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General => The garage => Topic started by: Ben Lessani on 10 January 2011, 23:19

Title: A word of warning, HID eBay bulbs vs genuine OEM bulbs
Post by: Ben Lessani on 10 January 2011, 23:19

I'm talking about proper factory HID here, not retrofit/aftermarket pap (well, apart from the bulb choice).

I noticed on the "other car" the headlights were fairly dim for HIDs (infact, the MK2's lights were brighter!), so I guessed either the bulbs or ballasts were at the end of their useful life. Given OEM bulbs cost a pretty penny, I went for non-brand eBay specials just to see if it solved the problem.

After fitting, it did not, they were dim, and even worse the two "matching" bulbs I got were different colours entirely.

eBay 6k specials - mismatched colour, crap cutoff, dim

(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/mini-10012011265.jpg)

For £17 a pair, I guess you can't really argue, shame they were sh!te, but not really worth the effort of posting back.

So I ordered a pair of genuine (being the operative word, as there is lots of fakes!) Philips 85122+ bulbs (the brightest OEM bulb on the market) from http://www.theretrofitsource.com/ :afro: (great comms, quick delivery, good prices, well recommended).

Passenger side eBay 6k specials, Drivers side Philips 85122+ 4.3k - notice the significantly brighter light and much sharper cutoff on the right

(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/mini-10012011267.jpg)
(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/mini-10012011268.jpg)
(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/mini-10012011269.jpg)

Both Philips 85122+ 4.3k

(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/mini-10012011270.jpg)


So as a before and after ...

(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q171/blessani/compare-1.jpg)

Moral of this story, don't buy 6k bulbs, don't buy cheap bulbs and do buy Philips 85122+ (the + being important)

Title: Re: A word of warning, HID eBay bulbs vs genuine OEM bulbs
Post by: MotorPsycho on 11 January 2011, 13:22

you have a mini?

Title: Re: A word of warning, HID eBay bulbs vs genuine OEM bulbs
Post by: Ben Lessani on 11 January 2011, 13:29

Oh oh - you've sussed me :lipsrsealed:

Yeah, I've got a 2002 Cooper S

Title: Re: A word of warning, HID eBay bulbs vs genuine OEM bulbs
Post by: clipperjay on 12 January 2011, 15:55

Moral of that story Ben is no matter what bulbs you put on a MK2 a candle is better :laugh:

Title: Re: A word of warning, HID eBay bulbs vs genuine OEM bulbs
Post by: Ben Lessani on 12 January 2011, 21:28

Quote from: clipperjay on 12 January 2011, 15:55

Moral of that story Ben is no matter what bulbs you put on a MK2 a candle is better :laugh:

My MK2 headlights are super bright (Ring Rally 80/100W bulbs), they were brighter than the Mini's HIDs (on the eBay bulbs).