After an accident in 2000 I had to buy a replacement right fender and other items to get the car legal for the road. One of the first things I bought were the Bosch Euro H4 headlamps to covert from the stock sugar scoops (the right side scoop was toast). Back then they sold them with the primer trim ring, bulbs, the special screw and the rubber seal. I thought they were expensive then, If I remember right ~$250 each. I did actually put them on the car and drove with them before tearing the car a part for a complete repaint.
Fast forward to last month, I finally was able to install the headlamps with the relays to protect the light switch and high beam stalk. I did search the site for any other issues with the install. I read posts on how difficult it was to install with the new rubber seal and that one individual had actually lost the headlight while driving, it had popped off somehow. The poster bought a replacement and used wire and crimps to hold the headlamp in case it popped off again. When I read that, I thought yeah it is only held on by one screw and a tab but wire straps that's excessive and should not be necessary, the guy must not have installed them properly
Now for the Homer Simpson DOOH!
Took the car for a 20 mile test drive on some windy roads on the North Shore of Long Island. Made it back home and pulled the car into the garage and low and behold my right side headlamp was completely gone. There was some damage to the paint on the side of the fender where the headlamp must have scraped it as it went flying off the car. The screw that holds the headlamp in place was also completely gone. Naturally, I was pretty upset about what had happened and then I remembered the post about the wire straps as a safety precaution. I actually re-drove the route in my truck hoping to find it laying on the side of the road, damaged but hopefully salvageable. Well fat chance of that happening it was gone forever.
My next heartache came when I started searching for a replacement. It seems that Bosch no longer makes the lenses so what ever you buy will have AL on the glass instead of the Bosch name. I know this is minor, but it bugged the crap out of me. My next shock came when I tried to get one with a primed trim. I found a competitor that offered the headlamp with a primer trim and no lamps for ~$300 and they could get it to me by around February of 2015. Well that long lead time was out of the question. My only other option was to buy the headlamp with the chrome trim from Pelican for $425 or the black powder coated trim. The black powder coated trim unit was an additional $300 more. They do sell a primed trim cover that goes over the chrome or the black trim for an extra ~$60. I was not happy with that solution because now you have another trim piece with another specialty screw to go over the trim of the headlamp. This additional trim covers the stock trim and the two lamp adjustment screws. I know this is what Porsche sells as the correct part if you want a painted trim on the headlamp. But it just seems to be not necessary if you can paint the trim that comes with the headlamp.
So, I went with installing the chrome headlamp and have installed two crimped plastic coated stranded wires on each headlamp. if it does come loose again it will just bounce around a little but won't be able to fly off.
Now, I have to make a decision, do I keep the chrome ring and buy a replacement chrome ring for the other side or do I sandblast the chrome off and prime/paint it the color of the car.
