Recommended D2R Xenon for Mk.1 C5 ?

[aramsay]

Hello.

Back in Jan. 2015, I had one of the Xenon bulbs go out on my Mk.1 C5 Exclusive. Bought a pair of Philips Xenon Standard D2R bulbs off e-Bay for £45 (incl. post). Fitted both at same time.

The driver's side bulb has now gone out, and the passenger one flickers for about 5mins and then works OK thereafter.

Would 20 months service be considered normal or short for such a bulb ?

I've also seen mention of some fakes about.........

Can someone recommend make / supplier of good quality bulbs at a reasonable price ?

Thanks.

[vborovic]

Seeing as the halogens that last for a year are being hailed as extraordinary, yep, 20 months for a Xenon bulb should be just right ... the Philips is quite good, if you want long life, try these:

http://www.powerbulbs.com/eu/product/xe ... 126-single

[GiveMeABreak]

There are lots of fakes about and that price seems very cheap for 2 bulbs! I paid £135 for 2 Osram Xenarc Night Breaker D1S bulbs,

The D2R OEM Osram bulbs are on sale for about £36 each and are the same as those supplied to the Manufacturers. They also have a 4 year guarantee, which well exceeds the performance of the ones you have, which I doubt are genuine.

I can recommend Driven 2 Automotive, where I bought my D1S bulbs from, and they are an authorised seller for the main manufacturers. Just Google them. Or
https://driven2automotive.com

[JohnD]

Would 20 months service be considered normal or short for such a bulb ?

.

I would consider it short - very! My last C5 had xenons. I bought it almost new in 2005 and when I sold it in 2012 and 100K miles, it still had the original bulbs.

[vborovic]

I bought it almost new in 2005 and when I sold it in 2012 and 100K miles, it still had the original bulbs.

Truth be told, it's not in the duration in months, rather the working hours of the bulbs that matter ... if you didn't use the dipped beam during the day and drove 10-20 miles every day only, of course the bulbs might survive for that long ... also, it's not entire impossible to have them even longer that that (like you've said)... a general average is that the xenon headlight should be able to survive 2000 working hours (which would translate if you have them running on the car for 2 hours daily, every day in the year, slightly below 3 years)

[Paul-R]

I find I have to replace halogen H7 bulbs in the Xsara every year or two. I try to use the increased light output type (+30%, +50%) which decreases their compared to standard types.

My 2013 C5 was just over two years old when I bought it and one of the H7 bulbs had already been replaced (by a really cheap badly made one which was why I noticed). My old C5 was made in 2003 and 13 years later with 225,000 miles on the clock still has the original bulbs.

So, yes, I reckon 20 months is a very short life.