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So has anyone used these lights before? And if so are they true plug and play? I hate how the headlights are on my st2 and want to get brighter. Thanks.
New headlights.
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I'll start with the basics:
If you don't have HID headlight housings on your ST2, it'll be garbage because it'll glare all over the place and blind everyone.
Aside from that it'll be brighter than stock I'm sure, a quick google search shows that they aren't considered to be too "low-quality" so I mean I don't see many issues.
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I do have the HID headlights so I should be good there. Yeah electrical is not my strength. Lol mechanical I'm good with but when it comes to wiring and electronic my brain stops working. Lol
i have these exact lights on mine-have had them installed for just over a year now and they have worked flawlessly. true plug n play and no error messages. i know one or two people on the forum commented that they had issues with them, but they have been completely trouble free for me..
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Cool. Thanks.
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If you have the mechanical know how, I would recommend a proper HID install. You'll benefit from the proper light output and as stated by Brain60, you won't blind on coming traffic. Good luck.
I don't know how I missed the second post....Ignore my comment.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/c...al-kits/bixenon-morimoto-mini-h1-stage-3.html
I don't know how I missed the second post....Ignore my comment.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/c...al-kits/bixenon-morimoto-mini-h1-stage-3.html
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1,556 Posts
happen to have any output photos compared to stock?
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So. I go to put them in and I think I'm missing something. The plastic piece that holds the bulb is not on the new one. (Pictures) and I have no clue if that's even something that can come off. No idea what I'm supposed to do now.
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Yeah I was afraid of that.
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I'm trying to get brighter lights. Arnt LEDs brighter than hids?
sorry i don't, but the difference is night and day. i have an st1 with the halogens, so i bought a set of projector halogen lamps-first i tried some led's (they looked great, but didn't throw the light as far as i had hoped), then i upgraded to the hid's and i'm very happy with them...huge difference
sorry-didn't read your initial post closely enough to see you have an st2-my lights are aftermarket projectors with an H7 bulb that i upgraded to HID. i would check with retrofitsource or diode dynamics..good luck
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530 Posts
What year ST do you have?
On the 2013-2014 ST, only the ST3 had HID headlights. ST1/2 had halogen reflectors.
On the 2015-16 models, the ST2/3 have HID headlights, while the ST1 has halogen reflectors.
In both cases of the OEM HID headlights, they have low powered HIDs and ballasts. 25w for both I think.
For the 13-14 ST3 OEM HID headlights, your best option without going full retrofit is upgrading the bulbs/ballasts -
http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-appearance/31235-diy-how-st3-hid-bulb-swap-d8s-d3s.html
I'm not sure on the 15-16 ST2/3 HID Headlights if they can easily be upgraded the same.
As for generically answering your question, if you have OEM Halogen reflectors/prjectors, stay with that. If you have OEM HID projectors, stay with HID.
These headlight reflectors/projectors are made for specific bulbs/types and placing a HID bulb in a Halogen reflector, or LED bulb in a HID projector, or whatever in what it was not made for will result in poor lighting. Usually light will scatter unusably, likely blinding people, or the light will have no hotspot for distance, width, etc.
Do not fall into the 'LED bulbs are the best' trap right now.
On the 2013-2014 ST, only the ST3 had HID headlights. ST1/2 had halogen reflectors.
On the 2015-16 models, the ST2/3 have HID headlights, while the ST1 has halogen reflectors.
In both cases of the OEM HID headlights, they have low powered HIDs and ballasts. 25w for both I think.
For the 13-14 ST3 OEM HID headlights, your best option without going full retrofit is upgrading the bulbs/ballasts -
http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-appearance/31235-diy-how-st3-hid-bulb-swap-d8s-d3s.html
I'm not sure on the 15-16 ST2/3 HID Headlights if they can easily be upgraded the same.
As for generically answering your question, if you have OEM Halogen reflectors/prjectors, stay with that. If you have OEM HID projectors, stay with HID.
These headlight reflectors/projectors are made for specific bulbs/types and placing a HID bulb in a Halogen reflector, or LED bulb in a HID projector, or whatever in what it was not made for will result in poor lighting. Usually light will scatter unusably, likely blinding people, or the light will have no hotspot for distance, width, etc.
Do not fall into the 'LED bulbs are the best' trap right now.
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Just something to consider
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I have a 16 ST2. With the HIDs. See personally I feel like the headlights have a dead spot between the low and high beams. When the high beams come on, it doesent change anything about the low beams. It just adds a extra light that (in my opinion) is to high up in the air and leaves dead space between the low beam light and the high beam light. I have a 04 Monte Carlo SS supercharged and I put LEDs in it and the difference is quite a lot, I feel like. I can see so much farther and brighter than the ST2 HID lights I have on the foST. I can't do a comparison because the Monte is stored for the winter.
Your beams aren't by chance adjusted incorrectly or anything right? That's pretty odd. My 2014 low beams are overlapped with the high beam, which, although shines really high, lights up FARRR down the road and the entire area in front of me left/right/and up high.
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Yeah my high and low beams deff are not overlapped. I mean my low beams are good right in front of me for maybe like 5 ish car lengths then there's a dark spot when I put the high beams on. The high beam start around half way up the trees. Does anyone know if there are different adjusters for the high and low beams? Most likely not though. I did adjust the headlights because I felt they were a lil low. But I already noticed the gap before I adjusted them anyway. So the gap isint due to me adjusting them.
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I think my 16 st2 headlights are pretty good, I Just want to swap out the cornering bulbs and fog lamps for something that matches the color of the factory hid headlight bulb.
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