Bi-Xenons

[Bennachie]

Hello knowledgeable persons.

Apparently, the 981Cayman S has bi xenon headlights as standard. Can the 'knowledge' answer some questions for me?

On Cayman, how does the BI part of xenon work? Dip and main? How is headlamp flashing carried out?

If xenons are standard why is there no self levelling system and headlamp wash fitted as apparently required by UK construction and use regs?

On a different tack does anyone know if the 'painted key' option includes the leather pouch?

thanks.

[Magic919]

They usually have an additional halogen lamp for flashing.

There are no UK construction and use regs covering these. I understand that they don't have the washers as they are not as bright as the ones used on the 911.

[nsm3]

Pretty sure they will have to be self levelling, but as for the washer system? My 2007 GT3 had bi-xenon s with washers, so was surprised to see it is only necessary on the Cayman if you go for the swivelling round corners option? Not really sure how effective headlight washers are anyway, in my experience, when you really need them (sub-zero, foggy, grime riddled motorway runs), they generally freeze up?

[chriscoates81]

I thought all xenons had to have washers.

[stevod]

^IIRC it depends on power. The 'basic' xenons on the 981S are 25W, and the PDLS is 35W. Somewhere between the two is the threshold where washing is required to prevent dirt or whatever distorting the beam and distracting oncoming traffic.

[SFO]

in addition to being brighter, PDLS is "dynamic" -- it turns with the steering wheel, and its beam stretches at motorway speeds.

you can set lights to LHD traffic by using the control lever on the steering column .. this is not available on standard Xenons.

[stevod]

^ *German* motorway speeds!

I think they do something different in fog at speed too.

FWIW the PDLS is superb.

S

[MadMark981]

Bennachie said:

Hello knowledgeable persons.

Apparently, the 981Cayman S has bi xenon headlights as standard. Can the 'knowledge' answer some questions for me?

On Cayman, how does the BI part of xenon work? Dip and main? How is headlamp flashing carried out?

If xenons are standard why is there no self levelling system and headlamp wash fitted as apparently required by UK construction and use regs?

On a different tack does anyone know if the 'painted key' option includes the leather pouch?

thanks.

On the Boxster I thought it was both dip and main (there might be a reflector to flash) - they're certainly bright enough (better than the Litronic on the 997's) -almost like daylight at night when on full beam! They are self levelling (you can see them swish from low down to normal when you switch the car on at night).

I think the others have it on the headlamp wash - but I didn't feel the extra for the PDLS was worth it and I hardly ever used the washers on my previous porkers!

No idea - but knowing Porsche - probably not!

[pete.g]

If a light is described as bi-xenon then the same bulb does main and dip. The dipping is done using a shutter.

[AMJ]

I have just bought a 981 Boxster S with Standard Xenon lights - which I would assume are the same as the 981 Cayman S. Having Xenon lights is a must have for me on any car I buy, let alone a sports car. I bought nearly new and was assured by the OPC that the Boxster S has Xenon bulbs as standard and unless I needed adaptive cornering wasn't much point in the PDLS upgrade. How wrong could he be. The bulbs on the standard fitting lights are 25W and are less than 2000 lumens output which is only a bit more than a good Halogen will output. Turns out that's why they don't need to be self levelling or need washers per EU legislation. They are Bi-Xenon which means, as others have said, there's a shutter that blocks light off above a certain height when 'dipped'. When using main beam, or flashing, the shutter opens up to allow the Xenon light to illuminate further away and also switches on a regular 55W halogen bulb (sitting just below the Xenon unit).

Technical issues aside - don't get misled like I was - the standard Xenons are not a patch on the Xenons I had in my previous 987's. Driving around with dipped lights might be OK in town, but in the complete darkness of a rural road or on an unlit dual carriageway the standard Xenons are next to hopeless. I can't help but feeling Porsche have completely mislead me - who's ever heard of dim Xenons?

Edited by AMJ on Thursday 29th August 19:19

[AMJ]

nsm3 said:

Not really sure how effective headlight washers are anyway, in my experience, when you really need them (sub-zero, foggy, grime riddled motorway runs), they generally freeze up?

Also according the the driver's manual they only work automatically after every 10 uses of the screen washers. That's OK except the counter then restarts every trip, so if you only make short journeys the headlights could never get washed, which to my thinking makes a bit of a mockery of the EU requirement to need them to be fitted in the first place.

[GC8]

nsm3 said:

Pretty sure they will have to be self levelling

This is a myth.

The are type approved cars which have self-levelling rear suspension which don't have self adjusting lamps. There are also cars which don't have the capacity for passengers or luggage which don't have any automatic means of adjustment.

[Bennachie]

ECWTA. Euro type approval. UK regs outlaw anything not incandescent as they were written aeons ago.
Bicycles legally can only have 2.2 watts as a front light a.k.a a candle.....

[chriscoates81]

GC8 said:

This is a myth.

The are type approved cars which have self-levelling rear suspension which don't have self adjusting lamps. There are also cars which don't have the capacity for passengers or luggage which don't have any automatic means of adjustment.

I thought they had to be if you fitted them aftermarket, as from new a car has self leveling suspension (which i would of thought is a normal setup for every car). Obviously they didnt factor in 911s as putting a lot of luggage in is going to make it dazzle people much less.

[stevod]

AMJ said:

...unless I needed adaptive cornering wasn't much point in the PDLS upgrade.

I think the adaptive lights make a staggering difference out in the country. No point if you're just town driving.

AMJ said:

...so if you only make short journeys the headlights could never get washed...

True, although there's a button to wash the lights. Not that I've ever used it though....

S

[AMJ]

chriscoates81 said:

I thought they had to be if you fitted them aftermarket, as from new a car has self leveling suspension (which i would of thought is a normal setup for every car). Obviously they didnt factor in 911s as putting a lot of luggage in is going to make it dazzle people much less.

After looking further into this, I've found out that the EU wide legislation that requires headlamp washers and self levelling only applies to headlamps with bulbs that output more than 2000 lumen. This is an arbitrary value chosen with no real science behind it. Apparently it was introduced to allow manufacturers of cheaper model cars to start to use Xenon and LED technology in their headlights. Xenon consumes much less power than Halogen, but the additional expense of adding washers and levelling systems made it commercially unviable for low end ECO models looking to squeeze as many mpg as possible while keeping costs down. But Porsche - Really?

The point for most people in fitting after market HID is to get brighter lights, not to save 30W power. Most after market bulbs / conversion kits output more than 2000 lumens (more like 3500 lumens) and so fall into the category of needing levelling and washers. I guess there'll be a market for 'street legal' after-market kits with lower output Xenons as they are a bit brighter than most Halogens.

[Delbox]

I'm so grateful for the information contained in this thread, and similar threads on other forums. As a result, and well beyond the deadline date for changing my specification (again), at my request my Porsche Centre managed to add PDLS to my new Boxster S.

I agree, and have made my feelings clear to the Centre, that Porsche marketing material is lacking when discussing the Boxster/Cayman 981 lighting options; however, information about the leather and sound options are equally confusing or lacking information. Moreover, when seeking more detailed advice from Porsche GB customer services, I gained incoherent, confusing and blatantly wrong information.

It is only from those who own the cars and contribute to these forums that the truth and detail can be found. So thanks to you all.

Edited by Delbox on Friday 30th August 11:59

[nsm3]

Calling MadMark, calling MadMark........

If you chance to read this again, can you confirm that you don't have PDSL (?) swivelling round corners headlights and just the standard Bi-xenon's (no washers)? Also, that you find them at least as good as the GT3 setup?

Didn't think to check the spec of the test car (Cayman S) headlights, but didn't think anything out of the ordinary (good or bad) on the lighting front at night. Seeing that the standard S had Bi-xenon's, I just assumed that these are ok and at least would be better than the Cayman halogens, which again should be adequate?

You appear to be the only poster that is happy with the standard S setup?

Edited to add, I have just checked the photo of the test car and it has washer jets - b0ll0x!!!

Edited by nsm3 on Friday 30th August 17:58

[SFO]

458 Italia said:

If you're specing up, don't forget to add the 'two-zone climate control'.

The basic system isn't 'single-zone climate', which would make sense in a car with a tiny cabin, but it is in fact boggo manual air-con where you have to manually adjust the fan speed and heater! Unbelievable in a £40k car. Climate is standard in £20k Audis!

+1

I didn't order dual zone on my 981S .. with roof up, I was constantly fiddling with the fan speed and air temp.

remember that the controls are just ahead of the gear lever, so is a pain to use