I have a 2010 2 litre TDI elegance model, it has the xenon headlight bulbs if this is the correct name unless its a brand?

 

The drivers side low beam has started glowing pink/red, it failed to light up one day but is since back on but never returns to bright white.Is this the lamp thats on it's way out and if so, what's the options for replacement, do i need to change both sides to prevent the passenger side going soon?

yes it's on it's way out and yes I'd replace both burners at the same time as its likely the other won't be too far off giving up as well.

Is there much difference between these bulbs, they seem to range from really low to £120. I'm sure the cheapest ones won't last 5 mins but I'm not keen to spend £120 if i can help it.

 

Any recommended brands?

On 30/12/2021 at 20:12, ddan1275 said:

Is there much difference between these bulbs, they seem to range from really low to £120. I'm sure the cheapest ones won't last 5 mins but I'm not keen to spend £120 if i can help it.

 

Any recommended brands?

Osram xenarc cool blue gets my recommendation. Got a pair from lichtex.de for about 80€.

On 30/12/2021 at 18:12, ddan1275 said:

Is there much difference between these bulbs, they seem to range from really low to £120. I'm sure the cheapest ones won't last 5 mins but I'm not keen to spend £120 if i can help it.

 

Any recommended brands?

I've just changed the Xenon bulbs on my 63 plate Facelift Elegance as the original 8 year old / 110K mile bulbs had deteriorated to such an extent that had gone from being the best headlamps I'd ever experienced when I got the car at 3 months old to being like driving with a couple of nightlights stuck on on the front.  This is the downside with Xenon headlamps that nobody tells you about, even if you don't have a failure like you've experienced, the performance slowly but steadily decreases with time.  I went for Osram Xenarc Original which come with a 4 year warranty.  The results were quite literally like night and day and fully restored the original performance.  The old bulbs were strangely enough exactly the same Osram part without any Skoda or VW part numbers on them despite I'm sure being the bulbs fitted at the factory.  Personally I'd be wary of going for high performance bulbs as, if they are similar to halogen bulbs, the improved performance comes at the cost of reduced life as there is no free lunch here.  Similarly I would be wary of going for bluer / higher temperature bulbs as recommended by SkeidaFin as have read these prioritise form over function, they look really good but performance is reduced in rain compared with lower temperature "normal" Xenon bulbs.  YMMV but as the Osram Xenarc cool blue bulbs are more than twice the price of the Osram Xenarc Original bulbs it could be an expensive experiment if they don't work for you.  Guess the question to ask yourself is whether you were happy with your headlamps before the recent problem?  If the answer is yes then can't see a compelling reason to go for anything other than equivalents of the original bulbs like the Osram Xenarc Originals.

 

Facelift cars like mine use D3S bulbs and I paid just under £95 the pair from Amazon but then had to pay local VW independent for 2 hours labour to install as it's a bumper off job to change the bulbs.  I believe your pre-facelift Superb uses D1S bulbs which are currently less than £63 the pair from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORIGINAL-discharge-quality-66140-folding/dp/B00HWWX7R2) and, even better, understand that they are easy to swap without having to dismantle half the front of the car.

53 minutes ago, DrCorbyLee said:

I've just changed the Xenon bulbs on my 63 plate Facelift Elegance as the original 8 year old / 110K mile bulbs had deteriorated to such an extent that had gone from being the best headlamps I'd ever experienced when I got the car at 3 months old to being like driving with a couple of nightlights stuck on on the front.  This is the downside with Xenon headlamps that nobody tells you about, even if you don't have a failure like you've experienced, the performance slowly but steadily decreases with time.  I went for Osram Xenarc Original which come with a 4 year warranty.  The results were quite literally like night and day and fully restored the original performance.  The old bulbs were strangely enough exactly the same Osram part without any Skoda or VW part numbers on them despite I'm sure being the bulbs fitted at the factory.  Personally I'd be wary of going for high performance bulbs as, if they are similar to halogen bulbs, the improved performance comes at the cost of reduced life as there is no free lunch here.  Similarly I would be wary of going for bluer / higher temperature bulbs as recommended by SkeidaFin as have read these prioritise form over function, they look really good but performance is reduced in rain compared with lower temperature "normal" Xenon bulbs.  YMMV but as the Osram Xenarc cool blue bulbs are more than twice the price of the Osram Xenarc Original bulbs it could be an expensive experiment if they don't work for you.  Guess the question to ask yourself is whether you were happy with your headlamps before the recent problem?  If the answer is yes then can't see a compelling reason to go for anything other than equivalents of the original bulbs like the Osram Xenarc Originals.

 

Facelift cars like mine use D3S bulbs and I paid just under £95 the pair from Amazon but then had to pay local VW independent for 2 hours labour to install as it's a bumper off job to change the bulbs.  I believe your pre-facelift Superb uses D1S bulbs which are currently less than £63 the pair from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORIGINAL-discharge-quality-66140-folding/dp/B00HWWX7R2) and, even better, understand that they are easy to swap without having to dismantle half the front of the car.

I don't disagree. If you're function over form, go for the originals. If you care about the looks, go for the cool blue ones if you want. I haven't noticed significant difference in performance though, so IMO it comes down to price and personal preference.

3 hours ago, DrCorbyLee said:

I've just changed the Xenon bulbs on my 63 plate Facelift Elegance as the original 8 year old / 110K mile bulbs had deteriorated to such an extent that had gone from being the best headlamps I'd ever experienced when I got the car at 3 months old to being like driving with a couple of nightlights stuck on on the front.  This is the downside with Xenon headlamps that nobody tells you about, even if you don't have a failure like you've experienced, the performance slowly but steadily decreases with time.  I went for Osram Xenarc Original which come with a 4 year warranty.  The results were quite literally like night and day and fully restored the original performance.  The old bulbs were strangely enough exactly the same Osram part without any Skoda or VW part numbers on them despite I'm sure being the bulbs fitted at the factory.  Personally I'd be wary of going for high performance bulbs as, if they are similar to halogen bulbs, the improved performance comes at the cost of reduced life as there is no free lunch here.  Similarly I would be wary of going for bluer / higher temperature bulbs as recommended by SkeidaFin as have read these prioritise form over function, they look really good but performance is reduced in rain compared with lower temperature "normal" Xenon bulbs.  YMMV but as the Osram Xenarc cool blue bulbs are more than twice the price of the Osram Xenarc Original bulbs it could be an expensive experiment if they don't work for you.  Guess the question to ask yourself is whether you were happy with your headlamps before the recent problem?  If the answer is yes then can't see a compelling reason to go for anything other than equivalents of the original bulbs like the Osram Xenarc Originals.

 

Facelift cars like mine use D3S bulbs and I paid just under £95 the pair from Amazon but then had to pay local VW independent for 2 hours labour to install as it's a bumper off job to change the bulbs.  I believe your pre-facelift Superb uses D1S bulbs which are currently less than £63 the pair from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORIGINAL-discharge-quality-66140-folding/dp/B00HWWX7R2) and, even better, understand that they are easy to swap without having to dismantle half the front of the car.

 

Thanks for this. Yes I've always been happy with the lights as standard, I never realised they dimmed over time, I've not noticed so much probably due to it being progressive over the 6 years I've owned the car. I've also never heard that the brighter blue tints aren't as good in the rain, how does the rain affect the visibility?

 

I've just had a look at the link you shared and the prices vary so much, this is what led me to think is there something I'm missing. 

Just doing a quick search, on ebay there's these as a pair which look the same as your amazon link to me? https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1175907176 but the code is different at 66144, vs your link 66140. Where did you get the code from for my model?

31 minutes ago, ddan1275 said:

 

Thanks for this. Yes I've always been happy with the lights as standard, I never realised they dimmed over time, I've not noticed so much probably due to it being progressive over the 6 years I've owned the car. I've also never heard that the brighter blue tints aren't as good in the rain, how does the rain affect the visibility?

 

I've just had a look at the link you shared and the prices vary so much, this is what led me to think is there something I'm missing. 

Just doing a quick search, on ebay there's these as a pair which look the same as your amazon link to me? https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1175907176 but the code is different at 66144, vs your link 66140. Where did you get the code from for my model?

I didn't realised they dimmed with age either until I started researching to see if it was my eyes or headlamps that were failing with age, fortunately it was the latter :-) Some manufacturers recommend replacing them every 3 years (but then they would ;-)

 

No idea why the blue is worse in rain, I suspect it's mostly subjective but could be the way the different wavelength of light is absorbed by the droplets of water.  If blue/white light is absorbed more by water than the more yellow cooler standard bulbs then the range would decrease.

 

If you zoom in to the picture of box in the ebay listing you can see part number 66140, same as the Amazon ones.  So think the 66144 in listing text is just a typo and they are the same as the amazon ones.  Sure the vendor can confirm.  Does look to be a brilliant price for those particular bulbs, almost 15 quid the pair less than Amazon.  However when you click through to the "See details and exclusions" it shows they are £43.44 per bulb and not per pair.  And if you add to basket direct from the original link it also then shows as a single bulb.  So the "2x OSRAM D1s........" in the title on the ebay link looks to be a typo'.  Again, the Vendor will 100% confirm but as always it looks like Amazon is cheapest (and also most convenient if you have Prime)

 

One other thing to bear in mind that there are lots of counterfeit Osram bulbs out there.  That's why the boxes and bulbs themselves have codes on them that you can check on Osram website to confirm they are genuine and even provide details of the manufacturing batch etc.  So be careful if you find an ebay bargain if it's not from an Osram approved dealer as could well be cheap Chinese copies so not the bargain they appear.

I'll check but it's probably safest to go with the amazon one as the other add seems far too cheap to be true. I'll get a look at my car and make sure the codes are matching too. Thanks for your help.