Porsche 997.2 Turbo LED Tail Light Conversion

I have had the new Porsche 997.2 LED tail lights for the last 3 months going back and forth if I should perform the mod. I was planning on waiting for Tech Art to produce a new GT Street Rear Bumper for the new turbo, but I doubt that is going to happen anytime soon since the new 997.2 turbo is not schedule to debut until next year. One of my good buddies happens to be an Electrical Engineer and figured out the wiring diagram, so my car is back under the knife for the LED tail light conversion. I am dropping the car off at the body shop on Monday. The Tech Art GT Street rear bumper will have to be modified to accept the new tail lights. I figure I have about 7 months of a head start before we start seeing 997 turbos with the new tails. Pictures of the LED in my office in front of the new HIN Hottest Performance trophy from last Saturday. Porsche 997.2 led taillights now available on non turbos Studio 3/4 Rear shot of my car, just imagine how good the new tail lights will look in place of the older non led ones.

You could grow a handle bar moustache to match with those tail lights.

wow not sure what to say about that...you are determined!! personally, I like the old ones, but everything so far on this car came together so I guess you have the eye..... GL with it

I felt the original 997 rearend was well balanced with the existing lights. As they were forced like Detroit to make some sort of change the LED tail lights came along,--and look very much out of place,--but that's just me. You shouldn't spoil the looks with that change.

Here is my crude photoshop attempt of visualizing the finished product.

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You are totally right. I wish they kept the orignal shape and just put leds in it. But after I saw these pictures on the GMG GT3 conversion I was hooked. Maybe its the big wings that makes it look better.

this is funny as the debate over lights continues... I wonder if the 997 guys (and gals) discuss our "poorly shaped" taillights too....

I don't dislike the 997.2 lights but I do like the 997.1 look better.

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No, they ridicule our headlights... the baaaastards!!

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mine more than yours,.....

I dont know but that blue Carrera S almost have a cayman look to it... but I love that white one. Iforge I say enjoy the ride as is.... once the craving is over-bearing then its time to mod the lights with the LED's. dont mean to hi-jack but did someone say LED on our 996... http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...-thoughts.html P1060274.jpg

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.... and they ridicule our interiors..... fargin' bastadges!

and we ridicule Tim's Honda..... fargin' bastadges! .... Oh wait, nevermind...

Just dropped off my car at the body shop today. Should have the car back next week. Going to install my new hood at the same time. We mounted the rear tail lights on and there is not that much area that has to be filled in.

You know i always assumed that the new 997.2 tails were actually bigger than previous, that pic is quite a surprise. at least you don't have to cut that bumper up too much right? some surf board foam'll do the job!! (j/k) oh and redridge, I'd definitely wait a few months for the prices to drop if you want LEDs for 996, see the following link for boxster: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/97-98...QQcmdZViewItem

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dont really want LED.... rather spend the money on some other mods... yeah its just a matter of time when the novelty wears off and the prices should def drop like the ones you posted.... good find!

DTM Autobody just finished one side of my 997.2 taillight conversion. I have always loved their body work, and they are experts when it comes down to fitment. Here are some pictures of the current progress.

looks great!... you're good for another 4 years

you are a nut.... man I would never do that or evan have thought of it... BUT man it looks great!!

Thanks for posting the shots of the 997.2 rears against the 997.1 bumper,--I didn't imagine the shapes to differ quite like that.

I think you got HUGE COHONES..... to do this to an already beautiful car...when are you going to change the interior to the 997???.... Just kidding!!

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I thought the best way for people to see the difference was to mount the 997.2 on a 997.1 bumper. As you can see the taillights are actually smaller, so we had to fill the holes. Once you see them on the car side by side, you realize how outdated the 997.1 tail lights look. Its really not that much work to get them on. I actually like the 996 interior compared to the 997 interior. No more mods after this.

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sure.......

More pictures from today. Both sides are now done.

Nice, looks like they won some awards!

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Hahahaha!!! Obviously, those awards were not voted on my 997.1 owners!

man, good body guy there !!

Some more pictures from the body shop today. Bumper should be going into paint tommorrow

dude,you make it look easy you have got a real eye for these things !! Plus this looks like a better fit, the old one had ???? issues???? here?????

Please update soon, great work so far!

I picked up my car from DTM Autobody on Friday. The body work came out amazing. I wanted to work on the wiring Friday night, but I had my birthday dinner at Lawrys in Beverly Hills. I ended up waking early on Saturday so I could begin work on the tail lights. I have talked to many Porsche experts and no one is quite sure how to perform the conversion on a 996. After 4 hours I was so stumped. I was able to splice the 996 TT rear wire harness and connect it following the 997.2 LED wiring diagram supplied by Loren. If you ever need any DIY help or wiring diagrams Loren is a great source of information for anything Porsche related. At first I was surpised it was so easy. Everything worked the turn signal backup light rear fog light night light brake signal I was a happy camper. What I realized later is that when the night light turns on, it automaticallly turns on the rear turn signals at the same time. I have a feeling it has to be the led tail light module doing it, as they are only 6 wires coming from the wire harness into the led tail light. Not sure how to proceed at this point. I was thinking maybe inside the led module of the tail light there might be two grounds for the turn signal. I only know of one company that has performed the conversion but they are in France and so far have not replied back to any of my emails asking for help. I hope to have a solution ready by the end of next week.

did anybody tried to retrofit the 997.2 led tail light on the 996 ? I just hate the quality of the aftermarket led tail lights.

???? did you read this thread and look at the pics on page 2??? I doubt the process would be any differant for 997.1 - 997.2 - or Honda Civic lights on your 996... just a bunch of cutting and pasting with a good can of paint and some tape

Hello iforged, love the Green Monster you build. Look like LOTS of fun. I am in process of retrofitting 996 tail lamps to 997.2 and noticed your stumbling block about the signal lamps coming on with night lights. Did you ever figure out a fix ? Did you need the LED Control modules ? Thank you in advance for your kind assistance. Tom

god I want that rear bumper for my 04 C4S!!!!!

I came over to the LED side a few months ago. They look pretty cool at night--very UFOish. You went through a heck of a lot of effort to mount the 997.2 rear lights! I simply went with the aftermarket guys instead. (What I do like about the aftermarket ones is that the turn indicators are yellow LEDs vice red on the Porsche OEM. (I suspect in Europe they are yellow, but in America we get the red). I don't like the droopy look with the 997.2 LED lights. I believe there is a manufacturer who is making fine LEDs for the rear of the 996s. (Search the threads).