Headlight Upgrade?
 

Are there any recommended bulbs that can upgrade the headlight output of a 986 (non-HID)? I'm not too impressed with my stock lights, and am thinking there must be something more modern that can provide better lighting. Anything with LED?

I'm not interested in replacing the entire headlight assembly, just the bulbs.

I've seen many other direct drop-in replacements for things like reverse lights, headlights, etc for other cars. There must be something useful for ours, too - right? :)

You have to do the whole assembly

Or you will end up with thishttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1432153871.jpg

Here is the best upgrade!
http://986forum.com/forums/diy-project-guides/48169-porsche-headlight-retrofit-%5B-cad-prototyping-finish-49.html

Higher wattage, higher heat, lens burn.

Litronics.

or maybe

TechnoLite HID

No experience with the latter.

Sure there is a solution: :cheers:

OSRAM - Night Breaker Unlimited H7 Automotive Halogen Bulbs H7 (Pair; 55W)
Up to 110 % more brightness than standard OEM Bulbs.
• A light cone up to 40 meters longer for better visibility.
• Up to 20 % whiter light via partial cobalt coating of the glass bod.
• The most powerful OSRAM halogen automotive lamp
• Bulb size: H7. Made in Germany

Best H7 solution out there, no problems so far, I bought mine 3 years ago.

In combination with:
OSRAM - Cool Blue Intense W5W (Pair)
• 20% More Light
• 4200K Color Temp
• Approved for use on public roads in North America and Europe.

Ok - thanks! Maybe I'll give that a try.

I'm a little disappointed that LED manuf companies haven't released a plug & play replacement for our headlights. I love LED lights in my house and my cars. Cool, bright, efficient, what's not to love? I've even put LEDs in my dome lights of my cars. It makes such a huge difference over the stock dim lights.

Wait - what about this?

http://www.amazon.com/New-Brights-LED-Headlight-Conversion/dp/B00MOR4CDI/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1432244333&sr= 1-2&keywords=h7+led

+1 love mine!

Can we put LED all around the head light or there will be heat issue?
LED for low beams would be an issue, right?

Yikes! 49 pages! How much and where can I find them?

Looks like Pelican is selling them now...

No way, link me up? They just received them I think a week ago how possible

Last time I heard they were looking at fixing deals for you guys, asking questions on DIY, manuals. Geez quick stuff... link link link?


K - Okay to use LEDs in the main driving lights but if you want to run a set that performs those comes with heat. Not advised but if they are not abused e.g. short drive out, city car, I personally don't see this heat as a major issue.

Personal opinion; LEDs are just not yet there. Those in the range that I see here locally anyway... as in those that you and I can afford (commercial). Can't wait until those auto-makers share their new LED technology. I'll be honest it troubles me to see the new LED "tech" headlights on the 2015/16 car models... its just absolutely beautiful (works as well I've heard)

Have just been cruising Pelican but couldn't find them :(
Guess I've been too optimistic with the "early May" release date...

So we can use LEDs for fog lights, turn signals, tail lights.... anywhere but low beams?

Man I would have hate to be the last to find out :/ Thanks for not finding them avail lollll

LED... You can even have them in your dome light plastic thingy ;) I bet you could have LEDs in all 3 (fogs high and low). That'd be interesting. Whatever you experiment with just put you hand on the lens and lookup for heat... let's say during a cool evening. If you can't feel any heat at all chances are you'll be okay. If there is any heat at all (during that same cool evening) then... based on luck really, could well be enough to damage a headlight. Really don't know mate

I've seen some pretty wicked LED kits at this end. Cheap! $69.99 as in those branded Super Power lolll It scares the hell out of me just to hook them up on my DC power supply here (+3amps I think). Makes humming noise and all..... hot stuff careful.

Sure needs proper judgment for those 9x6 headlights

<disclaimer> Yeah, I'm a n00b. </disclaimer> Been through the multitude of posts and pages regarding headlights and my head is spinning. Just bought a 98 986, and the headlights are beyond ugly.

As I see it, our upgrade options are as follows:

#1: Buy entire assembly with LED turn signal/DRL from Jeff @ xtreme. Lights look fantastic, quality is questionable, return policy is horrible. I was about ready to pull the trigger on these until I read some unflattering commentary about the longevity of the lights and the service after the sale.

#2: Looks like there's another seller on Ebay called "Made In Taiwan" with the exact same assembly as Jeff sells. If it's the same product, it stands to reason the same potential for failure exists. But if getting any sort of after-sale support is difficult with Xtreme, I can imagine it's worse from Taiwan.

#3: Follow the "Porsche Headlight Retrofit [from CAD, prototyping to finish)" thread and maybe build my own. NOPE! I suck at that. Or have someone build that for me? I didn't see an obvious way to place an order. But the work and end product looks really trick.

#4: Wait for Pelican to release their kit.

To be clear, I'm an average guy with fair to mediocre craftsmanship skills. I'm looking for the best way to reliably update and upgrade the lights on my old Boxster that is as plug-&-play as possible. I want to lose the "fried egg" look and go to something that looks like it's from a current-gen car.

I'm more than a bit confused on what my options are in that regard. Admittedly, this is my first foray into the world of handsome German mid-engine roadsters. ;) Can someone help me out?

When I bought my Boxster it wouldn't pass safety because of the burns / yellow marks in the halogens. As a n00b at the time as well I bought the LED style aftermarket lights. There are complete pieces of crap. They are so poorly made they don't latch properly. I found a video on YouTube of a guy putting some in his car and they had a hell of a time getting them latched. I couldn't get either latched and ended up taking them to a Porsche specialist. He got one latched but simply couldn't get the second one latched. He ended up putting the car up on the hoist and drilling a screw up from underneath into the assembly to hold it in place.

My advice is to wait until Pelican gets in Fred's kits and then either do them yourself or sweet talk particlewave into doing them for you (if he still is doing them).

It's so tough because you look at those LED units and say to yourself "man, those are sweet! Maybe those people just got a bad one. Or they did it wrong. They wouldn't sell 'em if they weren't great, right?" But then you read all the disappointments and, well, just don't have the stomach for it. Because that's a LOT of money to wind up with crap!

Hey gtoger,

I too am in kind of the same boat as you but I have done much more reading. I was looking into this in October but decided to do my stereo upgrade first. Now the procedure is changed, but the product remains the same.

First, #4 is also #3. Nine8Six is the designer of the retro kit and he had them available on his website up until this month when Pelican is taking over. They want to have a top notch procedure written up before releasing the product to hundreds of us buyers. You can look at the products here The ultimate bi-xenon headlight retrofit kit for Sport & Super cars

particalwave was actually doing the headlight retrofit back in October. You would order from the above website shipping them to particlewave, remove your headlights and send them to particalwave who would replace the lights with the new ones and send them back. I do not know if he is still doing this now that pelican parts has taken over.

Hope this helps.

John

http://i875.photobucket.com/albums/a...otos/013-2.jpg


That is all...

That kit just looks fantastic...if I could get them street legal, that would be my 1st and only choice. In terms of improved H7 headlight output...those H7 OSRAMs are next gen...not quite but almost like HID :D

So this.... 97 04 Porsche Boxster 986 99 01 996 911 Xenon Headlight Pair Headlamp Light | eBay

The guy is asking nearly half the purchase price of my car for the headlights, and they've been used for "a few years?" Is that for real? They look fantastic, but...I guess I understand what the aftermarket fuss is all about now!

Yes, this is for real. By far, the best bang for the buck is Nine8six's kit via Pelican, shipped to particlewave(Charles) and you can beat the socks off of that listing. I can't say enough about Fred and Charles, both excellent at what they do and all around great guys. http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1432868836.jpghttp://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1432868909.jpg

Yeah, it really looks that way. Now, if there were only a link I could click on to begin the process.

Or get an idea as to cost, unless this is a situation of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it ".

The first step is getting the projectors. Fred's run ~$325-$425 with shipping, but they are currently in limbo until Pelican carries them.

Next step is to install. If you can DIY, you can do this for the cost of the projectors. The Retrofit Source has given quotes for install ranging from $700-$1200. Shipping the headlights costs about $50 each way.
I usually charge $200, but realize I am just one guy helping other car guys, not a business, so I'm limited by volume and time.
I can always help, but you'll have to give me a heads up well ahead of time so I can make time for the install.

Let's hope Pelican will hurry up to make them available!

Odd that Pelican is taking so long. I hope Fred doesn't rue the day he made this decision.

Many thanks to Particlewave for the explanation. So as I understand it, it will be roughly $425 in parts, but they can't be had at this time. Then there's $100 in shipping to have the work done (because I'm not going to do it myself as the results would suck). Then there's the $200-1200 range in price for the labor (depending on who does it).

Which brings me to anywhere between $725 - $1,725.

And it's using my old headlight housings, which are not in perfect shape. Yellow hazy and one of them looks like someone glued the outside wedge cover back on. Badly. Plus, since we drive the car, not having headlights for days or weeks is a non-starter.

So toss in another $500 or so for new donor lights (based on what I find on ebay).

Therefore, as I understand it, the headlight upgrade will cost somewhere between $1,225 and $2,225.

I SO WANT new lights for the car. It's just the sticker shock that's got me!

Dang, counting myself lucky, although I knew I was.

I live near particlewave. I contacted him just before he sold his last set. He was kind enough to hang onto them for me. Built them for me using a set he had and I did a refresh on the lenses of my car. I got there and he pulled my lenses and installed them on the set he had prepared. He was actually going to do it for $475, but I told him I would pay him $600 for waiting on me, he held them for around 2 weeks (maybe longer) for me.

He probably could have sold the projectors alone for $600 or more without messing with installing them. Awesome guy he is. :cheers:

I'd check to see if these were still available:

http://986forum.com/forums/boxster-parts-sale-wanted/56868-fs-litronic-headlights-w-bulbs.html

You might be able to sell your old lights for a few hundred and recoup part of the cost.

If you are willing to be patient, you might also find folks selling single litronic headlights on ebay or Car-Parts.com and assemble a set. Even if the outsides are less-than perfect, it is possible to refurbish them with about 6 hours of work: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/54697-advice-used-litronics.html

Litronics are not plug and play though, right? You need more then just the headlight to make them work?

Litronics will work without the harness, but adding the harness and controller adds some additional features:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/55119-986-litronics-plug-play.html

Here's someone selling the whole package:
Early 996/986 Litronic headlights and headlight washer conversion package - Rennlist Discussion Forums

If anyone wants to read about adding the harness and suspension sensors you can find the information here:

http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/55840-can-you-endure-one-more-litronic-thread-me.html

And a video showing the operation with the harness, controller and sensors installed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkfebCCf2Y&feature=youtu.be

PW gave a range of what they USED to cost; you've shown the upper end. We don't know what Pelican is going to charge for them.

I would imagine Pelican got a good deal with Fred for a large volume purchase. Guessing, I would say $500 for the high end. Fred had to be making some money off these even selling them for $325 to $424, I hope. :confused:

The one thing that makes me even more happy and more thankful to pw, is they have PORSCHE OPTICS and Limited Edition on them. The ones at Pelican won't have that on them.

Another nice thing about these over the Litronic lights is they are Bi-Xenon, they don't use a halogen bulb for the high beams. The pictures of these look great, but in person, they are flat out awesome looking. Even pw after installing them on my car, said it was the first time he had seen them on another car other then pictures and how sweet they look in person.

Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I found this using the search feature.

Particlewave, what has been done to these to make them look new?
I need these on my 996!
Thanks in advance.

The halogen headlights use for that conversion were new. ;)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-Boxster-986-1999-2004-Headlights-Front-Lamps-PAIR-LH-RH-OEM-/291487091461?

I like these
 

I went with this set for about $1000. I love the way they look and hope that they last, I've had them on for about 2 weeks now.

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1450750728.jpg

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1450750753.jpg


http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1450750774.jpg

nice headlights....but
 

Are they bright?
is the beam pattern good?

any issues?

thx, Matt

It doesn't look like these GT projectors are available anymore unfortunately

Unfortunately the link states not compatible with my 99 996.

Are you still doing installs of the Vivo's into stock assemblys?