Should I de-amber headlights on my 1998 986 ? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

SvenskaPoika · 12-20-2011, 05:29 PM

I recently purchased a 1998 986 (Midnight Blue with 52k miles) and have already de-ambered the tail lights and side running lights (including stealth bulbs).

Although I had intended on de-ambering the headlights too, I'm beginning to think it may actuallyt "balance" the front with the rear red tail lights.

Any thoughts or personal experiences would be appreciated.

fivepointnine · 12-20-2011, 06:16 PM

cant de-amber the front lights unless you have litronics or you use a spray tint

SvenskaPoika · 12-20-2011, 06:25 PM

Yes, I know.

ProjectM96 · 12-20-2011, 07:54 PM

I de-ambered my headlights using dark gray tint. $6 for tint on ebay.

coreseller · 12-21-2011, 01:42 AM

IMO the answer is simple; Is it worth $1000 or more to you for the "De-Ambered Look"? For me the answer was no, to others it was worth it. Good luck.....

thstone · 12-21-2011, 09:39 AM

ProjectM96 - can you post a pic of your tinted lights? Would be great to see how they look.

jbs986 · 12-21-2011, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coreseller

IMO the answer is simple; Is it worth $1000 or more to you for the "De-Ambered Look"? For me the answer was no, to others it was worth it. Good luck.....

+1, no way is it worth $1000.00 my first Box a 99 had clear lights, my current car that I have had since Oct, of this year does not have clear lights,I will try to tint them and see how they look. When I do I will post them on here.

ProjectM96 · 12-21-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thstone

ProjectM96 - can you post a pic of your tinted lights? Would be great to see how they look.

??? I did post the picture two posts before your post.

Here is another picture: FYI, my car is not that clean or nice in real life. The picture makes it look clean and spotless and hides the scratches and chips in bumper.

jbs986 · 12-21-2011, 02:11 PM

I think the tint looks great on black cars.

pothole · 12-21-2011, 02:31 PM

Ambers look fabulous on 996s and 986s. Don't deamber.

thstone · 12-21-2011, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProjectM96

??? I did post the picture two posts before your post.

Here is another picture: FYI, my car is not that clean or nice in real life. The picture makes it look clean and spotless and hides the scratches and chips in bumper.

ProjectM96 - Sorry, my bad. I'm using my work computer at the moment and sometimes certain photo hosting sites get blocked. I checked using my other computer and all is well! Thanks.

Perfectlap · 12-21-2011, 03:16 PM

you can deamber the corner triangles $40 (Porsche part), do the amber-ectomy with the soldering gun and needle nose pliers to remove the orange in jbs986's silver Porsche, install clear side markers (also Porsche part) and maybe experiment with a light grey vinyl wrap over the remaining pumpkins.

florida · 12-21-2011, 04:29 PM

I just finished de amber ing my 2000 s, arctic silver. I had it like yours (just side and rear lights), for a week while I waited for the headlights to come in. I just put in the headlights today, and I can say it really put the finishing touches on the job. I'm going to post a thread with details and pics after dinner.

MN 986 · 12-21-2011, 04:36 PM

I think de-ambering updates the car, but everyone has different opinions. I first bought the clear halogens to replace the original amber/egg style on my 2002, then went to Litronics this Spring which I fully de-ambered. It can get expensive, but if you sell your old lights you get some of the money back.

I don't mean to threadjack, but if anyone is looking for a very nice set of clear halogen headlights, I have a set for sale that are in excellent condition (they were only used for 2 short Minnesota summers). I've been planning to list them on eBay, but I'd sell them for $650 plus shipping on this forum. They will be shipped in the OEM boxes that they came in when I bought them.
I chose to buy this set new because I did not want to buy a set that looked 'sandblasted' or that were yellowing like many used lights out there. I have not seen many clear halogen sets on eBay (mostly used Litronics or the old orange/egg style, and Litronics prices have gone up for a nice set). I am sure someone could buy a cheaper set, but they won't look as good as these.
These lights will fit any Boxster from 1997 to 2004.

Jager · 12-22-2011, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivepointnine

cant de-amber the front lights unless you have litronics or you use a spray tint

I beg to differ... See photo of my recent purchase of Bosch lights.

Jager · 12-22-2011, 05:03 PM

Another angle.

ProjectM96 · 12-22-2011, 07:18 PM

These bosch lights still cost $400+ per head light though.

Jager · 12-22-2011, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProjectM96

These bosch lights still cost $400+ per head light though.

True but I was replacing mine anyway... Over 200,000 miles on my old headlights, they were getting ugly.

Chuck W. · 12-23-2011, 08:18 AM

I am not am ambler fan. I have replaced my rear taillights with '03s and took the amber out of my headlights to. It is all a taste thing.....

sgt brad · 12-23-2011, 04:50 PM

hey guys,

as a new owner i'm still feeling my way around the boxster world. i had thought that the only way to get rid of the "fried egg" look was to buy the litronics. like coreseller, i could not justify 1500.00-2500.00 just to de-amber the front end. however, i am interested to see the 03-04 bosch units for around 800.00. still a ridiculous price, but it's just part of the cost of entry to the porsche world. how much are fried egg lights worth used? i could be persuaded to go the bosch route if there is any market for used fried eggs.

brad