The best headlight upgrade

I was recently involved in a minor accident which resulted in the driver's side fender and headlight needing to be replaced. The insurance company has authorized funds consistent with the cost of a new headlight. I am thinking using these funds for replacing both headlights with HID or Zenon. Are these different? I've looked on Ebay but I don't understand the difference . What is the best replacement?? Any suggestions are appreciated

997 conversion considered?

That sounds too complicated and I want to keep it as simple as possible. What is the difference between Zenon and HID Which is better and the best deal

As far as simple plug and play set-ups go, the factory litronics are probably the best. They have HID low beams with halogen highs. They fit perfectly, plug right in and look nice.

edit.

Quotes source post: 12548684

+996

Xenon is a gas that is used in High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights as well as traditional halogen bulbs. Many people call HID headlights "xenons". There are some aftermarket bulbs that have a higher concentration of xenon gas than a traditional halogen bulb, and they are marketed as xenon upgrades. Don't fall for it. A true HID headlight system uses HID bulbs (no filament, similar to a fluorescent bulb) and requires an ignitor or ballast. US law requires vehicles equipped with HID systems to have an automatic leveling system as well as headlight washers to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic, but many people overlook the law and upgrade them anyway. HID headlights were meant to produce light that mimics natural sunlight. OE HID systems have a color temperature of 4,300K, which is ideal for visibility. There are aftermarket HID kids of much higher color temperature that people buy to achieve a certain look. At 5,000K, the light looks very white. At 6,000K, the light looks very blue. It begins to look purple as you go higher in temperature. Keep in mind that increasing the color temperature decreases lighting performance. Porsche's brands for HID headlights include Litronic and Bi-xenon. The Litronic units were used on the 996 MKI cars and on the 993. These systems utilize an HID system for the dipped beam and a traditional halogen light for the high beam. Bi-xenon systems utilize the HID bulb for the dipped beam and the high beam, with a supplemental halogen lamp.

Another note about the traditional bulbs on the market that claim to be xenon upgrades: many of these bulbs are treated with a blue coating to make the light output appear bluish in an effort to mimic true HID bulbs. The blue filter degrades lighting performance so much that the wattage is increased to compensate for it. This increase in wattage creates considerable heat, which often leads to burned headlight lenses (on the inside) and/or melted wiring harnesses.

Thanks all, if I understand correct, I will be shopping for the Litronic/Bi-zenon. Thanks to all for the great advice

It's not a cheap upgrade. For the MK I 996, Litronic lights are your best bet if you want to use OE parts. You can buy a set for $3,500 at www.suncoastparts.com . There are other options if you want to spend less money. An HID upgrade kit is one option, although your car appears to have reflector headlight assemblies as opposed to projector assemblies. This can be problematic with HID bulbs as the light distribution isn't the same as a halogen bulb. If you want to take this route, your should upgrade to projector assemblies. There is an option available at www.pelicanparts.com .

I'm gonna go against the grain here and say mk1 Litronics suck compared to other OEM's out there. They made the whole headlight assembly a lot harder than it needed to be. There is complicated motor setup that moves the whole internal headlight assembly up for high beams for example while still using incandescent bulb for better dispersion at high beam mode. They could've just provided a better projector lense with a internal scatter shield solenoid setup instead. The projector clarity isn't that great either on the OEM lenses. IMO, doing an aftermarket quality projector retrofit with aftermarket HID's would yield the best light output. FWIW, I have OEM Litronics that came with my car but am in the process of doing aftermarket projector conversion.

My GT3 has the HID/Xenon lights. They are amazing. In addition to producing more light than we get from the Sun over a 12 hour period, the washer system amuses me greatly every time I activate it - it reminds me of lawn sprinklers that pop up and spray.

Quotes source post: 12552800

I think that's a good strategy. I will add that my 997 OE Bi-xenons are substantially better than my 996 OE Bi-xenons, even with brand new bulbs in the 996. That actually brings up another point - HID bulbs lose intensity and change in color temperature with age and use. If your 996 is on the original bulbs still, then you might find that new bulbs improve lighting performance.

Ive done several cars with new bulbs and converted some to hid. I dont see alot of difference driving, its alittle brighter and bluer. My recommendation is to buy a hid conversion kit (cheap, $50-75) and put them in a non hid housing, or put brighter bulbs (8000k) in a exhisting hid housing. See how you like it. Its cheap, look on ebay. If you like the lows, then but another kit and convert the hi beams. yes, the new bulb will be bright blue then settle down in a couple weeks so dont judge the color first day

I have bixenons but just an FYI: There are $30 HID kits in downtown LA. Comes with bulb, ballast and wires. Plug and play. Ballast sticks to inside of fender. While I don't need this for my 996, I am considering it for my Prius. And, it's a real HID; something that is still a $500+ factory option on some cars.

Quotes source post: 12552982

8,000K bulbs aren't brighter. They are a different color temperature, much more in the blue to purple part of the spectrum. They will perform very poorly. I would hate to be out on a dark, rainy night with those headlights. You also need to be careful with putting HID lights into a reflector housing designed for halogens. They frequently cause odd light patterns on the road with hot spots and reflections. You'd get much better visibility with good quality halogen bulbs.

Quotes source post: 12553029

+996. 8k actually produces less light output on the road than OEM(4300k). 5k is the closest to sunlight and also the brightest IIRC. I want to clarify that when I said Litronics suck compared to other OEM's, I was referring to the mk1('98-'01) NB models so any newbie mk2 owner reading this doesn't get confused.

Guys Sorry if this has already been covered but wanted to ask, is the swap out of OE 996 Halogen assemblies with the OE MK1 HID assemblies plug and play? From what I gather reading various threads, the OE HIDs are not as good as newer versions and if I do make this swap I will not get the auto-leveling feature if the car did not already have the sensors, mine does not. But I have the chance to replace the headlights and front bumper and left fender thanks to a guy that turned right in front of me, so I thought to replace the original headlights with something better. Any/all advice or links would be much appreciated!

Correct, you will not get the auto leveling without being factory, but there is an OEM kit that you can get that adjusts the low beam up a few degrees when you put on the high beams. Almost as good. But yes, you can just buy the lights and plug and play. The ballasts are included on the back of the new lights.

Quotes source post: 12552800

Along those lines - the factory Litronics are also stupidly complex. Since the self-leveling functionality isn't available for cars that originally came with conventional (incandescent) headlights, there's even less reason to "upgrade" to Litronics over aftermarket/third-party HIDs.

Don't forget about the wiring harness if converting from halogen to Litronics...