Depo Euro Style Headlight Woo's

[Exceptions1187]

Hello all, Current owner of a 17 Fiesta St Tuxedo Black. Was sick and tired of the poor lit oem headlights,
So over a month ago, I bit the bullet and bought the black version of the Depo Euro Style headlamps. Was 495 Shipped because Ebay was doing a 20% coupon on headlights.... Great deal, I knew they were DEPO, so wasn't too worried....




Received them on the 15 of July, already bought and recieved the LED H1 and H7 Morimoto LEDS. Updated the Headlight Connectors, As I am not a fan of adapters. Got everything installed, turn on the lights.... Watched the Passenger side DRL LED flicker... and then go out completely....



Completely annoyed, I took off the passenger side headlight and took back in the apartment... Well come to find out... we have a dud here... Hooked it up to a jump box and made two jumper wires... Turned the switch... nothing, just a click



Decided to get the multimeter out....



Still nothing.... Soo, pictures and troubleshooting aside. Talked to the seller out of Poland, Will have a "hard" time warranting them since I "modified" the connectors for my leds headlights.... No one around me will even attempt to fix the led circuit board... Any of y'all got a idea on what I can do? Any online website where I can get ahold of a new led assembly for the DRL?

I was considering buying just one Depo headlight, but all of the ones im finding are the chrome and not black headlights... Then thought about buying the chrome one anyway and just cracking open the assembly for the DRL board and keeping the rest of the parts as spares at this point...

 

[KyleS]

I had the same exact issue, the inducters on the LED driver fried. I am getting the headlights retrofitted with new LED strips. Will reply with the rest of my hellish dealing with that seller later.

 

[Exceptions1187]

Interesting, so this wouldn't be the first occurrence. Wondering if I were to separate the assembly and just solider in new inductors. Makes me question the other side and how long the drl will last lol.

Edit: Those are actually resistors not inductors

 

[Dpro]

And so with all of this it makes me want to steer clear of the Depo’s and just drop the extra dime on the genuine Ford article . In this case it seems you really do get what you pay for.

 

[MagnetiseST]

And so with all of this it makes me want to steer clear of the Depo’s and just drop the extra dime on the genuine Ford article . In this case it seems you really do get what you pay for.

But ford doesnt offer the nice black housing.

 

[danbfree]

And so with all of this it makes me want to steer clear of the Depo’s and just drop the extra dime on the genuine Ford article . In this case it seems you really do get what you pay for.

Honestly, I don't know why he had to change any connectors, the H7's clip right in as-is and all H1 LED's just need a $4 set of bulb holder clips. so to be fair, I absolutely love mine and highly recommend them, they are much better quality than the TYC aftermarket for sure for only $15 more each (~$140 vs. $125).

 

[danbfree]

So, help me understand, what adapters did you think you needed? My H7's clipped right in and all H1 LED's just a set of $4 bulb holder clips... But zero issues with my Depo's they seem better than the Ford OEM for sure to me. I even screwed up the wiring initially and was able to fix them and have the LED brows set for high and they look great!

Hmm, it could be because I got the regular silver OEM style I didn't need any adapters... maybe?

 

[spedy7]

But ford doesnt offer the nice black housing.

That's the only downside for me, as I want to get a pair of euro spec headlights for my black fiST. I'd rather have the reliability of a tested OEM product over a questionable aftermarket though.

 

[Dpro]

But ford doesnt offer the nice black housing.

Ya and while thats a little bit of a bummer I kinda lean towards oem quality vs custom housing color with issues lol.
I am not saying the Depo’s are terrible its just they are made in Taiwan and the seller is in Poland. Its kinda of ass backwards as the San Gabriel Valley is Taiwan Central and the Depos for BMW’s come straight through there about 20 minutes from where I live. Why would I want to deal with someone in Poland? That aside enough people have had issues it makes me take pause.

 

[Blindeye_03]

That's the only downside for me, as I want to get a pair of euro spec headlights for my black fiST. I'd rather have the reliability of a tested OEM product over a questionable aftermarket though.

DEPO > TYC ... test them before you mod them. My TYC's were good except my pass side didnt adjust. I had them replaced and they still didnt adjust but it was spot on where it needed to be. Get the DEPO lights as they seem to not suffer from adjustment issues and test them out asap when you get them. IMO its not worth paying what the OEM housings cost when the 'off brands' work just as well. Unless you can afford to shell out for them then go for it.

 

[Blindeye_03]

Ya and while thats a little bit of a bummer I kinda lean towards oem quality vs custom housing color with issues lol.
I am not saying the Depo’s are terrible its just they are made in Taiwan and the seller is in Poland. Its kinda of ass backwards as the San Gabriel Valley is Taiwan Central and the Depos for BMW’s come straight through there about 20 minutes from where I live. Why would I want to deal with someone in Poland? That aside enough people have had issues it makes me take pause.

TYCs shipped out of Latvia, didnt have issues when I needed a replacement (bought those on ebay).
Cargo is global, idk what the ass backwards comment is supposed to mean.

 

[danbfree]

That's the only downside for me, as I want to get a pair of euro spec headlights for my black fiST. I'd rather have the reliability of a tested OEM product over a questionable aftermarket though.

The Depo I have are definitely superior quality to the OEM ones, at least over our factory reflectors which are junk. Also, Depo has been around forever, they even are a favorite in the BMW community to avoid paying outrageous OEM costs. Don't take one story of how one had bad DRL's as anything remotely close to common, especially when I'm not sure why he had to modify anything to kill his warranty, the H7's clip directly in, that's why they call for an H7, they are a direct fit.

 

[danbfree]

TYCs shipped out of Latvia, didnt have issues when I needed a replacement (bought those on ebay).

Yep, I used that Latvian company, just through their Cars245.com website and mine were only $355 shipped for the pair and the quality is outstanding.

 

[Blindeye_03]

The Depo I have are definitely superior quality to the OEM ones, at least over our factory reflectors which are junk. Also, Depo has been around forever, they even are a favorite in the BMW community to avoid paying outrageous OEM costs. Don't take one story of how one had bad DRL's as anything remotely close to common.

Right, test your stuff if you're going to modify them. If they dont work, get them swapped out, easy as that. I used ebay and paypal since they have decent buyer protections.

 

[danbfree]

Ya and while thats a little bit of a bummer I kinda lean towards oem quality vs custom housing color with issues lol.
I am not saying the Depo’s are terrible its just they are made in Taiwan and the seller is in Poland. Its kinda of ass backwards as the San Gabriel Valley is Taiwan Central and the Depos for BMW’s come straight through there about 20 minutes from where I live. Why would I want to deal with someone in Poland? That aside enough people have had issues it makes me take pause.

The regular color OEM Depo's come from Latvia and I got GREAT customer service from Constantine there. He even refunded me $50 when just one end tab came broken off at the very end, still screws down perfectly and I JB Plati welded it back on anyway.. I'm assuming the demand for the BMW Depo's called for a local importer and/or they had DOT cutoff/amber corner ones available, while on the FiST, since they never came DOT approved with projectors/LED DRL's in the US you have to import the technically illegal ones instead.

 

[Dpro]

The regular color OEM Depo's come from Latvia and I got GREAT customer service from Constantine there. He even refunded me $50 when just one end tab came broken off at the very end, still screws down perfectly and I JB Plati welded it back on anyway.. I'm assuming the demand for the BMW Depo's called for a local importer and/or they had DOT cutoff/amber corner ones available, while on the FiST, since they never came DOT approved with projectors/LED DRL's in the US you have to import the technically illegal ones instead.

Actually no the BMW’s are Euro code as well as the American BMW headlights are plastic crap like we get. The Euro ones are glass as are the Euro Depo copies. There is no DOT approval of them,

Now just a quick comment about the San Gabriel Valley and its myriad of Taiwanese/Chinese importers. The San Gabriel Valley is ground zero for imports all things Asia, it comes out of the ports of Long Beach and San Pedro aka LA and damn near everything you can think of comes through here. My point being is why would I want to purchase something that had been shipped from Taiwan to Europe and then back to me.
It would be cheaper to purchase something that had only crossed the Pacific cargo may be global but the farther it ships the more you pay. Plain and simple import export economics. Lol

 

[KyleS]

The Depo I have are definitely superior quality to the OEM ones, at least over our factory reflectors which are junk. Also, Depo has been around forever, they even are a favorite in the BMW community to avoid paying outrageous OEM costs. Don't take one story of how one had bad DRL's as anything remotely close to common, especially when I'm not sure why he had to modify anything to kill his warranty, the H7's clip directly in, that's why they call for an H7, they are a direct fit.

How do you measure quality? The fit, finish, and materials are not as good as OEM. For example, go look at the gap between the headlights and your bumper. The projector is obviously better then OEM reflector, but in comparison to other projectors, the housing is not very good. And we have two examples of the same exact failures so definitely a trend since there are not that many people with these projector housings State side. Mine failed with no modifications.

 

[danbfree]

Actually no the BMW’s are Euro code as well as the American BMW headlights are plastic crap like we get. The Euro ones are glass as are the Euro Depo copies. There is no DOT approval of them,

Now just a quick comment about the San Gabriel Valley and its myriad of Taiwanese/Chinese importers. The San Gabriel Valley is ground zero for imports all things Asia, it comes out of the ports of Long Beach and San Pedro aka LA and damn near everything you can think of comes through here. My point being is why would I want to purchase something that had been shipped from Taiwan to Europe and then back to me.
It would be cheaper to purchase something that had only crossed the Pacific cargo may be global but the farther it ships the more you pay. Plain and simple import export economics. Lol

So, yep, there you go, the demand just isn't there with the FiST, I've noticed this on a number of items... But, at $355 shipped, it's not like they cost a lot and again, with the ones I got the quality is truly impressive. As far as shipping, They make one trip from Taiwan west to eastern Europe and then one more trip, also west, to America. So yeah, not as short as Taiwan directly, for sure, but not THAT bad, especially at the final price you pay. The black are a $200 premium though unfortunately, I just REALLY wanted projectors and the LED DRL over paying $200 more for black.

 

[Ford ST]

How do you measure quality? The fit, finish, and materials are not as good as OEM. For example, go look at the gap between the headlights and your bumper. The projector is obviously better then OEM reflector, but in comparison to other projectors, the housing is not very good. And we have two examples of the same exact failures so definitely a trend since there are not that many people with these projector housings State side. Mine failed with no modifications.

You are correct I have installed multiple headlights in different Vehicles. They are not better quality they are worse. Headlights that have rubber around them for example the aftermarket ones will deteriorate much faster. They will also yellow faster.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[danbfree]

How do you measure quality? The fit, finish, and materials are not as good as OEM. For example, go look at the gap between the headlights and your bumper. The projector is obviously better then OEM reflector, but in comparison to other projectors, the housing is not very good. And we have two examples of the same exact failures so definitely a trend since there are not that many people with these projector housings State side. Mine failed with no modifications.

The plastic quality is worlds better than the swirly garbage from the reflectors anyway, fit and finish are just about perfect on mine... To each their own, but 2 out of hundreds of people who have done this and have had no reason to complain isn't exactly a trend, but you also don't have to modify anything and keep your warranty, like I said I got great customer service too. To each their own, I'm not going to tel you what to think, just relate my experience and what I know for people to decide themselves.