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Focus MK3 bixenon poor light output, the way I fixed it.

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I have seen many people on this forum (myself included) who have been upset with the poor light output on the road of the mk3 focus bi xenons. 

so here’s how I fixed it.

Previously the lights looked lovely and bright but did nothing on road (apologies for I do not have a beam pattern picture)

2928BA7E-338F-4A3A-BD42-100A59887077.thumb.jpeg.f5a7431230fba7f81b00a1c477978285.jpeg
 

how to “fix” this issue. 
under the bonnet of your focus you can find a headlight adjustment that can be turned with an hex key.

BBBFF964-BE06-4144-884E-44DD68FFC2AF.thumb.jpeg.1a5eb0565e4e677eb43326e2d3161095.jpeg

you can turn the adjustment and watch your headlights go up and down on the wall, I positioned mine further down till they looked somewhat like this.3F2409FA-E99E-4645-B1AF-A008CA48FD38.thumb.jpeg.a97281e785141cba35def6c851d8bbf9.jpeg

and that’s it nice and simple and I was done. I found the lights projected a much better pattern on the road than they did previously.662CACF8-FB70-4012-BC00-1DB89AD05528.thumb.jpeg.8fc4caaaa5b6d0b626b49634d4139238.jpeg

This isn’t a guide as such but more of a helping hand, I find this much better for the driving I do however you are welcome to adjust yours anyway you see fit.

 

hope this helps!



sounds good, but my ancient Mk2 has a dashboard mounted headlight leveler control for adjustment. Does the Mk3 not have one?

297605684_headlightadjuster.thumb.jpg.4459d3892744fa7a796b9e2301d7e7a2.jpg

  • Author
38 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

sounds good, but my ancient Mk2 has a dashboard mounted headlight leveler control for adjustment. Does the Mk3 not have one?

297605684_headlightadjuster.thumb.jpg.4459d3892744fa7a796b9e2301d7e7a2.jpg

The MK3 has auto leveling headlights, I’m unsure if over time they slowly stop leveling properly or if they weren’t leveled correctly at factory. But as far as I know this is the only way to level them manually 

Only the MK3 with bi-xenons has auto levelling, it's a legal requirement on high output headlamps.

The Mk2 with bi-xenons should have auto levelling too.

Have you had the pattern checked? You might fail an MOT if the aim is now off. (Or they may just adjust it back)

  • Author
14 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Only the MK3 with bi-xenons has auto levelling, it's a legal requirement on high output headlamps.

The Mk2 with bi-xenons should have auto levelling too.

Have you had the pattern checked? You might fail an MOT if the aim is now off. (Or they may just adjust it back)

I haven’t had them checked however I have asked a few people who work and own Garages they all say it looks fine. I’ll admit they way I did it is not exactly perfect and I will be readjusting again by marking the height of the headlamps moving a few feet away and adjusting to suit. However i can reverse the changes at any time and I’m not blinding people by aiming them lower 

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

Coming back to this, looked up how to adjust these properly and they were a smidgen low. I used a guide to adjust correctly and they now look beautiful. I’ll attach some pictures 514B070E-BAE7-442B-A258-FB20153BA594.thumb.jpeg.5241ef233a6b8280752e21c81f28e5cb.jpeg

I used a piece of tape on the wall and measured the correct heights and used the correct markings.


here is the video I used ~ 

I applied the same procedures for hid.

45788B78-A9E8-456B-911F-18E1963EB1C8.thumb.jpeg.4d4af6ac17f365d6093926df45d16367.jpeg

this is how it looks now, the light shines around 90-95 foot away roughly.

this is still adjusted lower than how they were when purchased.

 

I’ll throw up some comparison pictures compared to a 2020 Volvo S60

14F3A443-0C6D-49E9-A61A-066F9E4877A8.thumb.jpeg.768dc1d3fa762434a9f15efb22e6d7ec.jpeg

the cars.

F3E065C4-FF21-4DDB-B933-544136A9E02D.thumb.jpeg.f7df467f211073b280f2006f570952f8.jpeg

and their beam patterns, not the best photo as people actually park on their drives (how dare they :p) but as you can (kinda) see the focuses beam seems to be better than the Volvo :0

 

so, I’ll admit, the first way I “fixed” the headlights was only a temporary solution and I definitely aimed too low. But this way appears much better and I have checked and not blinding anyone :p.

 

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