Anyone successfully replace 997.1 Headlight low/high bulb's with led units?

 

The Bi-Xenon lights in an S car are exceptional. Why would you want to change them?

 

Agree. Some of the best headlights I've seen/used. The pattern and output is exceptional.

Cw

 

FWIW I did an LED "upgrade" on my S4 and they were fairly bright but the pattern sucked. I promptly switched back to the OE xenon.

 

The reason to going to led is for more of that bright white 6k output. Currently the output is more yellowish. I did try a after market hid bulb but gave me a flicker for some reason.

I have led headlighls in my other vehicles stock/aftermarket and like that bright white output much more.

 

IOW, more for looks over function. To each their own.

The reality is, as others have implied, few complaints on RL but the inadequacy of the OEM ones.

 

Actually looking for function more than anything. My pcar has the lowest light output/visibility from all my other cars.

Tried adjusting the headlights but couldn't tell any difference while messing with the adjustments. Want to point the headlights up further to get better coverage in front of me.

 

Maybe change the bulbs. IMHO, the stock lights are plenty "white", but they dont last forever. Perhaps they are dying.

 

My previous 997 had the Xenon lights, current one has halogen and they suck! I need to refinish the lens since it's almost 15 years wear now.
But I've heard that the aftermarket LEDs are an "upgrade" if you have halogens.
Xenons are better than the cheaper LED kits => this is all anecdotal though. I haven't tried it yet.

Also, 6000K is way too blue to be the best output. While the blue tinge looks cool, it's not the best at illuminating the road.
I would stick to 4000-5000K. IIRC factory Xenons are 4300K or 4600K.
That's the best white with a tiny tinge of yellow warmth.

Even with the LEDs, quite a few have heat dissipation issues - so make sure you read up well before plunging in.

 

If you are accustomed to 'higher' sitting cars, you are never going to get the 911 to that visibility.
While they are not bad by any means, my xenons do not compare to the xenons in my old C63 or my wifes SQ5. I assume its because the lights sit so much lower as compared to other cars

 

I've got the OEM xenons in my 997.1, and the light output is far less than any other HID equipped car I've owned. I thought it was the original bulbs, but replaced them with authentic Osram CBI bulbs, and while they're a *tiny* bit better, the lighting is not very good at all.

The fog light bulbs, replaced with aftermarket LED bulbs, actually throw more light onto the road.

If I could get my hands on a set of inexpensive OEM housings, I'd like to try replacing things like projectors, ballasts, etc., to get more light out of them.

 

The projector lens makes a significant difference. I bought the pair of lights that are in my car from a guy that upgraded to dynamic 997.2 lights thinking the dynamic part would work in his 997.1. Turns out it didn't and he just got the slightly cooler look of the updated light. But prior to that he had taken the lights apart, cleaned them up inside and replaced the kind of cloudy diffuser/projector lens with an optically clear one and my lights are better than those in my wife's car that still uses the stock bi-xenons.

You can probably see the clarity of the lenses if you zoom in on the photos. The car isn't clean but the projector lenses are

 

I've used everything: HID (both stock and upgraded projectors), LED bulb replacements, LED projectors and incandescent (of-course) on our cars. I have a bit of a headlight fetish (Cars). By far, the best were the HID of either projectors, but the stock seemed better to my eyes. The LED aftermarket projectors seemed good but not nearly at the level of the HID systems. I have read of people scavenging LED systems from Lexus or Toyota cars for LED projector upgrades that have worked well but you really have to be ready hack up your headlight internals. The LED bulbs I have used and seen just aren't up to the job, too many issues with the light image as projected. Bright spots and shadows, though some are better than others.

Though I've been pretty happy with the HIDs in my 997. They are brighter than my wife's Prius And I really like the 4300K color, but that's more of a personal preference.

lightwerkz.com has a great selection and the guys there have always been helpful when I had questions.

 

I was able to fit a fanless belt LED bulb stlye in the housing. I did have to add a small resistor due getting the dip headlight error.

Attached you can see the yellow from the stock bulb's compared to the LEDs. The LEDs are rated at 6k which at first had a blue tint but leveled out to more of a 5k bright white that I wanted.




12362CVB1

 

I've done this with a few vehicles as well- was just hoping to avoid baking apart my really expensive looking headlights.
Any idea what/where the previous owner would have purchased the clear lenses? Was it just lenses, or did s/he swap out projectors and ballasts at the same time?