996.1 Bosch Xenon projector OEM replacements

I'm finally finishing up my Xenon retrofit for my 1999 996. The projectors in my lamps right now have not yet suffered the degradation problem, but going forward, I do want to have spare parts. I know a couple of things about these projectors (they are shared with a number of BMW models like the E46, they are made by Bosch, and as a result they should be an off-the-shelf part), but I've not been able to find any part #s just yet. Porsche obviously lists the whole lights as one part number even though some headlight components (ie weather stripping) have unique part numbers molded into them. Does anyone know the exact model of Bosch projector used in the 996.1 Xenon lamps? I know that you can get aftermarket projectors, but I'd rather just stick with the OEM stuff if it can be helped. Obviously it would be ideal cost-wise to just be able to buy the reflector bowl, but knowing Bosch its probably sold all as a complete unit if at all. I guess another option is buying some really worn out bowls (be it from a dismantler or someone doing a projector upgrade with an aftermarket kit) and finding a machine shop that can re-chrome them? Will look into that if these can't be purchased alone anymore. Here are photos of aforementioned bowl degradation (on a 996.2 Xenon projector, unsure if they're identical from .1 to .2 or not at the moment) from this thread: https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...ild-log-3.html

I can�t help you with part #�s but I�ve got .1�s, and I can tell you they don�t look like that� I did the retrofit labs upgrade - even though my reflectors didn�t look bad, the increased light output is nothing short of amazing!

I don't know if the oem reflectors will even match the rertrofit lab reflectors even if refinished. The projector crystal also has a lot to do with it. For 180 USD with shipping included for both Retrofit Lab projectors the entry price point is so cheap for such significant upgrade results. They also look oem when installed. I think it would also probably be more expensive to refinish the factory reflectors. https://retrofitlab.com/collections/...xenon-retrofit

+1 for retrofit labs. I think they use Aharon brand reflectors. Great upgrade to the litronic lights on my 996.1 and they have options to upgrade some components to LED.

I happen to know that OP is concerned about legality in Europe due to the car's potential future life over there. Being the official US Retrofitlab dealer, I have made all the arguments for using that upgrade to him already It is incredible value for the money and now nobody has to deal with exchange rates, weeks in international shipping, and potential import duties and fees since I have most of their kits in inventory right here in Denver Colorado and can ship the next day! www.retrofitlab.us

Thanks for the advice. European legality is a part of my concern, and a part of that is self-leveling (I'm not sure, do the Retrofitlabs projectors function with OEM self-leveling control? I'm pretty sure the actuators for the beam mask in the kit are addressed by a tie-in with the high beam H7 while the OEMs use a proprietary solution to address the control for the beam mask). While I doubt most inspections would make me open up the headlight to show them its a projector that meets regulatory requirements (especially if it looks OEM from the outside), I'd rather just play it safe. The OEM projectors are good enough for my purposes from past experience, so I would honestly rather just keep spares on hand for those for as long as I can even though they're a 20-year old design. Plus on this particular car I'm going from Halogens to Litronics, and have already retrofitted the OEM control module hardware. To be clear, in any other circumstance I would absolutely just buy a HID kit from Retrofitlabs, they're more modern by about 2 decades, probably won't suffer the chrome degradation problem, are likely of a higher quality, etc etc etc. And for the price, its pretty hard to go wrong. I'm not advising anyone else take this route if they're in the US. If I ever do end up in a situation where I know for a fact that the car will be in the US permanently, then I'll probably just go ahead and retrofit my lights. Good news is projector swaps don't need the lens to come off. so it should be trivial.

I looked around for a new set of these projectors before the above mentioned retrofit became available, was never able to find anything, but I couldn't get a part number either so its possible they might be out there somewhere. Chroming projectors will not bring them back to OEM performance, I'm just parroting what I found when I looked into it but the original manufacture gets the finish with vacuum metal deposition, no other process (chroming or polishing) will get a similar reflectivity and may mess with the light geometry. If you have a pair of completely shot projectors like in the above pictures, chroming would likely be a relative improvement to that, but still short of new. If you have the litronics with the tilt currently functioning, the projector swap will not impact this, as the leveling motor is driven by a separate circuit from h7 highs. You can swap in the projectors and leave the xenon solenoid unconnected to get the same functionality as the original low-only projectors, or you can connect the xenon solenoid and get the tilt plus bi-xenon. Its also worth noting that if you did not get the litronics as a factory option, the standard aftermarket install for the control module is only doing the high beam tilt and isn't doing any self-leveling or adjustment based on suspension travel (the headlight sweep at startup is just the motor going through its range of motion). The factory option added a level sensor to the rear suspension with additional wiring, I don't think any of this is present if you didn't option it from the factory. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart..._Headlamps.htm

Quotes source post: 18015851

Thanks for the info. I've got a few conflicting things about the factory lights though... From what I understand the originals were actually Bi-Xenon. The technical manual (book 1 "general" of the service book set) lists the lighting as Bi-Xenon with both high and low beam functions. Maybe it only refers to 996.2? Not sure. I've not yet had a chance to actually mess with the factory lights yet (I'm having amber lenses swapped onto the set I picked up) and only have past experience with 996.2 headlights (2001 Turbo). EDIT: That Pelican link also mentions that the projectors get pitched up by 1.5 degrees in the brights mode with the OEM retrofit kit. I don't understand why the factory solution wouldn't do the same given that they were developed at the same time. As for level sensors, I actually didn't use the OEM retrofit kit, but instead got the OEM factory module and harness along with the sensors. They were a harder install, but substantially cheaper (the OEM retrofit kit is like 600 USD with the control module and the harness, I got the factory harness, controller, sensors, mounting hardware, etc all for 200). I hadn't realized that the beam mask wasn't used to do the leveling. I know its used in the dipped-beam function on Euro models, so I just assumed it was a part of the leveling system as well. My bad. I guess a better question would, at this point, be: is there anyone here who either runs the Retrofitlabs kit in Europe, or knows enough about EU regulations or inspections pertaining to HID swaps like this to say whether or not you could get away with these in Europe? Perhaps given the price and reversibility of the mod, I should just eat the ~150 USD cost, run the Retrofitlabs projectors while here, and keep the OEM ones on a shelf in case I need to meet any requirements in the future. I might do that honestly, especially if the kit is thought so highly of here.

Sounds like you did your homework on the controller then 996.2 introduced the bi-xenon, 996.1 has a xenon with a fixed shield and a h7 bulb for high (with the controller also tilting the entire projector assembly up ~1.5 degrees when the highs are engaged). They also upgraded to a larger projector lenses, 3'' vs the 2.5'' for the 996.1 units. I purchased a few 2.5'' and 3'' projectors to try to retrofit myself and they physically don't fit in the 996.1 housings, the kit above is the first 2.5'' projector that can actually fit in there (morimoto micro d2s 5.0 / aharon ). Once you're familiar with the process you can probably swap a projector for a single light in under 10 minutes, 5mm socket to get the housing out, 2 phillips and 3 T.20 screws to get the projector out, then reverse. Can't comment on legality in the EU, but as long as you don't have unscheduled inspections you can probably just swap between the two. Another option actually might be to try and purchase the original projectors from people doing this swap if theirs are still in good shape.

Quotes source post: 18016280

Sounds Sounds like I should just pick up a set of retrofitlabs projectors with the brackets, then swap them into my housings when I get them back from the lens replacement. Given the price, the simplicity of the swap, the price, and the identical bulbs, I can probably justify it. Thanks for the clarifications.

https://retrofitlab.com/products/aha...osch-al-design Are these knock-offs of the projectors in the 996.2 housings?

I don’t know if they are knockoffs but seriously the lights are amazing at a reasonable price

Quotes source post: 18017093

Don't mean to insinuate that they're bad by knock-off, but the page clearly states they're not genuine Bosch/AL projectors and instead copies. Mostly just wondering which (if any) 996 headlight this projector model is found in.

I don't know if the .1 projectors are the same, but the .2 projectors are Hella E55 (pretty sure). This page states they are the same projector from 1999-2004: https://retrofitlab.com/products/aha...s-hella-design

Quotes source post: 18018766

This one looks a lot more like the pics I can find of 996.1 projectors. As I understand it the .1 and .2 projectors have a different diameter, but I may not be recalling correctly. Someone who knows more about these would have to rectify. When I have my lamps back Ill pull a projector out and take measurements.

Don't think it will work, here's a picture of my 996.1 projectors since they're just laying around. Caliper isn't exactly lined up, but its reading 2.6'' for the lense and housing, so 2.5'' for the lense itself. I have a few 3'' lenses laying around and they physically don't fit in the shroud in the headlight. Also note that the bowls are longer than they are tall, the height is less than 80 mm, the headlight is very much designed around this and other 2.5'' projectors like the 4tl-r don't physically fit even though its a 2.5'' lense. Bolt pattern also doesn't match up, so even if it does fit you still would need to figure out an adapter plate.

Quotes source post: 18016216

Retrofit labs kit will work in Europe from what I understand unless you're driving on the right, then you have to order their RHD kit. You can also just call them up or send them an email.

Quotes source post: 18019338

Thanks for the measurements. Looks like these E55 replacements might be for a 996.2 headlight? I'm pretty sure those got bumped to 3" but I'm not 100% sure. Not sure where their chart got the model years though. Bottom line is, it looks like neither the Bosch-replacement or Hella-replacements are going to fit a .1 housings. I'm probably just going to go ahead with the retrofitlabs kit for 996.1s. Their site does list Europe (and as you mentioned they have an RHD variant), but since Im only worried about EU, and they only have 1 LHD version, I'm probably fine. Like was mentioned earlier, I can just keep the OEMs on a shelf, and its a ~10 minute job to swap back.

The RHD/LHD swap issue is an interesting point. I know the 996.1 xenons have a lever inside the housing that can be flipped to change from one to the other. I ran across a youtube video when I was working on my lights. I am pretty sure the 996.2 xenons have a similar feature. You Tube

Quick update on this: I ordered a set of the retrofit projectors from retrofitlab to install myself. I was able to verify that they're legal on roads in the EU, which was really my only remaining concern with them. As for the LHD/RHD toggle in the HID assemblies, that doesn't make the projector do anything differently in terms of beam geometry and cutoff, it just points it in a different direction so you aren't totally blinding oncoming drivers. If you live in an LHD country, use LHD projectors, not RHD projectors in LHD tourist mode, and vise-versa. You might not be blinding yourself, and you might not notice a difference, but it can be a real safety hazard with high power headlights (so any modern Xenon, LED, or Laser solutions). Hope this all helps anyone who ever has the same questions I did.