peppapig

This is inspired by a comment in the current UK Porsche Post about the poor quality of OE halogen headlights on a new Macan. Well, the halogen headlights on my 2009 GTS Cayenne are not just poor, they are abysmal. I have got much better OE halogen headlights on my 2008 Renault Trafic van. That applies to both dipped and main beam!

Before I start experimenting with different H7 bulbs, has anybody any information about any sort of upgrade or modification to improve the situation? Short, that is, of converting to factory xenon!

peppapig

PS For those not in Europe, a Renault Trafic is a 3 ton gross vehicle weight panel van. Either way, by my reckoning, it should not have better headlights than a 4.8 GTS Cayenne!

Andy E.

What are the restrictions in the U.K. with respect to some of the newer brighter white halogen lamps?
Have you considered looking into Sylvania's Silver Star halogen lamps?

nodoors

I put some LED H7 bulbs in one of our other cars and they are now brighter than the xenons on the Cayenne by a large margin. There is no guarantee that they will fit and you will definitely want to make sure that their light output works properly so you are not blinding other drivers. There is no real standard to the shapes and sizes. I do have to say that one burned out in the first couple months, but it was such a difference that it is worth it to me to put a new $40 bulb in every few months if I have to. What is the cost of my wife hitting a deer, right?

porsche911md

Are the halogen headlights for the Cayennes that bad?!

I got the xenon ones in my '08 GTS and they are great.

In my '06 911 I had the halogen and upgraded to LED bulbs with a much better light output and probably better light then the xenon bulbs

peppapig

Strictly speaking, there are some restrictions, but in practice there is little chance of either a roadside check or the annual test taking the car apart to get the bulb out to check the wattage. HID and Xenon can be a different ballgame, because if a car has those then it should also have headlight wash and self levelling.
I haven't heard of the Sylvania bulbs. I will look them up. The common ones over here appear to be Philips, Osram, GE and Bosch.

Mine appear to be. A couple of evenings ago, I was being followed by an Audi (I think it was a 2016) and I realised that his lights were providing me with more forward vision than mine. He was not causing me any problems - not too close to me or on high beam.

peppapig

nodoors

Yes, that is a sure sign that your headlights suck. When you can see the shadow of your own car in the brightest area of your headlight beams due to a car's headlights behind you!

19psi

You may have high resistance connections. Pull the headlights and make sure the connectors/wires aren't crusty and falling apart...common problem in the 955, not sure for the 957? How are the lenses and reflectors in the housing? Bulbs do get dim with use and age, especially if they're also being use as daytime driving lights. Replaced all 4 sealed beams a few months ago in my 28 year old car because I couldn't see 10' in front of me even with all 4 on.

I have halogens in my '04 Cayenne and they are by far the best of any vehicle I've owned, even better than my '14 Ford. About 2 hours ago I managed to see a deer off the side of a highway (also thanks to the lower driving lights) and come to a stop. Unfortunately the pickup in the oncoming lane didn't see it. Bambi decided to cross and she just exploded. I've always called them road rats and ranked them with yellow jackets and mosquitoes, but I felt so bad for that poor thing tonight.

Also the Sylvania Silver Stars are awesome. When the low beam failed on my motorcycle I installed one and it's very impressive. Now I need to replace the one in the high beam projector because it looks yellowish and dim in comparison.

nodoors

Deer are a problem. I would rather see them than hit them.

Marv

Does Renault still only use 3 lug nuts per wheel?

The inquiring mind of a former Renault R11 owner wants to know.

Marv

Not sure where you live, but when I was in Ohio, seeing them to avoid then was almost impossible. They hide behind the side of houses and trees, then simply bolt across the road. No time to react even in broad daylight, let alone night.

Deer never look for predators (cars/trucks), they just run like their butt's on fire, much like squirrels, without all the lane changes.

Petza914

I have the bi-Xenons in both my 997s and Cayenne 957 Turbo S and they are fantastic. On my GMC Sierra c3, my projection headlight housings had deteriorated so badly that there were cracks allowing dirt and water inside totally clouding up the front internal lens, so a couple weeks ago I ordered a set of tinted Spyder headlights for the truck and installed LED bulbs into them instead of traditional ones. My original halogen lights were so bad I had to install 100W accessory driving lights into the OEM bumper openings in order to be able to see adequately at night. Headlight output was so bad, they were both burned out once and I couldn't even tell the difference. In the new headlight housings, I went with these


The light output is fantastic, even through the very lightly tinted headlight lenses, and I can now see very well at night again, to where I don't even need to turn on those accessory lights at all. Used the same bulb, but different # in the high-beam housing as well, and it's like daylight when they're turned out. They even have a small integrated fan in the back of the bulb to keep them cool to last longer.

peppapig

No they stopped that quite a while ago. I only remember three on the smallest, most basic versions. The Trafic has the usual 5 and they are 19 mm (3/4").

I think that I am getting to the causes of my problem. I think that the headlight units are finished particularly the right hand one. The projector dipped beam on that side seems to have no cut off or any definition at all. On both sides the main lenses appear to have some areas of frosting in front of the projector dipped beam. Fairly noticeable when the lights are on, but almost invisible when they are off. I guess that 9 years is proving a bit too much for them!

I had both the headlights out today and checked everything that I could. The terminals seem OK but I have sprayed cleaner on to them and the wiring is still nice and flexible. I have just picked up a pair of Bosch Gigalight +120 bulbs (very high in tests over here) so I will put them in tomorrow and give them a go and I will report back.

We don't get Sylvania over here, or at least not easily. They are part of the Osram Group and we get Osram.

The same sort of thing is happening on my 20 year old BMW E46 323i. I checked the lights on it today, and there is a sort of crazing on the inside of the lenses which is only visible when the lights are on. Completely invisible with the lights off. A couple of the reflectors are on their way out as well.

I don't feel confident about 'baking' the Cayenne units and taking the lenses off, so it is starting to look like some new headlight units will be required, as well as the BMW - probably.

peppapig

hahnmgh63

Sylvania is part of Osram. Sylvania was an old american lighting company that was purchased years ago by the Osram group.

peppapig

Got them in yesterday and the result was not what I was expecting. They certainly provide more light - the beam seems much wider. It is not much brighter and the light is not as white as the Osrams that were in there. An improvement but still not what they should be.

I hope that this is not too stupid a question. The UV coating that is on the headlight from the factory - does anybody know if Porsche spray it on, or is it a film? I ask because there appears to be some sort of film on both the headlights, and the film looks as though it has seen much better days.

peppapig