30th Anniversary of the Bosch Invention “Lambda Sensor”
Bosch’s first oxygen sensor was launched on to the market 30 years ago, its spare parts product line holds 80 percent of the total market share:

• Bosch has the broadest general and universal varieties for the shops and spare parts markets

• Bosch recommends checking oxygen sensors every 30,000 kilometers

 Thirty years ago, when the United States exhaust gas legislation was drastically tightened, the lambda sensor, developed by Bosch in the 1960’s, made its debut in an automobile. This Bosch invention for low pollution emissions celebrated its world premiere in 1976, on Volvo’s 240/260 series for the U.S. market.

Nowadays, it is hard at work all over the world, optimizing engine functions, reducing exhaust emissions, while improving the air we breathe in the process. It was fitted onto diesel engines since 2002.

All European automakers, and most worldwide, use Bosch oxygen sensors as original equipment. Therefore, it is only logical for Bosch to keep the largest variety of such products in the spare parts market, covering over 80 percent of the European vehicles market and stretching from the one-pole sensor to the ultramodern broadband planar version. Bosch universal sensors adjust to this basic range: with just nine different types acting as spare parts for the 1,000 sensors used as original equipment, virtually covering the entire European market.

Check oxygen sensors regularly

Fitted in the exhaust stream, the oxygen sensor is exposed to extreme thermal, mechanical, and chemical stress, thus to a certain amount of wear. Therefore, Bosch recommends checking the oxygen sensor every 30,000 kilometers to guarantee its operation, and to replace it within recommended intervals, since a faulty sensor could lead to poor exhaust emissions performance and to an increase in fuel consumption, as much as 15%. Statistically, many modern oxygen sensors life-spans can reach as much as 160,000 kilometers, but poor operating conditions and polluted or low quality fuels can drastically reduce their service life-span.