Litronic conversion for 02 996 C4s

Hi All, This has been beaten to death already. I read a lot of previous posts as well before posting but am still confused. Below is what I want. I have a 2002 C4s with halogens. All I am looking for is a HID/Xenon/litronic low beam. The high beam can be Halogen. I do not care about the washers and the self leveling feature. Can it be done short of putting $5000 worth of new headlight assemblies? If yes....what are the part numbers. Thx....DD

Do you want to stay OEM or aftermarket? If you don't mind going aftermarket, there are kits out there that include an HID ballast and HID bulb that connect to your existing harness, essentially converting the system from a halogen to HID. Prices range from $300 to $500 or so.

OEM would be nice but I dont think that is cheap.($5k+) Are you positive that conversion kits are available for 2002 + 996's? My reading tells me that kits are available for 99- 01, not for 02+ 996's. Is that accurate? DD

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I speak of aftermarket generic/universal headlight conversions to Xenons/HIDs

aftermarket ones will work.... it will cost you around $400 total... all you need are hid's and the ballast

btw... great looking ride

The aftermarket HIDs are an absolute joke. As the old adage goes, you get what you pay for... That said, the self-leveling system that nobody ever cares about is essentially part of the HID spec and officially, you're not supposed to run them without it being in place.

No affliation, but I have had great luck with todd at retro-solutions.com. He has a new digital kit that is getting rave reviews on various car boards and has a lifetime warranty. I believe it is 150 shipped right now within the continental U.S. In all my dealings with him he has been both fair and honest, I recommend him. If you do go over there, tell him I sent you. Wherever you purchase the kit, I would strongly recommend running the stock 4300K color temp.

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I'm wondering how the bulb would actually fit into the existing halogen casing on the projector headlight setup. it couldn't b e plug and play since it's swapping out halogen bulbs for the hid bulbs. Sure you can get the ballast and bulb anywhere (stick with OEM suppliers), but how would the cut off work out? Since the halogen unit already has a cutoff, maybe it's ok? i also don't care for the auto leveling and headlight washers and it's absolutely not true that you need auto leveling like it's "supposed" to be (what a bunch of crap).

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That's inaccurate. There are plenty of cars on the road with factory HIDs without auto-leveling. Auto-leveling is not required to "run" HIDs but is instead an extra feature for the European cars.

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i'll go one further, extra feature for some euro cars, some asia cars

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...which is because a lot (all?) of the cars in question include a manual-leveling system activated by a switch on the dash, like my Infiniti has. It's not a "feature" for the European cars--it's required there, and almost everywhere, which is why I said that it's pretty much part of the HID spec.

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S2000 has HID but no auto-leveling. W210 chassis E-class has HID optional but no auto-leveling feature. W163 chassis ML-class has HID optional but no auto-leveling feature. Where in the DOT documents say that auto-leveling is required for cars with HID? These three quick and easy examples show that auto-leveling is NOT required.

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bam

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I never claimed that the DOT required it. I claimed that as almost every other nation requires a leveling feature (be it automatic or manual) it seems like a mistake to just leave it out, unless, you know, you're looking to do it Mickey Mouse-style. HID headlamps get a bad enough name already for being "too bright". That's probably because half of them in this country are $150 eBay kits or aimed improperly.

My 01 325XI has factory Xenon and no leveling feature.

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I am not as knowledgeable on this subject as many others are and cannot describe how it would fit into an 02+ assembly since I am only familiar with 99-01. Generally, plug and play kits to my knowledge mean that you get the bulb (which being the same size as the halogen bulb may fit without any problems) and ballast and harness which allow it to be plugged directly up to the stock harnesses, no splicing or anything like that. As far as the cut off, it depends on the projector/reflector. A unit built for halogen lights will never have the cut off that one built for HIDs will. With that said, some halogen assemblies turn out pretty good witha fairly crisp cut off and no hot spots or glare, whereas others look terribly when an HID kit is installed. Usually projectors fare much better than reflectors which makes me think that a 02+ with HIDs, whilst not being as good as if it had come stock, probably won't be too bad as far as light output and pattern.

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I pretty much agree with this and will only add that it makes me chuckle to think that someone would buy a 911 and then install a $200 HID kit that would look more at home in the neighbor kid's Honda Civic with the fart muffler.

Is calling a dismantler an option?

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get off your high horse dude, you talk like you own a damn carrera GT. you drive a 996 that competes in cost with a new S2000 which again doesn't have auto leveling which blinds the **** outta people. the snobbery is absolutely comedic/pathetic. the '02-'04 non litronic cars come with the very same lenses as do the litronic units so if the bulb can sit pretty behind the lens, it's all good. and if you buy a kit that has OEM philips, hella, matu****a ballasts, it's again, all good.

[Image-only post; no author-written text. Original image references:] https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif https://rennlist.com/forums/images/smilies/popcorn.gif

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No, I talk like someone that doesn't care for shortcuts. Go look at the C4S PPI that some guy posted a little earlier. I wouldn't touch that car with a ten foot pole, for the same reasons I'd only do a Litronic swap if it could be done properly. That said, your term "competing in cost" means nothing, unless you think the 911 also competes with the Honda Pilot because you can get into one of each for the same price. IOW, you're saying that the $200 eBay kits are as good as the Litronic package from Porsche. That's really all I need to hear from you...

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never said that. bro, i know enough about HID setups and i too don't like the barney lights. read what people write. i said explicitly so long as teh bulb and ballast are factory- sourced units (i even went so far to list brand names), and they sit behind a OEM projector lens like the '02 c4s this guy's got... it's ALL GOOD. your whole point about auto leveling and headlight washers is all a bunch of internet bs hype which i take it upon myself to call out. so get off your porsche snob podium and recognize that a civic has a bigger impact in this automotive world than your 911 ever will.

the civic has kept the crazy glue business afloat. Honda's are good for what they are designed for. Solid reliable basic transportation. They are a great place for young guys to get creative on attaching wings and such. My era was the muscle cars. Its cool. Where it gets stupid is when the civic guy with the flying nun wings and an exhaust that you can craw through pulls up next to you on the freeways and tries to goat you into a street race. Making their pressure valve pop. They must work on their cars in the garage with the car on and the doors shut. At least when I had my 65 298 Mustang I was not foolish enough to try that with a 427 Chevy.

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LOL yea but don't you think it's also foolish when you see these guys in $120K+ cars blasting past minivans and civics alike on shoulders and going on some silly 'run' across the country for the sake of what? "judge not that ye be not judged" and i've seen some lame 911s on this very board so $ nor icon automobiles buys good taste nor sense.

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Well, we agree on something, at least partially. Ben, it's just different thresholds of "all good". Would the lighting engineers agree with you, or would they insist on designing the whole unit together? Personally, Ben Choi on the Internet assuring us that it's "ALL GOOD" isn't good enough for me, and I suspect it's not for a lot of other people, too. As you said yourself, Ben, read what people write. I haven't mentioned headlight washers in this thread (forum?). I HAVE mentioned that almost every place but the US requires some parts that people tend to leave out of aftermarket HID installs. Just because the *US* doesn't require it doesn't mean it shouldn't be considered--the US isn't exactly at the top of their game when it comes to regulations like this. I sometimes worry that I mention my '95 Miata too much on the Porsche forum (off topic...). Also, I've made no secret of the fact that I don't consider a proper HID swap to be worth the price of entry when you're dealing with a $30k car, hence the stock halogen setup in my car. If those sound like the actions of a Porsche snob, you go right ahead and believe it. OTOH, some might argue that changing rims like some people change pants is at least as snobbish as pointing out that there's a right way and a wrong way to get HID headlights in your car.

ben: yes, only fools "race" on public roads.

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in your mk1 996, it costs ... $1k to swap out for the OEM litronic setup? plug and play? it's an absolute must since there is a factory option and since it's so easy to do and because the nonHID setup is so damn ugly since it's literally the same lighting setup as my '99 jeep cherokee. for the mk2, it comes with projector lenses. it looks the same so if that philips D2s bulb mated with some oem sourced ballast can plug and play for less than $500, it's completely worth it esp in light of the $4K it costs to get the factory setup. so to castigate those in this thread because they're seeking out a solution and people like me who would only accept 4300K philips bulbs with whatever hella/matsu****a ballast is... complete hairsplitting. ain't nobody going to know the diff and ain't no legal enforcer going to discern anything to fine any one of us who may choose to go this route. P.S. I'm a big fan of the older, lighter miatas. so nimble, so well balanced, I remember driving my mom's MX-5 fully loaded top down when i was in HS blasting hootie and the blowfish thru the excellent sound system. great memories.

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Here's what Todd Strong said who runs the retro site you referred us to: There are two things you can do: 1) Use a high quality HID conversion kit to replace the halogen bulbs. Since it is a projector design, it is likely not to have any resulting glare, and I believe they take H7 bulbs? H7 usually have excellent results as conversions. You may consider one of these: www.retro-solutions.com/DIGITAL.html www.retro-solutions.com/55watthighoutput.html 2)You could have the halogen projectors replaced completely with OEM xenon projectors and do the same with D2S kit (either OEM or once again aftermarket). To be perfectly honest, our DIGITAL kits are a lifetime warranty product, which we can't say for used or new OEM equipment. The DIGITAL actually perform better than our OE matsu****a ballasts as far as efficiency and run-up power is considered! We do carry philips bulbs, but not Hella ballasts anymore. The Hella ballasts have a serious design flaw in that they leak in water and corrode until they fail or just plain short out. Todd Strong, Retro-Solutions, LLC Please check out our friends: www.high-intensity.org/forums www.dc5nation.com www.importcartalk.com I'm still not clear what the heck he's saying... whether it fits the C4S setup or not and what the heck a digital kit is. the price seems too good to be true as one HID bulb from philips costs $150.

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Yeah, we're going to just have to agree to disagree. I do have to mention that I saw your comments in the other thread about the PPI on that gray C4S, specifically when you say that when there's something "not right", it bothers you. I couldn't agree more, and I'll readily admit that part of my problem with the leaving the leveling system out is that in my head it's just technically "not right". I currently have curb rash on two of my rims (from previous owner); I can't even get into the car without noticing the marks, though no one else has ever even mentioned them. +1 I don't drive the car much but it's got so many good memories and it's worth so little that I keep it around. Maybe we've come full circle on this topic, because I'd love to make it a track car, but can't bear the thought of hacking it up because it's a '95 M-edition, one of the rarest models with the lightweight BBS rims and model-specific seats.

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yea sure i'd love to get the OEM hid setup, but at $4K it's absolute lunacy. i went for this car because everything else was spot on and to find a car with the options, goodies it came with would've been waiting for godot. my mom got the '95 and i know exactly which version you have. it's the one with the magenta type body color. the reason why my mom went with the regular model is because the stereo system, i believe, is better in the regular version than the special edition version with the old school mesh bbs wheels.

So has anyone used a retro-solutions digital kit in a 02+ 996?

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I believe he is saying you could either do a drop in kit with option 1 or do a complete retro with a new projector and everything for option 2. Again I would think if you get a kit in the proper bulb size then it should be plug and play with relatively minimal modifications for a 996 02+. I am not exactly sure how the "digital" kit works any differently than any other aftermarket "true" HID kit. All I do know is that I have read great things about them on other forums from guys who were very pleased with them. I haven't read about anyone complaining about a dud yet, but I know that in the past with other products that he warranties he has totally replaced any failed part with no questions asked, so I guess he has confidence in the quality of these kits since they come with a lifetime warranty. With that said, I have no idea if anyone has used these on a 996 and if so what the result was. If they work as advertised and install correctly, they seem to be a steal at $150 shipped within the U.S.