Litronics

Hi All, My current Halogen lights are yellowing so I've polished them up and for about 6 months they've looked pretty good. Unfortunately though, they have started to yellow again. So now here I am entertaining the the idea of the litronics upgrade with nice clear lenses I've read thru the forums and prices are all over the place... Anywhere from Hundreds up to a few thousands of dollars. My question is why the huge discrepancy in pricing, are you getting what you pay for OEM? Or I guess I could polish the lenses up again and go for another 6 months or so... I've got the 99 C2 Mk1 Thanks in Advance Jeff

Do you have brighter bulbs than OEM bulbs? Most likely the reason for the yellowing? Litronics are nice (but pricey as you are finding out) and I wish I had them.

I've only got the standard bulbs in the assembly. The cars lenses where a little crazed and yellowed when I purchased it. When I polished the lenses they came up great, but now I'm kinda stuck on the polishing path. When my wife finds out the litronic prices here I bet she'll be having me polish them till there's nothing left lol

To be honest, I am not that impressed with the Litronic headlights in my 996. While better than standard headlights without question, they are not nearly as bright and clear as those in my BMW 3 series or several other similarly equipped cars I have driven.

LOL ! so I know Jon picked up a used set recently so they do become available. Keep in mind your old ones are worth "something" to someone so if you can sell those you make back some of your purchase price (clears are worth more than the ambers) a good set of lits should go for $1k +/- and an OK set of clears for about $3-400, ambers $1-200 If a great deal come along, JUMP! Watch all the ussual places and best of luck convincing the wife your shoulder is worth more than $1k !!

I also agree the Litronics are not that great performing compared to the current headlights installed on a broad range of newer cars. There are many upgrades i would consider well ahead of spending $1k on headlights..

Quotes source post: 8151954

yea, I got a set.. but they were BROKEN !! LOL if you do get a set, make sure they work, mine looked alright, but upon getting them home I found out none of the up/ down/ side to side adjustments didn't work, and that the sockets were broken, It appeared they were in a car that was rear ended and had sustained considerable damage.. I got one working , the other is parts.. sigh.. Your lights are yellowing again because you have polished of the protective UV coating that was on them. Griots has covers that will give you this protection again (i believe) http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...%22+x+17%22.do

Quotes source post: 8151950

That's because your '01 996's Litronic (bi-xenon, ho/lo, etc.) design is pretty shabby in comparison to other or even later "Litronic" versions. Newer versions use a solenoid to move the sharp "high" cutoff apperature out of the beam path. Your '01 has a system that leaves the apperture in place, ALWAYS blocking a good portion of the HID beam, and rotates the entire fixture upward and uses a standard halogen as "fill-in" for the blocked beam portion.

I imagine you're having this issue because your car is a Canadian version, which runs with the headlights on all the time. My '00 was like that when I bought it. I don't want to be cavalier about your money, but I immediately replaced mine with Porsche's litronic retrofit kit. It is very expensive. However, five years on, the lights still look like new, and they fit like OE with no mods. The light is better than the halogens, though not state of the art. Paired with clear side markers and red/white tail lights, they also freshen up the car a lot. If you can swing it, I wouldn't dismiss the idea.

so I've found one that is a little broken. The gears that control the up down movement don't work... and it's rattley inside. I'm thinking I can fix the rattle part... but the up down movement might be a problem...Or am I right in thinking that the up down movement doesn't work anyways with an aftermarket install.....

I think it's likely you can't use a factory option litronic on a car that didn't come with them. The retrofit lights don't self-level. However, if what you have is a retrofit light, you might be in luck. A couple of years ago, a bump in the road broke one of mine inside, just as you describe. The light wouldn't swivel to the high beam position. My indie fixed it with a twist tie. Works like new, no rattle. I guess this isn't that helpful

Here is a solution... Get the fancy yellow film to cover the entire headlight, which i think looks really cool....... I see the ones on SneakyPetes car, and like the look and no more wories of yellowing...

I never thought about the differences between factory option or aftermarket oem. This one is a factory option light.... You think it may not work? I'm not afraid to cut into wires and make it work

Quotes source post: 8152367

if the gears dont work, dont buy it. you cant aim it, they will suck.. trust me, ive tried it. also to fully work u need the control modual that points the hid section up on high beam.. if you dont have that. your high beams will suck, because not only will the hid section not swing up, but it will be blocking the halogen high beam bulb....

Quotes source post: 8152296

Uh... I have an 02 with Bi-Xenons. The cutoff is not that sharp.

I guess it seemed like a good deal but now that I'm reading about it the gears not working will be the biggest problem...

Have them on '02 and love them. Crisp and clear visibility.

my 04 C4S has great headlights! Love my litronics.

Never been impressed with the Litronic setup, at least on the Mk 1 cars, and especially when the standard halogens are actually pretty good.

anyone know which are heavier.... lits or halogen? removing the headlights altogether saves 6 pounds

Lits are very heavy comapred to the halogens. not sure of exact weight diff, but very noticable. and yes the halogens are very good, but the lits really work better in nasty weather like a dark rainy night. There is a noticable diffrence then.

maybe we can invent a lightweight lit mod???