Poor headlamps

Does anyone else think the Mustang headlamps are poor? On dip beam the reach is not very far, worse than my previous car with uprated halogens. I asked for them to be checked at service but no improvement. I took it to a non Mustang dealer who quoted £22 to check & adjust the aim. When the found it was a Mustang the said they could not work on Mustangs. I said if it was a Vauxhall you would do it, so book it as something else.
They relented & I drove it to the MOT test bay. They told me the aim was " spot on, if anything fractionally high". The charge was waived.
Seems I will just have to put up with poor lights. I dont do a lot of night driving but would like to see better if I do. Perhaps I should have presented it with the level adjuster one click down.

Tim

I agree, the lights are really poor, sadly another cost saving by Ford, lower power bulbs to avoid having to fit headlight washers!

Agree! I have been looking for LED replacements , or more powerfull
HIDs but no luck.
I replaced the Osram oem with diode dymanic's hid, but really only color change.

Matrix I did not know that low power HID did not need washers, I wondered why there were non. I had a Chrysler with HID which washed the lamps every 10th screen wash. So unless it was a long dirty journey they never got the wash, DIY.

Matrix2020 said:

I agree, the lights are really poor, sadly another cost saving by Ford, lower power bulbs to avoid having to fit headlight washers!

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mine don't have any headlight washers, and the US lights are more brighter

Export models are fitted with 25w bulbs so they don't require washers as per EU regs.

US cars have 35w bulbs but no requirement for washers.

EU cars can be retro-fitted with 35w bulbs but it's not a simple plug n play job.

I rarely drive at night as well, but when I have oncoming traffic flashes their lights as if I am on "High-Beams", but I am not, guess I need an alignment as well?

a couple of the europeans have done the conversion its almost plug and play if you can get an OSRAM set i.e.:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Osram-D3...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

the ballast plate is the wrong shape but you just unscrew the internal workings and bolt that straight onto the Mustangs ballast plate, the bulbs need a little mod there's a notch that you need to remove either on the bulb or the headlight housing.. then you'll have 6000k 35W bulbs.

i'm considering it myself but not top priority atm...

I posted a similar thread recently, unfortunately the headlights on UK 'stangs are poor for the reasons outlined above. If your Mustang is your dailty driver (as it is for me) it means driving like Mr Magoo during these cold dark months. :(

Chappers said:

a couple of the europeans have done the conversion its almost plug and play if you can get an OSRAM set i.e.:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Osram-D3...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

the ballast plate is the wrong shape but you just unscrew the internal workings and bolt that straight onto the Mustangs ballast plate, the bulbs need a little mod there's a notch that you need to remove either on the bulb or the headlight housing.. then you'll have 6000k 35W bulbs.

i'm considering it myself but not top priority atm...

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That's the best solution I've seen; but, beware the voltages that can be present even after the lights have bee turned off.

I understood that under EU regulations, headlamps that don't autolevel are limited in power. Hence why we got the lower spec.

I've driven a couple of S550s in the US and would say that the extra isn't worth the the effort.

This is what gets me about cars nowadays... all these technological advances... and so many of them feel like backwards steps. Years ago you just unclipped the bulb and fitted a brighter one, and that was it... job done. Nowadays you need to be an IT engineer with £5K+ worth of software to do anything on most cars... and as far as the bloody EU and their daft-arsed regulations go, the sooner we can free ourselves from these desk bound bureaucrats that just complicate our lives... all the better!

Although whichever way Brexit eventually goes they (the government) have already said that all the existing laws and regulations put in place in the UK because of the EU will stay and be written into UK Law, so there will be no escape from them.

Entai said:

Although whichever way Brexit eventually goes they (the government) have already said that all the existing laws and regulations put in place in the UK because of the EU will stay and be written into UK Law, so there will be no escape from them.

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Only on day one, for stability and continuity. After that, UK parliament can change them.

slowhand99 said:

Only on day one, for stability and continuity. After that, UK parliament can change them.

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do you know how much its going to cost each one of us, to leave the EU, Brexit is the biggest screw up in the history of British Politics, where is the 365M promised to the National Health? People were fed BS and believed it
The EU will screw us for every penny before we leave, then once we are out then what?

it's going to cost you way more, then a light bulb

:headbonk: