Changing the HID bulbs suggestions
 

Looking to change the HID bulbs of my 2002 Boxster (986) with new ones such as either the Osram Night Breaker or the Philips x-treme H1S. Both seem to emmit more light and givne my car is more than 10 years old I am sure the factory bulbs are not as efficient as new ones would be. Am I correct or will I be waisting my money?

HID bulbs are made for projectors, not reflectors. If your mission is to needlessly annoy and blind other drivers, then it sounds great!

Just giving you a hard time ;)
But seriously...HIDs are made for projectors. They are worth the small investment and look amazing. :cool:

See here...

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...000000006A.jpg

I bought them too, they look great but I haven't had time to put them in yet! :(

Waiting for my clutch to be done then putting in the garage so I can take off the headlights and start working on it.

:)

Be very careful when replacing the headlight bulbs. Some put out too much heat and will burn the plastic headlight face.

Me want! Where did you get them? I looked at the other thread and couldn't discern through 154 posts!!

Message Nine8Six, just look though the posters for 10 seconds, you'll find him:

http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/48169-porsche-headlight-retrofit-%5B-cad-prototyping-finish-6.html

oops...never mind :)

Misunderstood
 

I guess I was misunderstood. I am only interested in changing the bulbs of my factory installed HID/litronics. The bulb used is a D1S and was wondering whether anyone has any opinion between the Osram nightbreaker or the Philips x-treme. There is currently nothing wrong with the existing bulbs but given there are 11 years old I was hoping that by changing them I would get better lighting/ vission.

Suggestions??

Good to get terminology straight ...

Only the low beams are "HID," which stands for high intensity discharge, and these units do NOT have filaments but rather are arc lights. They are normally called "burners" and not bulbs.

The high beams are normal halogen lights (H7) and are NOT called HID. Same with the fog lights.

"Plus" H7s are available, but there're really no "performance" substitutes for the HID burners.

You really don't want higher wattage halogens, but rather you want "plus" bulbs still at 55 watts. Only 55 watt bulbs are legal.

Here's what I'll eventually do with my car

High beams will be Phillips Extreme Vision (+100%)
Philips H7 12972XVS2 X-Treme Vision Headlight Bulb (Pack of 2) : Amazon.com : Automotive

Fog lights will be Osram All Weather (yellow)
CP64210AW Bulb H7 All Weather bulb, 55w, 12v - RallyLights.com

Park Lights will be Phillips H6W Blue Vision
Philips Blue Vision Ultra H6W 433c/434 (Twin Pack) | PowerBulbs

Note that although Sylvania owns Osram, there is a distinct difference between Sylvania Silverstars and Osram Silverstars.

The Sylvania versions are PepBoys specials and are noted for short life. They are blue. The Osram versions are normal color and have basically same life as a conventional H7 while being 50% brighter.

Always, always, always know that there's nothing at PepBoys for German cars.

Finally, the reason that the high beams are conventional halogens and not HIDs is that HIDs come to brightness too slowly to be effective flashers. Some cars (not 986) do use HIDs for high beam (bi-zenon) using an electrically moveable metal shield on the same bulb used for low beam. Nevertheless these cars still have a halogen bulb for the flashers.

I'm not familiar with the bulbs you mention but I have changed mine to 6000K rated bulbs. They are blue-ish and look cool but makes it a little harder to see at night. I'm told that bulbs higher in the kelvin range are even worse i.e. 7-8000K.

well if you do have factory D1s then you can't right?
A quick google tells me both philips xtreme and nightbreaker are halogen bulbs with a cheap blue tint on the end to immitate that HID look

A.) they are not D1s and wont even fit.
B.) if you do somehow fit them they will not light...xenon gas discharge in a HID requires a ballast setup and is diff than what ignites a halogen bulb.

Ive read that the Phillips extreme and the Sylvania ??? will burn the lens in the headlight after a while. Best to buy OEM in this case or else you may be replacing your entire headlamp assembly since replacement lens parts are not available.

I'm going the 35W xenon "Mini Morimotto" Projector route as I also want to update things a bit and get better lighting. I went with Nine8Six's package deal and am eagerly awaiting their arrival any day now.

Well.... that if you are lucky and the Border Customs officer doesn't have a Boxster ;) For sure he will keep those if he open your parcel.... which is happening right now as I type muahah

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction?qtc_tLabels1=EE326903363CN

You should get those today or the following day if, again, you are lucky lol

Hi this is what I am referring to:

OSRAM D1S 66140XNB NIGHT BREAKER UNLIMITED Xenarc Xenon Brenner N16 | eBay

on my 2004 VW Touareg that the HIDs started flickering, I ordered and replaced myself (no ballasts on anything else) the HID bulbs with new D1S.

You have to remove your current DS1 (or DS2) bulb to be definitive on which one you have. Different years different type mate

Hope this helps a tad

I think I already lost my "101 Boxster Projects" book to the airport luguage handlers so customs is just another place for "The Man" to stick it to me!

There may have been some blue brake fluid drips on my "101 Boxster Projects" book so it may have registered as high explosives...:rolleyes:

This is confused with installation of higher wattage bulbs, i.e. 65W or 100W ... which are illegal, BTW.

The "plus" bulbs such as Phillips Extreme remain at 55 watts and get their improved output from other design changes.

Been using "plus" bulbs for years with no problems and with systems where the bulb is closer to the outside plastic than on the Boxster.

The item most likely to suffer first with installion of higher wattage bulbs is the plastic holding the connectors to the bulb.