1999-2009 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
 | [Main 95 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
My Experience with generic Xenon Bulbs (long...) Posted by Tulsaab [Email]  (#31) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Tulsaab) on Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:07:45
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
|
As I know lots of 9-5ers out there are probably on their 2nd or 3rd set of xenon bulbs, I thought sharing my recent experiences on my '07 would help those trying to find the best bang for the buck and avoid some of the issues I had.
A bit of background - I have an '07 9-5. When I bought it in Fall of '09, the right OE headlight (Philips XenStart) was starting to flicker. After looking at the experiences of others on this board and wanting to save a buck, I purchased the $55/set generic D1S's off of "internet auction site". Also, I pulled the DRL fuse so they were only used at night. All was well until this summer when I drove about 250 mi. with them on - while they seemed fine the whole drive, once I unloaded and went to park the car in the garage, the right light wouldn't come on and the blue headlamp error light was illuminated. After letting it sit overnight, the headlight came back on. Fast forward a few months, and i've began to see it flickering once again. All told, for my $27.50 investment, I probably got about 400 hours out of them. Pretty pathetic, so I opted to replace with genuine Osram or Philips...
Based on my past recollection, I had remembered there were lots of folks on "internet auction site" which sell so-called genuine Philips and/or Osram lights at a significant discount, so I went ahead and ordered a set. After receiving them, I could tell that they quality wasn't up to par with the OEM set (i'd kept the good one as a spare). Especially when the label just said "Philips" as opposed to all of the other stuff on which should be on there "Philips XenStart", model numbers, "Made in Germany". After doing a bit of googlin', I found that Chinese copy D1S's are prevalent on the internet and can lead to substantial heat issues, and Philips has done very little to crack down on these copy cats.
After contacting the seller, they tried to send me a set which the correct label, but the quality on these was even worse...the wire with the insulator was cut too long, so instead of having a nice rectangular end (90 degree bend to the bulb, 90 degree bend to the insulator) I had about a 70 degree slant on the end. After this, I contacted the online auction site, wound up getting a complete refund from the seller, and found that I could get the Osrams for an even better deal from a reputable online seller named after the world's best known rainforest.
So, in summary, two lessons learned: 1.) avoid internet auction sites like the plague when it comes down to the D1S and 2.) the Chinese can copy absolutely anything.
Hope this helps somebody!
posted by 68.97.1...
, Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:07:45 <-- Viewing This Message
, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:18:48, Wed, 14 Dec 2011 09:51:09
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
