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Let's talk headlight bulbs

9K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  GT500MUSTANGFAN 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

Just wondering what you all like to use for bulbs in your 05-09 headlights?

In past vehicles, I've used Silverstars and Silverstar Ultras. I see now there are some Silverstar zXe bulbs available. What have you found works best in our reflector design?

Also, have any of you gone with any of the LED kits? Thoughts and opinions? I found this one on Amazon that seems to get lots of good reviews

https://www.amazon.com/OPT7-Headlight-Bulbs-Clear-Arc-Beam/dp/B00VNBEJ1G


One problem in my past cars with running the silverstar was that it seemed to burn so hot it would cause almost a crazing on the inside of the bulb housing.

I'm not looking for that "cool blue" look. I just want something that's going to light up the road really well in front of me. I've got some night vision issues that gets pretty bad in the rain, and there's lots of deer around here.

D4S
 
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#2 ·
First used Silverstar then I bought some LEDs - although they bring a lot of light - its impossible to adjust them correctly (no matter who manufactured them). This was discussed in many newsgroups. Now I am on Philipps Extreme - my wifes car uses Osram Nightbreakers - they are really good.
 
#3 ·
05 GT here.
Has metal piece front of each bulb...painted black. Paint on this piece gets overheated and paint bubbles. Situation normal for these cars. In 06 or 07 Ford changed the design.

As for bulbs, I still have the originals. What I've done is adjust the headlamps, that's low beams, so they shine further down the road. With them this way, I can see much better, though high beams are way too high, like up in the trees. Bottom line, I can use low beams for all situations. A win win.
Note: With adjustment the above way, low beams are still not too bright for oncoming cars. Takes a trial and error to get them just right.
 
#4 ·
When I replaced my OEM lights with Raxiom retros I used the ones that came with the retros. I had them out of adjustment fixed the problem.


I still get flashed by oncoming traffic with the dims on I never use my brights
 
#8 ·
I have those in my Camry and they are definitely very white, and also probably a bit brighter than your normal run of the mill bulbs. They work great in the Camry, but it has projector lenses . . . I plan to put them in the stang someday and hope they will be as good in the reflector housings.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Like mentioned, the LED's are near impossible to adjust correctly. I have/had HID's on my Mustang, and Focus. The mustang HID's have been great, even the brights work as intended. On my Focus, I could never get it right. Some reason the Focus wiring is backwards for brights and lows. This works out as the low beam pattern was very spotty. This was with HID and the same mentioned OPT7 LED kit I just recently went to. So I run them with the switch on low beam, but the highs are actually on, and I lowered the aim. This is great now! But I dont have an actual high beam tho. And the fogs go off if I hit the highs. (07 Focus)

Pics are the Mustang with Kensun Bi-Xenon kit. Low vs High. Not one time have I been flashed at. And honestly the low beam setting doesnt blind people when I had someone drive my car at me. Also my fogs are wired to stay on when high beams are on.


 
#11 ·
If you don't have to concern yourself with matching your headlights to things such as halo rings, then LEDs are the way to go. I can't speak too confidently on LED options, due to I skipped over them myself for some OPT7 HIDs, however like others have said, there are plenty of LED systems out there that can really improve nighttime driving & shifting your headlight color to white rather than the classic candle burn yellow.
 
#13 ·
I ended up going with the OPT7 kit in both my headlights and fog lights. I've not experienced any spotty issues. You have to make sure you orient the bulbs where the diodes are on the left and right so the central piece is vertical.

The lights are extremely bright and much better than the halogen bulbs that were in there. The only time I get flashed is if I run the fogs. They're not aimed at oncoming traffic so I think people just assume since all 4 bulbs are lit across the front I have my brights on.

The only downside for me is that I don't notice a HUGE difference in brightness when I turn the brights on. The light seems to be thrown a little farther down the road but not much. I hardly ever need my brights though because the low beams are so bright. Running the fogs on with the low beams is brighter than running the brights.

D4S
 
#15 ·
I've had my Opt7 bulbs for nearly 12 months. It was one of the first things I did to my car. All bulbs are still going strong. The one in the driver side headlight gets a little loud when it's super cold out but it goes away once the engine is warm and you can't hear it over the engine running anyways. Just when you use the fob to unlock the doors and the lights come on.

They've already lasted longer than my last set of silverstars so I'm happy and feel like I got my money's worth. If one went out tomorrow I would order another set immediately.

D4S
 
#16 ·
I'm going to have to look into the LED versions then. I'm still running a single issue where sometimes when my foglights are turned on within a short time-frame of my HID Opt7 headlights, one of the headlights will not light up. Figuring it's the combination of the Halo rings & the rather powerful (borderline highbeam power) solid white pony package foglights that I'm running, which is restricting initial needed power for both HIDs.
 
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