LED headlight upgrade

[Wesley]

We just picked up our 2016 Edge Titanium and all we can say is we are really impressed. The one thing that leaves us frustrated are the headlights. They are really poor in projection quality and brightness. It almost seems like they are running on lower voltage. I havent run this across the dealer yet but in my opinion, it borders on unsafe driving at night.

 

The 2016 seems to have daytime running lights using the low beam on low voltage. I havent run a voltage test yet.

 

I would really like to install LED headlights but I seem to recall that they wont work or will burn out if they are used for daytime running lights. Would anyone have any heads up? I installed H11 LED headlights from Kensun on our former 2008 and were very happy with the results.

 

Does anyone else have this problem (I did see the earlier post but it trended to a H9 upgrade which I may try if LED's dont work).

[gjb89]

Aftermarket LED driving lights are garbage especially when they are in a halogen projector. I would go for the H9 upgrade.

[Burrcold]

Aftermarket LED driving lights are garbage especially when they are in a halogen projector. I would go for the H9 upgrade.

Agreed. Or HID''s.

[HetmanRoman]

Hello everyone,

 

First time poster here on the Ford Edge forums, lots of information and very friendly people! I've noticed the same problem in my 2016 Titanium and have wanted to change out to HID's. Have any of you made the change over to HID's and if so what company/brand have you gone with? Also, I do live in Canada and am aware I will need the canbus and other features to ensure proper usage of the HID's. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Roman

[Burrcold]

Hello everyone,

 

First time poster here on the Ford Edge forums, lots of information and very friendly people! I've noticed the same problem in my 2016 Titanium and have wanted to change out to HID's. Have any of you made the change over to HID's and if so what company/brand have you gone with? Also, I do live in Canada and am aware I will need the canbus and other features to ensure proper usage of the HID's. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Roman

You won't need CANBUS but you will need capacitors. Even then you may still get failure to start on one of the bulbs every once in a while due to the DRL low voltage on start up. It sucks but well worth the upgrade in light output.

[Wesley]

Update on my experiment with LED headlights. I tried the ones I had in my 2008 which I really loved and they didnt fit, the insert hole in the lense is smaller by about 1/8". Ordered another set on Amazon which fit ok. For what its worth, the right side is a real pain in the buns because of the coolant bottle being right in the way. The specs on the bulb are the same as the others.

 

I drove it at night for about 30 minutes and turned around because I couldnt see half as far as I could with the stock halogens. I quickly reinstalled the originals and are now looking at the H9 retrofit. I tried them in my 08 Edge but changed them for the LED. The original bulbs are ok I guess but I do a lot of night driving and really want the extra range of a stronger bulb.

[enigma-2]

I switched to Philips X-tremeVision. Well satisfied, better than my Silverstar's.

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

Second the X-tremeVision. On both of my cars now. Osram Nitebreakers Unlimited would also be an excellent choice.

[Wesley]

Update:

I tried the H9 bulbs and they were certainly an improvement but still not impressed. I found a HID upgrade online and they fit like a charm. For some reason, they would not work straight as a plug in, I had to improvise a power relay tapped into the original wiring as a trigger. I guess the HID has a power surge that the command computer didnt like. No warning lights on the dash, but only one headlight would come on.

 

These are a significant improvement! Almost twice as bright and sharp white beam. I'm staying with these until I find something better.

[Burrcold]

Update:

I tried the H9 bulbs and they were certainly an improvement but still not impressed. I found a HID upgrade online and they fit like a charm. For some reason, they would not work straight as a plug in, I had to improvise a power relay tapped into the original wiring as a trigger. I guess the HID has a power surge that the command computer didnt like. No warning lights on the dash, but only one headlight would come on.

 

These are a significant improvement! Almost twice as bright and sharp white beam. I'm staying with these until I find something better.

The one light out is because of the day time running lights. You need the relays with an HID setup.

[All Hat No Cattle]

The 2017 Titanium I have on order shows HID Headlamps on the Window Sticker.

 

Does anyone have an opinion of how well they work?

[blockisle9]

I would go for the H9 upgrade.

I did a quick Google comparing H9 to H11. It looks like the H9s are 65watt vs the 55watt for the stock H11s.

Two questions,

1- would the higher wattage play nice with the wiring and the computer?

2- Would the higher wattage damage the reflectors?

I don't want any problems with warranty issues and a quick online price check for the reflectors show they are very pricy...

[PaulSchott]

I did the H9 conversion on my 2007 and had no problems. Not sure how they would effect gen 3 headlights.

[Wesley]

Headlight updates, continued.

 

After 2 full months with the HID, I am still very pleased with them. Sharp and bright. Plenty of light and reasonably well focused. I wish I knew if the factory offered an HID option with the 016 Titanium, I might be inclined to try them. Yes, I did use a relay, directly from the battery with the original headlight circuit serving as the trigger for the relay. I disabled the DRL with the dash setup function.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a 72 watt 9005 LED ( https://goo.gl/ubGJpj) for my high beams and put them in. I had to do a little grinding, about 1/4", on the cooling fins to clear the latching lugs. On the Edge, the lugs are a bit thicker than others I guess.

 

Impressions? Again, a drastic improvement. No relay needed, they were a plug and play. Much more light than before. We drive on ranch roads a lot here in Central Texas and wildlife is abundant. I can see raccoon and deer eyes half a mile away (no exaggeration!) and street signs glow almost a mile distant.

 

These too are staying in.

[Nick Halstead]

Yo

Headlight updates, continued.

 

After 2 full months with the HID, I am still very pleased with them. Sharp and bright. Plenty of light and reasonably well focused. I wish I knew if the factory offered an HID option with the 016 Titanium, I might be inclined to try them. Yes, I did use a relay, directly from the battery with the original headlight circuit serving as the trigger for the relay. I disabled the DRL with the dash setup function.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a 72 watt 9005 LED ( https://goo.gl/ubGJpj) [/size]for my high beams and put them in. I had to do a little grinding, about 1/4", on the cooling fins to clear the latching lugs. On the Edge, the lugs are a bit thicker than others I guess.

 

Impressions? Again, a drastic improvement. No relay needed, they were a plug and play. Much more light than before. We drive on ranch roads a lot here in Central Texas and wildlife is abundant. I can see raccoon and deer eyes half a mile away (no exaggeration!) and street signs glow almost a mile distant.

 

These too are staying in.

Your halogens were better as Highs but the LEDs are in your Highs so it really doesnt matter. LED headlight bulbs are junk. Theres a reason manufacturers design the projector around the diode instead of just putting in a LED bulb

[Wesley]

Thanks, Nick, but HID's are never used for high beams as they require a warm up period to reach full brightness. My LED upgrade is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the halogens, even the H9. Will I try the same LED in my low beam? They dont fit, the lugs and wiring plug are different.

[akirby]

HID's are never used for high beams as they require a warm up period to reach full brightness.

 

They are in bi-xenon setups.

[TheWizard]

Yes that's true because bi-xenon setups change from low beam to high beam by moving a shutter inside the projector. The capsule (bulb) is already illuminated and doesn't have to turn on and off for high beam usage. Wesley is correct that nobody uses HID for high beams that are separate lamps (i.e. 4-lamp systems).

 

And LED headlight bulbs are not necessarily junk. They are pretty much hit or miss but there are some LED bulb and lamp combinations that work quite well. I have mentioned before that I have VLED's LED headlight bulbs in my aftermarket projector headlights and they work very well. But I had to try several brands and models before finding a combination that worked.

[Kenawo]

I switched to Philips X-tremeVision. Well satisfied, better than my Silverstar's.

Is this the same as what you got? http://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/9005XVB2/x-tremevision-car-headlight-bulb

Thanks

[enigma-2]

Yes, paid $27 on Amazon.

Philips 9005 X-tremeVision Upgrade Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C5QY7DW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eH6FzbS9XWKV6

 

Still completely satisfied. Put in both low & high beams; in both my MKX ans wife's Sebring Convertible. She drives to work in dark, returns in dark (Feb). She noticed an immediate improvement. She was also very pleased with these bulbs as deer are known to jump out on road she takes.

Edited July 31, 2017 by enigma-2

[pnewby]

I had always assumed the '16 Titanium came with HIDs. Silly me. My '16 Sport has factory HIDs for Hi and Lo beam and I am very satisfied with the output from them. Wasn't aware that the DRLs had any connection to them. Since the Sport and Titanium have the same Lens I would think these parts would work for any model '16. Were HIDs part of one of the trim packages for the Titanium?

[forzdaze96]

Headlight updates, continued.

 

After 2 full months with the HID, I am still very pleased with them. Sharp and bright. Plenty of light and reasonably well focused. I wish I knew if the factory offered an HID option with the 016 Titanium, I might be inclined to try them. Yes, I did use a relay, directly from the battery with the original headlight circuit serving as the trigger for the relay. I disabled the DRL with the dash setup function.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a 72 watt 9005 LED ( https://goo.gl/ubGJpj) for my high beams and put them in. I had to do a little grinding, about 1/4", on the cooling fins to clear the latching lugs. On the Edge, the lugs are a bit thicker than others I guess.

 

Impressions? Again, a drastic improvement. No relay needed, they were a plug and play. Much more light than before. We drive on ranch roads a lot here in Central Texas and wildlife is abundant. I can see raccoon and deer eyes half a mile away (no exaggeration!) and street signs glow almost a mile distant.

 

These too are staying in.

i also ground a bit of the fins out to try and clear, but mine still don't feel like actually latching in place. i can give a decent wiggle, and they pop out. im guessing i should go further then on the grinding? and the cooling fins were the only thing you had to grind?

 

thanks!! trying to get the wife happy with headlights that are closer to my '16 VW gli D3s's...i love them haha

[Wesley]

I had to grind mine down quite a bit. They finally felt like they were latching. I hesitate in removing them in fear I may not get them back in! If I have any problems with them, I may try another manufacturer.

[Wesley]

Headlight update, revisited.

Although I was pretty happy with the HID upgrade I pieced together, I recently had a nice roadside conversation with a State Trooper after he pulled me over. I guess it was a slow traffic night!

 

He said my headlights were not properly focused resulting in a scattered beam. (I agree, the HID pretty much illuminates almost everything in front.) The OEM headlights have a cutoff point to prevent oncoming driver glare. Again, I agree. He politely agreed not to give me a citation if I would remedy the situation. I did, and returned the H9 bulbs I kept. These will stay in until I find something better, maybe the Philips Xtreme Vision as mentioned above.

[1STSFG]

On 7/31/2017 at 7:51 PM, pnewby said:

I had always assumed the '16 Titanium came with HIDs. Silly me. My '16 Sport has factory HIDs for Hi and Lo beam and I am very satisfied with the output from them. Wasn't aware that the DRLs had any connection to them. Since the Sport and Titanium have the same Lens I would think these parts would work for any model '16. Were HIDs part of one of the trim packages for the 

A close look at factory HID headlight assembly shows the HID low/high beam with igniter AND a inboard halogen bulb that appears to have no function in the OE HID application. In the 16 sport anyway.
I assume the assembly was built for the majority of non HID options ordered/built?

Edited January 29, 2023 by 1STSFG
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