Driving/side-light bulbs replacement - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Hi Guys, This is my first post on the 986 forum. I have just purchased a 2003 2.7 tiptronic S Boxster in Silver, which I think is absolutely awesome and it's my pride and joy. However, the Owner/Driver Manual was missing and I am waiting for a replacement to arrive. The other day I noticed that my front "side-lights/driving lights" had blown on the passenger side of the vehicle. While I wait for my manual, how easy is it to change the front side-light/driving light bulbs and has anyone purchased any specific types off e-bay with good results? Thanks.

are you referring to the front "sidemarker" lights on the fender/wheelwell/bumper area? if so, they are pretty easy to replace... pop out the sidemarker lenses, and the bulbs are a simple wedge/T10 type of bulb. Twist the socket to unlock it, and simply pull the bulb out to replace.

E-mail me your e-mail address and I can send you a pdf of your User's Manual. It's a big file (40 MB). E-mail me at: [email removed] Happy Boxstering, Pedro

Thanks Pedro, I've sent you an e-mail, the file may be too big to deliver, but I appreciate your offer, lets give it a try! In the Headlight assembly, there is the main beam bulb, the hi-beam bulb, and in the corner is what we refer to in the UK as the "side lights or driving lights", these are position 1 on the lights switch on the UK Boxster. It is the passenger-side bulb which has gone and it looks like I need a tool to unlock and unwind the whole Headlight assembly from the vehicle, then I can get to the bulb from the rear. It all sounds a bit of a job!!

Unit is easy to "pop" out. 5mm Allen key required. Remove the drivers side (UK side) covering in the front trunk. There is a rubber piece that sticks out in the middle, pull it out. Insert 5 mm Allen key into the opening and rotate the key 180 degress to the front of the car. Key starts with the handle facing the rear of the car. The headlight pod will move forward. Rotate the key 90 degrees to the rear. Slide the pod out and flip it over. You will see where the access to the bulb is and pop uff the rubber gromett. Replace the bulb and reinstall the pod the same way you popped it out. You only have to move the allen key 90 degrees to the rear when installing the "pod". make sure it is locked in.

I followed your instructions Jaak, but mine seems to be a 5mm "box spanner", not a 5mm allen key, got the whole front light assembly out only to find the shop had sold me a push fit bulb and not the bayonet fitting bulb I need. So put it all back together. Got the correct bulb tonight, went to unlock the assembly with the 5mm box spanner......and the whole box spanner shattered in my hands like it was made of glass, nearly slashed my wrists!!!! Looks like I need to buy a new tool from somewhere now!

Ok, so having gone back to the Motorist shop and changed the push-in bulb for the bayonet bulb, then having the 5mm box spanner shatter in my hands last night, I turn to a 5mm "Nut-Spinner", which drops the headlight assembly out with no bother. Then I discover that the Porsche bayonet is slightly off-set, and the replacement bulb has a parallel bayonet, so it won't fit either..... I only want to change a side-light bulb!!!! Replacement 5mm box spanner from www.porscheshop.co.uk will cost me £15.22 delivered to my house, now need to search for the damn bulbs again! Welcome to Porsche ownership...

Hummm ... I use a 5 mm allen key (wrench to some) with no problems. My shop does the same. In the UK ... try Powerbulbs.com to see what fits.

Thanks Jaak.....I went back to the Motorist shop, for the third time......with the bulb this time......offset bayonet fitting tungsten bulb. The 5mm nut-spinner dropped the light out easy in seconds and I'm a damn expert at it now, so replacing the bulb and refitting the light assembly took about 45 seconds! Incidentally, having asked the sellers, half the ones advertised on e-bay have the same parallel bayonet so wouldn't have fitted my Boxster. Sounds like Jaak's 3.2S fixings and my 2.7 are different? Purchase bulbs with care Guys. Has anyone tried the H6W Blue Vision Sidelights, rated at 3400K and giving that sought after blue tint? www.design911.co.uk sells these. Hope this thread helps someone else in the future.

Great that all went well ... EXPERT! I'm over the pond and have North American lighting setup ... may be different in UK. Powerbulbs should of given you the correct one for your UK model ...

Just incase anyone else has the same experience of breaking the headlight removal tool. Mine arrived the other day, costing me £15.22 delivered to my house, from; www.porscheshop.co.uk It is the genuine Porsche version, identical to the one that broke in all respects. However, you can do exactly the same job with a 5mm nutspinner from any tool store, which would be cheaper. Hindsight is always an exact science!

Great! On this side of the pond we call them Allen Wrenches (keys) ...