But dirt cheap cos they're made in China? There's quite a lot of random brands on Amazon. Was wondering if anyone has used any that are significantly brighter than stock as bright as the £115 osram night breaker d1s laser. I just want to save some money if I can. 

One of the main problems with cheap bulbs is how inconsistent they are. You also have to really read thoroughly how they have been tested for brightness etc as a lot of the claims made on the cheaper bulbs are questionable.

 

You may be able to find a cheap pair that are as bright as Nightbreakers, but it's really hard trying to get accurate figures you can really compare against.

 

I spent a while comparing bulbs, but in the end decided that it was worth the extra for a guaranteed decent quality product and bought a set of genuine nightbreakers from Amazon for £90. 

 

They were a huge upgrade over the standard bulbs, and well worth the money.

2 minutes ago, softscoop said:

One of the main problems with cheap bulbs is how inconsistent they are. You also have to really read thoroughly how they have been tested for brightness etc as a lot of the claims made on the cheaper bulbs are questionable.

 

You may be able to find a cheap pair that are as bright as Nightbreakers, but it's really hard trying to get accurate figures you can really compare against.

 

I spent a while comparing bulbs, but in the end decided that it was worth the extra for a guaranteed decent quality product and bought a set of genuine nightbreakers from Amazon for £90. 

 

They were a huge upgrade over the standard bulbs, and well worth the money.

I used a pair of Osram Xenarc oem replacement (65 quid 2 years ago) . 1 died suddenly at 22 months, the other is slowly dying now at 24 (it's now purple and takes 5 goes to switch the thing on). The factory originals lasted 8 years... 

 

The problem I have even when they were working is I just never thought the lights were bright enough to see potholes at night, I use full beam far more often than I should frankly. 

 

Has your night Breakers lasted you a while? I do a lot more miles than average so I'll divide by 3.

Were they genuine bulbs? There are so many fakes that genuine Osram have a serial no you can check on their website. I'm surprised both are failing after such a short amount of time.

 

Osram Classic are not far behind the performance of night breaker, but are cheaper.

 

 

Edited 26 September, 20223 yr by softscoop

https://www.osram.com/ecat/XENARC ORIGINAL-Xenon headlight lamps-Motorcycle lighting-Automotive/com/en/GPS01_1057127/ZMP_83508/

 

They should have a 4 year warranty.

1 minute ago, softscoop said:

Were they genuine bulbs? There are so many fakes that genuine Osram have a serial no you can check on their website. I'm surprised both are failing after such a short amount of time.

 

Osram Classic are not far behind the performance of night breaker, but are cheaper.

 

 

I don't know. I bought them from a website called powerbulbs. The box does not have a 4 year warranty picture on. But the Osram boxes from Amazon have it. 

 

I have kept one of the box's so will check out the serial sticker when I pop out later. 

3 minutes ago, softscoop said:

https://www.osram.com/ecat/XENARC ORIGINAL-Xenon headlight lamps-Motorcycle lighting-Automotive/com/en/GPS01_1057127/ZMP_83508/

 

They should have a 4 year warranty.

Well, even if it does. Its a bit too late for me personally as I have an mot on Wed and need new bulbs by tomorrow night. Amazon will be fine for that as I have prime. 

The brightness is set by the design regulations for that particular lamp type...

 

There is a tolerance but if you check their website, the Osram Night Breaker laser D1S is rated at 3200lm ±15% which is identical to the Osram 'original' XenArc D1S.

 

I'd grab whichever genuine Osram or Philips D1S fit your colour temperature/price preference.

 

I certainly avoid any unknown brands or China specials

2 hours ago, langers2k said:

The brightness is set by the design regulations for that particular lamp type...

 

There is a tolerance but if you check their website, the Osram Night Breaker laser D1S is rated at 3200lm ±15% which is identical to the Osram 'original' XenArc D1S.

 

I'd grab whichever genuine Osram or Philips D1S fit your colour temperature/price preference.

 

I certainly avoid any unknown brands or China specials

What's the worst that could happen? I've just ordered a "Chinese special" off amazon lol because it was guaranteed to be delivered by 10pm tonight which gives me time to test it out. If its completely awful, well I still have tomorrow to buy new bulbs before Wed mot. 

 

Currently my car has some budget Chinese tyres on ("Delint??") and nothing bad has happened so far. Not proud of it as I needed some tyred urgently same as bulbs now but will be replaced by Xmas in the next Costco sale on Michelin all climate for a possible bad winter. 

 

I bought "sinoparcel d1s 6000k"

3 hours ago, newskodadriver said:

What's the worst that could happen? I've just ordered a "Chinese special" off amazon lol because it was guaranteed to be delivered by 10pm tonight which gives me time to test it out. If its completely awful, well I still have tomorrow to buy new bulbs before Wed mot. 

 

Currently my car has some budget Chinese tyres on ("Delint??") and nothing bad has happened so far. Not proud of it as I needed some tyred urgently same as bulbs now but will be replaced by Xmas in the next Costco sale on Michelin all climate for a possible bad winter. 

 

I bought "sinoparcel d1s 6000k"

Worst that can happen is that the ballasts or controllers get blown by crappy bulbs, and while that's relatively unlikely it'll be very expensive if it happens.

3 hours ago, chimaera said:

Worst that can happen is that the ballasts or controllers get blown by crappy bulbs, and while that's relatively unlikely it'll be very expensive if it happens.

How would that happen exactly? Would the bulb have to physically explode into shrapnel or something? 

Bad quality electrical elements shorting out would be most likely.

8 hours ago, chimaera said:

Bad quality electrical elements shorting out would be most likely.

Well I've installed the "sinoparcel d1s 6000k" tonight and all is well. I quite like it, not sure if it's down to the bulb being quality or that it's 6000k rather than the 4300k previous bulbs were on. But the pool of light around the car seem brighter and the reach of the beams are more distinct.

 

Decent buy for £23 and same day delivery. 

Edited 27 September, 20223 yr by newskodadriver

As above  bought cheap Amazon ones also cheap ballast and they are still working great 3 yrs later

5 hours ago, DEL80Y said:

As above  bought cheap Amazon ones also cheap ballast and they are still working great 3 yrs later

Have you used the proper Osram night breaker ones before? The ones that cost £115 now 

 

After using the cheap ones from amazon for a couple nights, I find that the dipped beam is brighter around the car, but full beam seems to be less bright than stock on a dark motorway. Maybe it's because I read 6000k don't project into distance as well as 4300k

Edited 29 September, 20223 yr by newskodadriver

How did you get on with your warranty claim?

 

Generally 6000k bulbs emit less light than decent 4300k bulbs, and with cheapo bulbs, no 2 bulbs are going to perform the same leaving such a wide variation in quality and brightness etc.

Hi Skodamen and women

 

The light from the lamps in my Octavia 2007 - 2011 has been fading for some time so, I'm looking for brighter quality H! & H7 replacements.  Looking through reviews on Amazon of dozens of bulbs, I cannot decide what to buy - so many reviewers' contradictions and many disappointed reviewers.  One recommendation that I came across was to cleanup the lamps' earth terminals, are these easy to locate? I look forward to any advice that will help to  break my indecision and brighten my nighttime driving.

 

Best wishes

Lojong

 

ps Perhaps this should have bee a new thread - apologies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 8 October, 20223 yr by lojong
Not sure if new thread was required

4 hours ago, lojong said:

Hi Skodamen and women

 

The light from the lamps in my Octavia 2007 - 2011 has been fading for some time so, I'm looking for brighter quality H! & H7 replacements.  Looking through reviews on Amazon of dozens of bulbs, I cannot decide what to buy - so many reviewers' contradictions and many disappointed reviewers.  One recommendation that I came across was to cleanup the lamps' earth terminals, are these easy to locate? I look forward to any advice that will help to  break my indecision and brighten my nighttime driving.

 

Best wishes

Lojong

 

ps Perhaps this should have bee a new thread - apologies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Octavia uses halogen bulbs which are a completely different technology to the bulbs discussed on this thread. OSRAM Nightbreaker is available in halogen bulb types and is a good improvement over standard halogen bulbs. Don't fit a HID conversion as this will dazzle other drivers around you.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254002526163?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=ZXu1cQ8nQUO&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=baLARjzjS52&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

 

Im a cabbie covering 60k a year and these have done me well for last 2 years. Originally i ordered 6000k but found them too blue and poor road light. Messsged him and he sent out 4300k which i find to be the best.