jenskleis

Dear all,

As mentioned in an earlier thread, I recently ordered a HID Xenon kit from Niemeister. (http://www.9mracing.co.uk/html/)

I installed it today and WOW!!! Let there be light!

The improvement over the conventional, rather weak, headlights is fantastic. I can strongly recommend this upgrade.

However, installing the kit is ... well, it is a bitch. The wiring harness is too short and it takes very, very careful planning, lots of fiddling and a fair bit of swearing to fit it in a way that allows the wires to reach the headlamps.

I also found that there was no way to get the wires and plugs through the existing grommets on the left side of the boot, so I had to drill a 3 cm hole.

Instead of drilling holes in the headlamp housings I cut out the original grommets and replaced them with new ones.

Note, the bulb fits perfectly, which is not the case on some Xenon kits, so drilling holes in the headlamp housings really is not necessary.

I have read that some people had a hard time deciding whether to fit the electronic boxes (igniters, voltage controllers and high-beam relays) in the boot or in the wheelarches. Due to the short wiring harness I had no choice; everything had to go in the boot. This does not bother me, as they take up little space.

I didn't have my camera at home, so pics will follow later.

Take care

emilios

Nice to hear Jens! Any pics ?

Wachuko

Great!! Do post photos once you get a chance!!!

robmug

Looking forward to the photos. I'm running 135w/90w bulbs (yes, the wiring has all been upgraded) and i still think there'd be an improvement with Xenon.

I can't understand why the kits are so expensive though. Wires, box of tricks, bulbs - why is that £500?

Rocket Rob

Jens,

I too am interested in the Xenon upgrade. So we can compare your results, can you tell us what lights you had originally? Were they H4s? What wattage?
Etc.

I have H4's with 80/100 Watt bulbs and they were an amazing upgrade over the US-spec H5's that came with the car.

Thx

Bill Gregory

Rob,

Hopefully you've also added a relay to take the additional electrical demand by the higher bulbs off the turn signal switch., whch is the weak link.

Jens,

On the Xenon upgrade, it sounds like you have both low beams and high beams?

Rocket Rob

Bill - Yes - I have upgraded wiring and supplemental relays to handle the higher current load.

robmug

I think mine has the relay too - I ddn't carry out the upgrade.

jenskleis

Guys,

My lights are H4. Before installing the Xenon kit I had the standard Halogen bulbs, 55 Watt if I recall correctly.

I paid GBP350 for the kit, which seems to be the best price around for a dual-beam system (both high and low beam).

As soon as I get my camera back, I will post some photos of the installation.

Take care

Phil Raby

Hi Jen, glad you got it sorted out all right.

Rob, prices have dropped - down to about £330 if you shop around

jenskleis

Hi Phil,

Cheers! And thanks a lot for the great article in 911 & Porsche World which gave me the idea for this project.

Take care

Anatol

Hi Jens,
Since I also live in Switzerland I have always refrained from doing the conversion because of the MFK-requirements. Do you feel that it would be easy to go back to standard lights for the bi-annual checks?
Thanks!

jenskleis

Hi Anatol,

I share your concern for the strict Swiss technical inspections.

The Xenon bulbs can easily be replaced with the original Halogens, and I doubt (hope) the MFK inspector will not ask what the electronic boxes and cables inside the boot are for.

The Xenon kit is plugged into the original light circuit via one of the two female plugs that normally connect to the Halogen bulb. Although the second plug is no longer needed, I kept it in place to make a reversion to Halogens easier.

Take care

hoges11

Am currently driving Phil's old porsche and 911 world 964 project and say a little prayer of thanks everytime I put the lights on they are so good.

Thanks again

GP964

Hi Jens,

Welcome to the club HIDs, I've had mine on since July, I love them.....GP