Here is the HID kit, looks very nice

the 3rd photo is 2 pairs of Amber LED bulbs that I will put on front and rear lights. That relay is used to stop the hyperflash. Anyone ever changed out the "turn signal" relay? where is it located?

 

Hey did you ever put these HID's in? I was thinking about getting a kit from Opt7 as well and wanted to see how you like them and how difficult was the install? What color are they?

Any info or pictures would be great!
thx

 

Hi, yes I did install these and had retrofit headlights, but it ended up not working out. For a few reasons. Keep in mind when doing a retrofit and/or installing HIDs in our MK3's, our cars are not friendly to HID kits, you will likely have small issues, which you can determine if you want to put up with them. I did not.

Regarding the retrofit headlights, one of the lamps was building up condensation on the inside, maybe a crack in the seal, Im not sure. And also, the cutoff on the lights would move inwards from both lights when I would brake and turn. Cableguy did a good job with the lights, and I recommend his services if you are looking to get a retrofit, but with the design of the MK3 headlights and the type of seal Ford uses, retrofitting can have its difficulties. Also the outside tabs on the headlights, the long ones, broke during shipment and I hear this is a common issue with these headlights. I was able to get a mod shop to repair the tabs however. These were my main issues regarding the headlights them selves, now on to the HIDs...

2012 on wards Ford Focus's computer software make it difficult to run HIDs without some sort of issue. I had a pretty good quality HID kit, with a canbus ballast, relay harness with resistor, and capacitors and even with all this, there would be a very slight buzzing sound coming from the lights (Im thinking its from the Relay) and would buzz when they turn on and sometimes have a low buzz sound. Also, if I would drive with them on for a while and turn them off then back on, usually 1 of the lights wouldnt turn on while the other would. Both left and right lights would do this. After turning off and on multiple times, they would finally both turn on. Keep in mind the resistor gets very hot and needs to be securely mounted to metal. I would randomly get a "downhill assist" error message and a quick flash of my hids randomly while driving.

I ended up having to send the lights back and resell the HID kit and went back to my stock halogen headlights. To me, its just not worth the headache and potential trouble running HIDs in our MK3s can have. Now Im sure its different from kit to kit, and you may use the Focccus software to change your car's computer to run HIDs and avoid some of these issues and the need for relays/resistors.

I know cableguy actually put LED kit for his retrofit and said they have much less electrical issues than HIDs do

So before you go HID, please know that you will likely have issues at first and will need to address them

 

Regarding the retrofit headlights, one of the lamps was building up condensation on the inside, maybe a crack in the seal, Im not sure. And also, the cutoff on the lights would move inwards from both lights when I would brake and turn. Cableguy did a good job with the lights, and I recommend his services if you are looking to get a retrofit, but with the design of the MK3 headlights and the type of seal Ford uses, retrofitting can have its difficulties. Also the outside tabs on the headlights, the long ones, broke during shipment and I hear this is a common issue with these headlights. I was able to get a mod shop to repair the tabs however. These were my main issues regarding the headlights them selves, now on to the HIDs...

Thanks for the feedback, very helpful.

 

Wow even with resistors, capacitors, harnesses and all that you still had issues. Maybe it's worth it for a auto shop to do the install so that I can go back to someone if I have issues. I was going to do the install of HID's myself (no retrofit) but maybe it's just not worth the headache and it might be worth it just to pay someone to do it.

 

Buzzing from HID setups is incredibly common. Even OEM ballasts will buzz (as will aftermarket like Morimoto).

For a nicer, but more expensive (than what's being discussed in this thread) with the appropriate error canceling, I'd recommend having theretrofitsource provide a custom harness for our Focus vehicles. That's what they did for mine and while the build isn't entirely complete, testing thus far has eliminated any errors.

 

That's awesome. Can you provide a link to that harness from TRS. And is it just the harness that's needed or do you have to buy their whole kit.

 

The harness stuff is here, but the price is going to be higher when they create the custom Focus harness for you. I bought my whole package plus the Focus custom harness (I think it was around a $20-30 premium).

 

I thought the retrofit source shut its doors?

 

Nope. You're thinking of "the lighting firm".

 

http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/111720025763

LED H1. Not as bright as HID but I feel less stressed with them in. They have "ballast" but are half the size of the traditional hid ballast and plug directly into the bulb connector. No relays or any of that mess. No error messages either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

OPT7 H1 LED Headlight Conversion Kit 60W CREE 6000K White Light Bulbs | eBay

LED H1. Not as bright as HID but I feel less stressed with them in. They have "ballast" but are half the size of the traditional hid ballast and plug directly into the bulb connector. No relays or any of that mess. No error messages either.


Sent from my iPhone using FF Mobile

I feel that as LED technology advances, we will see more and more cars using them as lowbeams. They are still relatively new as far as being used for lowbeams. Toyota has the right idea with their 2014 - onward Corolla having LED headlights with projectors standard in every trim level, they look amazing.

You make a good point that a lot of people on this forum dont realize regarding running HIDs and that is the electrical issues, error messages, buzzing noises, need for relay harness, resistors, having 1 HID turn on and the other not turning on, its nice to know that LED lights are pretty straight forward plug and play with no additional accessories needed

 

There are quite a few people running hids in MK3's...there are issues but usually they can be worked out, via foccus, resistors, or harness modifications like adding relays and hooking up direct to battery...I agree that someone not technically inclined should try and get professional help to install a HID kit.

 

That's exactly what I'm doing this weekend having a local shop install HIDs in my headlights and fog lights just because I don't want the extra headaches involved with it not working. This way if I have any issues of them not working I can just as easily bring it back to the shop and have them work it out.

 

I'd rather sell a kidney then mess with HID in this car#!#! AHAHA

 

TRS sells silica packets for the condensation.

 

I have a 2015 and I installed Opt 7 Flux Beam LED headlights and I've had no problems with them. No flickering, no error messages, no failures, they work fine. They are extremely bright and the only drawback is that condensation will get inside and since LED do not heat up as much it will fog up during heavy rain. The Flux beam do have CANBUS so if I get the opt 7 CANBUS HID will I have problems?