430 F430 Headlights Review - OEM, Founders, CF Inserts, DRL's

Having recently received a set of Founders Headlights, I thought this might be a good time to give some first impressions. My Founders headlights are not yet installed, if you’re looking to see them installed check out this thread (check out Pg 6):

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/founders-replacement-headlight-group-buy.706454/

My car came with OEM, currently installed is a set of modified OEM with RTuned CF inserts and SCUDing Swiss DRL’s with the additional functionality module. I bought them with the inserts installed, I added the SCUDing items.

EVERYTHING in this post is just my opinion and observation, please take it as such. My goal is to provide information so that you can make your own informed decision for what best suits your situation.

These are the items being looked at:

1. New OEM
2. Founders (all are carbon fiber)
3. OEM modified with RTuned brand carbon fiber inserts
4. SCUDing Swiss DRL’s

HIGHLIGHTS AND PRICING (all prices are at the time of this posting)

1) New OEM (these prices are from Eurospares):

• It doesn’t say if there is a warranty if you buy these.
• It appears Carbon Fiber is not an OEM option for non-Scuderia or 16M cars (as per the parts charts).
• No option for smoke-colored turn signal lens.
• DRL is a small incandescent bulb
• DRL’s are brighter at the bulb end than the tip
• Maintains OEM with the Valeo branding (for certification, etc)
• Support/help is Ferrari dealers, FCHAT

2) FOUNDERS

All models except 16M - $3000 for the Carbon Fiber set with either amber or smoke turn signal lens
16M set - $3500 (16M have darker surrounds around the light lenses)

• 5 year warranty
• Carbon Fiber for every model
• Amber or smoke lens
• Upgraded/improved Xenon main lights
• DRL is LED
• Even, bright illumination across the DRL
• Is not OEM (for certification, etc.)
• More resilient, less brittle body material
• Plug and play install
• Brand new, perfect looking
• Support/help so far has been very good, excellent response directly from Founders as well as good representation on FCHAT. Initial minor issues were resolved by Founders right away.

3) CARBON FIBER INSERTS

CF Inserts (in my case RTuned) are offered for $1400 online, others cost more.

• Is not OEM (for certification, etc.), may pass in the case of Scuderia and/or 16M as it uses OEM lenses and they have a CF option
• This only changes the headlight inner seat/base, the rest of the headlamp is OEM
• Requires a set of OEM headlights to install
• Installation is an intense, risky effort
• Can relatively easily refinish the lenses once disassembled
• Did not see warranty information
• Carbon Fiber is thin and light shone through with LED DRL’s
• Didn’t hold its form, left gaps around edges
• Response from support for me, was spotty

4) SCUDing Swiss DRL’s

$564.24 for the DRL’s alone, $888.49 if you get the additional functionality module at the same time

• Exceptional product quality on these, as well as all, SCUDing Swiss products (based on my experience of having several).
• A relatively easy way to really dress up existing lights (just DRL’s of course)
• A truly impressive level of brightness out of these DRL’s
• Plug and play for just the DRL’s, bit trickier with the add’l functionality module, but not that difficult to install, excellent, detailed instructions
• Full functionality requires tapping into the car’s headlight wiring (kit and detailed instructions provided)
• The programmability features are very cool, gives them the functionality of modern vehicles
• Easy to program the latest version using just the blinker stalk
• When off, LED’s are visible at the front tip through the DRL lens
• Support/help is as good as it gets. Helpful, informative responses in a timely manner.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS

1) OEM
We all have these, so briefly, I’d say, well constructed, excellent quality, various issues with lenses over time, functions well from what I’ve seen. Could be brighter, DRL’s are OK-poor with just a small bulb. Relatively easy to service all bulbs.

2) FOUNDERS
The level of design, the attention to detail, the quality and manufacturing expertise and experience that went into these lights is exceptional. At the current price point they are just an unbelievable value. The fact that they’re CF, with upgraded Xenon lamps and LED DRL’s, even moreso.
There appears to be no compromise in quality or fit as compared to OEM, and in some ways, they exceed OEM. They are well constructed, in some ways equal to OEM, in some ways better. The body is made of a more forgiving plastic which is not as brittle, and should hold up better over time. Nearly identical in design to OEM, it is unbelievable how close these lights match up to OEM in their design.

The headlights are a plug and play installation. The mounting clips are more firm and more secure - much appreciated!

They use a newer, brighter version of the Xenon main lights, and the DRL’s are LED, bright and even. One minor caveat, the DRL’s are not serviceable/replaceable, if there is an issue with them, the whole light needs to be replaced. I reached out to Matt from Founders about it, he responded:

If an LED chip goes bad, then the entire headlight would need to be replaced (albeit under warranty, which is 5 years long)
Our lights are made with fully automated equipment, and low wattage, so the risk of this happening is very low.​

These lights look simply amazing. My OEM lights are in excellent condition, but after comparing them to the Founders, even excellent condition lights don’t compare to these. They’re perfect.

They are brand new, they are brighter than OEM and have beautiful LED DRL’s. The LED DRL strip is set back from the lens, so you get a nice glow without seeing the actual chips. They don’t have the brightness or programmability of the SCUDing LED DRL’s but they have even light distribution and are much brighter than OEM incandescent. The carbon fiber is exceptional. So well executed, no issues whatsoever with forming, fitment, density or finish.

The closest thing to these are new 16M headlights, which don’t work in non-16M, and are 3+X the price, even at a discounted source.

3) CARBON FIBER INSERTS

As far as I know, to use them, you have to separate the lens from the body. Accounts from those who have done this is that it is a very time consuming process.

Not a bad price if you want to switch your headlights to CF, but you’ve still got weak DRL’s and this is not an easy job. If you’re a DIY’er who likes a challenge, you could refresh your lights and clean up your lenses for ½ the price of new, but it is not for the faint of heart.

Installation aside, my main concern is that the design can (and in my case did) deform, and so there are gaps at the edges of the DRL’s and edges of the housing, which just does not look good. I tried to fix this with heavy duty double-sided tape, it did not hold, not sure how to remediate this.

Also, the inserts that I have looked fine under normal DRL’s, but after adding the SCUDing LED DRL’s, light shone through the thin CF surface so I had to lay permanent tape across the back to prevent any light penetration.

4) SCUDing Swiss DRL’s

Replaces solely the DRL’s with an outstanding LED insert. An easy and impressive upgrade which really dresses up your headlamps. There is an on/off version, and/or you can get the programming module which provides additional functionality.

If your lights are in good shape and you want to modernize them and brighten up their look, these are amazing. Very easy to install, product quality is absolutely top notch, they look incredible when lit up, just a bit off-putting seeing the LED chips when not lit up.

The programmability is very cool. I have mine setup so they dim to ½ when the main beams come on, and they go dark when the blinker comes on. Very nice.

PICS

Overall Pic

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DETAILS comparing OEM and FOUNDERS

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More Pics and info

OEM and FOUNDERS comparison pics

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Below is a side view of the FOUNDERS light showing the LED strip under, and away from, the top lens

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Below is the SCUDing Swiss DRL showing the LED's under the DRL lens (the chips run the full length of the lens and are amazingly bright, double row, the whole length.

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Below demonstrates the gaps around the Carbon Fiber Inserts. You can see in the Founders pics, the carbon fiber snugs right up to the DRL and outer edges. No issues with product form and fit. In fact on the top, it has a nice wide 'eyebrow' that looks very structurally solid.

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Below is the RTuned carbon fiber showing the light pass through when installed with the SCUDing Swiss DRL's, and the bottom pic is holding it up to my dining room light

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Thank you, always looking to help the community that helps me so much.

I haven't yet installed my Founders, so can't say definitively, but based on

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/150164143/

it looks to me like the Founders DRL's are a good balance of fitting the look of the car, while modernizing the look of the lights. I'd suggest they are on par with the modern look of todays cars in terms of brightness and color temp, maybe they're a tad warmer in terms of color temp.

The SCUDing Swiss, which I do currently have installed, look to me to exceed typical modern cars in terms of intensity and they do have a very cool temperature glow.

The Founders have an evenly spaced, single row of LED chips that are slightly recessed. This is what modern DRL's look like.

The SCUDing have a double row of continuous LED chips, this is brighter I expect than Founders, I actually toned mine down.

So in summary, I'd say the Founders are probably aligned to the overall look of the period of the F430, but they look like they could be on a car that just rolled out of the factory. The SCUDing probably are even more showy, but there's nothing wrong with that

 

OK, so I just googled some pics of the F8 DRL's.

2 things -

1 - I'd say the SCUDing look closer to what the F8 DRL's look like, so they probably are a closer match to modern cars.

2 - They SCUDing use an additional module (included) to get this level of intensity. Not that it is a particularly complicated to install, but I believe one of the principles of the Founders headlamps was simplicity - a direct swap for the existing headlamp. What they achieved under these circumstances is extraordinary.