I own a 2009
Cayman S
(987.2) equipped with bi-xenon headlights. I had my Cayman in to repair the frunk hood latch. When I got the car back I have experienced a multitude of lighting issues. Have had it in to two different shops and getting conflicting information. I had always believed that the small horizontal LED lights were the daytime running lights (DRL) and the round lamps in the grill were the fog lights. They are trying to tell me the LED strips are night time parking lights and the round lights are the DRL. Which is which? The LED strips are on all the time and the round lights are on also (with headlights off). When I turn headlights on, the round lights go off, the LED stay on. When I pull the switch for foglights I get nothing on in front but the rear fog lamp is illuminated. Also my rear tail lights are on all the time, they are also trying to tell me this is the normal operating. Trying to figure out what is normal operating procedure. Thanks, Daryl
The behavior you describe for your 987.2 with bi-xenon is appropriate and correct. There are no front fog lights in this configuration (what I also have). The main bi-xenon headlights are considered sufficient for foggy situations.
The round lights DO apparently act as fog lights on halogen equipped models, but for our car apparently only come on when you park the car and are considered a “home” light.
To complicate things a little, I believe there is a coding option to use the round lights as DRLs (basically a Canada spec, iirc).
On my 2012 CSBE the LED strips are the daytime running lights while the rounds are the fogs
Have a look at your owners manual. If it's like later versions it has a section explaining the lighting behavior.
I cannot imagine how adjusting the latch or its striker could change the lighting behavior. There's no reason to touch any wiring and, anyway, it is impossible to reconnect the lighting wires incorrectly. And there would be no coding.
A point of clarification and more information. The frunk electronic hood latch was randomly popping open. The first shop erroneously replaced the front electronic control module as the popping open persisted. They eventually found a frayed wire. From that point forward I've experienced a myriad of electrical malfunctions - side marker lights, turn signals, headlights, even ABS failure. Every time I took it in for one issue, another would crop up. They claimed the computer would not hold the coding. The original shop eventually sent it to a Porsche dealership. The dealership replaced the front control module again. I've now had it at a 3rd shop. From what they are telling me and the info from other posts it appears that because my car is equipped with bi xenon headlamps the following is the case: The horizontal LED strips are not daytime driving lights but rather are parking lights to be used when the car is stationary (however they are now on all the time), the round lights in the grill are not fog lights but rather the daytime driving lights. I've been trying to get my car functioning the way it was before all of this started which was: the LED strips on during normal driving with headlights off but off when headlights on, the round lights off during normal driving and on when fog light switch pulled. I am realizing that the wiring was changed during previous ownership and power was back fed to the round lights so that they would function as fog lights. I liked that function but now realize that is not factory correct. The last remaining issue is the tail lights. They are illuminated all of the time, even with headlights turned off. Please confirm that this is not correct. Thanks again, DDDDDDD
OP, this is correct for your car with bi-xenons. You're going to get confusing answers because the behavior is different on the bi-xenon and halogen cars and many folks don't realize that.
Check the owner's manual for details. You have no front fog lights, the round lights serve as DRLs. They are LED-based and won't work well as fog lights: the halogen cars have actual halogen fogs there with a different pattern. When you pull the light switch out that turns on the rear fog light, which is all you have.
The round light should serve as DRLs. On US cars you should be able to turn on/off the DRL functionality via the display in the instrument panel and the left control stalk.
The only thing that seems odd is the LED strips being on all the time. Normally those should be off, when you turn on the headlights they should turn on as parking lights and the round DRLs should turn off. But if the wiring has been modified all bets are off: have you confirmed someone actually modified the wiring? Or did they mess with the coding or something?
