OK, I got the Dectane DRL module from Frank at Orange Tuning earlier this week. I installed it today and it was very easy to install.

The module has 3 primary hookup wires, the red one goes to the positive terminal of the battery, black goes to the negative battery terminal and the orange one gets hooked to the positive wire on a parking lamp circuit. There are 2 lamp wires (a black & a red) that run to each front light location.

I mounted my module using velcro tape on the box next to the nav unit control box near the battery. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the bulkhead behind it so the fuse holder for the positive and the ground wire can easily reach the battery. Dont hook these wires up to the battery until all of the other connections are made.

Pop the front lamp units out of the bumper using the credit card sized piece of plastic from Porsche (or anything else you can stick in there the same size). Each module has 3 lamp sockets in it. The one closest to the inside of the car is the fog lamp. The one in the center of the unit is the park lamp. The one furthest to the outside is the turn indicator.

From the module, route a set of the red/black lamp wires and the orange park lamp wire to one light location and the other pair of red/black wires to the other location. I was able to route these wires behind the plastic trim and carpet inside the trunk area. If you pull the carpet on the sides loose you will see a large rubber plug in the fender on each side about a foot from the front. If you pull that plug out you can route your wires through there, reach up through the hole in the bumper where the lamp unit mounts and pull the wires through. Note-I had to splice about 2' of wire to the red/black and orange wires for them to be long enough to reach. Cut a small slice in the rubber plug to clear the wires and put it back in the hole. You should now have a pair of red/black wires hanging out of the hole in the bumper on each side and a orange wire coming out of the same area on one side (it doesn't make any difference which side). Note-The red/black lamp wires have some type of connector on them from the factory, just cut them off. Otherwise it will be a pain to pull the wires behind the plastic trim.

You will use the fog lights for your DRL's. Using a T tap/compression splice, hook the red (+) lamp wire to the black/white stripe wire on the fog lamp socket very near the socket. Using a T tap/compression splice, hook the black (-) lamp wire to the brown wire on the fog lamp socket very near the socket. Do this on both sides. Using a T tap/compression splice, hook the orange wire to the white/red stripe wire on the PARK lamp socket very near the socket. Remember, you are not cutting the factory wire, you are just tapping these new wires on to them.

You can now make sure the wires are clear and slide the lamp units back in to the bumper until they snap in to place. Hook up the red and black wires to the battery now. They come with nice lugs on them so they slide under the battery cable clamp bolts easily. Note-The module comes with an AGC style in-line fuse holder on the red wire. It has a 3amp fuse in it. If you are going to hook the DRL module up to your OEM halogen fog lights, replace this 3a fuse with a 5a fuse. Since LED's draw less current I suspect the 3a fuse will work fine with the LED units.

UPDATE: Doing some research on the DRL module, it looks like using it to run the halogen foglight bulbs may be close to exceeding the current draw it is designed to support. Mine is currently working fine in this mode and it may be fine going forward, or it could shorten the life of the module. So I ordered (2) H11-xHP9 LED DRL bulbs. These bulbs are made specifically for DRL usage and give you the cool blue HID look. Combined they draw less than 1 amp so well within the load limits of the module. You can get them from Superbrightleds.com for $11.95 each. If I get a fault message with these LED's I will add the resistor modules to each side. They are also available from the same company for $4 each.

Now, when you turn your key on and start the engine (with all other lights switched off), only the front foglights/DRL's will come on. When you turn your headlamp switch to the park light or headlight position, the fog/DRL lights will shut off while all of the other front/rear lights come on like normal. If you pull out on the headlight switch to activate the front fog lights, they switch on. When you turn the light switch off the DRL's come back on and remain on until you turn the key off.

The really nice thing is, you can get the module and install it now so you have DRL's with your OEM halogen fogs. If you don't want to spend the money on the LED lamps up front, you're done.

If you do get the LED lamps from Ray/ROTTEC, you will unplug the OEM lamps, plug the LED's in and you're done. No other wiring changes required and you have true DRL function. And, there are no alarms or fault messages.

Orange Tuning/Dectane offer 3 different modules. The TFLM-01 module works just as described above, but you will have to route an additional wire through the firewall and hook it to an ignition switched wire. The TFLM-02 is the same as the 01 unit except it dims the DRL's when you switch the park lights on instead of turning them off. The TFLM-03 module I bought is $15 more then the 01/02 modules but it electronically senses when you turn on the key so you dont have to route any wires through the firewall. I think the module was 45 euro including shipping.

The picture of the front of the car shows what it looks like when the DRL's are turned on. There are no other lights on anywhere on the car.

 

Thanks so much for researching and documenting this (rep points going to you).
It is particularly great that this module will work with factory fogs, as I've never liked that the Xenon headlights are used as DRL's through the PCM setup.

 

Yes, the halogen foglight bulbs are much cheaper than the Xenon headlight bulbs if you're going to have something turned on all of the time, and having the DRL function on the bumper modernizes the look of the car.

 

If you want to order one of these DRL modules, just send an email to Frank at Orange Tuning. The email address is info@orange-tuning.de

The TFLM03 module is 25 euro plus 15 euro shipping

I did a little research to see if an equivalent DRL module was available in the US. I found a few and ordered them and they were really cheap and I would not install them on my car. Thats why I went with the Dectane unit.

 

Thanks so much for your research! Reps to you as well! Now, the Rottec's DRL's are looking more tempting with Dectane's Module.

 

great writeup Randy!

 

Hey Ray -
Have you had a chance to source one of these for tests with your front LEDs?

 

I ordered the module on Oct 31, received shipping confirmation on Nov 4, and Received the unit today (Nov 18). So shipping from Germany took 2 weeks. I installed the LED bulb (not whole unit) replacements in my fog lights last week, so when my car is ready after some shop service being performed, I'll install the module. I really appreciate the OP's instructions here. It makes these types of projects much easier.

 

"...parking lamp circuit."
where is Parking lamp circuit? I'm little confused on where to find "parking lamp circuit. I do have module and I'm ready to install it.
thank you and great instruction!

 

The OP's post describes exactly where to connect the lamp circuit wire: "hook the orange wire to the white/red stripe wire on the PARK lamp socket very near the socket".
Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

When you pop the front light module out you will see 3 sockets. The one closest to the inside of the car is the halogen foglight socket. The socket in the center is for the parking light, the one to the outside is for the turn indicator.

T tap the orange wire from the module to the white/red wire of the center (park light) socket. That way when you turn your park/headlights on the DRL module senses it and turns the DRL's off.

 

Well, what I wonder is why to go over all that trouble if you can manually turn on thos fog lights?

What I would like to see - if anybody knows where can one hook up into ligth sensor signal - 997 car has one, in fact. It would be nice to make primary headbeams to turn on when you enter a dark tunnel.

 

Because, you can only turn on fog lights when the headlights are on. True daytime running lights come on with engine on, independently of all other lights, and go off when other lights are turned on.

 

so for those of us in NA that are part of the Rottec DRL LED group buy, are we not going to be able to have DRL functionality without this module? What will happen to the LEDs when I turn the light switch one notch (not turning on the headlights)?

 

As for as I can tell, you will not have the same functionality as the LED DRL of the 997.2, unless you use the Dectane Module. With just the installation of the DRL LEDs alone, they will behave just like your regular fog lights.