Hi All,

Ok I went to fit my HID kit today. No joy!
I printed out loads of DIY instructions and did loads of searches so thought it would be pretty straight forward.

The facelift headlights are completely different from the pre inside as well as out. When you take the light housing out it's longer to start, then opening the case the bulbs are set out differently. Thought I could work around that but the main beam housing won't hold the Xenon bulb.

Has anyone done the install on a facelift 996?

Thanks.

 

did you buy a kit for a facelift 996? What kind of kit are you trying to install (factory, ebay, etc??

 

It was bought for my '99 C4 but never fitted. Thought it would be the same housing on the back but it's not... The bulbs are laid out differently and also held tight by a clip which won't go over the xenon bulb or grommet.

 

I did the facelift... but I bought HID headlights. They changed the housing (wires) and all that with the facelift. Maybe Newport can chime in... he know's all the parts used for that by heart.

 

hmm- maybe sell the HID kit and buy one that is correct for your car? You should have an easy time unloading it.

 

I don't understand the problem. Drop in Hid kits for most bulb types are comprised of the bulbs, ballasts and wires/harnesses. So long as it is the same type of bulb as the halogen bulb that you are replacing I don't see why it wouldn't go back into the housing exactly like its halogen counterpart would UNLESS they changed bulb types for low beams between mk1 and mk2 996s. After that it should be a matter of finding a place the mount the ballasts and then you should be gravy.

 

I have done this.

The OEM HID kit (with D2S bulbs) will not fit.

What you need is a HID kit with the H7 bulbs.
- Replace the original bulbs with the HID bulbs.
- Cut a hole to run the wires out of the housing
- run the wires that are originally plugged into the headlight bulb to the ballast
- run the 'output' wires from the ballast back into the bulbs.
- I mounted the ballast onto the housing itself with screws.

 

I was just about to post this. Just did research and saw that both pre and post facelifts use H7 lowbeams in the halogen application. Therefore they should fit if they are drop in kits. That was my understanding of the post. However, if you purchased the oem kit like the poster above me suggested then again as he suggested you have the wrong type of bulb for the application. You can either buy the proper HID light housings to fit the D2S bulb or buy the proper H7 bulb to fit your current halogen housing.

Edit: You should be able to keep the same ballast and just buy new correctly sized bulbs. However, if that is a genuine Porsche kit, you may do well to return it and buy a cheaper aftermarket solution. I have had great luck with these new digital kits: http://www.retro-solutions.com/DIGITAL.html. No affiliation, just a happy customer.

 

The facelift Headlights are not the same and you can't just drop in an H7 HID aftermarket kit. The projector beam (facelift) headlights use a special bulb holder that is also the bulb mount therefore you can't just mount the bulb since the after market kits don't have the mount to hold it in place.

For the 99 the aftermarket kit is an alternative but the beam pattern will be poor. Best to find the Litronic MK1 headlights and just drop them in - plug and play as I recall.

The Projector beam (face lift) models (2002 up) need a new powered pin added to the headlight receptor plug (a porsche obtained $1 part) and some soldering in order to use the new(er) HID Litronic headlights (no other "good" alternative).

 

This is incorrect, I have the 02+ halogen headlights and I dropped the H7 HID kit in easily.

 

I'm confuse here. You did an facelift on the car and use the new Bi-Xenon headlights right? If so - the wiring / connectors are different but everything else fit perfectly... You have a choice to change out the headlight wiring hardness for a direct plug and play or buy the connectors end and wire up your own hardness to save some $$$.

 

Did yours have projector headlights?

 

Correct - I bought an aftermarket H7 HID kit and could not install it in a projector headlight 2003 C4S because the bulb mount is also the bulb holder. I even modified the bulb mount so that it would fit but ended up with a beam pattern that was unusable (except for the daytime).

This info is only good for the non litronic projector beam headlight unit!

 

Yes I do have projector lights but for a halogen application. There are two different version of projectors for the 02+ headlights. One is made for regular halogen bulbs which uses H7 bulbs and the other made for Xenon (AKA Litronics) which uses D2S bulbs. As far as I know, there are no non projectors for the 02+ headlights.

 

It seems that the OP has the same delema as I. You can not easily install an aftermarket HID kit in our units (I've installed several that worked perfectly). Mine has the same headlight casting as the litronic (large protruberance in the previously flat cover). The bulb holder is a ceramic material and receives a plastic, dual, bulb connector and mount. The piece is keyed and incerts into the ceramic bulb mount. Locks with a twist to the right. There is only one piece - unlike the two piece units that receive the aftermarket bulbs and lock in with a second piece.