I got the feeling that our low beam were getting real low (intensity) !

A look on eBay, got a (new ???) pair for 30 bucks.
Arrived, and then, pick-up the "tool" in the car tool box of the trunk, removed the small plastic cap near the headlights, released the beam unit, and then, un-clip the back cover, and ..changed the bulb. (Less than 5 minutes, no other tool that the one to release the beam unit !)

And then, back to full light !

Some comment :

1) It looks to me that after the HID bulb change, the beam must be adjusted.

2) My old HIDs were the original, from Feb 2007, and had 100'000 miles. Looking at them, they have developed a kind of whitish area in the glass, becoming kind of opaque, which I suppose, was the sign of age, and the reason of loss of the intensity. So, now, I can say, it is very easy to check, if they are to be changed, ..or not !

Note: The on "new" ones that I got, had clear glass, ..but a kind of "drops" of very tiny burned material inside the cavity, between the two electrodes. It was kind of strange to me, but, I let it "be", after returning a pair to the same vendor, complaining that they were not new !
(About two months ago, I had to change one (In Europe, on a BMW) and at that time, looking at the new one, ..it was perfectly transparent and nothing was inside the cavity, it was "full clean". ..But, it was a 200 US$ single bulb !!!!)

 

Well, after that change, interesting to note that the "30 bucks a pair" of HID, did not last that long ! (about 10 months !!!)
3 days ago, one went down, and looking at it, (see picture), the cavity where the arc forms become "whitish" and ..no more arcing, dead !



I would be curious to know more about the "secrets" of these HID !
The ones you find on eBay, about 30 bucks a pair, that, when got get them "new, out of the box, never used", ..looks to be in reality "old ones", or one that visually fail after initial testing, as when you look at them, they are ex from the box, ..but they are not "crystal clear".
In all the ones (up to now 2 pairs, i.e.: 4 pieces) that I have seem till now, the arcing cavity shows some unclear small drops of "something" that are sticking to the glass.

At this point, I'm thinking that the US$ 195.00 a piece at Porsche OEM stores, seem to last a lot longer than the US$ 15, ..or let's say's US$ 20 with the shipping !, that you find (search for HID D1S) on eBay, or, i.e.: 6 years (or 100'000 miles) for the US 195.00 a piece, or 10 months (or 5'000 miles) for the US$ 20.00 a piece...
Or, ..in the OEM case : 2$/1000 miles, per bulb.
and, in the "eBay" case : 4$/1000 miles, per bulb.

Do any of you have an idea of why there are such quality/durability on these ?

 

I'm curious why the only two options you are considering are the high priced dealer or ebay.

Why not buy a name brand bulb off amazon?

 

Simply because I'm not an "Amazon guy" ! I used to be on eBay for so long, that, I never went there !
What are the prices for an HID D1S at Amazon ?

Does anybody knows about the "reasons" and story about these cheap "new" bulbs on eBay ?

 

Just buy a name brand. Phillips, Hella, etc..

 

I bought a pair of Philips for 85 and they still worked great after 4 years. This was on amazon.

 

Changed mine to osram from the original 2006 which were osram too....

 

The ones that lasted 10 months in ours ..seems to came from from a little town in Italy named ..China !

 

China Italy is so beautiful this time of year!

 

I'm with ninefiveone on this. I was having problems with mine and cleaned all of the contacts, over all they were better but one was still faulting so I ordered a set of OEM Phillips from Amazon and all good for over two years since. Just go to Amazon and buy name brand: Phillips, Sylvania, Hella, Osram and you will be find, and Amazon backs their purchases where on Ebay you might be able to do a return if you use Paypal but otherwise your out of luck. Watch out from the Junk electrical copies from that little town (China) in Italy as well as things like Brake rotors which are known to warp easily as their overly Pourous.

 

Yes.
It is true that I would (I hope) never buy brake components from an "unknow source", and for these, would 100% stays with pure OEM Porsche components.
When I saw about 200 for one bulb OEM, and 20 for a "pure unknown", I took my chance.
The first call, is when I saw them, i.e.: visual check : the first pair I got, were already a bit milky, so, I complain and return them. Had no problem, got refund (beside the loss the return shipping !) ..and got another pair somewhere else. Second try : a bit better, i.e.: I mounted these.
..These were the ones that lasted 10 months (or 5'000 miles).
(..yes, since I traded in my 996 C4 Cab, and got a Panamera, we are using a LOT LESS the Cayenne, so the miles on our CS do not move that much anymore !)

Well, I took my chance again, got another pair at 30 bucks + 10 for shipping, ..and will see !
But, this time, I decided to "talk" about it, just because now, I'm sure : There are a lot of scam about these HID bulbs, and it seems for sure that when you go for cheapos, ..you got nothing more than what you pay for, ..or being more accurate, ..you even get less than what you paid !!
(Proof above.)

But, frankly, this is quite strange, as it seems to me that having a bulb with clean glass inside should not be a serious problem. I would still be very curious to know what is the the value, i.e.: of having bulbs with these "foreign bodies" inside. Should be somewhere a manufacturing problem, that create these "semi-faulty ones" !!

 

Sorry. I don't mean to be dense but I just want to make sure I understand. You feel the dealer charges too much for a bulb. You don't care about buying a name brand bulb (from anyone, doesn't have to be amazon). You want to know why the $30 bulb from an unknown source and manufacturer isn't higher quality?

 

Not much to understand......you bought a cheap Chinese product that works poorly like 98% of the other Chinese/Taiwanese automotive stuff out there. Half of the brand name bulbs on Ebay are likely fakes, too.

If you buy bulbs on Ebay.....don't expect to get more than a year out of them. I just paid $220 for 2 new Osram Xenarc bulbs from a reputable supplier.

 

I got a set of morimoto complete w ballast and bulbs. They worked very well and significantly improved night vision. I recommend spending more for higher quality than the cheap stuff.

 

..Basically, it was the reason of posting this topic.
I felt that such a simple part (a "piece of glass") could not go wrong, ..but I was wrong !
The conclusion is to go by brand, paying the price and ..hoping that you get real ones, not "fake" !
As, now, it is kind of sure that the cheapos are simply not a good deal at all.
In French, a very often used initials: CQFD.
(Ce Qu'il Fallait Demontrer, or, something like : What was needed to be showed.)