Run of Bad quality Genuine Porsche 996 headlight switches

Hello, the people of Rennlist. I am posting this thread to inform people of the quality of Porsches 2021 run of 996 headlight switches. It seems Porsche has decided to cheap out and started having genuine headlight switches produced in China instead of Italy. I have never in my lifetime had of problem with installing these switches until they switched where they were produced. It seems Porsche has made a run of defective switches, this is my second time running into the problem with these new China-made switches (Never had a problem with the Italian-made ones). It seems that the shaft on the new switches is too short. The headlight **** will not go on when putting it all back together. The headlight **** goes on with no problem when it is directly stuck onto the new switch. , which leads me to believe that the shaft is too short. The made-in-Italy-produced switch (is the dull metal finish) (never had a problem installing these) and the China one (is the shiny metal finish). I will include pictures. Hopefully, soon they can resolve this cause people need headlights. Old part number 996 613 535 00, the new switch part 996 613 535 01 which production run was 04.12.2021. I purchase my headlight switches from a local Porsche dealer. dull is made in Italy, shiny is made in China

Funny thing. I just ran into this yesterday. Gotta go grab the box and old unit out of the trash! The recess on the new switch was too far inboard for the dial’s brass catch to grab. I wasted a good 20 minutes fiddling around working to get the thing to catch. It appears the Chinese version is one thread too short at the base! I need to confirm which version I put in the car. Thanks OP! More to follow…

So the old Italian version has one and a half more threads than the new version. I believe the 24mm nut is too far outboard with the fewer turns available to tighten down. This causes the rotary **** to contact the nut before the catch engages or the switch, itself, isn’t brought forward enough. The box that came from Suncoast doesn’t have origin on the label. I’m pulling the new headlight switch out tomorrow to confirm these suspicions. Fortunately, the job only takes 20 minutes.

This is a really good PSA. Good thing I replaced my headlight switch around three years ago. It was a simple enough job but I can see where the switch made in China is just not right. I think I ordered the switch from AutoAtlanta and it worked perfectly. Must have been the Italian switch. Talk about making a simple job a real PITA job!

Confirmed. The Chinese version is milled out of spec. The one + thread worth of material left at the base of the spindle (as opposed to the older Italian) causes a 1mm clearance issue for the 24mm nut to leave enough spindle exposed. The brass catch on the control button (rotary switch) will not grab the gap on spindle when Chinese installed. This is plain to see from OP’s photos (props to you). I wanted to put some calipers on it to measure and do a function test. The electrics of the Chinese version functioned fine. The spindles are equivalent. But if my rotary switch pops off? Sorry. No go. I put the old Italian switch back in. It works, but the guts have developed slop over the last 22 years. Also, a word of caution: Don’t try to tighten the 24mm nut down too much in an attempt to take out just that smidge. You’ll crack the back of the rosette.

If they made the switches better and less complex in the first place nobody would need one. I�ve never seen such a Rube Goldberg contraption. Failure was designed into this part.

There must be more than one version of the non-Italian-made replacement switch out there. I replaced mine recently, and had a similar problem, but barely. A gentle use of fist helped the rotary **** to engage, but barely. I have been very careful turning the **** since, to prevent it from popping out. On a separate note, last year I bought from a Porsche dealer a fuel pump for 1972 911E as spare since the existing one is still the original that came on the car. The new pump, at $800+/-, is made in China. I tried to return it but was informed that most complex electrical Porsche replacement parts have been made in China for some time! Go figure.

Can you grind down the 24mm nut to make it a bit thinner?

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Should work if you take it down at least 1mm. You could take material out of the center at least as wide as the plastic ****.

China makes just about everything now. I wonder how much is imported from China per year? Buy USA made stuff, while you still can....

Window regulators are made in Taiwan now too - shame... Have had a few of these China headlight switches but all the ones I have bought seem to fit maybe I got lucky or its been revised.

A few years ago, a major ATM manufacturer decided to have the Chinese make some of their ATMs. While there are always issues with changing manufacturers, nearly every machine they produced was plagued by problems that had to be fixed and repaired here in the US before being sent to customers. After a representative Chinese engineer was sent to a remote repair site in the US, and after the engineer reviewed the exact specifications, he still was in complete denial and concluded that the component was close enough. As such, the ATM company was forced to dispatch repair crews throughout the US and replace every element with those made in the US. While the latest machines are no longer entirely made in China, it took some bean counters analysis to alter management decisions to save manufacturing costs. Looks like to me, some things haven’t changed much.....

Glad that you got the switch through the dealer. They're typically willing to make it right and take the switch back. Thanks for sharing.

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I’m getting a small bit of pushback from Suncoast, but I’m applying dan_189’s logic and asking if they can check the threads on a newer year than 2022 and see if it’s correct. Then get a swap out.

Porsche should have QC'd these before selling after changing mfrs.

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They actually do quite a bit of QC when a part is revised or a supplier is changed. I'd say somehow these fell through the cracks or the supplier made a mistake with them.

Thank you for posting this PSA. I ran into the same issue with a Made in China headlight switch purchased from my dealership and it had me trying to figure out what was going on after I properly installed it. I'm working on a solution now with the dealership to see if they can find one manufactured outside of this faulty run? I made a short video on youtube that helps explain the issue, in case any one else comes across it and needs proof for their dealer that the switch was incorrectly manufactured: You Tube

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Just following up and seeing if you had any luck with Suncoast and that switch run.

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Nope. Ghosted. Phone call and two very detailed emails sent.

Honestly the switch looks identical (aside from plastic color) to the switch Mercedes uses on the W124/R129/W202/W126 cars. Given Porsche’s penchant for parts-binning common items, I’m curious if the Benz part would work. The Benz switch has the same detents - two right (running lights, headlights), two left (right/left parking lights), and two out (front/rear fog lights).

Thought I�d drop in a simple fix I found to installing these and getting the **** to attach. Once you�ve installed and tightened down the new switch, before you attempt to attach the ****, grab a pair of needle-nose pliers and turn the shaft of the switch twice to the right as if turning on the lights. Next, pull the shaft out two steps as if you were turning on the fogs. Now grab your **** and slide it on. The shaft is now long enough to catch the notch on the **** and it will attach securely.

Ironically, I had read this thread last month and a few days later, the switch failed on my �99. Picked up an inexpensive switch off Amazon. Definitely from China, so was a little apprehensive. Installed easily & works perfectly. WMPHE Headlight Switch Compatible... Amazon Amazon

I just purchased a new headlight switch from Gaudin Porsche, the manufacture date on it is 05/2022. I am going to check and see, hoping the issues were worked out before the next batch was produced.

Hi all reviving an old thread. What's the current word on the 996-613-535-01 headlight switch and the shaft being too short to catch the ****? Is that still an issue with current production, or has it been sorted on the superseded part? Asking because mine has just let go. Turned the headlights on and that was it the **** now clicks one position either way but won't make the second click, so I'm stuck choosing between parkers and headlights with no off position. So: 1. Any aftermarket option actually worth considering, or is genuine the only sensible route? 2. If genuine ... is the latest production any better than the batch with the short-shaft problem? Car is a 2003 996.2 C2, Australian delivered. Cheers

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I have new aftermarket ones with a warranty - I'm in Australia PM me