B Russ

My car goes in today for some PPF color accents and 1 is the front lights. I thought I read it was really hard to remove and does damage to the lights. Reason Im using PPF for these accents is because its not permanent but if its going to trash the lenses then I may have to rethink this. What do you know about the removal process

Tier1Terrier

I realize that there are people here who say that they have removed PPF from headlights without issue. I personally witnessed just recently the removal of PPF from 991 headlights from a very reputable shop/installer where when carefully lifting/removing the PPF from the headlight using warm steam it removed portions of the factory topcoat layer from the headlight requiring the entire headlight to have to be sanded/polished (thereby removing the entire layer of factory topcoat protection which cannot be replaced on these lenses). Whether or not this matters to you is another story. Some say that polishing the headlights is an inevitability and that it is better to polish a headlight than deal with large chips or cracks caused by rocks, etc. Just be aware that PPF removal from headlights may have unintended consequences even by the best installers.

IRunalot

Always fought with this one myself​​​​​. No PPF and they will be pitted and need replacement. PPF and when removed they will need replacement or refinishing and more PPF.

I went with PPF as I can’t handle driving around with pitted lights. When the PPF gets old and if I still have the car I want the lights rebuilt anyway to change the color.

thats just me and my personal thought process.

B Russ

I asked the shop, they said higher end PPF didnt do damage to the lense upon removal. Who really knows but Fugg it, its on the car now and my 2 year clock is ticking on this one. We'll see if I still own it then.

BradB

I've had PPF on the headlights since 2014. Luckily no issues or needs to remove it.

This year I had the original 2014 install of PPF on the bodywork (hood, fenders, rockers) REMOVED because it was starting to turn slightly yellow. The tech who did the original install was the same guy I used for the PPF refresh in 2024. While the headlights looked pretty good, he suggested we LEAVE IT ALONE as the risk of replacement was too great from his professional experience.

The car is garaged and only 25k miles, FWIW.

raaizin

Any difficulties or damage removing from car. I have a 2014 with original paint and would have to get my PPF redone in the future. I have the hood, bumpers, fenders, headlights and mirrors done. I will leave my headlights as they still look good. Not sure how long I can push it as it doesn't bother me yet and my car is always garaged with 37k miles.

G.I.G.

This is where my head is at. My 991.2 already had PPF on the front when I bought it in April. I took it in for window tint at the shop that did the PPF on my old 997, and they observed that my headlights were not PPF'd. We talked for a bit and I came to the same conclusion you did @IRunalot : the benefit of avoiding pitting by applying PPF outweighs the risk of having the factory UV coating delaminating down the road when you go to remove the PPF. I had Xpel PPF applied to my 997 in April of '19 and when I sold it a couple months ago, there was no sign of yellowing or damage that would indicate that it would need to be replaced anytime soon. So I'd rather role the dice that I might have to have the headlights polished after PPF removal and reinstall to get protection now.

BradB

No. it came off clean using a steamer to assist.

Masonsett

I had a 991 with 6year old PPF, my professional detailer tried to remove the film with a steamer but it still pulled the coating off.

i say, if it doesn’t look terrible, it’s not worth the risk

Arione

9X1 generation cars have a soft film applied to the headlight from the factory and it is not recommended to put any film over them as you will be buying a very expensive replacement set. Of course Porsche also has problems with that factory film drying up and flaking off so its ultimately up to you.

snake eyes

can someone put the link for rennlights in here? the people that replace headlight lenses?
thanks

MikePipease

I went with PPF on my headlights as well. The dreaded headlight cracking has started and so it’s only a matter of time before these need replacement. But I’ll hold off as long as possible

DR911s

When I purchased my 2017 C2S from the original selling Porsche dealership in March of 2019, the car already had PPF installed on the entire front end including mirrors and headlamps, and removed the OEM clear PPF from the "haunches" and replaced it with a much larger piece of the same PPF used on the front of the car.. My car has PDLS+. The dealer claims that it has no knowledge of the manufacturer or installer of the PPF. It appears that the installer used the same PPF as was used for the rest of the areas of the car that are covered. The car had 14k miles when I bought it and it now has over 39k. No signs of yellowing, but several pock marks and a few gouges from track debris and an encounter with a hawk that apparently was dying as it struck my car while driving in a city at 35 MPH! The car is garaged except when in use.

I'm very glad that the previous owner had the PPF applied over the headlamps. IMO they would be more damaged by the debris from tracking if the PPF wasn't there. I have no intention of ever trying to have that PPF removed from the headlamps due to concerns that doing so would likely damage the OEM outermost coating on them.

bkrantz

For people who had trouble removing film from headlights, how much time does your car spend in the sun?