Finished headlight mods: HID + De-Amber + LED turn signals, city lights & fog lights

[panameras]

Sorry for the picture overload!

HID H7 low beam
Xenonmatch H7 high beam
H7 68 LED fog lights
5 LED city lights
De-amber + 20 LED amber turn signals

LED fog light




LED city light



Xenonmatch high beam bulb

[panameras]

LED city light on, only


City light + HID low beam


City light + fog light


HID + Xenonmatch high beam


Low beam + high beam + fog light

[panameras]

HID low beam + stock fog light


HID Low beam + LED fog light


De-amber



Halogen turn signal vs LED turn signal bulb

[panameras]

Low beam + fog light + LED turn signal


De-ambered


Low beam + LED turn signal


Low beams


City lights and fog lights only

[jakekit]

Very jealous. I would give anything to rid my 02 S of it's awful amber yolk-ness. As of yet I have not been able to justify the cost of getting rid of it by replacing the assemblies. Someday....

[RandallNeighbour]

Where did you find the LED fog and turn lights?

I would imagine they run a lot cooler than the OEM bulbs and won't melt or yellow the inside of the housing.

Wish I could say the same for the retrofit xenons in the low beams. I've heard that these sometimes damage the housings from the inside out. Hope that doesn't happen to your car.

I do love the look though. Are the LED's substantially brighter?

[panameras]

Originally Posted by RandallNeighbour

Where did you find the LED fog and turn lights?

I would imagine they run a lot cooler than the OEM bulbs and won't melt or yellow the inside of the housing.

Wish I could say the same for the retrofit xenons in the low beams. I've heard that these sometimes damage the housings from the inside out. Hope that doesn't happen to your car.

I do love the look though. Are the LED's substantially brighter?

LED turn signals were from vleds, they are significantly brighter than stock halogens. I will post a comparison video shortly.

The fog leds were from ebay and they are not bright enough for my liking, I'm still searching for the right bulbs.

HID low beams actually run cooler than stock halogen as well, I have had them installed for over two years (one of the first mods I did) and they are perfectly fine.

[panameras]

Originally Posted by jakekit

Very jealous. I would give anything to rid my 02 S of it's awful amber yolk-ness. As of yet I have not been able to justify the cost of getting rid of it by replacing the assemblies. Someday....

I know what you mean, a pair of brand new assemblies can cost quite a bit, but those clear lenses do transform the look of the car. Sometimes just have to convince yourself harder.

[pothole]

I hate to be a miserable old git, but I feel it won't be long before folk are re-ambering their pre facelift 986s. The car looks some much better with ze ambers. It is and always has been folly trying to make a car designed for ambers look newer with clear clusters. They nearly always look a lot better with the original ambers. But people usually don't realise this until the model is so ancient there's absolutely no point in trying to update it with clear lights.

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by panameras

Sorry for the picture overload!

HID H7 low beam
Xenonmatch H7 high beam
H7 68 LED fog lights
5 LED city lights
De-amber + 20 LED amber turn signals

would you mind listing where you bought your items?

did you buy these? 2 x Car 120 LED SMD Xenon-White Bulbs H7 Fog/Day Light | eBay

You mentioned them here:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/29912-h7-leds-fog-light-bulbs-drl.html#post254658

How did those LEDs work out? Can't beat $30 shipped!

They look identical to these which are $65 shipped
6000K 120-SMD HID LED H7 Fog Light Bulbs BMW 528i 540i | eBay

All of my lights are currently 100% stock but I'm working on going all HID and LED.

Going Stealth Auto HID from Pelican Parts
Porsche Boxster Lights and Lenses - Page 2

Buying $8.50 LED city lights from here:
High Intensity BAX9S LED

based on this thread:
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/23853-986-litronic-xenon-headlights-$1-200-a.html

And now I'm looking to replace my fog lights but I must make sure they're as bright as OEM and would like them to match the 6000K Stealth Auto HID kit

Anyone have any suggestions? I've searched the forums for awhile (hence the links to other threads) but I'm still missing a few items

[Jbocio]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

would you mind listing where you bought your items?

did you buy these? 2 x Car 120 LED SMD Xenon-White Bulbs H7 Fog/Day Light | eBay

You mentioned them here:
http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/29912-h7-leds-fog-light-bulbs-drl.html#post254658

How did those LEDs work out? Can't beat $30 shipped!

They look identical to these which are $65 shipped
6000K 120-SMD HID LED H7 Fog Light Bulbs BMW 528i 540i | eBay

All of my lights are currently 100% stock but I'm working on going all HID and LED.

Going Stealth Auto HID from Pelican Parts
Porsche Boxster Lights and Lenses - Page 2

Buying $8.50 LED city lights from here:
High Intensity BAX9S LED

based on this thread:
http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/23853-986-litronic-xenon-headlights-$1-200-a.html

And now I'm looking to replace my fog lights but I must make sure they're as bright as OEM and would like them to match the 6000K Stealth Auto HID kit

Anyone have any suggestions? I've searched the forums for awhile (hence the links to other threads) but I'm still missing a few items

I got a pair of 120 SMD LED's...BUT, they did not fit into the fog light housing by only a millimeter or two! I got these ones. . . . . . .

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

There are however, the same LED's on ebay, but in a width that's a bit smaller than the ones which I have posted, that SHOULD fit.
I have yet to attempt another order though.

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by Jbocio

I got a pair of 120 SMD LED's...BUT, they did not fit into the fog light housing by only a millimeter or two! I got these ones. . . . . . .

eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d

There are however, the same LED's on ebay, but in a width that's a bit smaller than the ones which I have posted, that SHOULD fit.
I have yet to attempt another order though.

so these LEDs you linked to will not fit our cars because they're too wide? How are they too wide? Can they be dremeled down?

[Jbocio]

Originally Posted by 986_inquiry

so these LEDs you linked to will not fit our cars because they're too wide? How are they too wide? Can they be dremeled down?

Correct. They did not fit by a millimeter or two.
I assume if you want to go through the hassle of trying to dremel it down, you can. But I'm sure it would be a bit easier just ordering a pair that is a tad less in width than the 2.0 cm.
There are ones with a width of 19mm that might have a better chance in squeezing in the housing. But like I said I have yet to try to order to see if they fit.
the 19mm one's might just do the trick though..

[J Tinsby]

Maybe off topic. But I was told by a seller of SMD's that although they look white when you are looking directly at them they don't send out light the way a halogen bulb does. IE: They won't be as bright with the light they project onto the ground as opposed to an incandescent bulb. The color will be pure white but that's about it.

As to why this is so I really haven't been given a good explanation. Sure the smd's don't have a filament that radiates 360 degrees like a halogen, maybe that's the answer.

Of course Audi's R-8 has LED headlights so they must have found some way to make them work, how it was done I don't know. They say the low beams aren't good but the high beams are awesome.

J T

[986_inquiry]

Originally Posted by J Tinsby

Maybe off topic. But I was told by a seller of SMD's that although they look white when you are looking directly at them they don't send out light the way a halogen bulb does. IE: They won't be as bright with the light they project onto the ground as opposed to an incandescent bulb. The color will be pure white but that's about it.

As to why this is so I really haven't been given a good explanation. Sure the smd's don't have a filament that radiates 360 degrees like a halogen, maybe that's the answer.

Of course Audi's R-8 has LED headlights so they must have found some way to make them work, how it was done I don't know. They say the low beams aren't good but the high beams are awesome.

J T

Money. A good modern LED flashlight is about $100, so there's no way we can buy a pair of equivalent foglights for less than $100.

[landrovered]

This is where I got the idea DIY-Bi-Xenon headlight conversion - Really can be done- $300 - Rennlist Discussion Forums

[986_inquiry]

I bought some of the LED foglights listed on ebay
2X Car Auto 120 LED 3528 SMD H7 Xenon White Fog Driving Head Light Lamp Bulb 12V | eBay

If that page disappears they're sold by ouyou2010 titled "2X Car Auto 120 LED 3528 SMD H7 Xenon White Fog Driving Head Light Lamp Bulb 12V"

Photos attached.

I did have to use a dremel on the LED bulb to trim it down a bit because the individual LEDs are square not rounded domes so they jutted out just enough to not fit. Dremeling apparently did not hurt the LEDs though as you can see from the photo of the LED bulb fully lit.

I stood behind the car and took photos to try and get a good view of what the driver would see. The last photo is just the LED fog light on the left. Second to last is the regular fog light on the right. These photos are a good representation of how the lights really look.

To sum it up the 120 SMD LED fog lights are completely worthless and see no reason why anyone would waste their time with these even if they were free. I own LED flashlights that are brighter.

[ohhh my]

I would never recommend using LED's for headlight or fog lights, unless they were specifically designed and research for the application.

Believe it or not, the factory filament halogen light bulb and housing had many hours of research go into it. The point of the filament where the light is produced is strategically placed in a certain spot inside of the fog light housing, so when it illuminates, it perfectly reflects off of the reflector providing light in front of the car and a clean cut off line.

When you replace it with an LED, it's nothing more than a circuit board with a bunch of LED's placed on there with no calculations or consideration on which direction these LED's are pointing. So when you turn on these LED's they're just shining everywhere, in most cases, just lighting up the housing and producing no usable light on the road because very little of the light is correctly hitting the reflector inside the housing to project the light forward.

This same thing applies to people trying to use HID kits inside a halogen housing. The filament(where the light is produced) inside a halogen light bulb is a different location(further back) than where a HID bulb produces light. The difference is just a few millimeters which is why you get decent light on the road, but there is a lot of glare because of these few millimeters...

[Chuck W.]

Originally Posted by ohhh my

I would never recommend using LED's for headlight or fog lights, unless they were specifically designed and research for the application.

Believe it or not, the factory filament halogen light bulb and housing had many hours of research go into it.

Yes, and no. The "fog lights" are just not practical where most of us live. For most, they end up being a cosmetic look. And the OEM bulb just doesn't match HID lights. The LEDs look better. As a functioning light, they are worthless.

[Perfectlap]

^ true but Halogen lights are lousy either way. Once I installed Litronics I didn't see a huge improvement in urban driving but once I got out into the dark woods I realized halogen lights were like driving with big flashlights. I can't imagine that HID kits can't be somewhat of an improvement (or at least equal to halogen) aside from being a huge cosmetic upgrade.