Stock HID, did anyone replace them yet?!

[RedDen]

Hello guys,
Recently noticed, my HID are turning purple-ish colour, which may tell they about to die soon.
Did anyone replace stock HID yet?
There are few options to choose from, not just original Philips, but for example Osram Xenarc as well. Plus there is an option to choose another colour temperature.
We all know that original light is quite ****y on our Explorer, so I thought maybe another bulb will make any difference.
All the input will be greatly appreciated!

 

[peterk9]

Are you sure that you can access the unit Denis? In the Manual it says; "To replace these lamps - see your authorized dealer."

Peter

 

[RedDen]

Are you sure that you can access the unit Denis? In the Manual it says; "To replace these lamps - see your authorized dealer."

Peter

Anyone can access anything and of course it would say so, dealer needs to make money...

 

[metroplex]

If it is similar to the SHO, it is covered by a dust cover on the back of the assembly held with a zip-tie. Stick with a name brand, but be aware that I spent way too much time on this and the light output differences isn't much with the better D3 capsules. When I still had the SHO, I wrote in my notes that the projector assembly was the limiting factor. You can play with the color temperature but stick with the stock replacements.

The factory LEDs on my 2018 XLT blow the HIDs away. But the factory LEDs on my 2017 Fusion Sport are wortheless especially in the rain. And they don't melt away snow or ice, and because our cars are made to FMVSS standards, Ford isn't required to use headlight washers or heated washers like they use in Europe due to UNECE requirements for HID/LEDs.

 

[RedDen]

If I stick with stock replacement then it is just Philips D3S, not even X-vision or Gen2 bulbs, I thought to try smth different including Osram.
I was actually curious how LED's low beam on restyled Explorer is performing, looks like better than HID...

 

[metroplex]

They are aweesome, But my high beams are halogen. Good news is I can use them to melt snow. Bad news is that they look yellow when I flick them on.

I think the Osram Xenarc was the one they recommended trying but they aren't even noticeably brighter, just a hair whiter. The problem is the stock projector lens from what I remeber.

 

[fshskjp]

LEDs would be a huge improvement. I am eventually going to switch to LEDs. I personally went with Silvania bulbs. Made a huge difference and kept the OEM styling.

 

[Querys]

I would recommend to stay with the HIDs, because the performance of aftermarked LEDs in a HID Housing will not perform like the OEM bulbs. I'm sure you will be disappointed.
I tried Philips and Osram in my Audi. Both do a great job. Furthermore I tried a bulb from a manufacturer I have never seen before. This one was not useable and I bought the Osram, which are sill in my car since 5 years.

The replacement of the bulb requires to disassemble the front bumper to remove the entire headlight. If you have the headlight in you hands its an easy job to do the exchange. When exchanging do not touch the bulb glass with your fingers, only touch the metal socket.

 

[RedDen]

I would recommend to stay with the HIDs, because the performance of aftermarked LEDs in a HID Housing will not perform like the OEM bulbs. I'm sure you will be disappointed.
I tried Philips and Osram in my Audi. Both do a great job. Furthermore I tried a bulb from a manufacturer I have never seen before. This one was not useable and I bought the Osram, which are sill in my car since 5 years.

The replacement of the bulb requires to disassemble the front bumper to remove the entire headlight. If you have the headlight in you hands its an easy job to do the exchange. When exchanging do not touch the bulb glass with your fingers, only touch the metal socket.

Thanks for advice!
There is a good lightshop in town, so I about to visit them first and ask if they could replace the whole projector (price would matter), if it is too expensive I'll wait till my HID die and replace them with some Philips or Osram 5k or 5.5k K.
It is a bummer that to remove the headlight I have to disassemble half of the truck, gonna watch some utube video first

 

[Querys]

To be honest, usually aftermarked Headlights are not worth the money.
Recently I read a test about aftermarked Headlights for the VW Golf VI. Almost all were significatly worse than the original one.
Austausch-Scheinwerfer: Test (2018) - autobild.de

 

[RedDen]

To be honest, usually aftermarked Headlights are not worth the money.
Recently I read a test about aftermarked Headlights for the VW Golf VI. Almost all were significatly worse than the original one.
Austausch-Scheinwerfer: Test (2018) - autobild.de

I am not going to replace a headlight, just a projector