Poor '08 HID's after change to new bulbs
 

For the time being, I'm not going to mention the forum vendor I bought these bulbs from, but they're 6000K replacements for my '08 HID's.

They both light fine, and the color looks great - nice, pure white light, which I prefer to the slightly warm 4300K OEM bulbs.

The left light has a large hot spot in the lower middle of the beam pattern, and weak light around that area - not so great. The right light is just plain dim all around, but evenly distributed. Obviously, there's a serious problem here. I drove to work last night, using the headlights for the first time, and I actually pulled over to check if the right side was even still working. The hot spot on the left side falls maybe 20 feet in front of the car, even though the upper cutoff line is at the proper height.

Did I just get a bad set of bulbs - meaning do all this vendor's bulbs suck (as opposed to just my set)? Please share your experiences with replacement HID bulbs for the HR lights, and recommend a reputable vendor. Thanks in advance.

Lets see, you went from a high quality OEM bulb to most likely a low quality china bulb and you don't like how they now look. Well at least they are 6k bulbs and look cool. Function is over rataed with most on here, most would be happy with the color.

It sounds like the lights may not be seated correctly in the sockets. You might want to check that.

Thought of that - will check Friday night when I have a chance, but I think that's a very remote possibility. Thanks for the suggestion.

To be clear, I don't see any issue with the color of 6000K bulbs, at least these. They're not blue/purple, etc. - just a nice, clean cool white. Seen lots of similar-colored OEM bulbs on new cars, most notably from the German makers. But, function is my primary need. My OEM bulbs have also got 4+ years of use on them, so I thought I'd replace them while I had the bumper and lights off the car. It's a ***** changing those bulbs with the lights in place.

EDIT: FWIW, the color temp of natural sunlight, on a clear day with the sun at its highest, is between 5500 and 6000K, and a bit higher when the sky is overcast.

Are there any aftermarket vendors which sell a good quality product at less than $200+ OEM prices? Is there no happy medium? For example, when I bought my first M3, years ago, BMW wanted just over $100 per spark plug. I got in touch with Bosch and got the whole set for ~$80. Same plugs, different boxes.

^^ this. exactly. makes a huge difference.

Well, the verdict is in - these bulbs from Diode Dynamics are just not usable, for the issues I described in my first post. The bulbs were definitely seated properly in their sockets, and when I switched them side-for-side in the car, the hot spot in one bulb and dimness in the other bulb switched sides, too. I ran out of time tonight, but tomorrow the old OEM bulbs are going back in the car. I can only guess that production standards/quality control are in play here. I didn't see a country of origin or manufacturer stamped on the bulbs, and they came in an unmarked white box. A waste of money and several hours of my time, but a lesson learned.

Plain white box? China.

No doubt. We'll see what they say about a refund.

fiy; the OEM hid bulbs will probably outlast your car, they are designed to stay on day/night while driving.

I would just put the oem back in and enjoy the Z

are you in fort myers/naples area?

OEM bulbs will be back in place tonight. I'm just north of Tampa, in Lutz.

nice, i just picked up my 07 Z from Oldsmar

Let me how the refund goes. I just ordered a set from that vender, due to one of my bulb is out.

You know, I've always been a fan of diode as their website and shipping is top notch. I'm pretty sure they are going to help you but we shall see.

If your working bulb is OEM, install only one of the new bulbs first, and compare the new beam pattern to the old. I can't tell you how much better my lights are now that the OEM bulbs are back in place. The light spread is longer and wider, much more even, and a good deal brighter, too. If I ever need a replacement bulb, I'll buy a new pair of Philips, Sylvania, or Osram bulbs from amazon.com. Still a lot cheaper than OEM, but as name brands, I'd say it's a good bet the quality is there.

I don't know enough (anything, really) about how the projector lamps work to know why the difference in bulb performance is so pronounced. I can only guess that positioning of the bulb capsule must be very precise for ideal performance, and that the arc the bulb produces must be a specific shape and brightness, as well.

I don't see that they have much choice. Their polices are in writing, and I'm within the 30-day return period. If there are any difficulties, Chase will surely back me up with a refund to my credit card.

Do they look any different than these ones?

http://www.gtrlighting.com/hid-light...bulbs-d2r-d2s/

I'm trying to figure out if these are the same thing as what everybody else is selling.

FYI, When I installed some morimoto 6k's in my 07' I had to physically rotate the bulb assembly while seated in the houseing to get the beams lined up right. For some reason, the morimoto's were off slightly, and need to be readjusted in the housing to correct the cut-off. It looks great, very crisp white, with nice blue cut-off.

These ones herrr

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/pro...oducts_id=1250

The packaging is different, but I'm not sure that means anything. The Diode Dynamics box is smaller, no windows, and only the only printing is the part number.

I don't know if the package really means anything. What about the way the bulb itself is constructed? Does the Diode Dynamics bulb have a metal bracket holding it together like those ones?