Retro-Solutions 55W 5000K HID Installation Experience 2011 Edge SEL

[kimtexn]

Hello All,

I'm new to the forum, but just reading through all of the very helpful posts in this forum motivated me to compose a post about my own installation experience. I had been thinking about adding HIDs after a recent night-time road trip with my family. There are a lot of deer on our country roads here in Texas, and my wife saw several deer that I never saw. It seemed to me that the stock halogens on my SEL just didn't light up the sides of the road as much as I'd like. I've used fog lights for that function on previous vehicles, but this car didn't come with them.

 

After much reading of the various threads on this forum. I ordered from Retro-Solutions the 9012 55W Digital 5000K kit (standard ballasts, not the slim ones). I decided on the standard size ballasts because it looked like there was plenty of room, and I didn't want the extra little dongle that is part of the wiring for the slim ballasts flopping around. I also decided on 55W HIDs because I was concerned about the light-out errors that I've read about with 35W kits. I decided on 5000K because I didn't want the blue "ricer" look, and it seemed that the more pure white of the 5000K color better matches the color of the LED light bars on my Edge. I had also read that this color temp puts more visible light on road than higher temperatures.

 

I got the HID package with the 2011 Edge-specific harness, hoping to avoid any problems with flickering that I've read about. I hoped that the wiring harness with the extra capacitor offered by Retro-Solutions would prevent that problem. I scrutinized A LOT of other vendor sites, and never found another vendor with a harness specific for the 2011 Edge. That's the main reason that I went with the Retro-Solutions kit.

 

The only real challenge of the entire installation was deciding where to mount the ballasts. I ended up mounting them on the sides of the engine bay just behind the factory light housings. I was able to use existing holes, except I did drill one hole on the right side because the hole that I wanted to use for the ballast mounting bracket was blocked by the coolant reservoir. To get to the back side of the factory holes, I took the screws out of the wheel well liner so I could snake my hand behind it and install the nuts and put a wrench on them.

 

Here are a couple of pics of the ballast mounting locations.

 

First, the left side ballast and relay mounts:

 

Then the right side ballast mount:

 

For the wiring, I almost exclusively followed the wiring diagram from the Retro-Solutions FAQ Page labeled "Single beam kit with optional harness with capacitor link (daytime lamps, pulsed):" The wiring diagram was the only place in the instructions that I could find that specifically showed how to wire the part of the harness with the capacitor on it. I checked and rechecked the wiring to make sure that it exactly followed the wiring diagram.

 

The tabs included with the supplied 9012 HID bulbs exactly fit the holes in the light housing. I was happy to see that there seemed to be only one way to insert the bulbs. The three tabs made a kind of "T" shape when looked at from the end, and this only fit the housing one way. I didn't need to do any sanding to get them to fit. They were quite tight, but probably as they should be to make sure that the bulbs stay aimed properly.

 

I filed and/or sanded the paint off all of the ground mounting points as instructed.

 

You don't know how thrilled and relieved I was for them to light up and work the very first time that I turned them on!

 

I took some before and after photos of the factory halogens vs. the HIDs so I could post the results here. I am very impressed with the sharp cut-off. I don't see any difference at all in the "quality" of the cut-off of the new HIDs compared to the original halogens. The only thing that I can see in the photos is that the HID light spread below the cut-off line seems more uniform across the width. The stock halogen lights seem to have hot spots on the wall shot.

 

Just for background, I used a Canon S3IS with manual aperture capability, so I could "force" the camera to use the same F-stop for the pictures. I hoped that this would help make a better comparison of the light output and cut-off.

 

First, here is a shot of the stock halogens pointed at the wall of a local supermarket. I was parked about 50 feet from the wall, and used the same distance for the later HID shots. I shot the photos from the door sill, standing just outside the car. I tried some from the driver's seat, but the dash blocked a lot of the light on the ground near the car.

 

Here is the photo of the installed HIDs with the car parked at the same location, with the same camera F-stop setting (F5.0). The cut-off is sharp, and the light seems more uniform across the wall. One thing that I did notice is the crescent-shaped areas of light on the ground just in front of the car. These were about 10 feet in front of the car, and not visible from the driver's seat unless I lean way up and forward.

 

I later found a fence at a local car wash to take some more photos of the HIDs. Unfortunately, I don't have any "before" photos of this fence with the factory halogens. But these pics certainly demonstrate the sharp cut-off and no glare above the cut-off line. It does look like maybe I need to adjust the right side down a bit, but at this point I kind of like the right side being a little higher to light up the deer better...

 

This is a zoomed pic of the same wall, same camera setting:

 

I took the car out to a dark road to demonstrate the visibility.

First picture is with low beams.

 

Second picture is with high beams. I couldn't get the forum posting function to accept a bigger picture, because the high beam photo in full size really shows the far-off fence line really lit up well. These HIDs do seem to light up the sides of the road better, which is the main thing that I was hoping to achieve.

 

Anyway, this is my experience. I'm very satisfied with the lights and with the quality of the kit from Retro-Solutions.

 

If they crap out in the next few weeks/months, I'll post an update.

Edited May 24, 2011 by kimtexn

[nextime]

Awesome pics, thank you!

[Hankster]

Great write-up. Thanks !

[Feirstein]

They look like they are throwing way too much light in the near foreground. This is bad for visibility because the eyes tend to lose their ability to see far into the dark where the danger may be located but not preceived by the driver. This is why vehicle lighting is a science and why the retro fit of HID bulbs into a fixture for which they are not intended is a very very bad idea. Yes, it looks cool, and yes it feels nice to light up the near foreground, but it may not be an improvement. Other bulbs will give you greater light output and focus properly in your fixture. There is much written about this subject and every lighting expert urges vehicle owners not to go with the HID retrofit. The sale of such bulbs for retrofit, for street use, is illegal, by the way.

Edited May 25, 2011 by Feirstein

[cal3thousand]

They look like they are throwing way too much light in the near foreground. This is bad for visibility because the eyes tend to lose their ability to see far into the dark where the danger may be located but not preceived by the driver. This is why vehicle lighting is a science and why the retro fit of HID bulbs into a fixture for which they are not intended is a very very bad idea. Yes, it looks cool, and yes it feels nice to light up the near foreground, but it may not be an improvement. Other bulbs will give you greater light output and focus properly in your fixture. There is much written about this subject and every lighting expert urges vehicle owners not to go with the HID retrofit. The sale of such bulbs for retrofit, for street use, is illegal, by the way.

 

To be fair, you are describing "HID kitting" instead of HID retrofitting, which normally includes replacing the projector with a factory HID projector that properly focuses the light.

 

I agree that HID kitting is dangerous in some senses and that HID retrofitting is definitely the way to go.

 

 

....and thanks for reminding us of the legal status of HID kits

 

 

 

Shameless plug: "I have one pair of projectors, shroud, etc if anyone is interested in getting their 07-10 legally bright. PM me. "

[firedshells]

Hello Kim,

 

Thanks for putting update on forum.

I got installed 6000k HID on my 2011 Ford Edge. Guy put 9005 after doing one minor change in lock. They are working great but next day I noticed that there was humidity in both headlamps.

Can you tell me please if you made any change while installing?? or faced any issue like that with 9012 HID kit. I would appreciate your help in regard to this. So that I can return my existing HID's and order 9012 from RetroSolutions.

 

Thanks

Jaz

[firedshells]

Hello Kim,

 

Thanks for putting update on forum.

I got installed 6000k HID on my 2011 Ford Edge. Guy put 9005 after doing one minor change in lock. They are working great but next day I noticed that there was humidity in both headlamps.

Can you tell me please if you made any change while installing?? or faced any issue like that with 9012 HID kit. I would appreciate your help in regard to this. So that I can return my existing HID's and order 9012 from RetroSolutions.

 

Thanks

Jaz

[kimtexn]

Hello Kim,

 

Thanks for putting update on forum.

I got installed 6000k HID on my 2011 Ford Edge. Guy put 9005 after doing one minor change in lock. They are working great but next day I noticed that there was humidity in both headlamps.

Can you tell me please if you made any change while installing?? or faced any issue like that with 9012 HID kit. I would appreciate your help in regard to this. So that I can return my existing HID's and order 9012 from RetroSolutions.

 

Thanks

Jaz

 

Hi Jaz,

 

The 9012 bulbs in the kit from Retro-Solutions fit perfectly in the bulb housings, with no modification needed. The bulbs fit nice and tight.

 

I do have one problem, though. The right ballast failed after about two weeks of working perfectly. I've sent it back to Retro-Solutions for replacement. Hopefully they'll replace it without any trouble...

 

Good luck,

Kim

[11Sport]

 

 

I do have one problem, though. The right ballast failed after about two weeks of working perfectly. I've sent it back to Retro-Solutions for replacement. Hopefully they'll replace it without any trouble...

 

Good luck,

Kim

 

Do the ballast buzz while ON? My do and was woundering if its normal

[firedshells]

Do the ballast buzz while ON? My do and was woundering if its normal

 

 

Hi There,

 

Yes these ballasts make buzz noise initially but after they are silent.

Jaz

[firedshells]

Hi Jaz,

 

The 9012 bulbs in the kit from Retro-Solutions fit perfectly in the bulb housings, with no modification needed. The bulbs fit nice and tight.

 

I do have one problem, though. The right ballast failed after about two weeks of working perfectly. I've sent it back to Retro-Solutions for replacement. Hopefully they'll replace it without any trouble...

 

Good luck,

Kim

 

 

Hello Kim,

 

Thanks for the information. Same here my right ballast too stopped working just next day but guy replaced for me. As I got installed 9005 with little modification but now there is water droplets in headlight, I dont know if there is some air leakage after installing HID. Did you face something like that.

 

Thanks

Jaz

[kaoz]

What did you do with the dust covers? how does this work?

[11Sport]

Hello Kim,

 

Thanks for the information. Same here my right ballast too stopped working just next day but guy replaced for me. As I got installed 9005 with little modification but now there is water droplets in headlight, I dont know if there is some air leakage after installing HID. Did you face something like that.

 

Thanks

Jaz

 

Well my left side ballast just went out. Calling Todd in the morning. Back on the 16th I said it was making a buzzing sound and Todd said it was fine , but now its dead. It sucks cuz I'm going on a road trip.

[fishx65]

I've been researching the best way to get more light out of the very weak 2011 Edge projectors. I was set to go with the Toshiba 9011 HIR bulbs but after looking at this thread I'm not so sure. The pics seem to show that these HID kits work really well in the 11 projectors and the highbeam flap system is an advantage with these. Looks to me like the beam pattern stays about the same as stock. I do a lot of driving on dark rural roads so I want to make sure that whatever mod I make is very durable. Is it pretty common for these ballasts to go bad? Anyone been operating an aftermarket HID kit for years without any problems?

[Charles-Eric Boudreault]

WOOT!!!!! After reading your post I FINALLY ordered the same kit after a year of research, comparisons and hesitation. Your post answered every questions I had about HID kits for my 2011 Edge SE...

 

 

55W DIGITAL HID KIT for Head Lamps

• Bulb Fitment:9012/HIR2 (+$2)
• Bulb Color:5000k warm white
• Vehicle Application:Ford Edge 2011+ (+$22)
• Ballast Type:Regular (all in one)
• Bulb Capping?:No Thanks

$161.99

$161.99

1

Subtotal:$161.99Coupon Discount:$24.30Shipping and Handling:$41.50Insurance$3.08Order Total:$182.27

Can't wait to get them installed! I will post pictures of before and after too.

 

I'm wondering if I will get exactly the same round "dark" spot at about 10 feet on drivers side like yours... Anyway, I'm SOOO HAppy!

 

Thanks for all that precious information. It was so hard to find "complete" informations about the real 9012 bulbs that we have on 2011+... I mostly read everywere that people puts 9005-9006 or whatsoever, cutting pins and $h1t... I always thought that 9012 bulb is THE way to go:)