JSKershaw Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I found these and I'm not sure how good they are. The price is actually cheaper than what I would have thought. Has anyone used these before and do you recommend them? http://www.vvme.com/hid-headlights/single-beam-hid-conversion-kit/h8-h11-hid-conversion-kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Strike- Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I've recently read a lot of stuff on the HID conversion stuff. Apparently, unless you do a real retrofit, with actual HID projectors, you suck, and blind everyone else on the road and it's a waste of money. Hah. I was looking into maybe doing the H11 to H9 conversion. Not sure how well our halogen projectors perform yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmp180psu Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I am interested in HID or better bulb options since what i have seen in person, and in pictures, it seems like the headlights aren't that great. I am coming from a TL with HIDs so i hope the dropoff isn't that bad. I drive on back roads especially near my house, so headlights are pretty important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSKershaw Posted November 12, 2012 Author Share Posted November 12, 2012 I'm not really concerned about the headlights. I'm sure that they meet all safety regulations and standards. All these topics about "possible" issues is getting me to start searching for these "little" upgrades. For $50 it doesn't seem that bad. I'm sure I will be fine with whatever lights come on the Fusion. Especially with the auto-high beam feature (I've never had this before) could help when driving on roads that are poorly lit. I don't use my high beams that often because I find it a pain to have to remember to turn them off when a vehicle is approaching. Sometimes I forget to turn them off and feel like an @$$ after blinding the other drivers. Besides with the fog lights on it should help a bit more when lighting up the street. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Yep. I use my fog lights to light up the side of the road when staying alert for Bambi. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott029 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Try upgrading to a better H11 lamp like: Sylvania Silver Star, PIAA Xtreme or Phillips Vision Plus. I just did an HID conversion in my '95 BMW 540i but I would not convert a brand new car. Even the really good conversions are not as good as "factory". Edited November 12, 2012 by scott029 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadman64 Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Yep. I use my fog lights to light up the side of the road when staying alert for Bambi. So I've never had fog lights before (I think they are included with the luxury package on the SE), but how do they work? Are they on all time or do I need to turn them on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Strike- Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 You have to turn them on when you need em. :D Usually, I only use them in rural areas to light up the road a little better, and of course during foggy/rainy/snowy nights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermans Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 You can turn them on and off when needed. They automaticly go off when the bright lights are on. Then they turn on when the brights are off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmp180psu Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I was thinking of investing in some replacement bulbs since the light of the stock bulbs seems to be very yellow and certainly not a nice white like in the Ford website photos lol. Should be an fairly easy swap, depending on where the ballasts are. Does anyone know the brand that is stock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Strike- Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) The stock lights aren't HID, they're halogen projectors, so they have a regular pop in and turn bulb. So, there is no ballasts in there. Not sure how difficult it would be to get to them, as I don't have a car yet. Probably have to remove the engine or something insane :P About the best we can do, is upgrade the bulb, or opt in for doing the H9 conversion, which is basically installing a H9 bulb instead of the H11, which requires trimming a little bit off the bulb itself so it fits properly in the socket, and plugs into the harness. However, there could be an issue with added heat and/or stress on the wiring as the H9 is a 65w bulb vs the 55 of a H11. The lumen output of an H9 is far superior to that of the H11, almost double. But, don't forget, more output will cause the bulb not to last as long, that's probably why Ford goes with the H11LL. HID conversion kits are usually junk in a reflector type housing due to causing major glare issues, and scattering the light like mad. Sure, it may be bright as all hell, but the actual output is crap, and the beam pattern is non existant. However, since we have halogen projectors, it may not be as bad as a reflector housing - but, our projectors were designed for the output of a halogen bulb, not HID. So, we'd probably still have mega issues with a crappy beam pattern, light scatter and bad glare for oncoming drivers. Will it work? Probably, but it's probably even worse than a regular bulb. A lot of people who want to go the true HID way, they opt in for an actual HID designed projector retrofit, which isn't cheap, and probably requires ripping apart our brand new headlamps. Edited November 12, 2012 by -Strike- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I think the whiter light of the HID conversions fools people into thinking they're getting better lighting when in most cases it's the same or even worse due to the beam pattern. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camride Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 I think the whiter light of the HID conversions fools people into thinking they're getting better lighting when in most cases it's the same or even worse due to the beam pattern. This is highly dependent on the implementation though. There are a few ways you can do it: 1. Purchase a proper projector (housing, glass) that is intended for HIDs, retrofit it to your car and purchase OEM or OEM quality ballasts and bulbs. This will get you OEM level HIDs but is expensive, time consuming and will likely void your warranty. 2. If you have a halogen projector with a real cut-off (should look like a step down) you can install just the ballasts and bulbs and get good quality light, though it will not be ideal because the projector glass is meant for a different type of bulb. This won't spread the light perfectly even, but it will still put more light on the road and you won't blind anyone because you have a proper cut-off pattern in the lense 3. Throw HID bulbs/ballasts in a reflector housing intended for halogens. This will throw light everywhere, will blind everyone and you'll have less visibility than with a halogen light. But you'll look "cool". For me I have done #2 in my current Audi A4. My Audi had the option for HIDs, but it was not ordered that way, so I had standard halogen projectors (but with the proper cutoff pattern). But they do have the proper cutoff, so I bought DDM Tuning HIDs and wired them in. I get much more light on the ground than I did with the halogens and I don't blind anyone. It's not as good as option 1 because the lenses are meant for halogens, so the light isn't perfect, but it is better than stock. I haven't seen any pictures of the light beam of the stock halogens from the Fusion, but if they have a good cutoff (stepped) then you should be able to through a HID kit in and get better lighting. Depending on how the back of the headlights are designed you may be able to do a straight plug and play and be able to remove the HIDs when you need to go in for warranty work. Otherwise you'd need to cut open the housing to make room for the additional wires and that will definitely void your warranty. If no one has taken a good look at this by the time I get my car I will poke at it and figure out if doing HIDs is a realistic option while keeping your warranty intact. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghent360 Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) Greetings everyone, It's my first post here. I put an order for '13 Fusion Hybrid and I'm anxiously reading the delivery date debacle. I did a HID conversion on my wife's Acura MDX. It had projector headlights with halogens similar to the 2013 Fusion. The conversion was quite good, these projectors have build-in cutoff and the HID lamp has the xenon arc in the same place and direction as the filament on the halogen bulb, so no issues with blinding people on the road. The light output was better than halogen as well. I think you'll have good results installing HIDs in the fusion. However I had two issues with these kits: The xenon bulbs don't fit properly - hey claim H11 socket, but I tried two kits and both needed some filing and cutting of the bulb tabs so it can fit in the headlight socket. It can be quite frustrating. After 3 years one of the ballasts went bad and one of the light fuses was blown. You can say you get what you pay for. You also need to find a place under the hood where to bolt the ballast. The 2013 Hybrid looked pretty crammed under the hood. I personally think the headlights from 2013 the Mondeo would be super cool, but I'd wait a year or two before tampering with the warranty on the electrics. Edited November 13, 2012 by ghent360 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.blackfoot Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 New to the forum. I ordered a set of HIDs for my 2013 Fusion Hybrid from DDM Tuning and was unable to get the lights to stay on. I installed the lights and ballast and turned the lights on, they flickered a few times and that was it. I thought a fuse blew and checked all the fuses (the manual does not state which fuse is for the headlights, at least I couldn't find anything). I removed two 15a fuses, thinking they could be for the headlights and turned the headlights back on. This time the lights stayed on but a warning light came on the dash. I turned the headlights off and checked the manual to see what the two fuses were for. One was for the wipers and the other was for the inverter. Just wondering if anyone has installed HIDs on a 2013 Fusion Hybrid and why would the lights stay on with the fuse for the inverter removed? If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 New to the forum. I ordered a set of HIDs for my 2013 Fusion Hybrid from DDM Tuning and was unable to get the lights to stay on. I installed the lights and ballast and turned the lights on, they flickered a few times and that was it. I thought a fuse blew and checked all the fuses (the manual does not state which fuse is for the headlights, at least I couldn't find anything). I removed two 15a fuses, thinking they could be for the headlights and turned the headlights back on. This time the lights stayed on but a warning light came on the dash. I turned the headlights off and checked the manual to see what the two fuses were for. One was for the wipers and the other was for the inverter. Just wondering if anyone has installed HIDs on a 2013 Fusion Hybrid and why would the lights stay on with the fuse for the inverter removed? If anyone has any info I would greatly appreciate it. I'll be putting my DDM Tuning HID's in on New Years day... they just arrived yesterday. That being said, from what I have read; You NEED a relay harness for the low beams to function properly. I order a relay harness for both my fogs and lows.. I will let you know how it goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.blackfoot Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Definitely let us know how it goes. I am very curious to know if the relay harness solves the problem. Also, how are you going to get the stock bulbs out (what needs to come apart to get access to the bulbs)? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmadole Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Definitely let us know how it goes. I am very curious to know if the relay harness solves the problem. Also, how are you going to get the stock bulbs out (what needs to come apart to get access to the bulbs)? Thanks. http://www.blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/52116-how-to-remove-front-bumper-headlight-ford-fusion-2013/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.blackfoot Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Thanks for that info. I'm going to order that relay harness. Did you order that harness from DDM? Also, do you have any info on how to change the bulbs under side view mirrors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Strike- Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Has anyone completed this yet? Was contemplating doing this in the new year. Just curious as to how the beam pattern is with the HIDs in the halogen projectors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo923 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 I ran both VVME and DDM kits. I prefer the VVME kits, though they're both made in China. I had to use a relay on my Charger, but as far as I know none of the Ford vehicles use a CANbus system like the Mopar cars, so a relay harness isn't necessary (unless your worried about the initial voltage spike to ignite the HID, which is pretty much irrelavant. My fusion showed up today, and I already have a VVME H11 in the waiting to install. I'll probably do that Jan 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo923 Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Has anyone completed this yet? Was contemplating doing this in the new year. Just curious as to how the beam pattern is with the HIDs in the halogen projectors. From the cutoff pictures you showed on the stock ones, my guess is that there will be a little bit more light bleed installing HID's (not as sharp a cutoff) and defined hotspots for the HID's. It's not ideal (doesn't look like it has the width you should have for HIDs) and might cause some more glare off the road surface (with the hotspots), but should have good throw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 Most Ford vehicles do use CAN bus and have for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B8BB8B Posted December 31, 2012 Share Posted December 31, 2012 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="-Strike-" data-cid="822546" data-time="1356969358"><p> Has anyone completed this yet? Was contemplating doing this in the new year. Just curious as to how the beam pattern is with the HIDs in the halogen projectors.</p></blockquote> Light is light, not sure it would make a differnce weather it was yellow halogens or white HIDs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camride Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="-Strike-" data-cid="822546" data-time="1356969358"><p>Has anyone completed this yet? Was contemplating doing this in the new year. Just curious as to how the beam pattern is with the HIDs in the halogen projectors.</p></blockquote> Light is light, not sure it would make a differnce weather it was yellow halogens or white HIDs The difference is the bulb, halogens put light out in a different pattern than HIDs (just look at the bulbs, they are very different in terms of design). A projector is designed for a halogen bulb and will spread the light out optimally with a halogen bulb. Once you change the bulb to a HID the light pattern will be different because of the bulb design. The proper way to install HIDs is to get a projector designed for HIDs and retrofit that in place of the factory halogen projector so that you will get the proper beam pattern and it will spread the light out optimally. The reason these kind of kits work though is because while a halogen projector isn't optimal for a HID bulb it's not that far off (depending on who you talk to). The most important part is a crisp cut-off so that you don't blind anyone with the HIDs, other than that you're putting more light out with the HIDs, it's just not optimally spread out (hot spots). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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