LED conversion for 15-17 Mustangs?

[Zelek]

My 18 Accord's headlights are blinding. Some days I feel bad coming over a hill for other drivers, but most days I don't. Bright AF.

The Mustang doesn't have the worst headlights. They get the job done with the HID's. I'm a fan of the daytime running lights if anything.

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[NoVaGT]

.......I'm a fan of the daytime running lights if anything.

YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!!!!!

 

[Intrepid175]

Try adjusting the aim first.
Don't buy important things from an unknown company (brakes, headlights, tires...)
Why is the splice necessary?
CANBUS circuitry? ...?! In a 2 wire bulb? That's akin to companies putting "blockchain" in their name to raise their stock price last year.
4,000 lumens per bulb seems too bright.

Checking the aim is certainly a good thing to do. In the case of my 2016 GT, converting from HID to LED, requires bypassing the HID ballast and that requires splicing some wires. The ballast is not needed for the LED bulbs and won't work with them either way. To be honest, the lumens count means nothing to me. I don't have a solid grip on what's too bright and what's not just by that number. That's why I'm asking questions.

 

[Intrepid175]

Really appreciate all the responses guys. I have to admit, I hadn't really considered the aiming issue. The low beams don't give me the impression that they're off but I could obviously be wrong about that. Since checking the aim is the easiest thing to do, and cheapest, I'll let you know.

 

[Commbubba19]

There are some key problems with LED's in projector housings. Glare isn't one of them.

However, an HID bulb (halogen too) are omnidirectional 360* light output that's produced in a very specific 3 dimensional location within the housing.

An aftermarket LED like the one you posted and even those for standard H11 bases etc are not omnidirectional. As you can see the LED chip is on one side and it's mirror on the other. The light output is not omnidirectional and therefore doesn't take advantage of the full projector design allowing the light to be thrown as far out into the distance as possible. Also take note that the chips are millimeters apart. That small movement of the light source also impacts light performance producing more foreground light and less far ground light.

Many companies over compensate by trying to up the actual lumen output which may make the light appear brighter, but again, it's in the foreground with a weaker hotspot and more of a flood light end result.

OEM LED's are designed to work in a specific projector that does not have these symptoms of poor performance. Until aftermarket LED's create fully 360* omnidirectional chips, I don't see this changing.

 

[Vegas5OH]

I get flashed all the time with my stock low beams they are so bright. When I get flashed i flash back with my high beams lmao

 

[Freedom]

I get flashed all the time with my stock low beams they are so bright. When I get flashed i flash back with my high beams lmao

Drives here have their low beams so misaligned that they shoot into my eyes. Even new suvs like the Lexus and BMW are aimed pretty high. The mustang in comparison is basically aiming at the floor.

 

[Intrepid175]

There are some key problems with LED's in projector housings. Glare isn't one of them.

However, an HID bulb (halogen too) are omnidirectional 360* light output that's produced in a very specific 3 dimensional location within the housing.

An aftermarket LED like the one you posted and even those for standard H11 bases etc are not omnidirectional. As you can see the LED chip is on one side and it's mirror on the other. The light output is not omnidirectional and therefore doesn't take advantage of the full projector design allowing the light to be thrown as far out into the distance as possible. Also take note that the chips are millimeters apart. That small movement of the light source also impacts light performance producing more foreground light and less far ground light.

Many companies over compensate by trying to up the actual lumen output which may make the light appear brighter, but again, it's in the foreground with a weaker hotspot and more of a flood light end result.

OEM LED's are designed to work in a specific projector that does not have these symptoms of poor performance. Until aftermarket LED's create fully 360* omnidirectional chips, I don't see this changing.

Commbubba19,

Thank you so much. That's what I was looking for and it makes perfect sense. Two thumbs up!!

 

[chewdogg]

OP once you verify the headlights are aimed correctly the easiest route is to upgrade the stock HID bulb to something from Osram or Phillips. I used to do OEM retrofits back when HID only came on high end cars. I found the best bulbs were in the 4300K - 5000K color temp. Over 5000K the blue hue everyone loves is enhanced but your lumens start dropping off and visibility suffers. And watch out. There's a lot of fakes out there.

 

[Zelek]

Nothing is worse than the new Escalade when it comes to blinding lights. Absolute worst design. No alignment can fix something that blinding. It's about the equivalent of those F-250/350, HD 2500, jackasses with those LED light bars.

 

[Intrepid175]

Hi everyone! Here's the update I promised. I did a little research on how to properly aim the headlights. Basically, a Google search on "2016 Mustang headlight aim."

I found this:
https://owner.ford.com/support/how-...lights.html?fmccmp=myfordmag-site-MFPR0915LIF

So after doing all the measuring and putting the tape on the wall, I found that my headlights were actually aimed high. It didn't seem to take much adjustment to bring the beams down to the proper levels. I just got through taking a little test drive tonight. On residential streets, the low beams seem about the same. On dark empty backroads, the lows seem to illuminate not quite as far as they did before which is not unexpected under the circumstancess but honestly, if I hadn't experienced the difference, I would never have noticed. As for the high beams, they are "way" better than before. If the car had been like this from the beginning, I never would have thought about it. I ran some errands in my Rav4 tonight too and was able to drive a couple of the same roads I used to test the Mustangs lights. They're much more similar than they were before although the Toyota puts out a whiter light than the Mustang does. I may make a bulb change at some point in the future but I'm happy for now. The high beams on the Mustang are actually usable now!

OP once you verify the headlights are aimed correctly the easiest route is to upgrade the stock HID bulb to something from Osram or Phillips. I used to do OEM retrofits back when HID only came on high end cars. I found the best bulbs were in the 4300K - 5000K color temp. Over 5000K the blue hue everyone loves is enhanced but your lumens start dropping off and visibility suffers. And watch out. There's a lot of fakes out there.

Thanks chewdogg. I appreciate the added info. I'll check it out.

And to everyone who responded, thank you for taking the time. You've all been a big help.

Drive Safe everyone!

 

[TricarboNate]

HID's are better in terms of light output, compared to LED. Not sure why you would want to downgrade.....

 

[Intrepid175]

HID's are better in terms of light output, compared to LED. Not sure why you would want to downgrade.....

If you bothered to read the conversation, I don't see how you could come to the conclusion that I was trying to downgrade. I admit I wasn't fully on top of the differences between HID and LED technologies. HID has been around for a while. LED seems to be the new favorite among upper end cars these days, even current production Mustangs if I'm not mistaken. That's why I was looking at the LED's and also because I found some that were a bit less expensive than the HID's I'd seen advertised. So I asked the question and got what I think are some good answers. Thanks again guys! I've learned a lot.

 

[Unas2k5]

I’m switching to LED they’re a lot brighter.

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