more euro lights - quality control?

[Mike Arman <armanmik@n-jcenter.com>]

>
>While we're on the subject, I was contacted by a fellow q-fan (I don't think
>he's on the audifans list though) who just purchased a set of Euro-lights
>for his 200q (or it may be a 5kq).  He told me that the workmanship on his
>lamps was very shoddy, with fingerprints inside the lens and on the
>reflector, bad enough to affect the crispness of the beam pattern on the
>right side.  His lamps were supposed to be brand new Bosch units ... I
>compared his to mine, and they are the same part, both manufactured in
>Czechoslovakia.  I suggested that he should return the units to the place he
>bought them!  Has anyone else seen similar workmanship issues on the Bosch
>Euros?
>
>Steve Buchholz
>San Jose, CA (USA)
>

I'm a little surprised to hear that - Bosch is very good about quality
control. What MAY have happened here is that someone replaced one of the
lenses (they are replaceable), perhaps because the original was broken in
shipment, and they didn't bother to wash their hands first. Sloppy. I'd
send 'em back, too.

As far as I can tell, there are four or five makers of Euro-lights - Bosch
and Hella, which are OEM, TYC and DEPO, which are quality aftermarket, and
Valeo, which does make corner lamps and turn signal lenses (plastic parts),
but I don't know if they make headlights. Recall that anything sold in
Germany has to pass TUV, which I understand is pretty tough.

One interesting detail is that I'm starting to see parts come through
marked "Made in EC" or "Made in EU" rather than "Made in Germany" or "Made
in Austria", etc.

Best Regards,

Mike Arman