LED and HID Headlight Kits -- Anyone Tried?

[Need_for_speed]

2000 Porsche Boxster HID Kits & LED Kits | XenonHIDs.com

My son found these and swapped out the HID bulbs in his truck with LED. Crazy easy. Each bulb includes its own little cooling fan. Thinking of pulling the trigger for a set but wanted to see if anyone else here had tried them.

[particlewave]

1) Those are $20 HID kits they're selling for $70+.

2) You can't just put HID bulbs into your headlights. A proper HID retrofit requires projectors to properly focus and aim the light beam. Putting HID bulbs into a halogen reflector is illegal at most, dangerous and obnoxious at the least.

3) LED headlight bulbs are not very bright. I think that you meant that your son had halogen and replaced them with LED because there is no way that LED is brighter than (or even close to) HID. Either that, or he had HID bulbs crammed into a halogen reflector with no projector.

None of the "kits" in your link are suitable for your car. Your options for better light output up front are either a proper HID projector retrofit or Litronics.

[2000986s]

https://www.gtcollection.com/products/porsche-headlight-conversion-kits/vivo-series.html

This is what you're looking for. Particlewave could show you how nice his look, and when I get mine installed I'll be throwing up pics as well.

[Pdwight]

I would trust his opinion and expertise over all others on our headlights.......in fact I did and couldn't be more pleased

He will not steer you wrong and keep you from wasting money on junk

Dwight

[Need_for_speed]

Thanks for the info! Glad I asked the question. The Vivo's are gorgeous -- thanks for the link. Had no idea they existed.

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by particlewave

1) Those are $20 HID kits they're selling for $70+.

2) You can't just put HID bulbs into your headlights. A proper HID retrofit requires projectors to properly focus and aim the light beam. Putting HID bulbs into a halogen reflector is illegal at most, dangerous and obnoxious at the least.

3) LED headlight bulbs are not very bright. I think that you meant that your son had halogen and replaced them with LED because there is no way that LED is brighter than (or even close to) HID. Either that, or he had HID bulbs crammed into a halogen reflector with no projector.

None of the "kits" in your link are suitable for your car. Your options for better light output up front are either a proper HID projector retrofit or Litronics.

I wouldn't go this far. These new LED bulbs that are coming out are putting HID in their place. I've already installed a few from XKGLOW in halogen units and they are insane. I'm converting my Lits to full LED. Actually more like I'm hacking up the Lits to do a 7in LED retrofit.

I've parked my OEM Lits with 6mo old Phillips bulbs next to my friends Civic running eBay oem(ish) headlights and a pair of the cheaper XKGLOW LED bulbs and his light output puts mine to shame. Tho I do blame the old projector technology to be the culprit, as I've mentioned before my distaste for the horrible output of the Lits compared to new projector tech.

There are a few other companies that are also developing halogen and even projector socketed LEDS, even some with high lumens claims, I've just only tried the above mentioned brand so far as money is tight.

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[particlewave]

Yeah, Litronic performance next to most any aftermarket HID projector is pretty weak...only slightly better than halogen, really.

A proper LED setup can perform well, but the LEDs and optics really need to be built together for a proper match. The LED bulbs that were linked in the first post in our halogen headlights would not yield a good result.

[DarkStar]

Oh I didn't look lol. And hell I haven't seen new aftermarket retrofits in a while. Since the morimoto minis. I just see these new MX5s and 300S with hids are just phenomenal. So wide of an angle and pure light throughout without any hot spots.

I'm just wanting to go crazy and do a 7in Jeep LED retrofit. While still using the lits. I've seen a pair not long ago that had a perfect cutoff beam pattern and insane highs.

Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

[Need_for_speed]

Just this morning, Jalopnik posted a story and video on cheapo LED retrofits from superbrightleds.com.

Should You Swap Your Headlight Bulbs For LEDs?

As PW wisely pointed out, using these in your stock headlights is probably illegal, unsafe, and a source for possible litigation in an accident (my son removed his after a discussion with dad).

So I took a look at the website in the article and, interestingly, they have LED replacement bulbs for nearly every lamp on our car.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/vehicle/2000-porsche-boxster-vehicle-led-lights?make=61&model=454&year=2000

Now I'm wondering if it makes sense to replace some of the interior lights, marker lights, etc. with the LEDs. They're certainly cheap enough to give them a try. What do you guys think? Any issues?

Also, my research indicates that the 986 started using a CAN bus in 2002. Does that check?

[Deserion]

I used Diode Dynamics for interior LEDs and my license plate LEDs. No codes, no issues, and actual lumens.

I picked up a set of 42mm festoons on Amazon since the 39mm parts I had wouldn't fit in the trunk lights. Those are pretty nice.

The 987 does have CAN, because trying to use non-CAN LEDs on mom's '06 caused the license plate lights to quit. Incandescent and back in business. Interior LEDs work though.