I have been gathering information on doing the HID conversion for some time and I decided that now was the time to just jump in and do it.
This past weekend I installed the autolamps-online.com HID H1 conversion kit.
Keep in mind that I am no DIY god like many here but I can reason pretty well. I have to tell all those that are teetering on the edge of whether to do this DIY project that I found it to be a very easy installation. Thanks to John and Dan for their posted photos, they definitely helped.
For me the instillation was a breeze; no holes to drill or complicated wiring or mounting of any type. The good news is that my kit was shipped with the wiring harness prefabricated unlike photos posted by john on an earlier version. It also appears that maybe earlier versions didn't come with relays but mine did. The relay was wired into the harness. The newly prewired harness was nice because it did save a little hassle.
The instructions that came with the H1 kit weren't the greatest but for someone who doesn't like to read instructions anyway I could manage.
I would guess that it took me about 2 1/2 hours and that included cleaning the headlight lenses. Now I could do it in half the time.
So for those thinking about it, I say go for it!
By the way I have no relationship with autolamps-online except as a recent customer.

 

thanx for the helpful advice Brad. I have been tetering on this issue for a while now and will analyze your company soon. I will point out that it seems from this diagram that they are using our 993 headlight assemble for the overall product diagram - that must be a good sign?



how much did your kit cost and which one was it from the site? Also, where do the ballast and ignighter sit and what happens to the current plug/adapter that sits in the fenderwell?

Thanx,

E. J.

 

Hi EJ and Brad,

I also did this conversion last Friday.
I found it a little daunting at first, to be honest. But then following advice from John and Steve (many thanks), it was pretty staight forward.

I was initially confused by the harness that came with the kit. It suggested that it should be wired to the cars' battery. After talking to John I ignored this and followed Johns instructions as per his photos.

The plugs that are in the fender well, still need to plug into the back of the headlamp unit as it slides back into place. The +/- connections that previously went to the H1 halogen bulb (within the headlamp unit) are rewired to go to the balast unit that sits outside the lamp unit. The balast then delivers a high voltage to the new H1 bulb via special cables, to fire it up.

The tricky part was then squeezing the ballast into the tight spaces in the fender. I can understand why the Porsche kits fit the ballast in the luggage compartment. I would suggest to anyone doing the upgrade to follow Johns positioning of the Ballast units as there is little room to play with especially if you have aircon (L). Also be careful of the plugs that go into the back of the headlamp units as it slides back into place - don't force the unit back as you may brake the clip holding the plug in place, as I did .

This kit I got was the 'H1 Xenon HID Headlamp conversion kit ' , this cost me £440.

EJ if you are still thinking about it , I would recommend it. I don't think it will be difficult judging by the stuff you already have done, I was a complete DIY novice. The improvement really is remarkable. I now look forward to driving in the dark.

Hope this was of some help.
Tito.

 

E.J.,
First of all the H1 conversion kit cost me exactly $600 but, I did also have to pay some type of import duty when I picked it up at the post office. I forget the exact amount but something between $20 and $25.

Autolamps also sent me for free a pair of Phillips 'bluevision' halogen bulbs for the high beams, I guess so the low beams (HID) don't totally make the std. high beams seem so yellow. I also put these in and it's amazing how yellow the high beams still look - HID is that much of a difference.

The description of the kit I ordered was called
"H1 Xenon HID Headlamp conversion kit"
and the catalog number (cat. no.) is "H1 Kit"

The ballast and ignitor are one unit on this kit. I am not sure exactly what you mean when you say "what happens to the current plug/adapter that sits in the fenderwell?"
But, the ballast/ignitor box from this conversion I wrapped in foam (reused the packing material that it was delivered in plus a little more I had on hand) and tucked in right behind the headlight bucket in each of the fenders. The passenger side had plenty of excess room and the drivers side had adequate space to neatly place these units securely in. Then I just ran one wire from each side to the trunk thru holes that Mr Porsche had already supplied! How convenient.

EJ if you get the kit feel free to call me and I can describe over the phone the steps to follow if that would be helpful. Just send me an email if you decide to call me and need my phone number.

Also Tito thanks for adding your thoughts.

 

Thanx for the help guys, the info is great. I guess I deemed it a necessary project when I followed John Huang's 97 with Litronics to the track one dark night. The difference was amazing.

The one part I still don't get is: when you slide the light assembly back into the fender, does the light still get its power from the existing grey/blue plug that the light plugs into? You can see the bottom of the plug in the very upper left of this pic:



Or does the new ballast wires bypass this plug and go directly into the headlamp assembly? So I guess I am wondering where the wiring from the ballast to the new bulb goes, or is it directly linked?

I hope that makes more sense.

Thanx again for the info and I will email if I go ahead. I think I need to wait for Santa to consider it.

E. J.

 

EJ
The existing fixed slide in connector inside the fender into which the headlight plug mates remains the power & ground source. What you are doing is re-routing the + and - wires that connect to the low beam H1 bulb & assembly to the combined ballast/igniter. High voltage wiring then goes from ballast/igniter back to the new HID bulb.

In short, you're wiring the ballast/igniter into the bulb circuit all within the headlight assembly. Since it can't all fit, you must have an exit for the wiring to the ballast/igniter which gets stuffed into the fender.

In this pic, the oem yellow & brown wires for the low beam are connected to the red & blue wires to the low V side of the ballast/igniter. The high V side is obvious. I believe the autolamps H1 high V side wiring isn't as robust which makes the install a bit easier.

 

Thanx Dan,

Here is my last dumb a$$ follow up question: When you go to remove the headlight assembly, is there a disconnect from the HID wires to the ballast, or at the ballast itself so that you can remove the headlamp all the way?

Thanx,

E. J.

 

Hi guys


E.J. when you remove the headlamp the ballast comes out with it too, attached to the headlamp by its wires, as shown in Dan's pic.
Tito followed my fitting instructions, which is to wire directly like Dan has too.
It sounds like Brad has gone the route of fitting the whole loom that autolamps supply.

I had a long email discussion with the MD from Autolamps about this. His concern was reduced life of headlight switch, and possible heating of the wiring. I checked into this before I fitted my lights.
Porsche don't use relays when they fit their Litronics, and don't alter the wiring sizes in the loom. All they do is increase the fuse rating. Therefore I was happy that my simpler solution was not in any way unsafe.
The guy at Autolamps conceeded that the loom they supply is a general loom for all cars, and normally people don't bother to research things quite as much as Dan and myself had

Remembner guys, if your going to order these from autolamps, mail me for the password to get your 10% discount (address is in my profile). Sorry, I'm not going to openly publish the password in a message on the list as I said I would not (part of the deal for getting the discount).

Cheers guys.

John.

 

Thanx John, Makes sense now.

Nice to hear from you.

E. J.

 

Thx for the website for autolamps online.com. I have the standard lights on my 96 C4 Cab and not sure if i want to spend the $$ on the Xenon HID kit at this time. However, i would like to improve my nite vision a bit. How do the premium bulbs compare to the the stock bulbs, is it a noticable improvement? I am assuming these are direct replacements for ths stock bulbs? any negatives? also, they list at least 4 different types, which would you recommend for all around nite driving?
1 more dumb question, what is difference between H1, H2, H4, etc...?? Thx. Joe B. 96 C4 Cab.

 

C4,
I tried these bulbs. They are brighter than the stock items, but not in the same league as the HID. For the money (ie relatively little) I think that they are a worthwhile buy if you are not keen on buying the HID kit.
H1 is the bulb type that is used for your high and low beams. H4 etc are different sized bulbs.

Tito.

 

EJ
Sorry didn't respond sooner, but was out of town & just returned. Good question & I trust John's answer did the trick. Easy removal of the headlights is a reason not to better secure the ballasts (e.g., w/nylon tie wraps, etc.). After 6+ months use, incl 2 DEs, my foam wrapped ballasts stuffed into the fenders have not moved.

Tried PIAA 55W Superwhites. Noticeably whiter, brighter & better than stock, but a fraction of the HID improvement. Here are some comparison pics FWIW.

 

Dan, thats a great picture. For someone who does not drive the car much at nite, which i dont, maybe well worth the cost savings to just put in those 55W superwhites. Is there any side effects. Ex: overheating the existing wires or connectors? I sometimes see advertisements in EBAY for these types of bulbs (blue tints, etc.) that are very inexpensive are they the same quality?

 

Ran 55W PIAA for 1+ year w/o any problems & they're now in my wife's A6. No overheating or overloading that I can tell.

IMO: Higher output brand name bulbs like PIAA & Philips are higher quality than the "no names" sold on eBay. Blue tinted glass gives up light output for "the look." Don't use higher than 55W for the low beams (they are enclosed).

I've used 100W high beams (open bulb) for almost 2 years w/o any problems, but they're never on for more than a few minutes & don't add much to the HID lows.