Hi all,

I have xenon headlights in my '08 V6 and am looking to switch out the stock fogs bulbs to make them match the main beams. Any suggestions on what kind of bulbs (brand and spec) I should be looking for?

Cheers

 

Are your headlights HID? I assume they are. If so, you'll never match them perfectly unless you change the fog lamps to HID units. This is certainly possible, but it would be expensive and it does reduce their true functionality as a fog lamp. You can match them pretty closely with some halogen bulbs. I'm sure you've seen SilverStar Ultra Bulbs and others that are similar in color temperature to OEM HID lights. One thing to beware of - many of the cheaper bulbs advertised on eBay are standard halogen bulbs with a blue or purple coating. They lose a great deal of their visible light due to the coating, so the manufacturers increase the wattage to increase the light output. These higher wattage bulbs run very hot, and they can melt your lenses, light housings, etc. Stick with a name brand bulb.

FWIW, I've used SilverStar Ultra bulbs in other applications before (not on my Cayenne) and I was quite pleased with them.

 

Thanks Dennis. I'm not entirely sure if they're HID or not, but they're bright white with a hint of blue and have the adaptive lights that move when I corner, if that helps. I'll check out the SilverStar bulbs, thanks for the suggestion. How hard of a job is switching out the fogs? Bare in mind I'm not exactly proficient at DIY!

 

I matched my highbeams, side lights and cornering lights to my oem xenons, it looks really good when its all the same shade 8) Not doing the fogs until I do a techart magnum conversion, I will probably go for HID.

 

Would you mind posting links to the bulbs you bought for each? Sounds like a great set up!

 

Sounds like you've got HIDs.

If you're going to just change the bulbs, it's pretty easy. I believe it's outlined in the manual (not sure though... I'd have to check). If you're going to switch it out for a full HID conversion it's a little more involved, but not too bad if you have some basic skills. You'd have to mount a ballast somewhere and run wires to it. HID conversion kits generally come with everything you need.

FYI - the OEM HID bulbs used by Porsche are 4,300K. If you get a bulb close to this color temperature, it should match very well.

 

^ i just picked up an '08 v6 base model that does not have HIDs. If i replace both the headlights and fog lights with an HID kit, will I get any warning lights on the dash telling me that the headlights are burnt out etc?

 

Not if you get the OBC error free HID's.

 

i think i'm just going to retrofit some H9 halogens

 

Using HID's on the fog lights (who uses these anyway?) isn't going to be good for any oncoming traffic..(if you're considering this..) they are gonna hate you.

The HID kits don't have the same light source placement, nor the anti-glare coating on the front of the capsule, making this a really annoying (and IMHO dangerous) conversion. Plus running fogs when it's not foggy is really sorta racer-boy-look IMHO, but to each his own..

 

^ i was going to use a 3000k kit, and even wrap the fog lights in yellow film. Being that they're mounted down low and aimed down, i dont think it should be a problem for oncoming traffic. Regardless, since i don't want to deal with an annoying warning popping up, I elected to just use yellow h9 bulbs.

another question however) if I get an HID kit for the low-beams, will it cause any sort of warning light?

 

It all depends on the kit you buy

 

if i put LEDs in the parking lights will the gauge cluster indicate a burned out bulb?