Joeorange

2008 Cayenne Xenon Dipper.
Right side low beam (dipper) fail. Have swapped bulbs and even whole unit for trouble shooting and it is not the bulb and the left unit powers up when plugged in to right side cannon plug so it is getting power on that side. (i.e. not a fuse).

Is there some other trouble shooting that can be done before I purchase the $800 ballast?
Some suppliers indicated both ballasts ($800 x 2) need to be changed but the local Porsche parts say that is not the case. Any comments?

slavie

The ballasts have to be a matched pair. There have been 4 revisions, 00, 01, 02, 03, latest is 03 and that's what the dealer sells. If your working one is 03, then you can just purchase a new one from dealer, otherwise you need the pair. Another option is to find a used matching unit on eBay, but you're taking a chance of course, with the used part. I got a used unit and it's been going strong for 2+ years now, cost me $150 for the unit + $170 for dealer programming.
Some members have posted good results on purchasing a new aftermarket pair online, supposedly the computer recognized them as "03" revision. They're in the $200-$250 range each from Europe if memory serves me right.

Either way you go, you will need the dealer-only PIWIS tool to program the replacement unit (new or used) to get rid of the warning message. No aftermarket tool is known to be able to program them. The headlight will work with the error message, but the cornering lights and other features will be disabled.

Joeorange

Thanks for the response slavie, (been away so thanks for your patience).
Decided to go to the dealer for a ballast as they had one of the correct vintage ballasts (02) and was going to have to visit for the programming,
A bit more expensive but avoided the woes of the mismatch or dud from Ebay.

slavie

Cool. I'm surprised the dealer was able to source an older one for you, but hey, that's good. Make sure there is no moisture/condensation in your headlights - that's a semin-common problem on 957 Cayennes. Any condensation runs to the bottom where the ballast is attached, and even though the ballast plug is sealed off to external water, it's completely open to the inside of the headlight. Water gets in, ballast goes poof.

Joeorange

Roger that, had condensation and dried them out and sealed the edges but still lost the one side and yes lucky to get an ...-02 ballast in the parts dept.