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HID headlights


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I thought the stock halogen low beam lamps were 55w.  They're H11 style bulbs for low beam and fog, H7 for high (I know I mentioned in another thread that both were H11... after looking thru fordparts, I think the highbeams are H7s... both come up as 13N021 but there is an A and a B and the website doesn't differentiate so I could very well have that backwards).  So yes, if you got 35w HIDs to replace the 55w halogen, you will save a little energy.  They do make 55w HIDs too which puts out 3.5 to 4x as much light as halogen at the same color temperature, but I do not recommend those since they're REALLY bright.

 

I looked around for a direct stock replacement H11 and they come up as 55w.  The high beams are also 55w but they're not in a projector housing which is what makes them appear so much brighter.

 

The only thing I find at 35w are all HID kits for H11's.

Edited by Russael
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  • 1 month later...

Over on the Fusion Hybrid forum, a user put together a DIY posting of his HID modification.  It can be found at:

http://fusionhybridmpg.blogspot.com/2013/01/hid-install-special-post.html

 

I'm pretty curious about it.  Looks like he also upgraded the fog lights.  My concern there is that with the auto hi-beams, all of the on/off of the fogs (which are off when the HBs are on) will drastically reduce their lifespan.  Might have to give the low-beams a try though...

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  • 2 months later...

I just had my low beam (H11 projector) converted to HID yesterday.  The result is literally like night and day.  The beam pattern and cutoff is very good, essentially super sharp version of the halogen.  However, due to the higher intensity of the 35W HID, the distance and therefore the height of the beam is increased.  I live in a neighborhood that has no street lights and is very hilly with curving roads and never was flashed by oncoming cars that thought I was driving with high beams on.  The only issue (which could be installation related) that I have noticed is that the left HID did not ignite when I started the car in Auto headlight mode.  When I turned the lights off and on again, the both sides ignited fine.  This has happened only 1 time.  If the problem persists, I will take it back to the installer as I received lifetime warranty.  The cost of the install (parts and labor) was $300 and it took the installer less than 1 hour during my lunch hour.  If you located in S.F. Bay Area, I would highly recommend Xtreme HID in San Jose on Tully Road.

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Beam pattern is essentially a brighter, sharper version of what it was with halogen bulbs.  I am still getting used to the U.S. code beam pattern since I have only driven German cars since 1999 all of which have e-code beam pattern which I find to be much better because the driver side headlight is angled downward and the passenger side is angled upward which makes sense to me.  If I start to get flashed, I will have the headlights aimed down a bit.  Since I rarely drive with high beams, I don't care if those are also angled down.  With the HID, I cannot imagine when you would ever need high beams except on I-5 at night.

 

The set I purchased had a CANBUS defeater so no idiot lights on the dash at all.  I went with 5K temp as I want maximum light output (lumens) and minimize glare.  I also prefer stock look.  I don't need the fake poser look with the blue or purple color.  You can have the fogs done as well, but I opted not to since I rarely use them and didn't want to spend another $300.

 

My other cars are a 1999 Porsche Boxster, 2000 Mercedes E430 sedan, 2004 Mercedes E320 wagon, and 2009 Mercedes GL550 and all came with factory Xenon HID (Litronics).  Only the E430 was non-projector (D2R).  And I can tell you that the Fusion conversion is brighter than all of them which I attribute to (1) newer capsules (2) more efficient ballasts, and (3) newer technology materials and workmanship/quality standards.  I had to upgrade the Fusion because I could not stand driving it with stock halogen bulbs at night.  Now the car is near perfect as my daily driver for my 60-mile trip commute to/from work.  And even with the upgrade, the car is still better than all of my other cars in one respect, green HOV sticker.

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I just had my low beam (H11 projector) converted to HID yesterday.  The result is literally like night and day.  The beam pattern and cutoff is very good, essentially super sharp version of the halogen.  However, due to the higher intensity of the 35W HID, the distance and therefore the height of the beam is increased.  I live in a neighborhood that has no street lights and is very hilly with curving roads and never was flashed by oncoming cars that thought I was driving with high beams on.  The only issue (which could be installation related) that I have noticed is that the left HID did not ignite when I started the car in Auto headlight mode.  When I turned the lights off and on again, the both sides ignited fine.  This has happened only 1 time.  If the problem persists, I will take it back to the installer as I received lifetime warranty.  The cost of the install (parts and labor) was $300 and it took the installer less than 1 hour during my lunch hour.  If you located in S.F. Bay Area, I would highly recommend Xtreme HID in San Jose on Tully Road.

Did you have auto high beam dimming and if so, does it work as well or better than the original?

 

ChuckJ

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Having driven a few times in the evening with the halogen bulbs... I'm underwhelmed by their performance and have been researching HIDs for a bit.  I was considering LED headlights but their light output is about the same as a halogen, so I started looking back to HIDs.  I've mostly decided on a set of Morimotos at 5k temperature.  I think I may make those a Christmas present to myself. :)

 

In all honesty, I don't know why they put incandescent bulbs everywhere else aside from the tail lights.  They should've done it everywhere.  It would've cost what... 50 more dollars?  Nobody would even see that in a price at 15 grand, let alone 40k. 

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Did you have auto high beam dimming and if so, does it work as well or better than the original?

 

ChuckJ

Funny you should ask.  I tried the auto high beams last night.  They still function properly, but with the added light of the HID, the high beams did not come on as frequenty as they did before conversion while driving through my neighborhood. I believe this is because the light sensor of the auto high beams sensed more light (probably reflecting off houses and signs) as thought it was on-coming traffic.  When the high beams did switch on, I did notice the light from the H7 bulbs, but it really was not necessary and due to the mixture of the whiter 5K HID and the yellower H7 halogen, was not pleasant to the eye and may even detract from your nighttime visibility.

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One more question - the HIDs are 35 watt vs 55 for the halogen, right?  Do you see a decrease in the "other" power usage now as a result?

Yes, I had 35 watt installed and they are plenty bright.  I have had the car since Black Friday and driven only 500+ miles so far, and only 60 miles of that at night.  I have not noticed (not really paying attention) to the "other" power usage.  I probably will not notice since my driving pattern enables me to get only 16 miles on a full charge.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

This topic is of extreme interest to me as the one disappointment I have with my new 2014 Fusion Energi is the weak, dim stock headlights!  My 2013 Platinum had the HID lights and my Porsche has them as well, great vision but he Fusion is not very good.  I find both the headlights and fog lights a disappointment.  Am I understanding this right that once you upgraded to the more powerful/brighter HID's they are actually LESS wattage (35 w vs 55W stock) and you are using LESS power?  That's fantastic as I incorrectly assumed that Ford used the weak halogen bulbs to save power on the Energi?  I have the loaded 2014 Titanium and don't believe there was a headlight upgrade option available?

 

Last but not least, bfukumoto would appreciate it if you would elaborate on what specifically you had done as I'm ready to do this conversion as well.  I know you used 35W HID's what else do I need to tell the installer?  I too don't care for the bluish tint and would like to stay as close to factory HID color/brightness as possible.  Will these HID set ups every harm the headlight housings - especially if I were to upgrade the fog lamps to HID's as well?  Curious as to why you didn't go ahead and upgrade your highbeams as well - just not worth it?

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  • 2 months later...

Just ordered my Xenon Depot kit with the Phillips bulb upgrade (used them before on my wife's Lexus GX470) I also ordered some Phillips W5W LED's to replace the parking lights for a better HID match.  Once I have the bumper off I will be replacing the fog bulbs with PIAA Ion Crystal (yellow/"correct") fogb bulbs.  As much as I want to tell you all I will be taking pictures throughout the install I am not 100% sure I will have the time to fully document, but I appreciate the guys before me here that have and I'll do my best.   Hoping I don't have any issues with error cancellers/canBUS.

 

J Mo

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Johnny, I'd love to see a final picture of the results up against a wall. 

 

It doesn't sound like you are replacing the projector lenses.  There are several comments in forums like hidplanet, that the fusion lens don't work well with HID lights and don't have a good cutoff etc. 

 

Please post back how it went with a few pictures.

 

What year is your FFE it's not in your signature

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Just ordered my Xenon Depot kit with the Phillips bulb upgrade (used them before on my wife's Lexus GX470) I also ordered some Phillips W5W LED's to replace the parking lights for a better HID match.  Once I have the bumper off I will be replacing the fog bulbs with PIAA Ion Crystal (yellow/"correct") fogb bulbs.  As much as I want to tell you all I will be taking pictures throughout the install I am not 100% sure I will have the time to fully document, but I appreciate the guys before me here that have and I'll do my best.   Hoping I don't have any issues with error cancellers/canBUS.

 

J Mo

Did you check the energy usage of the HID? Or do you not care?

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The Xenon Depot kit is a 35 watt kit.

35 Watt? The normal ones use a couple of hundred. I've read that HIDs will have a large spike at startup, but better consumption later on. I found a good description of the various options:

 

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/battle-of-the-headlights-halogen-vs-xenon-vs-led-26530.html

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Did anyone consider the LED kit?  They're plug & play, so no wiring to cut, no external boxes to mount and they run cool and use little electricity.  They're on the Leaf and I8 (and I3?).

I'm referring to these http://www.xenondepot.com/h11-h8-h16-philips-Ultinon-LED-Bulb-p/12834unix2-h11.htm 

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