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xenon bulb $47 vs $200 - can you tell the difference?
My low beam bulb went out - first showing as sort of a pink/peachy looking light reflected to me off a window. No dash message, or not right away anyways.
So I called the stealer. Here in Canada, that bulb is $253 or about $200 US. Seemed pretty egregious to me so I started doing my homework. Couldn't really find anything definitive re an alternative here on site. I did find out tho that I needed a 12v 35w D1S xenon bulb of about 4300 kelvins, and I am on the hunt. Didn't want crap or to deal with any brand or outfit I wasn't familiar with. There are a lot of websites out there but they don't have history and most of their products don't have brand names. I don't cheap out on lighting, brakes or tires. My kids ride in this car.
GetMercedesparts.com? $185 US. Too much. Seems the going rate or very close to it though, but its a bulb. Does not compute. I know there is no way there is a vehicle specific bulb that only fits our car. How could that be when it has a size of D1S, which is pretty common. Besides, no other bulb in our car is, and if this one was it would be at least 5 times the price.
Pelicanparts.com? $143 US. Now we are getting closer. But whats this? They sell an Osram Sylvania for $70.50 with a nice little graphic indicating OEM supplier. Find out they supply Porsche and BMW, so could it be? Thats a big brand. I notice they even have the same part number - just one has an MBZ suffix and one says M97. I hit the google machine to see where this info takes me.
So I end up at Amazon.com. They have a Sylvania bulb on there for $44, but what is the Kelvin? Doesn't say. It doesn't even say the model number! Dammit. So I hit the reviews. Find a model number. Start searching the web and boom! 5000 kelvins. Could the color be close enough to be unnoticeable? I read some more reviews, and come across a guy who says......"I think its really more like about 4300k". Im in. Its Amazon. I can return it. Well, I haven't returned it. And as a matter of fact, I was in for a bit of a surprise.
Pardon the bad pic, but can you see a difference? Tell me which one is stock....
OK, so thats a crappy pic. How about if I show you a picture of the bulb itself?
Tell me which one is original now! Because when I sat them down side by side and looked at the back I was surprised to see:
Yeah, they look pretty much the same to me too, and they are the same manufacturer. $44 on Amazon, or $200 at the stealer. Take your pick, because they are both an Osram Sylvania 12v 35W 4300K bulb. If you want to be the skeptic, you'll notice the model number of the bulbs - one says 66147 and here is some info:
Yup. Same bulb. So you can get a used single with that first link, or a new twin pack with the second one or you can do like I did and get a new single at Amazon:
Xenon bulb $44. Take your other $156 and take a good looking girl out for dinner.
PS in case you are wondering, in both cases the original is the one on the left. Turns out 66147 is the old part number, thats why that site has a used one. 66144 is the same, just newer. God only knows why they change parts numbers. My mother was right, there are few things that will give you more pleasure than finding a bargain.
Nice work! Great info. I would have replaced both at the same time just because the other will probably go soon. And I have replaced HID bulbs and they tend to burn in/break in a bit and change color. I'm a stickler for making things match as best as they can. Thanks for posting!
Good find, and I agree at 47$ change both as I can see one is bluer than the other. (Looking at the rays of light)
Hey Roswell, I honestly think that's about my iPhone. They're both 4300k and I have stood and looked at it with a couple people and in person.....anyways I thought about replacing the other at the same time but there is a limit to how many spare this and extra that one guy can have. I have odds and sods from my 335 still and that's 4 years ago. I'm worried about how many vehicles back I can go and still find stuff. And it's Amazon. Click click boom. And how much lower can our dollar go? I guess we will find out
I just knew we didn't have a "go here buy that" thread when it comes to something as simple as a xenon bulb. Hope this helps.
Burned both my modules with $80 bulbs. Should have just gotten the OEM ones from the stealer. I had to replace both modules!
I didn't get them from the dealer, but I really do think I have purchased the same bulb from the same manufacturer. Certainly the manufacturer part so I'm not worried about quality. But that is exactly the reason I didn't want to do some brand I've never heard of. Sylvania/Philip/Osram are the brand names this is sold under and they are all have a good rep re bulbs.
W204 C63 Coupe, W166 ML350 BlueTEC, 928GT, C5 Z06 & IS300 race cars, EQE 4Matic+ on order
The OSRAM 66144 is a 4100K, 3200 lumen bulb (the "factoryxenon" info is wrong). The 66147 was the 4300K bulb, hence the slight color difference that Roswell also picked up on. You can certianly use the 66144 in place of the 66147, but I would replace both at once just to make sure it looks uniform both in terms of color and light output as they tend to lose a few lumens over time.
03-10-2015, 12:19 AM
