jakfrost

Based on this members review of the ease of installation of the HID kits from a distributor in Toronto, I ordered a set for my '95 993.

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...installed.html

They arrived last week and this evening I had time to pull the headlights, open them up and lay out the kit to see how everything would fit together.

Problem. There is no obvious way to get the wires for the HID kit into the plastic headlight shell. I thought there would be a removable grommet somewhere in the rear of the headlight bucket, but no. Soooo, do I drill a 1" hole in the removable back cover to fit the bulb and harness thru? The HID harness comes with a large sealed grommet that would fit in the new opening, but I am shy to start cutting such a large opening in the stock back cover.

I have no idea how he, 'Coop', could make the statement, "They never drilled any holes!". It is simply impossible to install the kit he describes without drilling, as far as I can see.
Short of calling him a bold faced lier, or perhaps just ignorant, reading his post now in hindsight smells of personal involvement in the promotion of the kit.

Does anyone have a good experience to share with installing a HID kit from the XenonDepot?

Jim

1pcarnut

Check out this install. Depending on the size of your ballast, the entire install can be done within the shell without any drilling or mods.

https://rennlist.com/forums/993-foru...stall-diy.html

jakfrost

Damn! I obviously have a faulty search button! Thanks Roger, that is exactly what I needed, WITH pictures...necessary for a right brained guy :-).

Jim

P-daddy

Hey Jim, you can only stuff the bucket with slim ballasts, not regular sized ones.

jakfrost

OK, again too fast with the speed reading, that DIY was for the DDM kit, not the XenonDepot kit. But had a look at their website and it says $45.00 for the complete kit?

Is this correct? What am I missing, the kit sitting on my bench was $200.00+ And that was last week!

Jim

jakfrost

And is there any reason why you couldn't install the kit in the 'high' beam socket? The projector lens is the 'low' beam correct...?

Jim

P-daddy

When I last checked, DDM Tuning stopped carrying the slim ballast kits. Not sure what their status is now. I got my slim kit from them about six months ago for around $40.

Ed Hughes

That's pricey. I bought the Carnewal kit with the turn signal LED's for less than $100. It is the slim version that makes for a clean install.

2Many Cars

You are correct, the projector lens is for the low beam but the HID bulb will also fit in the high beam opening. Using an HID on the high beam has two disadvantages: 1. the "slow" fire-up of the HID makes flashing your lights problematic. 2. the lack of a projector lens means you get a great deal of light scatter which besides not focusing the light where you want it can produce distracting reflections. Since Porsche basically designed the headlight assembly to take the litronic HID system on the low beam only, that's what most people use. The good news is that you'll find having the HID, even only at low beam, is so much better than the stock filament setup that you may forget all about your high beams - it's that much of an improvement. All that said I believe there are some here who have upgraded both low and high (two bulbs and two ballasts each side) but personally I think that's not a net positive - the lows are enough.

CorrdoBrit

agreed

jakfrost

Thanks, so that is one question answered, now to figure out if and how I can install this seemingly grossly overpriced kit.

Otherwise it goes in the garbage which is probably where it belongs. Wondering if anyone has used these bulbs in the 993 buckets? I really liked them in the BMW R1200RT...

http://www.autolamps-online.com/halo...remecentre.htm

Jim

Coop

I hope my PM helps you Jim. It really is a great kit. Sorry to hear you are having such a tough time with the install. Perhaps the manufacturer could recommend a shop to install them for you? Mine did. Couldn't be happier!!

2Many Cars

I installed a "large" ballast kit a few years ago before slim ballasts were really available. There's nothing wrong with going that route if you have to, after all that's how the factory did it. I ran the wires through the existing rubber grommets in the fender well (there's a DIY here somewhere) and only made a quarter size hole in the back of the light, which was in the cover so it can easily be replaced if I ever want to go back to stock. Stuffing everything in the headlight is cleaner, at least from the outside, but wiring it up close to how the factory did it works fine too.

jakfrost

Well that is the only option I have at this time...to drill or not, that is the question. I was just so shocked, and felt stupid that I had bought something that I understood was going to be 'plug and play', and then it wasn't.

Doing the 'drill' method will mean that aside from the holes in the bucket covers, I will lose the ability to simply take the headlights out and put them on the bench. They will be 'tethered' to the car by the HID wires.

Not a big deal but darn it I really like that feature, defiantly has/had points for cool...

Jim

kjr914

NO DRILLING! Stop the madness!

Nah, there are rubber grommets in the back of the light bucket and on the fender going into the trunk. Mount the ballast inside the trunk, run the wires out the fender grommet, into the headlight bucket thru the grommet, done.

Yes, you end up tethered, but I just put a towel on the front bumper at the corner of the trunk and "hang" the bucket there in the trunk when I need to get in there for a minute. It sucks and next time I'll buy the slim ballasts and do the "in-the-bucket" install.