Control Unit for Cornering Lights died

When my 7 year old battery died (my bad) it seemed to take with it the Control Unit for my Cornering Lights. Big error msg. flashes every time I start car. I used iCarSoft POR II unit to clear all error codes but couldn't clear this one. Dealer says Control Unit for Cornering Lights is bad & they are known to go bad with no reason. $961 to replace. Any way to find and purchase a used unit? I am an EE - could I install it? Any tips on that? Where is it? Yes - I know dealer has to code it in with my computer, but still, almost $1k is a lot of money. No immediate need - cornering lights are a luxury, and I don't drive my 987.2 S much at night. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated. GN

I think the key is finding where this module is. Based on this thread 987.2 Where is the amplifier for cars with Dynamic... it seems to be easy to get to. you may want to look and see if it's there on your car. Once there, you can decide how you want to address it. Being an EE, I figure you could pull the module and pop it open to see what's going on inside... low voltage can lead to higher current draw on motors, as you know, so it could simply be a burned wire, trace, or component?

Schwinn - Thank you so much. Question is "is is digital or analog?" If analog (just circuit board, electronics), I may be able to fix it. If digital, probably not. "Steurgeraet Xe Kurventicht" means "Control Unit" - but how do I know it's for the cornering lights? I'll call Suncoast Porsche and see. Made in Japan - maybe same unit in my wife's '09 Lexus? A great help. GN

Suncoast confirmed this is the controller for the lights - $562.66 - 4 to 6 weeks from Germany.

After installing new one it does need to be coded into car's computer by dealer.

Note, I was in my car ( 987.2 Boxster base ) with my Foxwell NT530 so I wanted to check into this for you. In the Foxwell , if you go through the menus: Porsche Smartvin Programming You can see there is a selection for "Cornering light control system" there: Unfortunately, since I don't have that option on my car, I just get a "can't communicate" error. But, in theory it may allow you to "recode" to a new module yourself? The reason I say that is because if you go to the TPM module, you have a "special functions" option there, and an option within there for "control unit replacement". So, again, in theory, this could let you recode the module to your car. I took a look in the TPM section and it only offered "read" and "write" selections... so I'm not sure how you edit the data. I would have tinkered more in there, but I didn't want to break it on my car in the process...

I just had the dynamic cornering lights error message pop up randomly for me a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t found much discussion of it so I’m surprised to see this discussion pop up. That’s a disappointing repair estimate! If the lights are pointed straight by default I’m not sure how much I care, it always seemed like kind of a silly feature – and another thing to go wrong. But I don’t like to get the error message every time, and to see the warning light constantly either. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Schwinn - Well, good chance it seems that if I bought the Foxwell NT530 ($260) AND the control unit from Suncoast ($562), I wouldn't be saving myself much from having the dealer do it all - and I'd be without his warranty protection. Worth the $140 for dealer to do it. No, I don't need lights at all, but like to keep the car working perfectly. Thanks for all the assistance. GN

NT530 is $170 including the Porsche software on Amazon... it's where I got mine: https://smile.amazon.com/FOXWELL-NT530-Porsche-Multi-System-Diagnostic/dp/B07XQJG3NB Yes, I agree it's close to the dealer price to have it done, but if you do get it done, you have paid for a very good tool, for little or no extra money. Ie, it "paid for itself" in such a situation. For these cars, such a tool is a great addition to the garage, particularly if you plan to keep the car. You can also use the Amazon purchase to try it out... if it works for the recode, then great... if not, you can return it. As for the cornering feature, I had it on my previous Caddy ATS. I liked it at slower speeds as well. On that car, I had one light assembly go bad even though I had complained about it in the first few days of buying it... that dealer was not very helpful, but I finally got a concession and they "only" charged me $400 to replace it (full cost would have been $1800). Very disappointing ownership period with that car for many other reasons as well. (The car was fine, but not the great-handling car it was made out to be. Plus I missed my manual transmission... the paddleshift auto was great, but it's not a manual!) In any case, I'm with you, I prefer to have things that work! I agree, repairing might not be possible, but it's worth looking into it, especially if you're an EE (I'm an ME but have fixed such things many times in the past). Alternatively, you could ask a shop like Specialized ECU Repair, Replacement Testing of Electronic Control Unit to see if they can do such repairs? I'm not affiliated with them or anything, and I just came across them from reading about waterproof boxes for the rear control modules... but I figure someone like that might be able to fix it for less?

Excellent points Schwinn. Thank you. I shoulda been an ME! Where my real talents and interests are, but that's not how the cookie crumbled. One son is ME and Navy pilot! Another son Structural......Dad - "Why would you want to design things that don't move and do something?" Son - "I love designing things so that they DON'T MOVE!" He just designed the two largest bridges in VA - new I-95 bridges across the Rappahannock River. We designed & built our large log home in 99/2000 and he helped build it with his own hands from the footings up when he was 14 - 15.....part of his home-schooling program in construction. The 16 year old son became electrician and then manager with large commercial electrical contractor. Another son has 4 simultaneous degrees, 3 being Physics, Math, Computer Science - Summa Cum Laude. Now looking at buying a used unit if I can get some guarantee of condition. GN

Very nice... I am kinda the same way. Got a degree in ME but I spend more time doing systems design and automation work, including robot programming. In the past I've worked a lot in the semiconductor industry for vacuum systems, ion beam and plasma physics, etc... so I've been there too. In the end, once you're an engineer, you have a great foundation to accomplish pretty much anything! Very cool to hear your son is replacing bridges and such. And your other son is doing well too! Very cool - we always need more engineers! I'd break open the box (it's broken anyway) and see what's there. Maybe you'll find burned things or water damage, which would be easy to fix. If it's a digital issue, yeah, that wouldn't be as easy to solve... but you never know what you'll find. Hell, could be dumb enough to be a fuse or something... dealers are so friggen lazy to check such things. Or it could even be a loose connection (I found my alarm horn was disconnected on my car for some unknown reason... which is why it never sounded!)

Yes, Schwinn, all true. Fell into computers in 1979, R&D on a microprocessor-based motor controller, entrepreneur got marketing rights, made me CEO of "North American Electronics Corp." & we cut deal with Siemens to sell technology for $2.5 mil., then he moved me into another company, A MARKETING COMPANY FOR FINANICAL INSTITUTIONS where I was a VP, then a holding company asked me to start a new company for them designing/building large Data Centers for Fortune 500 companies - we had architects & engineers on staff - a good run for 10 years. The a Fortune 500 IT company client came after me & it was IT exec for years with 2 - Fortune 500 companies. Weird. Yeah, I'll open up unit - who knows? Thanks, GN

Back to the NT530 , looks like it's even lower priced at Foxwell 's own site: Foxwell NT530 OE-Level & Bi-Directional Scanner Upgraded Version Of NT510 Elite & NT520 Pro - $160.

This one says for BMW

Yeah, like he said, you get the " NT530 with 1 software" and then select the software ( Porsche or something else as needed) afterwards... you can certainly confirm this with them if desired, as well.

Hmmmm....thanks....didn't see a choice to select SW on order, so sent them an email. Tried Chat for hours with no response......as they are in China........

Yeah, it's not clear how it works. I thought I read somewhere that you buy it, and you get a free activation so you select it and download. But I certainly don't have the details. They do have a return policy so that's good... I might take screenshots of the webpages, then use a credit card that has good consumer protection, and buy it. If things go awry, you use the return policy and if things still don't work quickly then do a chargeback from the credit card... that way you have a few layers of protection on the matter. Either way, do let us know how the actual process works out. IIRC, when I bought mine, I had a "free activation" as well, and simply went through their software to select one and I was done (ie, mine didn't actually come with the Porsche one installed... I had to select it anyway... so it's probably the same process for this purchase). I will note that the activation and download was a little tricky... I believe I posted the wrinkle on here or RL...

Thanks Schwinn........

I gave some info on the activation process on my thread here: Foxwell NT530 - new user info and questions I didn't remember the exact steps there, and I certainly don't remember it right now. I just remember that I had to pull the serial number and plug it in somewhere else... that's why I "complained" that the software didn't do this automatically, as it should. But by going into the device with FoxAssist, I could see the serial number there (easier for copy/pasting) and then I copied it and pasted it on the other screen in FoxAssist. Again, IMO this should happen for you (it's in the same software after all!) but it is a manual step, so be aware of that. If you can take pics and provide better info, that would be great for other users going forward. I'm happy to help more directly as well, if needed (we could hop on a virtual call or something if needed)... I'm very good with computers

Schwinn - I contacted Foxwell Customer Support about coding in new Cornering Light Control Unit. They replied the NT530 could not do it. "Hi Richard, We are very sorry, Foxwell currently does not have a scanner that supports the function you need. Our engineers are still working hard to develop more features, thank you for your interest in Foxwell . Best Regards, Allen Foxwell (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. Mail: [email removed] Website: https://www.foxwelldiag.com "

So be it... thanks for letting us all know. I guess your dealer is the best option for this then!