3.2 Carrera headlight upgrade

[h_____]

Folks,

A quick question. As you probably all know the Carrera's headlights were never a strong point so I'm looking for a quick cheap upgrade that will allow me to see past the end of the bonnet at night. Can I run higher wattage than standard bulbs? Or should I stick to upgrading to the latest and greatest Osram 50% brighter style bulbs. I dont want to spend £x00s on this. Anyone done this? Got any advice?

Thanks

h_____

Edited by h_____ on Wednesday 14th February 07:46

[Steven Kenny]

The Osram bulbs do improve things somewhat. This is especially likely to be the case if they are the original bulbs. Do not expect the light output to suddenly be fantastic though! If you go to higher wattage bulbs there are two things that you need to remember 1) I don't believe they are legal 2) you need to put a relay in or you will melt the switch contacts for the headlights.

Steven

[Globulator]

I popped some brighter Philips bulbs in which seemed to have a good effect, for max brightness you'll need HID.
Obviously you also need to ensure reflector is clean and shiny and glass is clean and not too stone-chipped too..

These bulbs are the standard wattage, they just claimed to be brighter. And so they were

Edited by Globulator on Wednesday 14th February 13:23

[spenny_b]

Speak to Alan at Aceparts (aceparts on PH)...bought a set of proper HID Xenons for my 996, just retrofits the H7 bulb (in my case) and its then just a question of "losing" the ballast/ignitor box somewhere. HID kits have dropped in price dramatically this last year or so.

Several plus points....a) I believe it only uses 35W...b) Far brighter....c) no risk of clouding any lens covers ....c) no need for relays or other gubbins....d) not as fragile as the higher wattage bulbs (my Scoob went through them every few weeks!)

On the other hand, without self-levelling, "technically" its an MoT failure (although how many MoT guys know this..or care..is debatable). However, being pretty much a bulb swap (a few other details like the bulb cover on back of 996 assy) its easy to change for your annual inspection.

Having run mine (and more importantly, aligned them) for a month or two now, I wouldn't consider wasting money (as I have in the past) on higher wattage "ice-white" bulbs.

Cost?...for mine it was £125 all-in (I collected) including some natty LED sidelight replacements.

[stuttgartmetal]

Illegal, yes, but who'll ever know.
Get to halfrauds and put 100Watt bulbs in.
Much better.

[spenny_b]

stuttgartmetal said:

Get to halfrauds and put 100Watt bulbs in.
Much better.

Better?...Why?

a) additional load on cars wiring
b) brighter=hotter=more fragile=constant replacement (I guess the PIAA pro bulbs are okay, never used them myself, but they're not far short of same cost as an HID kit)
c) hotter=risk of knackering lenses with fogging (on some cars)
d) also illegal for road use

...or am i missing something?

[NorthEast]

Consider fitting a headlight relay set up as this reduces volt drop to the headlamps. It also protects the column switch which is prone to burning out. Be very careful in just fitting higher wattage lamps.

[h_____]

thanks for the advice guys. Sounds like higher wattage bulbs arent as simple as I thought. I think I'll put new quality bulbs in, then see if that makes enough of a difference. Otherwise I'll have to go down the HID route.

[wildoliver]

Well you and I have the same problem for HID, that's why I gave up and decided to live with the cortina quality lights on my Porsche, the 996 and I believe even 993 can fit a Cheap hid kit easily as they have a seperate Hi/lo beam bulb, we have one to do both jobs, i.e. a H4.

Now some people advised fitting a single filament H4 HID kit and just living with it on dip all the time which will apperently be better than main beam on normal bulbs, but i can't see how this is legal, will pass mot and not blind everyone.

There are kits with a hid bulb and a normal halogen high beam bulb in one, but then obviously when the halogen bulb blows (and it will) you have to buy a whole new unit (not cheap).

I haven't yet found for a fair price a twin filament (or shuttered) xenon HID kit for a H4 bulb.

[computamedic]

Oliver,

They do exist. Have a look at www.hidlighting.co.uk/ - they have a £130 dual beam kit which I know has been fitted to a 964 successfully. There are others on eBay with what are referred to as H4-3 bulbs. These are the same as the above kit and have a magnetically operated function within the bulb to move the light source between the dipped and main beam positions.

I have installed the same bulbs (along with the ballasts etc) in my Peugeot van and the improvement is spectacular. I have another kit coming for the 964.

Regards

Dave

[wildoliver]

So the £130 kit does both high and low beam? if so that is cheap, it definitely has a shutter system yes?

[NigelJ]

I had problem with the dip switch on my 3.2 which was caused by overheating as it carries the full headlight current. The wiring from the light switch was also getting hot. So I fitted a pair of relays which pick up a feed directly off the battery. The switch and wiring issues have completely gone and the headlights are now far brighter. I also dismantled the headlamp units and cleaned the reflectors and inside the glass.

Cost, about £10.00.


Cheers

NigelJ

[computamedic]

wildoliver said:

So the £130 kit does both high and low beam? if so that is cheap, it definitely has a shutter system yes?

Oliver,

Absolutely. If you can get access to the PCGB Forum have a look at this thread www.porscheclubgbforum.com/tm.asp?m=257044 where Neil Eldred explains all. He bought the kit I'm talking about at the Autosport show and installed it on his 964.

The bulb has an internal moving mount operated by a supplied relay which shifts the light source between the dipped and main beam positions. It has the advantage that the bulb is already lit - it just shifts position, so the changeover between dipped and main is MUCH faster than with separate filaments as with the halogen bulbs.

Regards

Dave


BTW Most of these kits on eBay here http://tinyurl.com/3a32d9 use the same bulb. Some are from the same supplier mentioned above at £115 + £15 P&P on Buy Now.

Edited by computamedic on Thursday 15th February 14:30

[wildoliver]

it sounds so cheap though? Am I just being cynical with if it sounds too good to be true it usually is?

[Globulator]

wildoliver said:

it sounds so cheap though? Am I just being cynical with if it sounds too good to be true it usually is?

Well you've got gas discharge. Like in the Neon lamps for £20 inside computers, only with a bit more power. Then a xenon bulb without a filament, and a magnetic 'tilt' control: Chinese 'cost to make' estimate? Probably about £10 tops.

Given the weight and complexity I think the key is to buy modern and be careful not to pay too much - this technology really shouldn't cost that much.

[computamedic]

I think it's pretty much like computer hardware these days - as Chinese production gets into gear and they can produce the numbers the price goes down. These kits are selling for even less in the US - some of the single beam kits (H1/H7) are selling for as little as $89!!! I can't force you if you think they should be more but I suspect if you wait more than a few weeks they will be significantly less still.

Virtually all the kits I have seen are sourced from Taiwan or mainland China - some claiming to be designed in Germany, some sold as being "Hella-type" etc. The big problem with many of the earlier kits was the lack of dual beam - and the fact that the bulbs were too long to fit inside the headlamp bowl of the classic 911. These new "dual beam" bulbs don't appear to suffer from that size issue - they do fit without having to make a huge hole in the back of the bowl. They seem to be generally supplied with a 12 or 14 month warranty - easier to claim if you buy from a UK-based reseller but are reckoned to last for something like 20,000 hours of use - pretty much the life of the car.

I'm doing a great selling job here - maybe I should buy a bunch of them and resell at the higher price that seems to attract you!! That's all somebody else is doing already.

Regards

Dave

[h_____]

Nigel, I can understand that cleaning would make it brighter, but assuming you stuck with standard bulbs, how does putting the relay in make it brighter?

[Globulator]

h_____ said:

Nigel, I can understand that cleaning would make it brighter, but assuming you stuck with standard bulbs, how does putting the relay in make it brighter?

Ohms law


Given two 55w headlamps at 14volts should draw nearly 8 amps through a whole bunch of wires and connectors.

V = IR, so even 0.2ohm then drops 1.5volts, leaving you with 12.5v instead of 14 (14.4 if you're lucky).

Banging in a relay gives you a much much shorter wiring path with better switch contacts (lower resistance). So if you wire in a relay, get some nice thick wire, a big fuse and make sure it doesn't short out!

[stuttgartmetal]

Globs bedtime reading

[wildoliver]

No don't get me wrong I am a renowned cheap skate, just always wary when something looks amazingly good value!