What follows is a DIY fix in case your expensive illuminated side sills no longer light up.

This seems to be a common issue which most owners remediate by buying new side sills (600$ and up) or leaving the issue unattended. Porsche does not sell the individual parts and only sells the sills by the pair. Ouch.

I refused to bend over and came up with the solution as described below. Please be advised that I am just a shade tree mechanic and that English is my third language. So in case you screw up, well…go and buy new sills 😊

My car is a 2012 Panamera Turbo S, but I would assume that this procedure also woks for other Porsches and model years.

Tools needed :

· Interior trim tools

· Soldering iron

· Liquid tape

· Shrink sleeve

Parts needed :

· 5mm bright white LED Light Bulb DC 12V (eBay, Amazon,…) Less than 1$.

Process :
Remove side sill, which is held in place by clips only. Carefully unclip through the use of trim tools. Be especially careful in the footwell area where there is overlap with one of the other trim panels.



Carefully remove the cable with the small LED bulb at the end. You need to :

1. Release connector in the footwell area

2. Wiggle the LED lamp out of a small plastic socket. This plastic receptacle points the little LED light in the right direction so it can further distribute it’s illumination through some optical guided wire. I was nervous at first uncoupling it, but it’s safe, trust me. Just be careful and try not to break anything (plastic clips or the led bulb).



This shows where the LED bulb feeds into the optical guided wire
Now you’re ready to solder on the new LED bulb. Before I cut the old bulb from the end of the wire, I made sure to make a marking on the wire to indicate polarity.



Solder the new bulb to the wire. Once the solder dried, I applied some liquid tape and then some shrink sleeve.


We are now ready to install. Plug in the electrical connection in the footwell area and the bulb should light up.

Now carefully run the wire through your side sill. Keep it in place with some new duct tape and plug the led bulb back into the receptacle which feeds the light into the optical guide wire.




Reattach the side sill by pressing in the clips, et voila, you’re done !


Reward yourself with an excellent microbrew, you just saved 600$ (however, your wife may re-allocate those funds )

 

I don’t have illuminated sills on my GTS but I still thoroughly enjoyed reading your write-up. Nice work.

 

I have to agree. That's some nice work, and thank you for sharing!

(Don't have lighted sills luckily)...

 

nicely done!

 

Brilliant!!

 

I too enjoyed your post and your tenacity to fix rather than replace!

 

Mine with the option code:
CXE - Illuminated with personalized logo door entry guards in carbon fiber
looks different:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ml#post4560965

 

Nope, the bulb set-up is exactly the same. The bulb is inserted into the black shrink sleeve (just before the optical wire which goes into the sill).

 

I got super excited when I saw this thread as my 2013 991 illuminated sills haven’t worked since I have had the car.

Unfortunately removal on a 991 is more tricky as the sills are ‘stuck’ in place with 3m. The connecting plug also seems to be hidden away under the carpet … or somewhere 😖

I will be attempting to remove, replace the bulb and refit, which is a big job as removal of the sill seems to damage them… but I’m kinda set on having them working now.