When I bought my 2002 996 Carrera in 2021, the headlights were in awful shape.
Not just the lenses, but more importantly the internal harnesses. Also, the light output was not great.
As I was researching what it would take to bring them back to near-new condition, I learned that many 996.2 owners struggled with the same issue.
Sadly, Porsche does not offer any spare parts for these lights, except the headlight washer. For many, the only option was to purchase a set of new OEM lights, which are incredibly expensive. Of course there's the option to get aftermarket lights, but frankly I don't like any of them and their quality is questionable at best.
Researching, first I "found" Retrofitlab of the Netherlands. They make projector upgrade kits for all 996 models. I ordered their kit for my litronic lights and was thoroughly impressed with the result. So much, that I became their US distributor for the Porsche kits!
But that didn't solve the issue with the internal wiring harness with peeling insulation. Now I’m fairly handy with wiring, so I decided to take on this project myself.
I’ll admit opening these lights without any prior experience was stressful knowing how much it would cost to replace them if I messed up! I found out that these harnesses have many specialty connectors that are very hard to find to say the least. I ended up re-using most of the connectors and soldered new wires in place. It was a tedious job, but it worked and I was very happy with the result.
As US folks started to contact me to order the RFL kits, I was often asked about a solution for the wiring issue. Building a replacement harness was not an option because of the main plug on the back of the housing. This is Hella part that has been discontinued. What makes things worse is that the way it is installed with (4) retaining clips makes it very hard to remove without destroying it.
Then someone approached me and asked if I could fix their harnesses if they sent me their headlights. I reluctantly agreed, and fixed the lights re-using the OEM connectors and soldering in new wires as I did on my own set.
Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time sourcing and I am now at the point that I can build the harness with almost exclusively new parts. The exception is, still, the pesky main plug.
When you do something enough times, you get pretty good at it, so this is now my new pastime. I have done almost a dozen headlight sets now.
If your headlights need some TLC, shoot me a PM and I’ll be happy to look at them! There is a way to get them to near-new condition without spending 5 grand for new lights!
For the Turbo 996, the only solution at this point is to send in your lights so I can re-use the main connector plugs from your lights to build a new harness.
I am looking into having that connector made, but it appears to be expensive as it would have to be reverse engineered.
