cheapo bulb ?
 

usually when i buy brake light bulbs for my Benz they come in packaging marked Made In Germany.
Today when I bought turn signall bulbs for my benz they had no packaging and said made in China.

Does this seem O.K.? I know how important the right bulb is for these cars.

As long as it is the same type and wattage, I think you'll be fine.

Ali, cool, I went to another dealer and bought some spare turn signal bulbs for the `02 C240 and they didn't come in the normal Mercedes packaging either.

Dealer is selling nonMB parts, then.

I found made-in-Europe bulbs for my C320 at PepBoys. They are slightly different from your garden-variety 1157.

As long as it's not a dome-light spec bulb like what I found in my tail light:rolleyes: Surprised it lasted so long!

On the second bulb purchase the bulbs said Osram, but they didn't come in packaging. With the first bulbs, the bulbs said China - I will double check the origin this weekend when I install the Osram bulbs.

And the one dealer charges ten dollars for two China built bulbs, and the second dealer charges five dollars for two Osram bulbs.

That is one of the reasons I posted this thread, be aware of price differences at dealerships.

Just buy them from the auto parts store. $4 for two Sylvania/Osram. Every bulb you'll need, they have. 1157, 1156, 7506, 7507, 5007, 5008, 2421, 2721, 2825, h4, 9003, 9004, h7, 3175, etc.

Ethan man, bulbs a bulb. I don't think it makes a difference where it's made. Personally I'd go with the cheapest ones on the market..as they aren't gonna last forever. Usually anything that ever say's made in Germany usually scares me....i always wonder if its an overpriced part because of its origin. I think brands more important then country of make. My 2 cents, but thanks for bringing this to light...

I did a wholesale change of all my exterior lights 2 years ago (95 E320). The dealer parts guy just pulled the bulbs out of drawers.

No packaging at all, but the bulbs were Osram. So far working fine.

In my cars with the bulb failure warning system, if I were to install a cheapo brass bulb, the system will indicate a bulb failure.

You want bulbs that have silver housings that, as mentioned above, meet wattage and ratings.

Often, better parts stores have sections selling OEM bulbs. These, I have found, work well.

Haasman

(quote)Ethan man, bulbs a bulb. I don't think it makes a difference where it's made. Personally I'd go with the cheapest ones on the market..as they aren't gonna last forever.(quote)
Unfortunately there is a difference in the bulbs. Buy the cheapest bulbs for your tailights (1157s) and you could burn out your cruise control amp. False economy in my eyes, the real difference between NA and Euro bulbs is the wattage. With the bulb out dash indicator using the wrong bulb(s) will cause it to illuminate. C'mon we're driving benzs not ford escorts.

Yea I know using a total garbage bulb is not a great idea let alone might cause you're light warning indicator to illuminate. But if you're buying from mercedes dealership, I'm sure they know which bulbs don't work well with benzes...so i'd get the cheapest one off of them.

Besides H4 and H7, you haven't listed a single bulb specified for a German car.

I've had my 1984 BMW motorcycle since it was new and it hasn't burned out a bulb yet.

One sees GM cars still with temporary licenses issued by selling dealer with burned out bulbs.