Go with LED. No need to use FOCCCUS and no hassle with miss fires, flickering, ballast, etc... It's also cheaper and won't overload factory wiring harnesses.

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With LED you get about the same output as most same wattage HID without the excessive heat and hassle. It's really up to personal taste.

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LED unless you get projectors. I only took my HIDs out because of the wiring mess under the hood.


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I disagree; I'd go with HIDs. I was looking into the same thing originally, but the folks over at HIDP confirmed that current aftermarket LEDs are not as bright as HIDs, and more expensive.

 

A company that sells HID's told you HID is better? That's weird [screwy]

 

From someone who has used both, LED is BY FAR a better choice. Just as bright, easier install, less wire mess, and no need to have to wait for them to warm up before they work correctly.

 

HIDs are definitely brighter but not more reliable. HIDs are the same price, usually more than led bulb. If it's not, it's not quality equipment.


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Just wait until opt 7 comes out with a new LED kit. I got confirmation from them. I hope that they go with the XHP50 because that thing is a monster, 2,100 lumens on just ONE diode. Now two-four on a blade could give you 8,000 lumens per bulb. Nitecore has that set up in a flashlight now imagine in a car.

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In conclusion just stick with your stock setup unless you get projectors. If you get projectors get HID. The opt7 don't even fit in quality projectors anyway.


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In conclusion just stick with your stock setup unless you get projectors. If you get projectors get HID. The opt7 don't even fit in quality projectors anyway.


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In reading this post again, I think it's the best option, cost-wise.

There are standard H11 (?) bulbs you can buy, such as the Rally 65w bulbs that are a direct replacement for our stock bulbs that will increase lighting. See HIR bulbs.

 

- Deleted by me due to repeating statement.

 

Was this the post with the close up of the output shot? If so, every output shot at 3 ft is going to look great. Gotta get one at 20ft or more!

 

All of us work hard for our money and with all the misinformation out there it's very easy to lose big in an investment like this. I just don't want that happening with fellow members.

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Does anyone currently have the opt 7 bulbs? It'd be nice to see some pictures. I've never heard anything but good about Cree leds and a quick search on YouTube showed a lot of videos with good looking results from opt 7 bulbs.

 

I got them. I'm going to try and take some pictures tonight showing their pattern and output. Will do a 20 foot example and you guys be the judges.

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You should go with LED considering how they perform.

 

I have no experience with LED lights as they are too new but I have had a decent amount of experience with HIDs and will share my input

If you are going to go HID, either go retrofit or get OEM Focus HIDs. Retrofit will be cheaper but there is more wiring needed with resistors and relays and it can become a big mess. If you want OEM hids, you have 2 options: Focus Electric or Focus ST3 headlights. Both are the same except the ST3 lights are blacked out with chrome in the middle. Both of these have their own hid ballasts and bulbs built into the headlamp. A few things need to be done for them to work with with the wiring which I can help with if you go this route, but it is the most expensive route.

If you go hids you can plug them without the need of resistors and relay by using the FoCCCus software to change your car to run hids.

If you choose the OEM hid route, pm me and I'll be glad to share more info or you can check my threads on this forum. These will cost you around $800-900 so that is something to consider. They will likely hold their value as long as you keep them in good shape.

Good luck with whatever route you choose bud. Lighting upgrades are so awesome

 

The brightest part of the beam is visible in the pictures and it makes a nice Hotspot on both sides. I had someone drive in front of me with good 50 feet and 100 feet distances and they said that it didn't bother them. I'm outputting around 3,500 per bulb with a high candela intensity in the Hotspot and most likely a nice 1-2,000 out of the Hotspot.

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Gotta say the cutoff isn't very sharp, and if low beam in the longer first pic they look too high in that one.

 

I don't expect a sharp cutoff. The orientation of the blade and diode being at 180 degrees helps alot in this housing. Not perfect but as long as I'm not blinding anyone. My camera also isn't the best so it will mess with the brightness a bit. And as always, right light is going to be higher than left.

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Pictures of lighting often leave a lot to be desired.

 

The only thing holding these together are screws, which won't effect alignment, and the ball and socket joints that have the screw adjuster on the outside. If they have somehow popped loose you can wedge them back in. I'm not sure what else could be damaged. The outer plastic is held with screws, the inner reflector housings are on the joints.

 

Just showing you difference in cut offs might motivate you to get projectors. You can tell those bulbs aren't supposed to be in your reflectors but they look pretty good. These bulbs are weak compared to HIDs, as you said earlier they are comparable. I only switched because of all the trouble I had with HIDs. And yes my alignment is off a little.

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Can't get any projectors if there isn't any on the market for a reasonable price. The light is loose inside (internally) the ball joints are fine but there is this long piece that is fixed and is screwed onto the exterior housing. It's literally broken off from the reflector housing. Sucks

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Its the reliability that's the big question mark for me over HIDs at the moment...but depending who you ask some folks think HIDs are the best, so a tricky choice...

I think I'm going to shoot for something like these HID driving lights, or maybe see what my mechanic recommends for LEDs...want to make the right choice so I'm not having to switch out in 6 months or whatever

 

Reliability is as an issue is pretty nil; use reputable OEM bulbs or Morimoto bulbs which have a legitimate warranty. 35w name brand ballasts is standard variety, although using 50w ballasts will give more light at the expense of bulb's lifespan.

Besides bulbs, there isn't much of any consumable items in a proper HID setup.

When I had a faulty HID system, the only thing that failed on me was, you guessed it, the bulbs (or specifically LED diodes).

 

How much watts would the LEDs produce? I know halogen headlights are 55w and standard hid are 35w

 

Watt is a measure of work, in electricity W = V x A (one watt is one amp current across 1 volt difference in electrical potential).

Light output is in Lumens, remember that for Watts a thousand Watt hair dryer doesn't out out much light glow from it's heating element.

LED's, incandescent bulbs and HID's all put out different light levels for the power consumption (work done in watts).

It's handy to use watts to compare the same type bulb, accurate for power use but only a relative reference for light produced by similar bulbs.

 

Installing the Focus electric projectors includes having to reprogram with FOCCCUS which is currently having problems with 2015+. It's a huge hassle for something that can absolutely be fixed with an alignment. The bulbs face 180 degrees so aligning would do really good. I don't go against projector housings as I too believe that I should be using them.. The only this is $$$$$ 2012-2014 Is cheap but 2015+ is around $1,000 to 2,000 for factory electric projectors.

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Installing the Focus electric projectors includes having to reprogram with FOCCCUS which is currently having problems with 2015+. It's a huge hassle for something that can absolutely be fixed with an alignment. The bulbs face 180 degrees so aligning would do really good. I don't go against projector housings as I too believe that I should be using them.. The only this is $$$$$ 2012-2014 Is cheap but 2015+ is around $1,000 to 2,000 for factory electric projectors.

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You don't have to use FOCCUS to get rid of the bulb error code. You could just use resistors as they will have the same effect.

I agree that OEM HID housings are too expensive (both 14 and 15), which is why people recommend retrofitting. See my post about HIR bulbs.

PS. My entire cost for retrofitting and parts was $600, and that's because I paid someone to do the retrofit for me. If I had done it myself, it would have been half that.

 

After looking for a month for OEM HIDs for my 2012, so Focus Electric 2012-2015 and ST3 2013-2014. You can get a pair for around $700-900 if you are patient and browse ebay from sellers who sell ALOT of OEM headlights from all makes and models. Dont hesitate to make offers either. Just make sure that if you go this route that you buy lights with full intact tabs since likely these are headlights from a totaled car and the tabs on these lights are very, very prone to breaking. Also make sure that the lights have the bulbs and ballasts included.

 

Morimoto 7.0 are $150. They fit right in the H11 socket once you get them open. You don't want any aftermarket crap


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Taking your advice I actually went ahead this weekend and checked my headlight alignment (25 feet, Mark the wall, ground to center of low beam, etc...) and I am near factory alignment (0.5-1 inch) off on the right and the left is within factory specs (gotta get that lamp assembly replaced though) . The Hotspot fell below the horizontal line but I did get noticeable light leakage albeit not blinding I would say that it is bright.Didn't get flashed at all taking the pitch black road near the airport perimeter (was packed with oncoming traffic). To be honest, the only time where I can sincerely say I have been blinded by an oncoming driver was always with Factory HID kits like the Mustang, Lexus, Mercedes, etc.... Jesus christ the worst offender was the Mustang.

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Oh how I loved the new 2016 Mustang's HIDs. I had one as a rental for like 5 days while my car was in the shop getting suspension issues fixed. And they were sooooo damn nice and when I had to give the car back and go back to my halogen lights on my Focus, I convinced myself that I WILL get HIDs on my Focus. I tried the retrofit route, it did not work out, and there were too many problems with the HID kit. Sucks how our MK3's are not friendly when it comes to aftermarket HID kits. But I am sure glad with my new ST3 lights