Porsche Post Jan 2018 - Headlights

[Cater_Racer]

Interesting article on headlight efficiency on 944's in this/next months Porsche Post.

It brought to mind a recent experience I had with replacing H4 bulbs. I bought what I thought were Osram Night-Breakers some years ago for my 1964 Mini Cooper S. The original lights on the '64 cars were sealed beams and hence cr*p. So using the car for rallying I upgrade with new reflectors and Night-breakers. Still not overly impressed i went to add Cibie Oscars.

Recently on a rally I had the mis-fortune to hit the front wing and smashed the light. So I had a new wing fitted and sprayed it up, bought new reflector etc. I was about to buy some more Night-Breakers and was on the internet searching prices, when a friend mentioned many "cheap" bulbs are repackaged in replica cartons and make sure I was buying OEM bulbs.

So splashed out at a reputable retailer and bought a genuine bulb pack, so I changed the one side only... WOW what a difference !!!! upon examination my old "Night-Breaker" was not marked Osram and was most certainly a fake. Beware fakes are abundant especially on the web.

 

[Waylander]

You only just noticed

a lot of the NGK and Bosch spark plugs on eBay are fake

a lot of the cheap Bosch ignition coils are also fake

 

[Cater_Racer]

You only just noticed

a lot of the NGK and Bosch spark plugs on eBay are fake

a lot of the cheap Bosch ignition coils are also fake

You're right ! It never occurred to me (naive or what?) that it was worth it, now I see a cheepo H4 bulb is £3 whilst a Philips Racing Vision (what I've now got) are £30. I had been taken in by what looked like authentic packaging. I suppose because I was coming from sealed beams anything was an improvement.

Good reminder about the plugs etc..

 

[Paul 290T]

I was aware of fake memory card, lens filters, clothing, trainers and batteries, but now car components, well thanks for the warning. Can you imagine the safety implications of something like a fake suspension or steering component?

 

[zcacogp]

I've heard it said that pretty much any 'desirable' item has been and will be faked; handbags and trainers are the obvious ones but electronics and car parts are also very common.

Gerry, if you are into uprating headlights then can I recommend also installing a nice fat cable from the battery to the new lamps and using the existing loom to switch some relays instead of powering the lights? It will help your (nice and genuine) Night Breakers to produce yet more light still.


Oli.