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Replaced Low beam OEM bulbs - pictures


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For the past several vehicles, I replaced the OEM head lamp bulbs to get better light and coverage, especially on highway driving or in the mountains at night.

 

I just replaced the bulbs in the C-Max this morning, and took before and after pictures during the install.

 

I purchased a pair of Sylvania Silverstar zXe H11 bulbs for the low beams, which are supposed to have a higher color temperature (in the 5000K range) and be more like HID than stock bulbs. THese go for $59 at Autozone, I got mine from Ebay for $32 including priority mail shipping.

 

I followed the instructions in the owners manual (pps 296-297), which leave a lot to be desired.  Not sure how the headlamp assembly gets installed at the factory, it is t-i-g-h-t!  I removed the drivers side unit, the bulb replace was a snap.  Steps:

 

Make sure power is off to the headlamps, remove the housing, remove the rubber cap that seals the bulb receptacle, unsnap and remove the wiring connector, turn the original bulb 90 degrees counter-clockwise and remove.  Place the new bulb, being very carefull not to touch anything, turn 90 degree clockwise to lock it in, re-connect and snap in the wiring, then the rubber boot, then position the housing and attach.

 

On the passenger side, I did not remove the assembly, just took the boot off, unhooked the connector and removed/replaced the bulb.  There is little swing room, so getting the rubber boot seated was more of a challenge.

 

To my eye, the zXe bulbs are whiter and more intnese,  Will drive tonight to confirm if I can see much difference.  Hope this is helpful for anyone considering. 

 

I have used different bulb from manufacturers: Sylvania Silverstars (lasted 2.5 years), GE NightHawk (lasted 8 mo), Phillips Pro-vision  think that was the name, lasted about a year) and PIAA - still working in my wife's car.  The common  concern is shorter life- but I will take the added cost and inconvenience to be able to see further at night. 

 

Enjoy your C-Max!

 

 

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Heya wamba, I'm a big fan of putting in good bulbs, and have a set sitting on the table waiting for me. The owners manual says you should remove the whole headlight assembly to get access to the bulbs, but apparently the owners manual also lies about how to remove them. I've been trying to get a clarification from Ford before proceeding, but it looks like you took the other path and just squeezed your hand into the narrow space behind the light.

 

I should warn you that the bulbs you chose are, to use the technical term, 'crap'. They look brighter to your brain because they are bluer, but that's actually an illusion. Think about it for a second: if the bulb puts out white light, and you put blue paint on the bulb to filter out some of the light, you clearly have less light hitting the road, right? So really any bulb that painted blue should be avoided.

There's a good article by a lighting expert here: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/bad/bad.html

 

Osram Night Breakers are the bulbs I chose, Philips Xtreme Vision are another good choice. But avoid anything with a blue tint on the glass.

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Mike I have read numerous opinons and reviews about replacement bulbs.  I think the Phillips bulbs I had in another vehicle were the Xtreme Vision, not Pro-Vision as I stated.

The Osram bulbs are harder to find branded as Osram.

 

The zXe is made by Osram in Germany. Osram owns Sylvania, not sure as to how products might have any overlap.

 

I will try them out and if not happy, I do not have a lot invested, at least I know how to change them out efficiently.

 

If you remove the headlamp housing, at least on my C-Max, I could see there was some wear marks on the back top clear plastic section, looks like installation was not easy at the factory.  If you have fairly long fingers and a good lighting source, I think you could replace bulbs without removal.

 

Good luck

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From CR (Jan. 2013) with respect to premium bulbs:

 

"We found that the premium bulbs, as a group, deliver a whiter light and up to 19 percent more output than the standard or OE bulbs, and that can be more pleasing for drivers. But none of the premium bulbs allowed us to see farther on our headlight test course than the standard or OE bulbs."

 

"Bottom line. Premium bulbs might be a good choice if you prefer a more intense or whiter light, but don’t expect big changes in the distance you can see compared with standard or new OE bulbs. For the premium bulbs we tested, shop by price."

Edited by Plus 3 Golfer
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Zhack, if the headlamps are properly adjusted, they would not blind oncoming drivers.  They appear brighter or whiter than OEM bulbs.

 

I drove a short distance last night, I can see the color spectrum is lighter, not sure as to distance.

 

Make your own choices if you want to change out bulbs.  There are a lot of conversations and articles about what is good/bad, you can read online for hours. 

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The worst culprits for blinding oncoming drivers are the inexpensive HID retrofit headlamps. Unless the HID lamps are properly engineered to place the arc tube in the exact focal point of the OEM reflector/refractor system, the result is the light distribution pattern is completely destroyed. These low-budget glare bombs end up spraying light in all directions, illuminating the road, the trees and everything in between. 

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