Finally a Xenon Headlight solution that works for older Porsches

[pmajka]

Disclaimer. I am not selling or recommending and particular anybody or anything.
Also, this may render your fog lights useless.

My name is Pete and i am a Xenon Addict.
Car 88 911

I have been searching for a Sort of Legal solution to run Xenon headlights. In Pennsylvania, Legal means you have Hi and Low beams. EDIT: (well, this might not be entirely true, i dont want anyone to get in trouble with the law, check with your local DOT if you have concerns.)

The problem with the bulbs that tilt and the bulbs that go in and out are the mechanism is too big to fit the front of a 911 headlight bucket

Enter the solution. 9004-2 bulbs. low beam is Xenon, Hi beam is halogen.

This is not a direct plugin solution for the 911, there is some custom wiring required. I highly recommend using the relay switch mod to power the transformers for the low beams. also you will need to add an additional ground ( the bolt at the bottom of the headlight bucket works great) for the high beam. NOTE: you will (might) need to snip the brown wire that doubles back as a ground from low beam to Foglights in the Left headlight bucket.

9004-2 and h4-2 are available at Evil Bay.

[9dreizig]

what kind of money are we talking about ?

[pmajka]

<$120 US shipped.

do search at evil bay for 9004-2, h4-2, 9007-2 you get the picture...

if you have a H5 lamp, its the 9004-2 bulb.

[Bench-Racing]

The latest SEMA magazine talked about how there is no retro Xenon kit that conforms to DOT requirements. They said law enforcement is going to come down on Xenon kits since most if not all are "For off road use only". I am no buzz killer, I love Xenon but just wanted to let you know before you go and do all that work. Heck, you may never get caught.
Regards,
Charles

[rusnak]

I thought this was going to be some wiseguy saying "hold a xenon flashlight in one hand and a xenon flashlight in the other".

Seriously, since xenon in principal is not illegal, you'd think someone would come up with a good kit for 100% xenon. I don't get the dual bulb halogen bit at all.

[ChrisBennet]

I understand that one of the problems is that to be effective, you need a different lense, not just a different bulb.
See Thinking of converting to HID? on Daniel Stern's lighting web site.

It's tricky to judge headlamp beam performance without a lot of knowledge, a lot of training and a lot of special equipment, because subjective perceptions are very misleading. Having a lot of strong light in the foreground, that is on the road close to the car and out to the sides, is very comforting and reliably produces a strong impression of "good headlights". The problem is that not only is foreground lighting of decidedly secondary importance when travelling much above 30 mph, but having a very strong pool of light close to the car causes your pupils to close down, worsening your distance vision...

-Chris

[bell]

the euro h4 lenses (no nipples on glass) have a wonderful accurate dispersion which would probably work well with xenons, i'm running the 100/130 narvas and they can be dialed in to just where they won't shine directly in the eyes of oncoming traffic (the main reason why you would get a ticket).
just fyi.....i've installed a number of these kits for customers, it's all about the lense....most look like crap. they have a low power consuption, but most of the "high beam/low beam" kits do not use 2 xenon bulbs, and the incandescent they stick in there suck, we need to find a true dual xenon bulb kit.....

[SCHNELE]

Aha... Peter Majka now I got it, you sold me your last Xenon kit because the mechanism for the high/low beams is too large, you scamming bastard, you swore up and down it would fit H4s more importantly you shook the trust I had for sellers on this board. It is OK! for I have more money than time and I will run in to you some day.

[pmajka]

never did i swear that it would fit h4s up and down.
i merely quoted documentation that some modification would be required to fit the H4. I sold the item cause I purchased the H4 item thinking it would fit a 9004 socket, my ignorance was my loss. I merely was trying to re-sell an item that would NOT fit an H5, and was advertised to fit and H4. I also sold it at a loss. I was unaware that the item would not fit in the H4 bucket too, at the time. it was only when you pointed out that it (the h4 product that i resold to you) would not fit the H4 bucket on a 911, that i got that horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I do recall suggesting that you resell the Item back on E bay to recoup your loss. At that time you could have easily got all your investment back. If i am truly a "Scamming Bastard", then my name be mud. I am glad for your fortune in having more money than time. I hope it brings you happiness.

As i stated in the start of this thread, "I am not selling or recommending and particular anybody or anything.
Also, this may render your fog lights useless". I am a consumer and have no affiliation with anyone selling any automotive related items on E Bay.

[pmajka]

Since, for now on, everything i post needs a disclaimer... I did not draft the link or the document contained with in. However, should anyone choose to click the link, interesting reading on page 23. Special thanks to the D.O.T. for drafting this document.
http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf82/176157_web.pdf

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by pmajka
Since, for now on, everything i post needs a disclaimer... I did not draft the link or the document contained with in. However, should anyone choose to click the link, interesting reading on page 23. Special thanks to the D.O.T. for drafting this document.
http://dmses.dot.gov/docimages/pdf82/176157_web.pdf

That's a link to a document drafted by Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy (the same guy who said the HID conversions are a downgrade).
-Chris

[Rick Lee]

I respectfully disagree with some of Daniel Stern's stuff. I've bought from him before and the man sure knows his stuff. But his constant rants against HID retro-fits or upgrades just are not borne out by my own experiences. I spent $235 on HID's for the 993 and it was the best money I ever spent on the car. I spent about $179 on HID's for my bike and it has been super. No halogen bulb would have given me half the performance increase that the HID's have. Sunday night, I was leaving a Rush concert in northern NJ on my bike, when my low beam died five minutes into a 250 mile night ride. So I switched my high on. Not one oncoming car flashed me and no car I passed made any kind of gesture to suggest I was bothering them. Luckily, my low beam came back to life about 100 miles later when I stopped for gas. Oh, and the 993 passed inspection no problem two weekends ago with the HID's in.

[9dreizig]

Rick, good stuff but I have to ask,, where you on your bike so you could make a quick exit and not be seen at a RUSH concert ? LOL

[MikeTheYounger]

The main issue with a drop-in HID kit is the fact that 99% of the reflector-type headlights don't dispurse the light well enough with an HID bulb/capsule, creating a lot of glare for oncoming drivers. I admit that I don't know how an H4 lens would work, and I am also no expert in aftermarket lighting. I'm just contributing what I've learned.

I just did and HID conversion in my New Beetle, which has a projector lens for the low beam from the factory. It's has some glare, but not like a full-on reflector. I personally plan on retrofitting some OEM Audi TT HID projectors into the place of the stock NB projectors in order to get the right cutoff.

I agree that an HID upgrade is an excellent mod, but one must do the research into how to properly power them, as well as how to house them. Otherwise, you're run the risk of driving with two floodlights strapped to your car.

[Rick Lee]

Originally posted by 9dreizig
Rick, good stuff but I have to ask,, where you on your bike so you could make a quick exit and not be seen at a RUSH concert ? LOL

That was my fifth Rush concert in two weeks. So no, I'm pretty sure plenty of folks saw me.