2022 Expedition new headlights quality question

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Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm considering buying a 2023 Expedition (not released yet I know), but I am skeptical of the redesigned headlights for the 2022 Expy. Can any of the 2022 Expy owners chime in on the light output of the headlights at night? Throw distance, dispersal, color, etc?

I think they cheaped out on the design, going with reflector housings, instead of superior projectors. Kudos on at least going with LEDs, but that's almost the industry norm in this price range/category anyway. They saved the superior headlight design for the Navigator, but it sucks that even on the Expy Platinum they don't have upgraded headlight housings, with the Platinums costing around the base trims of the Navigator.

There's things I can overlook, but crappy headlights at this price range and era (where there is far superior headlight tech than mere LED projectors) I think is unacceptable. Especially since the pre-refresh (2021's) had projectors in upper trims (albeit Halogen projectors). I have a CX-5 now with the LED projectors that are curve adaptive (bending) with good throw, decent brightness and great color (I think 5K), and want to retain similar or better light output for our next family cruiser.

Sorry for the mini-rant, I'm just peeved with the redesigned front end on a whole, the headlights being the icing on the cake. The Expy is still a contender, but I just need to find out about the night time performance of the new headlights. There aren't any night drive reviews on Youtube, nor IIHS ratings of this vehicle (they don't rate BOF vehicles unfortunately).
Thanks all in advance for helpful information!
 

sdinwiddie85

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I find the lights on my 22 to be great. Bright white light, but not blue. High beams work great too. I don’t have any night shots, but I can try to get some tonight
 

LazSlate

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My 2022 Timberline has probably the best headlights I have ever owned. I live outside of the city and every night I am amazed how well you can see. Every time Ford changes something people make comments speculating Ford is going backwards. Sometimes companies do, but in this case whatever they did the lights are superb.
 

GGecko311

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I bought a 2022 XLT and its hands down best coverage and brightest I've ever owned. My last 4 vehicles were Tahoes & Yukons were awful at night, I had to drive with my brights on, especially in the country. It's so refreshing to be able to actually see where I'm going.
 

Polo08816

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Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm considering buying a 2023 Expedition (not released yet I know), but I am skeptical of the redesigned headlights for the 2022 Expy. Can any of the 2022 Expy owners chime in on the light output of the headlights at night? Throw distance, dispersal, color, etc?

I think they cheaped out on the design, going with reflector housings, instead of superior projectors. Kudos on at least going with LEDs, but that's almost the industry norm in this price range/category anyway. They saved the superior headlight design for the Navigator, but it sucks that even on the Expy Platinum they don't have upgraded headlight housings, with the Platinums costing around the base trims of the Navigator.

There's things I can overlook, but crappy headlights at this price range and era (where there is far superior headlight tech than mere LED projectors) I think is unacceptable. Especially since the pre-refresh (2021's) had projectors in upper trims (albeit Halogen projectors). I have a CX-5 now with the LED projectors that are curve adaptive (bending) with good throw, decent brightness and great color (I think 5K), and want to retain similar or better light output for our next family cruiser.

Sorry for the mini-rant, I'm just peeved with the redesigned front end on a whole, the headlights being the icing on the cake. The Expy is still a contender, but I just need to find out about the night time performance of the new headlights. There aren't any night drive reviews on Youtube, nor IIHS ratings of this vehicle (they don't rate BOF vehicles unfortunately).
Thanks all in advance for helpful information!
You are correct. Projector headlights should be better than reflector headlights.

Maybe we just have to wait for a 2024 update to get better headlights.
 
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I find the lights on my 22 to be great. Bright white light, but not blue. High beams work great too. I don’t have any night shots, but I can try to get some tonight
Thank you for your reply. Yes, if you (and others) can post some night pics showing off the headlights in action that would be excellent for me, and others on the fence.
 

LazSlate

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You are correct. Projector headlights should be better than reflector headlights.

Maybe we just have to wait for a 2024 update to get better headlights.
Its all personal preference. IMO projector are not better its all preference. I hate the projectors in my BMW. I hate the focused line across the horizon. The LED reflector in the 2022 Expy are WAY better and more natural diffused.
 
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To everyone who replied thus far, thanks for the input. I'm glad that these reports indicate the coverage, luminosity and color are above par. I know there are some reflector housings that exceed the performance of typical projectors, seems this falls in this camp. I think I'll look into the parts they used for the 2022 headlights and see what they used to maximize the performance of the reflectors.

Anyone else with 2022's feel free to share your experience. Maybe we'll get some outliers.
Maybe there's some out there that can compare it to the Nav headlights (I know a whole other ballpark but they are sisters under the skin).
 

zak99b5

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The best headlights of any car I’ve driven were Cibie halogen reflector round lights in my VW Vanagon, using a relay kit to power them directly by the battery. They were bulb-replaceable versions of the old bigger round sealed beam headlights. Better illumination than the projector HIDs on my ‘99 Audi A4 and LEDs in projectors on my 2010 Suburban. Not that those were bad. But well-designed reflectors can be excellent.
 

rd618

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Headlights in my ‘22 are great.
The reflector/projector argument comes down to quality of parts and design. Ford’s implementation of these headlights is very good.
 
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