Headlight bulbs needed - recommendations/tips
 

This evening my drivers side bi-Xenon bulb failed and I got the warning in the cluster - didn't notice at first as the car is pretty mucky, though I did hear the beep!
First time in 15 years of S8 with HID ownership that a Xenon bulb has failed on me! :eek:

I'll probably replace both as they've been pretty slow to warm up for a while and losing power, but what do people recommend? I want OEM colour temperature, not anything whiter though brighter would be fine. I'm expecting a hefty bill. :-(
At the same time I'll probably replace the supplementary main-beam halogens - what are they and what do people recommend as brighter and whiter? They're probably 2002 OEM so pretty pathetic by modern standards.
Finally, how difficult a job is it and any tips on making it easier? I did replace the main-beam halogens on my PF S8 and it was a nightmare job requiring removal of ballasts, airbox and sundry other bits, hopefully the FL is easier. All I've ever done on the current FL is replace the sidelight bulbs. :rolleyes:

So that's 3 questions, in summary:
1. Recommended OEM colour bi-xenon bulbs for a FL D2.
2. Recommended supplementary main-beam halogens
3. Tips and techniques for replacing them

Hi Andrew

I'd have a look for the best prices on the Philips X-treme vision D2R bulbs - standard 4.8k temperature but 50% brighter. Around £65 a pop from places like autobulbsdirect

I think the front flash is an H7, but best to remove and double check. Same brand and model as above is what I had in mine and were a decent colour match. I was paying about £25 a pair off ebay for genuine Philips X-treme vision.

They are straightforward to fit - from memory the air hose needs moving on the driver's side - but if you've got shovel sized hands it might be a squeeze! Welcome to pop down if you need some assistance :D

Thanks Adrian. Because my car was first registered in 2003 all the web sites offer D2S bulbs, assuming that it's a D3 I guess.
If I override that and put in 2002 they say D2R and H7 which is what I though they were.

They also now have a "Racing Vision" version for a couple of quid more that are even brighter at the same 3700K colour temperature. Shorter life/warranty though.
To match the 4800K xenon's you need the "Diamond Vision" which are 5000K but nothing like as bright. Also not E-marked so not legal. :rolleyes:

I never noticed a major colour difference between HID and main beam support with the ones I had - they're certainly bright enough to be effective!

We used the H7s in our C5 A6 as headlight bulbs and they averaged a 2 year life - after fitting on the S8 I never needed to replace them as they obviously aren't on anywhere near as much

Found a big eBay seller (with excellent feedback) offering at a good price and a 10% discount for 2 so just ordered a pair for £99. ;)
They don't do the H7's at a particularly good price so I'll get those elsewhere.

Yep, I'd definitely recommend Philips X-tremeVision too.

I bought the new Gen2 X-tremeVision bulbs recently (in D2R), as I mentioned here. A tad expensive but a great improvement on the old (regular Philips) bulbs I had. +++

Ah, I remember reading that now, and not that much more expensive either, about £64 each on eBay.

However, too late, I've already ordered the previous version which will probably be a great improvement on what I had.
It's a high days and holidays car anyway so I don't do much night driving. ;)
And even with only the nearside bulb working it was perfectly adequate on the local twisty lanes last night. :cool:

I think you probably made a good choice regardless. I suspect the Gen2 improvements (over Gen1) are negligible and not as great as the marketing spiel would have us believe. I think both will show similar improvements over standard. I actually bought a pair of Gen1 bulbs first but I haven't fitted them. When I discovered the Gen2s were out I decided to buy those too and keep the Gen1s as a spare set.

You're probably already aware of this, but just make sure the bulbs you have are genuine; there are a lot of fakes, especially Gen1s (probably just because the Gen2s haven't been around very long yet). As I understand it, some of the fakes are far inferior and can radiate a lot of UV which can damage the plastic headlight lenses. The first pair I received were fakes. At first glance they looked genuine but the giveaway was that the authenticity labels were identical and had the same number; comparing other fake characteristics online (in particular the lack of welding) confirmed they were fake. The seller pleaded ignorance (blaming his supplier) but replaced them with a genuine pair. The labels on the genuine pair were unique and the holographic part was much more noticeable.

Thanks for the tips on checking for genuine items; I'll look very closely. +++

You're welcome :) For reference/comparison, these were the fakes I received. It's hard to tell from the photograph, but the holographic element is 'flatter' on these than the genuine units. Comparing the bulbs with photos of fakes online suggests they fakes have been gradually improving, making it more difficult to tell but the lack of weld points was the clearest indicator.

Attachment 15829 Attachment 15830 Attachment 15831 Attachment 15832


I won't publicly mention the seller since it may have been a genuine mistake (if you pardon the pun) or an issue with his supplier. PM me if you need know.

Thanks for those pictures Mark, where would these weld points appear and what do they look like?

My eBay seller has 99.5% positive feedback on almost 50,000 sales so I'm hopeful it will be genuine. Looking at the recent negatives they all seem to be rather dumb people who can't fit LED sidelight/interior bulbs properly. :ROFL:

These are the weld points (genuine bulb on the left):

https://i.imgur.com/iXAxK7R.jpg


The image was taken from here, which gives a few more things to look for:
https://www.powerbulbs.com/blog/2014...e-real-or-fake

It seems to vary from one fake to another which of the traits are present. The fakes I had were almost identical to the originals (as far as I could tell) apart from the missing weld marks and the missing 'curved' part mentioned here:
http://www.hidconcept.com/blog/a-war...eadlight-bulb/

The seller I bought from also sold on Ebay (and had lots of positive feedback) but I bought them from their website instead.

The name of the seller's business you bought from doesn't happen to contain the word 'style' does it?

It does, and is fairly lengthy...... :tuttut:
I am warned! +++

Hmmmm. If it's the same company it'll be interesting to see whether or not they send you genuine bulbs (the first time). Hey, they may even send you the ones I sent back :ROFL:

I suspect they know what they're selling but I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully my suspicions are wrong and you'll be sent a genuine pair of bulbs the first time. +++

By the way, the number printed on the labels of the fake units checks out as genuine on Philips' website, so don't be fooled by that. I contacted Philips because the labels were identical and they confirmed that they should all have a unique number. After giving them further info and photographs they wanted to know who the seller was and requested a copy of the invoice. I felt that they were using me to gather evidence against the seller so I declined. I decided instead to tell the seller what Philips had said and he promptly offered to arrange collection and replacement of the fake bulbs.

I changed my HID's a couple of weeks age. The originals were still working but had become weak (presumably 10 years and 120k miles old). I had Audi OEM fitted, and the difference is noticeable.
I think you'l be pleased with the result.

OK, so they have arrived and I reckon they are fakes. :angry2:
Same ID on each for a start, no inner tube to protect, hologram very flat, no visible welds.

The question is how to deal with this....

Edit: Just spoke to Philips, they are fake. Recommendations anyone?

Well, well, well, exactly the same (unique according to Philips!) codes on both my boxes! :angry2:

I'll post again when I've made some progress, meanwhile "lips are sealed".

You could raise a claim against the seller on eBay. Their rules are here: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/safetycentre/counterfeits.html

if it's the same seller as moltuae, then perhaps also let Philips know and report them.

It's not right and I expect quite a few people are being caught out.

Yes, I've had counterfeit automotive products before and know what to do. ;)

I told him that I had checked with Philips. I also told him that Philips were pressuring me to hand over 'evidence' (invoices, photographs, etc) ... which was true. I said that I was reluctant to do that and was willing to give him a chance to 'make good'. He promptly arranged (and paid for) collection of the fake bulbs and sent genuine bulbs in return. In the end I acquired genuine bulbs a fair bit cheaper than they were listed elsewhere.

I've ordered some replacements from Powerbulbs, the GEN 2 version as recommended by Mark (Moltuae). Powerbulbs seem to "tick all the boxes" re authentic products so I'm hopeful.
They have a 20% discount offer at present (code: BULBLOVE) so "only" cost me just over £58 each delivered, less than £10 each more than the fakes.

Meanwhile I've kicked off the return/refund process for the counterfeits via eBay. No "name and shame" until that's done and dusted.

Edit: No response yet from the eBay seller, but my Powerbulbs order will arrive tomorrow morning. Knowing which courier it is probably about 9am!

Turns out they are not, I found out that I replaced those soon after I got the car, about 4 years ago so they must have been terrible.
The current ones are Osram but "only" a +20% variant; the Philips "Racing Vison" ones I've ordered are nominally +150% so should be around twice as bright. :cool:

Looks like I'll soon have a surplus of spare H7 bulbs; can't even keep them for the fog lights as I think they are H3's.

All bulbs arrived, both deliveries within 10 minutes of each other, DPD (fast) and Hermes (slow).

And strangely they came from different trading names but have the same address, so presumably the same warehouse just "marketing" brands on the web:
Powerbulbs for the D2R ones which definitely look genuine and have unique codes on them. Check out OK too.
Upgrade Bulbs for the H7, which Powerbulbs didn't list. :Confused:

Drizzling here so fitting can wait. :ROFL:

The fakes are on their way back now paid for by the seller; return request accepted without question..... :tuttut:

Glad you got sorted +++

I don't think there are any fake Gen2s (yet). Mine came in well-presented retail packaging like this that immediately looked genuine. Not that packaging like that can't be copied/faked too of course but the simple cardboard box of the Gen1s is just so cheap and easy to reproduce.

I think you'll be impressed with the X-treme Gen2s. The difference isn't so noticeable on well-lit roads but on dark country lanes they really shine (pun intended), or any unlit road for that matter. I was out driving on an unlit motorway last night, thinking how much better they were than they old bulbs I had. Makes night-time driving so much more pleasurable.

Just in cardboard boxes now, but all looks genuine and the hologram works as it should.

Edit: Job done, all fitted and working well. Bulb had exploded so my offside light unit is full of broken glass and metal from the shutter.
Not sure if I can somehow suck that out through the bulb fitting hole with a small tube attached to a vacuum cleaner or will need to dismantle it.
Is dismantling a reasonable job?

I did remove the air intake pipe but that only slightly blocks access for the H7 and probably makes no real difference.

Maybe a bit of "vigorous" driving will shift the debris out of harms way?

Hi Andrew

Dismantling is relatively straightforward, but the unit does need removing from the car before you can take the lens off. It's covered in the refurb thread I did on the bi-xenons.

It would probably be wise to have the alignment checked after refitting as there's reasonable movement on the fixings.

A

Thanks Adrian, I'll save that for the summer unless I have a problem meanwhile. My lenses are OK so no need to dismantle to clean them.

The hovering method isn't feasible due to metal shielding blocking access; I did try.... :-(

You're welcome to pop down if you want a hand doing it - I've got recent-ish experience of getting them out +++

Thanks Adrian, good excuse for a spring mini-meet when the weather warms up?

Just been out in the twilight; it's all good and a lot better than before. +++

Thanks everyone for all the advice. Especially Mark. :cool:

Pretty good match here too, those RacingVision bulbs are pretty awesome:

The first thing that I saw when reading this thread and viewing the accompanying photographs was the heinous typo on the packaging, and that would have set Johnny's SPAG pedant alarm bell ringing (spelling, punctuation and grammar.)

www dot philips dot com ORGINAL?

Yes, mine were the same. A picture of those labels was among the information I sent to Philips for their "amusement". :ROFL:

Wow. I'm a stickler for good grammar and punctuation usually too, but I hadn't even noticed the missing 'i' in original! :eek:

I even visited the link to check the bulbs when they arrived. I obviously just typed what I thought it should be.

Here's the packaging of the replacement genuine pair I was sent. Very similar to the fakes, but the folks at Philips can spell Original it seems. :D


Attachment 15840

And proper holograms with unique ID's too.

I carnt spell or puncturate ,four fkuk .

I now have a refund via PayPal. Will wait to see the money back on my credit card then see if I can post appropriate and accurate feedback.

Knowing eBay they will have blocked that somehow; they do a thorough job of sweeping stuff like this under the carpet so that all appears well. :tuttut:

Yeah, I'm not sure you can leave feedback if you've had a full refund, can you?

Either way, once you're sure the refund has gone through, I think we should probably mention the name of this company here now. Now that two of us have received fake bulbs from them, months apart, it's clearly no honest mistake or mix up with their suppliers.

Feedback left, I found a route in:
Seller is lightec-autostyle-ltd http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/lightec-autostyle-ltd
They also have a direct sale web site: http://www.lightec-autostyle.co.uk/