Ford Fiesta ST Forum banner

Lighting upgrades

21K views 49 replies 10 participants last post by  Ryan Owens 
#1 ·
I decided to do a bunch of lighting upgrades both inside and outside the car with Sylvania Silverstar products. The first step was the dome and map lights. As you can see from this pic, they are WAY brighter.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#3 ·
If I get motivated tomorrow I will install the headlights (ZXE), fog lights (ZXE), and the rest of the front and rear bulbs. I didn't find a Silverstar bulb for the side mirror turn signal bulbs yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pelotonracer2
#14 ·
The low beam H11 Sylvania Ultra ZXE bulbs are such a great improvement that they are almost a necessity on this car. I'm going to upgrade the fog/driving lights this weekend using the same bulb.
 
#4 ·
Did the rest of the bulbs today. This is more of an exterior topic now as there are a ton more bulbs on the outside. All I didn't have bulbs for were the side markers in the headlight assembly and the side mirror bulbs. We are going out later so I will see how everything works in the dark.

I didn't find any internet info on replacing the fog light bulbs so I was going to leave them till the weather gets better. As it turns out, removing the headlight module exposes a ton of stuff including the fog lights. If you are looking into replacing just the fog light bulbs, I recommend taking the headlight modules out to get at them. Removal is as easy as two torx bolts, one panel clip, and tug upward to free the module from a plastic clip on the bottom.
 

Attachments

#5 ·
I did the Sylvania XZE's in the low beam and fog lamps today. Also LED's in the reverse, tag lamps and interior bulbs. Makes a big difference, and worth the money !
 
#7 ·
#9 ·
I checked the chart again and 3157 is correct for the 2011 year model Fiesta Hatchback. Guess Ford has changed the bulb. You asked.. What bulb I was using, and that the one I'm using. Not gonna buy another set of bulbs when the ones I have do the same job.
 
#10 ·
I see what you are saying. I thought you meant you put those in an ST as backup bulbs. The 3157 is a whole different type of base. On my car the rear has a 3157 (brake/park), 3157A (amber turn), and 921 (backup).
 
#11 ·
I went through a whole slew of Sylvania products before trying the zxes. They're definitely the only ones worth the couple extra bucks, I didn't have the short life issues many complain about, they probably got fingerprints on the bulb when installing.
I concur on the whole doing fogs and regular bulbs at the same time, taking out the two torx bolts makes getting to the other bulbs much easier too. I wish there was a drop in led replacement for the fog light assembly, like I can get for my Jeep.
 
#15 ·
The dome lights are a bit of a pain. I almost did some photo documentation of the process .... almost. The assembly pulls down from the headliner on the rear edge, then unplug the wires (not real easy with fingers) and withdraw the unit toward the rear of the car. If just doing the dome bulb you can get away with carefully prying the flat clear lens off. It has 8 or 10 little retaining clips along the long edges. If doing the map lights too, you need to remove the big lens, pop the map light units out of their ball socket, and remove two small screws on the back to separate the lens from the bulb socket.
 
#17 ·
I haven't had a good dark country road to myself yet, but my initial impression is that the ZXE low beam is a "nice" improvement. The ZXE high beam is "holy crap!" bright and white. My '08 Mustang had HID and this high beam is equal to that.
 
#18 ·
I'll eventually trade out the high beam bulbs as well... are they H1 or?
 
#19 ·
Yes the high beams are H1. Never had those before. Seems like a really silly setup compared to the tidy socket and plug arrangement of the H11 low beams and fogs.
 
#21 ·
#22 ·
Got to drive last night for the first time after installing the H11 ZXE's low beam and fogs a great improvement over stock bulb. Now to replace the H1 high beams with ZXE's. Ay just more and more money :eek:
 
  • Like
Reactions: spangenb
#28 ·
I've noticed since I bought my car there has been some vibration with the left headlight beam. Today while installing the H1 ZXE's high beams I discovered the adjustment assembly inside the light housing was broken. There's something that got past quality! Lucky though I was able to get some high strength adhesive and bond the thing together without interfering with the adjuster. Now that all the bulbs are in the ZXE's are well worth the money ! :)
 
#29 ·
Sucks about the adjuster. Warranty claim! My car had the air bag light come on several times under hard acceleration. Turns out the left front airbag sensor plug was loose. Dealer fixed.

So do you agree that the high beams are an even bigger improvement than the low beams?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top