Projector headlights for 944

[asidrave]

I have one halogen and one non-halogen headlights on my car...i want to change them out. the non-halogen seems dim when illuminated.

anyways...i would like to upgrade the headlights to projectors for better night visibility. i dont want to do HID.

What have you guys done as far as aftermarket headlights?

[asidrave]

I was looking at this

7" ROUND H6024 PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS 6000K BI-XENON HID | eBay

[9FF]

Clean your grounds and fit e-codes with 80/100W halogens ftw.

Forget all that HID/Bi-Xenon stuff for the 944. The e-code lenses put all the light on the road and with 80/100W halogens in them you will not be dissapointed.

[Gawernator]

E-code?

[9FF]

E-codes: 944online.com - Body Electrical Find Parts For Your Porsche 944 And Get Your Car Back On The Road.

Hate to link away from the host site but I did a search and they don't stock these.

[Volhv]

Unfortunately those E-codes are for off-road use only.

Ebay projectors are always as cheaply made as they come.
I looked at some $50 projectors at an autoparts store a little while ago, and on many of them the center reflector was off center. The guy at the counter said he could look through all them and match two good ones.


LED headlights look interesting, but they would also look ridiculous on a 944.
Truck-Lite - Catalog Product : 7'' Round 12v LED Headlamp

[9FF]

Unfortunately those E-codes are for off-road use only.



...

Yep sellers have to say "off road only" for legal reasons as they are not marked DOT.

Don't know of any state inspections that check the markings on the lenses but I may be wrong.

[Gawernator]

I've never heard of my headlights being checked ever, for anything other than the fact that light is coming out of them. Anyways thanks for that link, it would be a cool Euro upgrade for our US models... My question is if this is a 100% drop in upgrade for a 1986 944, or do you also need to purchase a wiring harness? I can't tell if mine has halogen or the H4 bulbs in, there's mismatched hella and sylvania lights from the PO which are kind of clouded so I can't see.

[Gawernator]

Complete Porsche 944 Lighting Upgrade Kit

Difference?

[9FF]

They are available from various sources and they are a 100% drop in swap using the stock halogen bulbs. Some sources also sell them with high output halogen bulbs 100W+ and if you go with that option you will need to upgrade your headlight wiring and probably run relays too. Some, like Rennbay, sell them as a kit with wiring, relays and high output bulbs included.

The stock halogens 50/65W I think don't need any wiring changes, go to 90/100W and you should think about buying the kit with relays & wiring.

[Gawernator]

Ah, I see. For a little over $100 the E-code with 50/65W bulbs seems like it would be plenty bright and look good too. Is the brightness of 90/100W worth the extra money you would have to spend? I had Sylvania silverstars on my '83 and those were plenty bright if I recall. Currently I don't have any problems but a brighter and whiter light would be nice to have.

[9FF]

The 50/65W is plenty bright. It's not so much the wattage that improves things, it's the way those e-codes focus the light ahead of you instead of scattering it to the sides. I did fit 80/100W bulbs on stock wiring and there was no issue on my car. Wiring didn't get hotter or nothing adverse happened, but then again I clean my grounds every six months. My advise, fit the ecodes with 50/65W, clean the grounds and see what you think. You can always buy the harness and relays later to upgrade to 90/100W.

Ecode on my 86:

[Techno Duck]

While sand blasted sealed beam lenses that are years old are not doing anything for lighting the big improvement will come from upgrading the wiring. If you measure the voltage drop at the headlight plug i bet is somewhere around 12v which well under your charging voltage which is probably around 13.5-14v. This ~1.5v may not seem like much but if you can find a chart that compares light output vs voltage the relationship is not linear.. so the more voltage drop you get your lights get exponentially dimmer. At 12v you are selling like a 30% reduction in light output approximately.

My XJ Cherokee sufferered the same headlight wiring problems as the 944, all the voltage runs through the switch and the wiring is pretty pathetic. I actually installed the Rennbay harness on my Jeep and the light output was probably 2x better. Voltage at the plug with the original wiring i measured at barely over 11v. With the new wiring i had the same voltage as the alternator output.

I am also using the e-code lenses which have a far superior beam pattern, for a while i ran 90/100w bulbs but they burned out pretty quickly.. usually only got about 3-4 months out of them. This was using quality Osram and Philips/Narva bulbs ($$). I went back to standard wattage bulbs with the e-codes and i think its plenty adequate.

Basically what i am saying is if you want the best improvement over what you have right now, upgrade the wiring first. New lenses will help, but the wiring is your real bottleneck.

[Gawernator]

So get the E-codes and upgraded wiring but still use the 50/65W for great effect?

[Gawernator]

Also, so even at wattage I guess the bulbs aren't created equal. Rennbay has H4 Hella halogen bulbs at $4 each 55/60W, but also these Hella H4 Xenon bulbs 55/60W $35 for two. Porsche 944 Xenon H4 Bulbs for Hella Headlights

[Majin325]

I had purchased some DOT approved lenses which use the H4 bulbs, and the wiring harness from Rennbay.com : Home - Rennbay - Porsche 944 ball joints, power steering, brakes, odometer gears & accessories
The bulbs that came with the lenses were the Hella H4 xenon bulbs. It made a huge difference in the lighting. I now use Nokya Arctic White Stage2 but not very pleased with them since the light output is not as great.

[tazzieman]

World's First PLUS 100 Globe Now Available in Australasia - Narva

These plus rewiring and relays = super bright light , extremely happy (I have to avoid hitting ranimals at night , these are the next best thing to 4x4 driving lights)

[Rasta Monsta]

924Board.org :: View topic - New GTS headlight conversion kit available NOW page 10

[kfanazini]

Can you give me some more specific information please on the wiring upgrade.

Originally Posted by Techno Duck

While sand blasted sealed beam lenses that are years old are not doing anything for lighting the big improvement will come from upgrading the wiring. If you measure the voltage drop at the headlight plug i bet is somewhere around 12v which well under your charging voltage which is probably around 13.5-14v. This ~1.5v may not seem like much but if you can find a chart that compares light output vs voltage the relationship is not linear.. so the more voltage drop you get your lights get exponentially dimmer. At 12v you are selling like a 30% reduction in light output approximately.

My XJ Cherokee sufferered the same headlight wiring problems as the 944, all the voltage runs through the switch and the wiring is pretty pathetic. I actually installed the Rennbay harness on my Jeep and the light output was probably 2x better. Voltage at the plug with the original wiring i measured at barely over 11v. With the new wiring i had the same voltage as the alternator output.

I am also using the e-code lenses which have a far superior beam pattern, for a while i ran 90/100w bulbs but they burned out pretty quickly.. usually only got about 3-4 months out of them. This was using quality Osram and Philips/Narva bulbs ($$). I went back to standard wattage bulbs with the e-codes and i think its plenty adequate.

Basically what i am saying is if you want the best improvement over what you have right now, upgrade the wiring first. New lenses will help, but the wiring is your real bottleneck.

[cauzomb]

It used to be called the Ice shark headlight wiring harness... It basically bybasses the current paths for the factory headlight wiring that snakes it way through switches and the fusebox before going out to the headlights..

With the remote headlight wiring harness and relay kit, you are only using the power out from your factory headlight circuit to turn on the remote relays= very little current draw through the switches and fuse box..

The remote relays use fused power either directly from the battery or directly from the alternator, then straight from the relay out to the headlights.. It is a huge improvement and will likely prevent the common melt downs of the blue plug wires on the back of the early 944 fuse box and the melt down of the factory headlight switch.

I built my own remote relay harness using some new wires and parts and a pair of high current, weather resistant relays that I got from a VW at the wrecking yard....

If you are going to use high wattage bulbs you may also want to get aftermarket ceramic bulb plugs with teflon or silicone insulated wires as those bits of wires and the plug will get VERY HOT due to the current load as well as radiant heat of the bulbs.