Hid headlights

[Sir Allecrop]

I was thinking about changing the headlight bulbs to 5000k or 6000k. My question is what are the stock bulbs? 4300k? How much of a difference will it make and do the ballasts need to be changed as well or will the stock ones work

 

[limited02]

What difference are you looking for? The higher the K, the more purple the light becomes and also the worse the output will be (usable light). Stock is more likely 4300k which honestly is the best as far as usable light output.

 

[Sir Allecrop]

I see that the new explorers have kinda a blue tint to there headlights. What would that be considered

 

[SHOdded]

More like 5500-6000, 5000 is a "pure white"

 

[Orguss]

Someone mentioned previously in another thread that the stock bulbs are around 37o0K. I'd prefer to have 5000K, as those are the most pure white. 6000K has too much blue in it.

On a related note, how does one adjust the headlights? I recently got my car back from an accident repair and the shop adjusted one of the lights to shine too close to the car.

 

[SHOdded]

I think you can only do vertical aiming (as per the owner's manual), horizontal is fixed, so the quality of body work is important. Aftermarket setups sometimes have capability to adjust the bulb within the headlamp assembly.

 

[SilverSH0]

I see that the new explorers have kinda a blue tint to there headlights. What would that be considered

Is the light output itself blue or just on the cutoff line? Most projectors will make the light look blue as you view it from close to the cutoff line. But when inside the main beam are white.

Like was mentioned, if they're blue all over then they're probably 5,500-6,000k

 

[Orguss]

I just ordered some Chinese 5000K bulbs and will be installing them on the weekend. I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

 

[limited02]

I just ordered some Chinese 5000K bulbs and will be installing them on the weekend. I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

I wish you luck with the Chinese lights. I installed lights from https://www.theretrofitsource.com/ into my wife's Milan and they have been awesome.

 

[OmaHahn]

I just installed Phillips Xtreme Vision 5000k a couple weeks ago. It actually makes a huge difference over the factory 4,300k! Factory 4,300 is as close to "daylight," as you can get but daylight actually has minor yellow properties in the spectrum. 5000k is a pure white and I can tell the difference when my beams shine on road signs, cars in front of me, etc.

 

[Bigphill911]

Where'd you get the Philips bulbs what size and how hard were they to swap

 

[OmaHahn]

Where'd you get the Philips bulbs what size and how hard were they to swap

Sorry for my delayed response. I got them from HIDconcept.com They are a bit pricey, but they're Philips so I trust the brand and they're awesome! Our cars use the D3S bulbs.
Not hard to install at all! Boy I learned the hard way too!!! I had my car in for oil change and figured a Ford dealership would know how to change light bulbs on a Ford car, right? Oh wow, they messed up so bad, got home and the lights weren't even tightened into the base, the rubber grommets on the back of the housings came off, passenger bulb was broken....I was furious!!! They cut me a check to reimburse a new light and for their labor time, but I was blown away they couldn't install simple bulbs into one of their own cars! I went home and figured it out in 5 mins! Passenger side is easy, but driver's side you need to take out the air-filter box.

 

[Orguss]

Man, it took 3 hours to install the bulbs. That's after removing the air intake to get at the driver's side and moving the coolant tank to get at the passenger side. They make a lot more noise firing up than the German ones do. Other than that, I can't post an opinion. In the three days since installing the bulbs, I haven't driven at night.