Headlamp Upgrade for 981

[chrisfrench]

Hello. I have a 981 with halogen headlamps. I am interested in switching to Xenon for improved vision when driving at night. I find halogen poor on 2 way roads in the dark. Do I need to purchase new complete headlamp units or can kits such as Philips be used? In any event, I would not consider undertaking this work myself in case of overheating / electrical issues. I would use an Independent Specialist. Before I approach a specialist can you advise? Thank you. CF

 

[Chappelle]

It's been asked recently

https://www.porscheclubgb.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1012019

Best you can do is fit brighter bulbs. Would cost a small fortune to upgrade to full Porsche xenons. I did fit a set of xenon bulbs only to my 987 but should be an MOT fail (no self levelling, no wash function) and I don't recall them being that much better - the limit is the reflectors

 

[Chappelle]

Just found this:

Some vehicles may be fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps. It is not permitted to convert existing halogen headlamp units for use with HID bulbs. If it is clear that such a conversion has been carried out, rather than replacing the entire unit with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs, the headlamp should be rejected.

Section 4 page 7 of the new guidelines for MOTs

https://assets.publishing...-20-may-2018-draft.pdf

 

[chrisfrench]

Thank you for your replies. Brighter halogens it is! Chris

 

[JMR]

I've gone for two different types on the 987 halogen units.

Philips White Vision - a decent whiter light output and a bit stronger. Don't last very long.

Osram Cool Blue Intense - much whiter light output, and a bit longer reach. Also look great if you change the Fog Light bulbs to similar Osrams.

H7 for the headlights on mine, and H8 for the fog lights.

Also changed the sidelights for LED 501's from Halfords (6000k ones) These complement the fog lights perfectly.

Only other ones I was going to consider were the MTEC 5000k bulbs from hidsdirect

https://www.hids-direct.c...d-class-upgrade-bulbs/

For the Osram bulbs I got them from eurocarparts.com and carparts4less.co.uk

 

[BlackCab]

Hi, I'm a very new member and haven't yet found how I create a new thread. Hopefully I'll find out soon but at least answering an existing thread will hopefully get the ball rolling.... except that I can't help the OE because I really want to ask the same question. I've got a base 981 with the standard candle-lit headlamps. I get the feeling the illumination levels for standard Halogen units are from the Dark Ages (you'll have to get used to my puns I'm afraid) but I am aware that changing to "better" H7 and possibly H9 halogen lamps might help a bit. But which ones? The OP is from a couple of years back so maybe technology has moved on a bit since then.

Another alternative would be to replace the halogen lamps with LEDs. Yes, I know that technically these lamps are not legal and might fail the MOT. I would however just like to ask a hypothetical question to anyone who hypothetically has replaced halogen with LEDs what the hypothetical performance is like and if the car gives any nasty messages?

Hopefully I'll meet some nice Boxster owners soon.

Cheers, Tim

 

[r13dhj]

Couldn’t help but notice that’s my old Boxster!