H6W Litronic Parking Lights Led Replacement Update

I posted a thread a few weeks ago inquiring about certain topics pertaining to replacing the burnt out H6W bulbs in my litronic headlights with leds. Based on the comments posted in the thread, I made the jump and ordered a pair from www.42draftdesigns.com and I am very pleased. I opted for newer high output versions of the Bax9s led bulb that they recently began selling. The total for both shipped was $16, and for about the same price as I would have paid for replacement bulbs from Porsche, I am very pleased. Now we will see if they last the "life of the car" as promised..... Included are two quick camera phone shots after I finished the install. Quality is poor, but it gives you a general idea of color and brightness.

Looks good. Those are the parking lights? They look like the headlights...tempted to buy a pair

Yes, those are the H6W parking/driving lights on a litronic headlight assembly. My stockers just burnt out and the options are basically to go Led for 8 bucks for 2 regular Leds or 16 for the brighter ones, buy stock replacements from Porsche for approximately 15 bucks (I think), or pay 30 bucks to have blue bulbs (Phillips Bluevision) shipped from Europe. It seems that this bulb configuration is quite rare in the U.S. The color matches the Xenon headlights quite well, but the photo makes the lights appear brighter than they are. I would say they are about as bright, if not a little bit less bright, than the stock halogen parking lights. In the pictures above they look blindingly bright, which isn't the case in real life.

I have the same and can say for sure they look great. They are not too bright but not too dim either. Just perfect.

Those look fantastic. Very nice option to consider.

I didn't see H6W actually listed in the LED products, which LED did you buy?

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He listed in the first post that he bought the High Intensity Bax9s bulbs. Here is a link to the site and the LED. 42 Draft Designs

Thanks for the compliment Edward, they do look much better than the stock halogen lights and were definitely a good upgrade for $16. Tim is correct, the H6W bulbs that Porsche lists in the manual have a Bax9s base so the push-turn Bax9s bulbs have the same physical dimensions as the stock bulbs. For anyone that is going to order, check out the specials page on the site before you do. Through the end of December they are running 15% (I believe) off on all their Leds, only adds up to a buck or two but I will take any discount.

By the way, out of curiosity, what are the city lights for. Did a search on the forum and the web and while everyone acknowledges them, nobody really describes what purpose the fulfill. Basically, I never really did understand their purpose 'under' the headlights. Incidentally, I don't remember having city lights on my 1998 BMW or 1992 VW. Maybe it's a newer model addition?

Not to rain on anyone's parade but bright "high" wattage LEDs REQUIRE adequate heat sinks and those look like they might allow the LED to last maybe a year of so. The is NO air circulation within the headlight assembly and the HB halogen plus the HID will make things a little WARM on their own. The LED's themselves generally drop no more than 4 volts so a resistor must be used to reduce the 12-14 volts. That resistor is obviously mounted in the base thereby contributing to the overall HEATING level which MUST be "wicked" away if the LED is to have its forecasted long life. You might want to find a way (relay??) to turn off the DRLs with the LB and/or HB on.

I have one of my driving lights out now. maybe I will upgrade. Does it stay on with the xenon headlight on? I will check that tonight. It seems silly if it does.

What is the wattage of the OEM and you replacement bulb?

I checked, the running light stays on with the xenon light. strange, seems redundant.

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I specifically asked the company before I bought the lights about the necessity of a heatsink per your previous posts. They replied and assured me that their leds are entirely plug and play and that no heatsinks need be used. I made sure that they understood that it would be used in a headlight assembly with no air circulation. They further assured me that if the lights were to burn out soon, they would replace them at no cost. They don't seem to put out much heat, and with xenon bulbs not putting out as much heat as traditional halogen lights, I wouldn't think that it would get terribly hot in there if just the low beam and city light were on. We will see what happens.

As far as the purpose, I believe they are required for european cars and serve as daytime running lights in canada. I may be totally off in that regard but I remember reading something about that. They don't really serve a specific purpose in the U.S.

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I don't know about ROW, but in Canada the DRLs are simply the low beams, at least on 996s of my vintage. It's actually a pain in the ***. You fire up the car, and you've got low beams, side markers, tail lights on all the time. The only thing that changes when you turn the headlights on is that the dash lights up. A lot of older 996s without Litronics develop a nasty looking burn-in because of it. Even my Landy has a separate bulb for DRLs. I guess this is the price I pay for living in what must surely be Porsche's least significant market...

Absent knowing the actual current flow I have no grounds for disputing what "the company" told you. But the present "state of the art" for LEDs would indicate a fairly high wattage, high lumens, LED for supplying a light level even close to that of an H6W halogen, especially absent a colimator lens.

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My first 996 was a '99 of canadian origin, HID low beams and street/parking/tail for DRL mode. Since I thought that was a rather good idea I wired my '01 C4's street/parking/tail/DRL(***) circuit into the seat heater power source circuit for canadian DRL functionality. *** Was H6W but now 3 watt Luxeon LEDs with collimator lens for narrow forward beam focus. 9 ohm 10 watt resistor each side for ~1 amp current limit to LED, mounted within the back of the headlight assembly.

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The H6W is not by any means a high lumin bulb. While you are correct that heat dissipation is a huge problem in high wattage LED, it is not a problem in lower wattage applications.

what color was this bulb? White or Blue?

I just ordered these. I will take pictures of one new LED with one original H6W bulb, and see how they match up. Less than $20.00 for a pair delivered to Seattle. Johnny

Has any one found a replacement receptacle for the bulb. Mine has just disintegrated so I need a new one. I have the LEDs ready to go. 01 Boxster S Lintronics

This thread is not complete without comparing the BAX9s white LEDs to the old H6W halogen city lights. You are not going to get more illumination out of the LEDs but they are a better colour match.

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Maybe you should have a look for comparison at the level/type of heat sink included in a simple household 40 watt LED bulb that only consumes 5-8 watts. And keep in mind that the atmosphere inside the headlight assembly gets pretty damn HOT with a 55W halogen high beam bulb and a 35W HID bulb inside.

The LED bulb to the right are the ones I used initially for corner/street/parking in my '95 LS400... Both types have roughly equal brightness, color, and current draw/load. Note that the cluster LEDs are mounted on a simple circuit board, no heat sink other than the printed circuit board 's solid metal rear layer. They began failing with weeks of installation. So I found the ones on the left. The LED mount itself, as you can see, is something of a heatsink. Then add the screw on heatsink knurled cap... None have failed after at least a year of use.

^^^^ Technically those are SMD's. LED's generally will last quite a long time without any type of heat sinks, for example in the 194 bulb type application as above.

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Duane, are those the 42 Draft Design LEDs ?

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Welcome to 5 years ago. A 5-8 watt led in a 40w (equivalent) A19 is indeed a high wattage for an led and requires a large heat sink. Such a bulb will typically produce around 450 lumens of light. That is not what we are talking about for a an HW6 bulb that produces a fraction of that output. I have used just such led bulbs in my Boxster for years now (they are about as old as this thread). They operate with no heat sinks and have yet to burn out. On the other hand a high watt (relatively) led (such as your 5-8 watt in the A19 you mention above) would burn out in minutes without a heat sink to draw heat off the back of the led chip.

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Okay, take the "fraction" and reduce the 40W led bulb heat sink accordingly. And then adjust for headlamp HEAT containment.

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I'll take that as a concession that you acknowledge a 5-8w led is actually a fairly high wattage for an LED and does indeed generate a ton of heat compared to a lower power chip such as the examples used in a low lumen bulb. Truth be told, any material you put on the back of an LED is going to draw heat off the chip including small amounts of solder used to attach the chip or the base of the bulb. For plenty of low wattage LED's that's going to be sufficient to keep the chip cool enough to provide a relatively long life. In such an example no large metal sink is necessary. Look no further than LED's in night lights and cheap low power flashlights for working examples of such systems. As I indicated previously I've had replacements LED bulbs similar to those referenced in the OP operating in my 986 and 996 for years with no failure and these bulbs have no large heat sinks on them similar to the type that are necessary to cool the far higher wattage A19's you described in your earlier example.

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Yes, they are 42 Draft Designs BAX9s. Working great for me so far. I replaced them because the old halogen (city lights) were burning out every couple of months. Will let you know if these do too, but I doubt it.

Im have 9005 LED bulbs (Ebay) used as full voltage DRLs. Last week in California (Fresno), 90-100F, they both seemed to cycle on and off independently at a somewhat regular basis/period. Supposedly they have an internal "active" constant current ciruit source that allows them to operate, and maintain the same bright level, from 12 to 24 volts. Anyone know..? Does the constant current source also provide thermal protection? http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-80w-cree-...fbbca8&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-BAX9s-c...621cdb&vxp=mtr

H6W

Those look like some well built LEDs..not cheap comparatively but if they work well, maybe worth the upgrade

I forgot what I used but I replaced them with LEDs I ordered from a VW specialist. Did that maybe 3-4 years ago and they're still working.

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There is no need for "50W" LED for this application, these are supposed to be "city lights" to consume a small amount of energy while parked at night so other drivers can see your parked car on the side of the street. 50W is overkill and will drain your battery quicker if you actually use them with engine turned off. I also have a hard time believe the individual LED chips are 5W each, I think they are playing with words that the power consumption with the current limiting resistor is 5W each, not that the LED chip itself actually consumes 5W, else it would be either a very inefficient LED, or an ubber ultra bright LED that would cost much, much more, or overheats in no time! As well, at least on my car, these lights come on when my main headlights are on, they are completely overpowered by the HID headlights, serving no purpose at that point, no idea why Porsche wired them in such manner. These ones http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-BAX9S-H...8759c0&vxp=mtr will more than do the job for much less cost.

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Power consumption = 2 x 3W..... The factory intent for the H6W bulbs mounted in the headlamp ***'y is for use as actual DRLs, not street/parking lights. H6W or appropriate LED makes use of the high beam reflector for distance visibility not just a single forward projector LED.

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DRLs, H6W bulb was developed specifically for DRLs in europe. Look carefully at the base.

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I don't have anything on hand at the moment to counter your comments that H6W are used as DRL in Europe. However, realistically the 6 watts (as confirmed here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ght_bulb_types ) incandescent H6W bulbs that came standard with the car can only produce a very small amount of light that surely can only be very visible at night, how is that going to be effective as a DRL when the DRL on modern (non LED DRL) cars are often the high beam bulbs running at reduced voltage (or duty-cycle), so at half the voltage (or duty-cycle) the high beams bulbs are still run at close to 30 watts, far brighter than the 6 watts H6W bulbs can achieve. Unless daylight in Europe is much closer to night time in North America. Can any US owners confirm your US cars actually use the H6W as DRLs? i.e. do they turn on either automatically or when the handbrake is lowered after engine start? On my 2000 Canadian car, the pair of HID headlights come on full strength as soon as I start the car and remain on regardless of ambient lighting level until I turn off the engine, i.e. the HID headlights in my car ARE the DRL, and very bright, which then completely overpower the little incandescent H6W bulbs whenever the engine is running. Pulling and turning the headlight switch counter-clockwise to the two positions from the off position also individually turn on the left or right sides city lights, front side marker lights, and rear tail lights on the side selected.

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No, these are only on when you turn on the parking lights. Not full time. WWest - can you get a picture of what these look like when on. A shot of the car facing a wall would be helpful to see how much light is actually broadcast

wwest, is your car from Canada by chance? I know on some non-Porsche models for example, the Canadian cars came with the DRL option programmed from the factory. This could be one of those options that can be activated or deactivated via PIWIS or PST2. Either way DRL = Cop Magnet for me so no can do and no care.

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Having lived and driven in Europe I can absolutely assure you H6W is not used as a DRL in Europe. They are parking / city lights. DRL are 24W bulbs - typically PY24W.

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Aviography: Have you actually been using those? I would be interested but I'm worried about LED longevity in a hot HID environment. Martin

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Not these ones specifically, but same ones with the wrong base with the two little pips 180 deg apart rather than 150 deg apart of the H6W in our cars, they were US$3 a pair shipped to me in Toronto, so I bought two pairs with second pair as back up. So far all 4 units work, the head section of one unit is loose which then turns continuously when trying to install into the socket, but the light itself still works which I found strange. The vendor is going to replace this unit for me, the pair in the car has had about 10 hours of run time and are just fine so far. For the low price, I don't really mind even if they burn out because they don't really serve any real purpose in North America! And I don't think the heat build up is very high anyway within the huge volume inside the headlight housing.

I may have spoken too soon, it appears the two units installed in the car have stopped working, I will remove the bulbs when I have some time this weekend so I can use a battery to power the lights directly to verify if they are in fact burnt out.

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An "oncoming" distant photo would more appropriate. DRLs are NOT for driver forward distance roadway illumination.

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They serve the SAME purpose anywhere on planet earth....

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I agree with you. There is absolutley no way that the LED's on the bulbs in my 986 and 996 are 5w chips. Based on the lumen output I'd guess the chips are less than 1w. On my car (both US spec) these lamps were not wired as DRL's. They only activate if I turn on the parking lights (and they remain on if I turn on the headlights).

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These bulbs seem to be finicky, one bulb worked fine after I took it out and tested directly with a 12VDC source, put it back and it worked. The second one was very dim when connected to 12VDC, I flicked with my finger a couple of times and it started working, also works in the car now too. Supposed to be nice weather all this week, I'll be driving the Porsche as much as I can to see if they stay working.

Sorry to resurrect this thread, but wanted to add another option. Discovered, like many others both my bulbs (filament type) were burned out. I first ordered 5W Cree type bulbs from China - one was DOA and the other failed soon after it was installed. Scheisse!! Then found 6 watt Crees in Germany that really seem to fit the bill nicely, and still working well after a few weeks - although longevity yet unproven. These are shorter and install easily. The vendor (no affiliation) also ships internationally. Ad cautions only for interior use, but HL housing should be dry inside. http://www.ebay.de/itm/2x-6W-Cree-Ba...item5d40b02d21

The lights I got previously, which were not exactly the right base, kept stop working for me, yet they check out just fine when I removed and connected them directly to a battery. I got fed up and bought a pair of these with the correct base http://www.ebay.com/itm/200967861969...A:3160&vxp=mtr for $6, they arrived yesterday, a mere 11 days after I put the order through, pretty impressed with the shipping considering it was free. I installed them this morning, and was out driving for a couple of hours, they are still working!!! Even though these are suppose to be 1W as the previous ones I bought, they seem to be not quite as bright, but certainly bright enough for the "city lights" functionality. Hopefully these will be a lot less temperamental than the ones I bought before.......

Like many of you, one of my parking lamps failed and I decided to replace them with LEDs. I used these from ebay . A few items you can see from the attached photos: 1) These are significantly longer than the original bulbs. They are slightly more difficult to wriggle in because of that and they stick out into the lamp housing. 2) One of my bulb holders broke and the piece fell into the lamp housing. I was able to get the piece back out and used crazy glue to reattach it. This piece is what secures the bulb in the housing so I hope this lasts. Upon close examination it appears that the bulb holder is thin and fragile. 3) I took a photo of the parking lamps on comparing the LED and the original bulb. The original bulb is at least 5 years old and it is noticeably brighter than the LED. It doesn't really show in any of the photos I took (and I took a lot using a Canon T4i), but from a few yards away, the human eye can easily detect 4 separate LEDs as the light source. Overall I like the look, the install was easy (except for the broken bulb holder part) and it was inexpensive. I wish the bulbs were brighter. Lets see how long they last. Ed

These ones I got in post 51 have been working reliably since installing, I'm quite happy with them. The ones I got before were brighter but were the wrong base so they often stop working while installed in the car, yet tested Ok when I connect them directly to the battery.

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My experience has been the exposed LED style (yours) are quite bright in the housing, but lack the projection range that a focus beam lens style (Avio's) gives. So its a matter of how intense you want them to be up close or far away

Sorry for the thread resurrection but can anyone confirm if we remove this silly redundant "city light" completely, will I get a bulb out warning/message?

liljohnny - no warning message, even without a bulb

LED's have moved on significantly since the posts on here. Take a look at these Cree 15W in the 997 AND 7.5W that we supply from UK to anywhere worldwide http://woodypeck.ipage.com You can drive with these as DRL's and they light up the road at night as well!

Thought I would add some fun to this thread, my city light burned out and I would actually rather have a halogen with the different color vs. a LED with similar color to the xenon, called the local dealer....only $32 each for the 6 watt light! LOL

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I purchased these from Pelican a little while ago for a far cheaper price, take a look there.

I bought a set on ebay yesterday for something like $22 shipped.

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Update to this thread. Same (left) city light - now 42 Draft Designs BAX9S LEDs burnt out yesterday after many connection problems over the last 4 years (this thread 2012). It was the burnt out left HW6 city light that prompted me to change to LEDs in the first place. Beware of the 42 Draft Designs BAX9S, they are not of great quality. The mounting barrel will eventually spin crossing the wires inside and shorting out the led. A little epoxy glue will prevent this but still, you shouldn't have to do that.

What would ou suggest for LED upgrade bulbs into the 996 MK1 litronic headlights? Any pics?

Hi all, I ended up purchasing the same LEDs that ait109 did in his post above for my 02 Boxster S with factory litrnonics. They are called sold on amazon and listed as"H6W BAX9S LED Bulbs 8SMD Headlight Lamp...". HOWEVER, I do not recommend anyone use this particular bulb . It is very dim compared to the stock halogen bulb i.e. you are less visible to other drivers. I then ordered and installed a different set of bulbs from amazon listed as " FEIFEIER High Power LED Projector Light Bulb with SMD LED 7.5W white 2x BAX9s HW6... FEIFEIER High Power LED Projector Light Bulb with SMD LED 7.5W white 2x BAX9s HW6... ". These particular bulbs are FANTASTIC ! They are several times brighter compared to the previous and disappointing set I tried. They actually fill the lens with white light. I didn't do a direct comparison of these new bulbs to the stock halogen, but they are certainly bright enough and they look so much better than the yellow halogens in my opinion. Too lazy to go out there and take a SBS comparison picture, but just take my word for it that the brightness from this second set of bulbs is very good. They also appear higher quality than the first set. Get these ones. They are bright, they fit, and the car didn't throw any errors. If they burn out Ill post back...haha Sorry for the freaking huge picture below... I couldn't figure out how to shrink it.

I bought them from: http://woodypeck.com/ They look much better IMO. Just leave some time for shipping to the US.

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I bought a similar BAX9S bulb. After 1 1/2 year, one of them failed. I removed the bulb to inspect, and the lens on the end fell off. I hear it in my light housing, but I havent found it yet. The assembly is wiggly, seems like it loosened up from vibration driving, and possibly heat. I havent figured out what replacement I am getting yet. I very much like the color compared to the yellow H6W. I am considering this one. The main thing I am worried about is the heat sink melting the inside of the headlight housing , or melting any wire that it comes in contact with. I could rig something up to get the heatsink on the outside of the headlight housing, but I would have to drill into the back cover. Any thoughts on it compared to Feifeier? https://www.amazon.com/iJDMTOY-CAN-bus-15-SMD-1210-non-Xeonn-Position/dp/B00CDBC1YW https://www.amazon.com/iJDMTOY-CAN-bus-15-SMD-1210-non-Xeonn-Position/dp/B00CDBC1YW

Am I the only one that just removed the bulb? I hate how it made the housing look when the headlights turned on. So just took it out. Serves no real purpose except to be a poor old school DRL.

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haha, I thought about putting back in my halogen bulb, but then I quickly decided to just leave the blown one out... I turned on the headlight and its hard to tell that the blown one is blown. I do want to get back LEDs though. I might have to suck it up and buy the which lasted 1 1/2 years. It looks great with the LEDs. When I am going through the tunnel, I turn on the park light rather than the full headlight. I dont like 'wasting' my HID startups for tunnels, since they are limited lifespan. I go through tunnels twice per day.