I bought my 2006 Mustang last year. Today I noticed a burned out headlight and noticed it was an aftermarket HID setup. I called the company which I think is VLeds now, but this just seems like too much hassle to replace a bulb.

Considering going back to OEM. How much trouble would that be?
Vleds has similar looking HID bulbs to what I have now, but the connectors on the lamp fixture don't look the same. I don't seem to be able to remove the bulb itself.
http://www.vleds.com/shop-bulb-numbe...-adapters.html

 

Dies the car have projectors or reflectors? If it has projectors get HID bulbs - standard bulbs will never look bright through them. If it has reflectors replace BOTH with standard bulbs. HID bulbs are NOT to be used with reflector housings - they blind oncoming traffic when used like that.

 

Any numbers on the bulb you can look up? Do you have a picture of the connectors? I swapped mine back to stock a few years ago (almost got a ticket for glare) and kept my bulbs. Mine were from HIDGuy, a Xenetec system. I could probably mail you the bulbs. (hopefully they'd survive the trip).

I'd honestly recommend going back to stock and putting in something like SilverStar Ultras. They were pretty much as bright as the HIDs, but the high beams actually worked properly With the HID system, the bulbs would retract too far and the light would go up in the trees instead of further down the road. (check out this post here when I went back to OEM https://themustangsource.com/forums/...2/#post6566296) And the HIDs glared the **** out of people coming the other way. The only thing I missed about the HIDs was the pure white light.

I eventually sprang for a Saleen HID system least year off ebay which was pricey. You can get the Ford OEM HIDs cheaper and they pretty much work the same (made by the same company). I thought I had a thread on it, but can't find it. Closest one I posted was here:
https://themustangsource.com/forums/...lution-535979/
Still workin' great.

 

I don't know if they are projectors or reflectors. Will have to take another picture. Here's a picture of the connectors to the lamp/bulb

 

Give us a pic of the front of the car so we can see the headlights. It will be easy to tell if it is projectors or not.

 

This set of replacement HID bulbs on Amazon looks like it might have the same connectors. To avoid a hassle the next time one goes out, I'd probably want to keep a few bulbs and ballasts on hand ( if it proves too expensive to have my shop set me back to OEM headlights -- I'm not going to do it )

http://tinyurl.com/goe55g3

Sylvania bulb guide shows this for 2006 base Mustang:
SpecificationsSilverStar UltraSilverStar zXeSilverStarXtraVisionBASIC
Part NumberH13
Bulb Types It Fits 9008, H13 9008, H13 9008, H13 9008, H13 9008, H13

 

Here are two shots of my headlights from the front

 

Those are reflector, not projector lenses. Joeywhat has a good point, HIDs in those blind other drivers.

 

Remove the HID bulbs and ballasts and replace with standard bulbs and associated wiring.

There's two issues with what you're running now: 1) you're blinding other drivers due to the difference in the bulbs and how they produce light, and 2) the reason your blinding people is because the light is not being reflected onto the road where it's use able, it's just scattering everywhere... Which means you're not getting as much useful light. Projectors are designed to work with HID bulbs (and some halogen...) so the light is focused on to the road.

A good set of halogen bulbs will likely result in MORE perceived light as its being reflected where you actually need it, and not up into the trees.

 

Longer term there are all kinds of possibilities. OEM, LED, etc. Right now I'm contacting the original manufacturer of my HID setup to see if I can get some exact replacement bulbs and ballasts. Cost isn't top concern so if they have them I'll order 2 spare ballasts and 3 spare bulbs at fast shipping method.

I'm very careful to keep on low beams when other cars are approaching. And don't drive much at night anyway.

 

Low vs high doesn't matter, it's still throwing light in other drivers eyes. Trust me, you don't want to be "that guy".

 

My local shop pulled the HID setup out and put in OEM bulbs in about 15 minutes. $90 but done and done. Next time I can get a pair of two H13 9008 bulbs for about $18. I guess if I were to consider an aftermarket setup again it would have to be something with a long life ( LED ? ) but from what has been said here I'd also have to replace the reflectors with projectors for $$$ ?

I probably drive needing headlights about 30 minutes a month, if that.

 

Yeah both the pic of your actual connectors in the car and the Amazon item look exactly like the right ones (sorry -- a little late now though now that you're back to stock )

 

If you do a proper setup, you're going to have to replace/modify the whole headlight assembly, yeah. Ford OEM and Saleen HIDs (reflector type) are both very nice setups and are going to be a significant improvement over halogen lights. I personally of these because they look pretty much like stock headlights.

OEM HIDs:





Saleen HIDs:





As far as beam patterns/brightness go, here is the stock sylvania bulbs vs Silverstar:




And vs the Saleen HIDs:

 

With projectors, BTW, some assembly required:








(from a thread on another forum)

 

Cavero:


You can't get the Ford/Valeo HID setups any more. I have them, was worried about what would happen if they happened to get damaged or destroyed.


THEY AREN'T FOR SALE ANYWHERE. Oh, occasionally you'll find a beat up specimen on eBay for $1000 or so, but none of the vendors carry them. Saleen discontinued theirs years ago.


If mine get trashed I'll get the AM projectors with LED headlight bulbs. I think. They aren't that great looking of a fixture, but there's very little out there that isn't rice.

 

You can still find them from time to time, I got mine used off eBay last year in great shape. They weren't cheap, but they weren't $1000 either. If they get damaged, yeah that sucks, and I'll go back to stock if I have to.