Hi Guys,

Swapped my headlight bulbs (dipped and full beam) over to Osram Nightbreakers last September one of the dipped beam bulbs failed then today the other one failed, gotta say I'm pretty dissapointed with the short life of these, would love to hear if I've just been unlucky or is it normal for them to only last a few month ?, how long have yours lasted ?

Cheers,

Alan.

My Osram night breakers only lasted about 6 months.

I now have he Phillips X-treme which i have had a year and no probs at all. Also i think they give better light

Matt

Mine lasted 3 months. Both died on very cold morning startup (below zero C). They do have 12 months warranty, so use it! I would not get any more. Light was good, but life is too short!

Yup the night breaker bulbs are pure pants. Philips are great, and surprisingly the Ring Xenon bulbs are good for the money.

Phillips bulbs don't seem to last very long either so if you're worried about life I'd be looking at staying with the 30% bulbs or if you don't mind a bit shorter than usual the 50% bulbs.

Went through 2 sets last year. Have now changed to Philips Xtreme, so keeping my fingers crossed.

Overhere we have to have the lights on all the time, but as you can see, they are not the most durable.

Bgds Dan

i was considering a set of these bulbs as people have raved about how good the light is.

But... after reading this thread i dont think i'll bother, my current ones, i forget what brand they are, have great light and have lasted almost a year and a half so far.

Thanks for the comments guys, have sent an email off to Osram so will see what they have to say (if they reply), must admit when either of the ones I have in now go I think I'll swap to something else, love the brighter light but not happy with the short life span, most dissapointed :-(.

Next time will give the Xtremes a go perhaps, either that or some bluey/white lighty types ?

Alan

I have Philips X-tremes on mine and they last much longer than the NightBreakers do.

Not sure what has happened to the NightBreakers. I am sure they used last longer. Various friends have different bulbs. Even the Halfords +90 last longer than the NightBreakers.

Hi Guys,

Swapped my headlight bulbs (dipped and full beam) over to Osram Nightbreakers last September one of the dipped beam bulbs failed then today the other one failed, gotta say I'm pretty dissapointed with the short life of these, would love to hear if I've just been unlucky or is it normal for them to only last a few month ?, how long have yours lasted ?

Cheers,

Alan.

Very spooky... I was about to post just such a thread.

Bought my Nightbreakers (dipped), oh, let me think, five months ago and now one has gone pop. :eek:

Replacing the blown bulb with the still-working original (an Osram, no less, same series of numbers on it, only with no 'NBR'), I position myself in front of my car to compare light 'whiteness' of standard versus Nightbreaker.

Imagine my surprise when I observe that the remaining Nightbreaker-powered headlamp is duller than the other. :eek::confused:

Upon closer inspection, I see that the Nightbreaker bulb is going the way of the blown one --- a creeping black blight is slowly covering the once brilliant and clear glass surrounding the filament.

I know fine well that it too will pop any day. :(

Might as well put in the still-working original and order up some Philips or Ring jobbies now.

I'm not trying to be smart here, but there is no rocket science involved with any of these bulbs, the low output versions are burned at a lower temperature so last longer - but give out less light, the higher output versions are burned at a higher temperature so don't last so long but give out more light. Its really just a balancing act of cost/life/output. Back in 2002/3 I replaced the lights on my wife's Polo for Philips Plus(?) - the fore runner of the Extremes - and they lasted only 3 years before one failed, I replaced them like for like and one has failed again - so I've now got the surviver of the first pair back in. I have bought Extermes to replace them, but will wait until the next failure occurs. Personally I am quite happy to suffer the shorter life to gain better lights and I knew all that before buying the first set - I think that I first read that info in AEX - and it does stand to reason that that is how things will pan out.

I know fine well that it too will pop any day.

Guess what happened this evening?

Talk about it and it happens. :(

I'm not trying to be smart here, but there is no rocket science involved with any of these bulbs, the low output versions are burned at a lower temperature so last longer - but give out less light, the higher output versions are burned at a higher temperature so don't last so long but give out more light. Its really just a balancing act of cost/life/output. Back in 2002/3 I replaced the lights on my wife's Polo for Philips Plus(?) - the fore runner of the Extremes - and they lasted only 3 years before one failed, I replaced them like for like and one has failed again - so I've now got the surviver of the first pair back in. I have bought Extermes to replace them, but will wait until the next failure occurs. Personally I am quite happy to suffer the shorter life to gain better lights and I knew all that before buying the first set - I think that I first read that info in AEX - and it does stand to reason that that is how things will pan out.

Fair point, but five months with Nightbreakers is surely extracting the 'P', non?

these are the bulbs i bought and i have found them to last well and provide great road lighting. only seem to lose visibilty under dirty headlamp syndrome but that affects all bulbs.

SKODA FABIA VRS XENON H7 METAL BLUE HEADLIGHT BULBS NEW on eBay, also Bulbs Lenses, Lights Lighting Accessories, Car Tuning Styling, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 23-Feb-09 20:10:00 GMT)

Fair point, but five months with Nightbreakers is surely extracting the 'P', non?

No, that is dire! I'm glad that I did not follow the herd from Philips Vision Plus to Osram Nightbreakers. I'd have thought that AEX - did they not give Nightbreakers the thumbs up? - would have spelled out the pit falls of using high output normal wattage bulbs. I was just waking anyone who did not know, up to the facts that with high output comes reduced life.

My nightbreakers only lasted about 8 months outstanding bulbs would have them again but only if they lasted longer

these are the bulbs i bought and i have found them to last well and provide great road lighting. only seem to lose visibilty under dirty headlamp syndrome but that affects all bulbs.

SKODA FABIA VRS XENON H7 METAL BLUE HEADLIGHT BULBS NEW on eBay, also Bulbs Lenses, Lights Lighting Accessories, Car Tuning Styling, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 23-Feb-09 20:10:00 GMT)

I went for these and for less then £10 cant fall off look a lot better then standard bulds.

Light output is a lot better than standard aswell

SKODA FABIA inc VRS XENON H7 SUPER BLUE HEADLIGHT BULBS on eBay, also Bulbs Lenses, Lights Lighting Accessories, Car Tuning Styling, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 06-Feb-09 05:56:20 GMT)

My nightbreakers only lasted about 8 months outstanding bulbs would have them again but only if they lasted longer

That's pretty hopeless really, you would need to replace them every summer to make sure they last through the dark months. I'd think that Osram would hold their hands up if this is the service life that people are getting from their product. I'd hope, that unless you are given a written warning, that a minimum service life of 2 years is to be expected, but I do realise that some "low" output bulbs will randomly fail within that period, but most will last about 5 - 8 years - well that has been my experience in the past.

I'm running the 90% Halfords bulbs in both dipped and main beam. very good lamps! Plus I get them at dicsount because I work for Halfords!

I'm running the 90% Halfords bulbs in both dipped and main beam. very good lamps! Plus I get them at dicsount because I work for Halfords!

Group buy:rolleyes:

this is a helptful topic. I did consider the osram nightbreaker but now after reading people's experiences...will not bother. I currently use osram silverstar and those are verygood and last a couple of years at best.

these are the bulbs i bought and i have found them to last well and provide great road lighting. only seem to lose visibilty under dirty headlamp syndrome but that affects all bulbs.

SKODA FABIA VRS XENON H7 METAL BLUE HEADLIGHT BULBS NEW on eBay, also Bulbs Lenses, Lights Lighting Accessories, Car Tuning Styling, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 23-Feb-09 20:10:00 GMT)

Look interesting, have ordered.

In the current chariot I have the Nightbreakers as full/main beam bulbs, as I have xenons. I've nothing but praise for them. Coupled with xenons they are absolutely superb - excellent coverage and terrific range.

As my next motor is likely not to have xenons, I was tempted to fit them for both dipped and main. But I can see here that perhaps that isn't the wisest move. Perhaps I'll use them for main beam duty, where clearly they'll get significantly less use than the dipped bulbs. Then go for some X-Tremes there - had a decent experience with those before the Nightbreakers came out - not quite the clarity and range though, perhaps.

As said above - you can't expect a huge light output and longevity. 5 months is a touch ridiculous though. Has anyone with this length of service contacted Osram about it?

Steve

Has anyone with this length of service contacted Osram about it?

Sounds like a job with Mr WT written all over it.

Osram aint gonna know what Wobblytickled 'em.

Well they might just sent you some replacements to keep you quiet