Xenon Headlights

Hi, I have a 98 996 with the standard 'yellow' lights and am looking to upgrade them to the newer clear ones. I am also not too impressed with the standard dipped beam, the main beam is great but the dipped doesnt illuminate the road far enough ahead in dark conditions when driving fast. I bought upgraded bulbs from eBay, better but in my opinion not great. So I am now looking at Xenon lights. I know the standard factory units come with headlamp wash and the beam hieght adjusts automatically and is linked to the suspension. Firstly, are the Xenon lights THAT much better? Also, are the lenses different to the standard lenses or is it just the lamps that are different? The question is, should I buy clear factory Xenon lights and do the wiring (which an OPC have told me is very difficult to get working properly, mostly the auto hieght adjust) myself or buy the clear lenses and put aftermarket Xenon lamps in (again, eBay sell them as do Design 911 etc.)? Thanks in advance. Rob

Hi Rob, From what I can gather it almost impossible to retro fit the self levelling equipment. Even if you buy Litronics from your local OPC you won;t get self levelling. I like most people brought a Xenon kit (I got mine from Ebay) and fitted them to the standard headlamps. Yes, they are that much better. It took me less than an hour to do each light. So easy in a Porsche as the light unit comes out and you can fit them on a bench. I had to tap the reflector cone a couple of mm forward on one light only to make mine fit but that was all. There are several postings on here and Rennlist that go into detail about the conversion, remember it is exactly the same for boxsters. Legally, if you are does not have self levelling and headlight washers it illegal to have Xenons. But in all my research no one I found had had any problem with the law or the MOT man. Just keep them clean! Good luck Mav

Mav, Thanks for that. Which kit did you get from eBay if you can remember? Regards, Rob

Rob the guy who had my car before done the conversion go to www.HIDS4U.co.uk and ask for ian. superb service and products are warrantied for 12 months. go for the pilot kit and is very simple to fit. makes a huge difference to the lighting I can tell you. be careful with some of the ebay lot as there is some 5hite out there! hope this helps Nick

Nick, Thanks for that, I will look into it. Do you know if the actual lenses are different between a Xenon and standard or is it just the bulbs? Thanks again, Rob

Hi ya, If you get offical Litonics on the car as new, the headlight lense is slightly different, the kits use your standard lights. Don't worry they work just fine. Mine are the same as these on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PORSCHE-911-996-and-Boxster-Xenon-LITRONICS-HID-kit_W0QQitemZ4625095133QQcategoryZ10408QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I paid 180 for mine. Cheers Mav

you get some fancy bulbs connectors and the transformer box which just screws in behind the light it is so easy to fit and you should have no worries I think the light you need is the H7 version I have the 6000k version which is a white blue finish and looks great Nick

I got the Ebay Items, and fitted them the other day. Thanks goes out to Mav (Satlee) for his help......the instructions were concise to say the least! First light took a couple of hours, second about 20 minutes. The difference is incredible, so very bright, with very wide dispersal. There is just no comparing to the original bulbs.It's so bright in fact, that when I'm behind another car at the lights, I almost need to wear sunglasses to stop the glare reflecting off their bumper! An absolute must and a bargain too. However, the light (8000k) has a definate purple tinge to it, which is a bit weird.

After much deliberating and bidding on eBay my choices were: Keep my old yellow headlights and add a Xenon kit for 180-250 Buy/Bid on some newer clear lights and add the Xenon kit Buy/Bid factory Xenon lights (with the benefit of the better lenses than standard lights) and wire them up using factory kit. Very costly and OPC Stratford didnt recommend it at its difficult to wire and (needs new loom and sensors on suspension). So, I decided to go to Design 911 and got the Xenon lights already fitted into the clear lenses. These simply slide in, no additional wiring and appear to be factory Xenon lights. Plug and play as they say. Big, big difference. Only problem is that they dont have the electric height adjustment as ordered but I am sure that Design 911 will rectify that. Also, got 10% off & free delivery as a PCGB member to boot! Another small point that OPC Stratford said today was that all Xenon lights MUST have automatic beam height adjustment or it will fail an MOT. Any thoughts on this?

How much did that set you back Rob?

Correct. They should also have washers.

From memory, just over £800 including vat and delivery. Apparently these have the headlamp adjustment but dont work. After a further phone call to Design 911 they inform me that, even though I paid and extra £100 for the actual 996 lights as opposed to a Boxster so I can adjust the beam height, but they neglected to tell me that they dont come with the motors so I need to remove them from my original lights. £800 is a lot of money but I figured that the clear lights go for £400 on ebay, a Xenon kit is £180-£300 and thats still with the original non-Xenon lenses. For another few hundred £ I have got a new set, improved lenses and not having to keep bidding and getting outbid and collection/delivery etc.

guys, a bit of a question! A mate picked up These: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8060938422&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1 with a view to fitting him to his Mini! They are supposedly from a Porsche.... There is an integrated levelling "flap" it seems though. Now if the HIDs that some of you are fitting don't allow the self levelling function to work, do you have an idea how (or more improtantly I suspect, where) the flap is locked in place or connected up? TIA!

Hi, Just had mine MOT'ed and had no problems with the after market Xenons I fitted. Mav

I think the official 'litronic' units are very expensive, but you can do a HID upgrade (as I and others have done) - see details here ... http://www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=253934

Porsche offer a Litronic retrofit kit for pre-facelift 996's, along with headlight washer system. (£2,400ish). They never offered a kit for facelift Xenon lights though. Factory fitted Xenons have automatic levelling, with sensors on the front and rear suspension. I would have thought it would be a bit of a nightmare to retrofit. If it was me, I'd go for HIDs, as Martin suggests. It won't stop the water ingress though!! I'd shop around the breakers, as a new headlight unit is £630.

... or find the hole and apply some araldite ?

Yes, silly me. It was an OPC diagnosis that the whole light needs replacing, so you are probably correct.

Many Thanks. The OPC had lent me a 997 C4S whilst my car was in and it had the Xenons. It was the only thing I thought was missing from my car that I really would wish for (the Sat Nav was rubbish) I had seen some Xenons on ebay that are finishing tommorow and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone and replace my weeping light and get Xenons at the same time. Never mind. If anyone is after replacement Xenons, ebay have a pair that is ending tommorow (item number 130262041251) which currently has a starting bid of £425.00 and are stated as new. Could pick up a bargin! Thanks again.

Blimey, if you could get them at that price it would be worth doing. Those lights are £1200 each! I just found this on Renntech, which shows the wiring changes you need to make. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=8612

Dear Richard Thank you for that. Having registered with the site and reading the links, I think that I will not go down this route as the work required is almost certainly above my skill level and the thought of messing up send shivvers down my spine! So, I will just have to remember for next time, when I order my next car, to tick the option box for the xenon lights (although I am sure they are now standard fitment on Porsche?!!). Thanks again.

Sorry to Hijack the thread but I have some ne headlamp bulbs to fit and the "socket" from my toolkit described in the how to in the Handbook is missing. Anyone know what else / size I can use or where to get a replacement (apart from OPC?) Thanks

You can use a slim 5mm socket on an extension. A replacement for the tool kit costs £6.84 +VAT - Part No: 999.571.076.02

It always amazes me how cheap some Porsche stuff is .... I had a replacement front number-plate mounting plastic block - and that came to £5.27+VAT ... fitted!

its certainly standard on the 997 gen 2 range and prob will be on the cayman gen 2 certainly something i would never be without having had it on my last 3 cars