Orient Express

I noticed today that one of the "Position" Lights on my 996 headlight array was burned out.

The Position Light is also referred to as a "City" light and is in the headlight housing.



The bulb is called a H6W and is a 12v 6w lamp that looks like a flashlight bulb, with a miniature bayonet base.



So, silly me, I thought that I could just pop in my local Pep Boys and get a replacement....

Wrong.

This is an european speciality bulb, and locally is only available from, you know who..., My local Porsche dealer parts counter at, get this $14 a bulb!

Talk about having you by the nuts! What's next, $600 footwell lighting?

s-spiff

$3 at Autohaus Arizona! They also have alot of other cheap parts otherwise costing an arm and a leg. No affiliation, just passing along as I had to buy the same bulb for my audi awhile ago....

UCrazyKid

Not to hijack the thread, but I have another bulb question.

The turn signal bulb in the main light cluster. I thought mine was out (had the fast blinker symptom), it turned out to be the socket had shorted out and needed to be replaced. I only figured out it was the socket though after I went looking for a new bulb.

The bulb that came out of the socket was silver in color but glow amber when lit. I'm not sure if this is a stock bulb or not as I am not the first owner (2002 C2 coupe).

My first trip to the store and I came home with the generic Orsam/Sylvania amber bulb. It fit, but obviously was not a match to the other side and didn't have the nice look of the silver bulb in an all silver housing.

Now Orsam/Sylvania sells "bluish" silver bulbs but they are not a match to the Phillips bulb I pulled out. They are silver with no blue tint.

I for the life of me cannot find the Phillips bulb. I have searched the web and don't see a us or European source. I have not checked with the dealer yet as I fear that it will cost an arm and a leg.

At this point I don't need the bulb as it turned out to be the socket that was bad and I replaced that. However I do dread the day that the bulb goes out and I can't find a replacement. I'd rather not go with the "import boy-racer" blue bulbs if I don't have to.

Any help?

Andy

red996

Yea, been screwed over on that bulb already.

David A

At least you know not to use that dealer again.

ArneeA

That H6W is common even for MB's. It can easily (and cheaply) be found even online for much less than $16.

viper501

You got screwed. I've had to replace the bulb and did so with one from Autozone.

As for the silver / amber bulb, that is an aftermarket bulb available at Autozone as well. IIIRC it is sold there by Sylvania.

ArneeA

Yeah, Sylvania or Phillips SilverVision.

JBRipps

hmmm...see that little chrome cover for headlight washer? 59 bucks.

j

RAC

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html

try this guy. I know he helped out a friend of mine who upgraded his F328 lights.

Orient Express

Why would you say that? The price for that part was established by Porsche, and while the dealer has flexibility in what their markup is, they pay an outrageous wholesale cost for this as well. If anything, the more realistic thing to say would be "At least you know not to buy that brand of car again."

The web is not necessarily a solution for my situation either. While its is true that there are places on the web to buy this M6 bulb for $3, the shipping costs to get the bulb here in a less than a week is $11. So either way, I end up paying $14 a bulb.

judd944

I switched to the LED ones that someone posted here before. ~ 7 bucks for 2 shipped to my door. they look like Xenon when there are lit up. very bright white, not yellow at all.

Dale Gribble

pfft..that's nothing...u know that rear carpet rectangle that covers the shelf you're ECU's and crap are under? about 1 foot wide and 3.5 feet long?....well retail is 400$!...ask me how i know

i could have had a carpet company redo my entire interior in **** for that kind of money....damn zee germans.

smackboy1

What a deal! IIRC I paid around $20/bulb at my dealer and had to replace both within a month of each other

tooloud10

+1 on Daniel Stern...he really knows his stuff...