bosch spark plugs
 

was working on my 107 and pulled a few plugs out. guess what i found?

the bosch super plugs were stamped "INDIA " now what guys.

say it isn't so

You sure you did'nt miss the last two letters INDIA..NA ? :D

nothing wrong with bosch plugs made in india-bosch make their parts all over the world including brazil and germany.

i gues the production costs are cheaper in soth america and india as labour costs are lower than in germany.

providing there is good quality control then your plugs should be fine.:D :D

Alot of oil filters are made there as well.

i wish i had but no i work in the idustrial valve business and india is now a cheap 3rd world source. in fact a lot of our "cheap" tooling comes from india. so it was clearly stamped "INDIA"

what a bad sign....

I put some INDIA Supers in my 250sl and kept getting a skip..
Found two of the plugs insulators could be spun in the casing with my fingers.
Brought them back and the parts guy said they knew of the problem and handed me a new box ..N/C.
First time I ever saw that on a plug

India (as China) is making big inroads in exporting goods to the US. Where I work we qualify product from both places to make sure they meet our standards for quality. They have a tough time meeting these standards, but it's hard to beat their prices!

my original post was for a starting problem so i started looking into the ignition and fuel systems.

one of my problems were the plugs did not fire from the tip of the electrode but they arc sideways and produce only a yellow weak spark. the 450 is a mite tite to get plugs out and i dropped one so i took another out and they both did the same arc pattern sideways.

us giving china favored nation status and the nafta agreement with mexico and canada is becoming a real problem. i've watched a number of companies in my field as well as other mfg's go to mexico and china. but... i could talk about this for hours so i'll end.

any more ideas would be appreciated.
tks
craig

Non-German Benz parts
 

Guess what? I pulled out my left door RV mirror mechanism because I had to have it changed and found that it was made in MALAYSIA !!

Lucas and Bosch India
 

Don't some of the newer MB cars use Lucas components (brake boosters)? Hopefully not electrical systems.

Hate to tell you this, Craig, but Bosch India looks like a big business. 903 employees per the fact sheet.

Sounds like a weak ignition coil or wires.

thomas,

there is an old saying..."when the question is why, the answer is money"

with consolidation and the moves to offshore mfg i'm not sure i would have gone into the valve market 33 years ago.

it feels like nobody is producing products in the US.


inspector1

the PO spent a fortune on this car. everything is new. wires, cap, rotor injector hose i mean just everything even a new ss exhaust system. i did get an upper limit on the coil resistence so i replaced it with a new one and it still had the weak spark.

bosch india
 

well thomas it looks like you're right. went to the site and well i guess even the EC thinks so. if i'm not mistaken i think they are the second largest population so it's bound to have an effect on manufactured goods.

craig

Cheap is spreading everywhere.

Last night I changed oil/filter on a 2002 Honda Civic. Took a look at the genuine dealer filter. Clearly stamped were the words "Made by Fram Filter Corp."

Went to Wal-mart today and studied the inerts of the Fram sold there for this car . Same as what I got from the dealer.

It seems these days that MB is not the only auto mfg. cutting corners.

Check this out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/20/business/worldbusiness/20PART.html