karlbbb]

No problem at all. Keep in mind the xenon bulbs could need anywhere from 10 to 40 hours of "burn-in" to reach their full potential. Don't be put off if, when you first turn them on, they look slightly dim, slightly yellow etc. 

[erictcleric]

One other tip: rubber gloves are very handy. As Karl says the retaining ring is very stiff and it's extremely difficult to turn; I found wearing rubber gloves helps with grip, plus you tend not to lose as much skin off your fingers. Take your time - once you've got one out the second one will be a lot easier as you'll be able to see how the collar fits.

[Pooh]

Thanks Gents

bulbs arrived late this afternoon so I'll have a go tomorrow.

[Pooh]

All fitted and up and running. Piece of cake to change them thanks to the tips above otherwise it would have been a right pain in the you know what.

Only took about 10 minutes per unit from taking the unit off the car to swapping the bulbs. Yes it's a bit fiddly but thanks to the instructions it was no problem. While I had the units out I removed all the rubber covers and placed the units near a radiator to dry out some condensation that had built up over the car's life.

Initial impressions, after panicking because my adaptive lenses stopped working, until I figured out I had moved the lights switch from Auto 😉 is very good. They are a lot whiter and definitely a better throw into the distance so once they burn in properly it should be a big improvement.

Overall it was worthwhile.

[michaelburrows]

iv been waiting for someone to post about changing oen existing xenons to aftermartet osrams .   iv been thinking about it for a few yrs.  but only ever seen negative replys saying dont bother    prob the reflectors burnt out etc.   well that may or may not be the case but glad youve mentio ed about noticing an improvement .   id like to see youre reply on how they differ and are they any better on dark roads.  

[Pooh]

To be fair I'm not overly bothered about the risk of burning out the reflectors, if it happens it happens I'll pick up a 2nd set to replace them. I'd rather have the best lights I can.
 

Bit awkward to go for a night test drive during the current lockdown but once I do I'll post about what difference I notice. The comments in my earlier post were based on a 2 mile run to Tesco which involves about 1 mile of country road but it's very twisty and wasn't completely dark so hard to gauge the actual throw.

[michaelburrows]

ok.  i got in touch with a company on fb that makes retrofit reflectors etc and asked about the possibility of some for my 62 plate titx. they said they are the hardest to fit.  headlamp has to be completely dismantled .said in their opinion best i could hope for was to fit the lasers as you have.  but not to expect miracles as fords lamps were really rubbish    .

[Pooh]

I've now had a chance to go for a night drive, about 40 miles. There was an amount of fog/mist and wet roads so perfect conditions for sucking up light. Bottom line is that they bulbs are definitely better but due to the crappy reflectors they are still not the best units ever. I am comparing them to my previous car which was a 4 series BMW with adaptive lights and they were pretty dam good.

The new bulbs are definitely brighter/whiter than the OEMs.

I do think that it was a worthwhile upgrade and I'll keep the OEM bulbs as spares.

[michaelburrows]

so all in all better  but not much.   shame that.  i was really hoping you would notice a great difference