bzcat Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 These are illegal in the United States, I do know people with BMW and Audi's can re-code them to work the in US. Ford even offers these currently on the Edge/MKX for export. What's illegal? I have LED lights that automatically switch between low and high beams on both my cars (one BMW and one Audi) and they are both DOT compliant. I didn't have to code the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I'm thinking he was confused and meant to post that in the Traverse RS thread... Uh....yeah, sorry about that. I wondered where my post went. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I think that was to be posted in a thread about the Chevy Traverse RS/Powertrain lineup... Only guess I got. Yep. sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 What's illegal? I have LED lights that automatically switch between low and high beams on both my cars (one BMW and one Audi) and they are both DOT compliant. I didn't have to code the car. These are more adaptable and make far more changes during driving based on many variables. US DOT laws are way too restrictive and need to be changed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 What's illegal? I have LED lights that automatically switch between low and high beams on both my cars (one BMW and one Audi) and they are both DOT compliant. I didn't have to code the car. They switch from low/high. Depending on models you can code them to dim/ walk the beam around vehicles in front of you, high beam stays on but the area where you would blind that driver is dimmed. The MKX with the full LED headlights can do it (one of the reasons the upgrade is so expensive) Lincoln and others thought the US was going to change its headlight laws when vehicles were under development but it didnt happened so they ended up with very expensive headlight units that can go high/low. You could probably code the MKX lighting module to do it as well. Ford doesnt seem to have the online hackers the way the Germans do though for hacking the modules, though there are way more units out there which does help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 (edited) I see... so the US spec LED turns on/off high beam entirely rather than leaving it partially on in pattern. So yes, that is blind spot (pun intended!) in the DOT NHTSA rules. I initially didn't want to pay extra for the LED lights on my BMW but I'm very glad I got it. They are freaking amazing... I just leave it on auto and it switches from low to high beam when there is no cars in front of me (either in the same direction or opposite). When the sensor detects a car in the light range, it switches from high to low beam. When the car clears, it switches back to high beam again. I guess if the e-code was switched on the light on my car, then there is technically no high or low beam... it's just a continuous spectrum of luminosity depending on direction and what's in front of you. Obviously in urban settings where there are lots of traffic, it will behave mostly like conventional low beam but on highway or rural area, it must be super awesome to have basically high beam range at all time without blinding anyone. Edited February 8, 2018 by bzcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 I initially didn't want to pay extra for the LED lights on my BMW but I'm very glad I got it. They are freaking amazing... I just leave it on auto and it switches from low to high beam when there is no cars in front of me (either in the same direction or opposite). When the sensor detects a car in the light range, it switches from high to low beam. When the car clears, it switches back to high beam again. My 2013 Fusion has auto high beams. It’s a cool feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 My 2013 Fusion has auto high beams. Its a cool feature. Does your MkX not? My Edge does. One of the first things I turned off. Hated it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerLS Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 My 2013 Fusion has auto high beams. It’s a cool feature. My '89 T-Bird SC had auto lamps and auto high beams. It was pretty cool 'til somebody decided that the car didn't dim its lights soon enough and flashed their high beams at you. Then the auto high beams would dim. Then the other guy would dim his high beams. Then the T-Bird would turn the high beams back on, then the other guy would turn his back on, then the T-Bird would dim...rinse and repeat... Other than that, I liked them. I was disappointed that they weren't even an option on my LSes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordtech1 Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 My '89 T-Bird SC had auto lamps and auto high beams. It was pretty cool 'til somebody decided that the car didn't dim its lights soon enough and flashed their high beams at you. Then the auto high beams would dim. Then the other guy would dim his high beams. Then the T-Bird would turn the high beams back on, then the other guy would turn his back on, then the T-Bird would dim...rinse and repeat... Other than that, I liked them. I was disappointed that they weren't even an option on my LSes. My first car was a 86 Mark vii. It had auto high beams. On a real dark road, when you approached a street sign like speed limit, the high beams would go off then on then off then on until I passed it. The system worked well most of the time but depending on the conditions i had to adjust the sensitivity. No dads F150 has auto high beams and they work well. Rare do they not turn to low beam when on coming traffic comes. Sometimes in a curve it takes longer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Does your MkX not? My Edge does. One of the first things I turned off. Hated it. Yes mkx also has it. I was just pointing out they weren’t new or exclusive to luxury vehicles. And they work perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonj80 Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Heres a video of how the lights that are illegal in the United State operate. whats also cool is the night vision system with spotlight. Ford should offer a Nightvision system on the Explorer to police, it makes seeing people in dark conditions super easy to pick out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 I had to turn off the auto highbeams on my SHO-They worked great at first, but now they don't turn off when I'm behind other cars and other things-I had the windshield replaced, so I wonder if that was part of the problem. I don't drive that much at night, so not a huge problem to put them on manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Sounds like they didn’t resintall the sensor properly - it’s behind the rear view mirror. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Does your MkX not? My Edge does. One of the first things I turned off. Hated it. Why would you hate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Why would you hate it? Ive intentionally turned on my high beams less than a dozen times in decades of driving. I dont need/want them on. Also, they seem to go on at random, and I was getting flashed (and not in a good way ) at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Mine works fine and I never get flashed. They screwed up your sensor with the windshield swap. Can’t believe you don’t use high beams unless you always drive in the city with street lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullynd Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 They screwed up your sensor with the windshield swap. Who did what? Unless they replaced it before I bought it, I have my original windshield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 I love the auto high beams in my Super Duty. They work nearly flawlessly. And if I'm not getting flashed sitting up higher than everyone else with my bright-ass LEDs (that are horrible according to IIHS or somebody), then they must be working well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Mine works fine and I never get flashed. They screwed up your sensor with the windshield swap. Can’t believe you don’t use high beams unless you always drive in the city with street lights. Who did what? Unless they replaced it before I bought it, I have my original windshield. I think akirby is drunk. He was replying to you, but silversvt is the one with the replaced windshield. All this stress about Lincoln threads in the Ford forum must be getting to him and driving him to drink... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 I think akirby is drunk. He was replying to you, but silversvt is the one with the replaced windshield. All this stress about Lincoln threads in the Ford forum must be getting to him and driving him to drink... The sad part is you (and others) knew exactly what I meant both times I screwed up! Only stress I have is being in this crappy rental house while the new one gets built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 The sad part is you (and others) knew exactly what I meant both times I screwed up! Maybe that means we're all drunk! Only stress I have is being in this crappy rental house while the new one gets built. That sucks! Hopefully the new house comes along quickly and smoothly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 That sucks! Hopefully the new house comes along quickly and smoothly! It’s going pretty quickly now but it took 4 months to get through the design selections, architectural changes and get the slab poured. Shooting for May, early June at the latest. What’s really killing me is I can’t do much woodworking or car maintenance or anything else I would normally do to occupy myself around the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY93SHO Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Mine works fine and I never get flashed. They screwed up your sensor with the windshield swap. Can’t believe you don’t use high beams unless you always drive in the city with street lights. Or used the incorrect windshield. Seen that with rain sensors and even the Onstar mic won't work correctly with the wrong windshield on some vehicles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Or used the incorrect windshield. Seen that with rain sensors and even the Onstar mic won't work correctly with the wrong windshield on some vehicles. Yeah, had the windshield replaced in my F150 and the Onstar mic never worked after that. Weird. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.