Do you guys know if this is legit? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PHILI...Q5fAccessories

 

I just ordered the same from http://www.cargym.com/ after doing an internet search on various forums. Only found one or two people who were not happy with them. Most said they were good to go. I found a coupon for $5 off as well and it worked. Use CG050904. Another Coup for 10% I found did not work.

I also ordered a PIAA extra loud horn at the same time. If you sit tight for a week or two I'll let you know how it goes. Shipping said it would be 1-2 weeks.

You have to pay through Paypal with them but you don't actually have to sign up with Paypal to do it. I would have canceled if that was the case. I hate Paypal with a passion. Anyway, it's kinda weird because you complete the transaction and then get the Paypal screen requesting payment.

My receipt looked like this:

Hello ********,
You sent a payment of $241.00 USD to Vision Technology Trading Co..
This charge will appear on your credit card statement as payment to PAYPAL *CARGYM.
Merchant information
Vision Technology Trading Co.
info@cargym.com

+852 85223989678 Instructions to merchant
None provided
Description Unit price Qty Amount
CarGym.com
Item #: PHILIPS 6000K Ultinon D4S Xenon Bulbs , PIAA Sports Super Loud 500Mhz/400Mhz Horn Upgrade Kit
$225.00 USD 1 $225.00 USD
Shipping: $16.00 USD
Insurance: ----
Total: $241.00 USD

 

To be honest with you, I ordered from cargym before for 6000K Ultion bulbs, and it turned these bulbs are fake, not legit. Legit Ultinon has red salt in the middle of the bub and should have some imprint mark on the bulb say Philips but not these bulbs or red salt. I suggest to cancel your order and get the refund. Good luck.

 

We'll see I guess..

 

So...



After going round and round because they "could not find" my order I asked them to cancel it.

I paid for it on the 25th and as of today they had just found it in their Paypal account. Tack on this "fake" claim of bootleg bulbs and I am glad they lost it.

 

For those of you that are looking for a real pair of Philips 6K D4S Ultinon bulbs. I simply ask that you just sit tight for a bit and the moment the package arrives I will announce it here first. Sales for these will be on a first come first serve basis. The price will be $325 plus shipping. Which is much better than the usual $399 that I seem to see everywhere. I have a shipment of 10 pairs due to arrive by 11/18/10. One pair has already been sold/spoken for and if you're seriously intersted feel free to PM me and I'll add you to the list. Thanks...

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-G...Q5fAccessories

Nothing against the Philips 6K D4S Ultinon bulbs. But i have found the Garax 6000K D4S from I_jdm_toy bulbs with way much cheaper price as recommended by CL members on here. Made in Japan as well. I even got with 25% off the regular price. Being used for over a month for every morning without any turning off themselves or flickering at all, love them so far.

Note: The picture indicated on the package is D4C and this was the answer i got from the seller after i received the bulbs.

***(Dear Customer,

Thank you for your business and we apologize for the confusion.

The JDM D4C HID bulbs are newer model made in Japan that can fit both D4R and D4S housings.

The bulb is exactly the same for both D4S and D4R only D4C's base has one more gap that can also fit D4S and D4R housings as well.

For any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at anytime.

Sincerely,
iJDMTOY1)***

 

At the end of the day when it comes down to Philips and all the other manufacturers of HID bulbs and "kit bulbs" you're paying for the historical burn times, consistent burn quality, etc. associated with that brand versus the others. Philips is highly known in the industry for making the best longest lasting bulbs PERIOD. I don't mind paying more for a high quality product that I know is going to last awhile. I have always had Philips bulbs in all my vehicles and I have never once had an issue. Granted I usually don't keep my cars more than 2 years or so. But others I know have picked up other HID bulbs and kits besides Philips to save a few bucks and in the long run they ended up paying more in replacements then they would have had they simply payed the higher premium up front. More details below...

Why are OEM bulbs better than kit bulbs?
There are multiple reasons that OEM bulbs are better than kit bulbs. The first is that OEM bulbs run cooler than kit bulbs.

This is due to the amount and mix of salts. HID bulbs use expensive transition metal iodide salts. The OEM manufacturers have spent countless dollars developing precise salt mixtures that run the coolest and produce the most light. These mixture formulas are closely a closely guarded trade secret. Along with this, these salts can be VERY VERY expensive in high purities. So kit makers tend to scrimp on the amount of salts making the bulb run even hotter. This evident by the fact of when you look in the arc chamber in kit bulbs it looks virtually clear while in OEM bulbs there is a noticable yellow (or in the case of Ultinons and bright reddish brown) salt deposit.

The second is quality control. The OEM manufacturers test each bulb before it leaves the factory. The bulbs are tested for arc chamber shape, arc chamber position, light color, light intensity, etc. Kit bulbs often are not tested at all. It is not uncommon to have arc chambers that are not in the tightly specified location or are not the proper shape. This results in weird looking cut-offs, decreased intensity etc. Also, it is not uncommon to get a pair of 6000K kit bulbs that are either more blue (closer to 8000K or 1000K) or more yellow than 6000K. Sometimes, with horrible QC a pair of supposedly matched bulbs, in fact are not, with one bulb being more yellow or blue than the other.

The third reason is that kit bulbs tend to use pure tungsten electrodes while OEM bulbs use thoriated tungsten electrodes.

I hope this information was useful.