litronic/xenon light question

[rdragon]

hi,

i have an '02 boxster s that got hit while in the parking lot. bumper needs replacement and so does the right headlight assembly.

since only 1 headlight was damaged i'm contemplating on upgrading to the litronics but am a bit confused by the terminology.

when they refer to xenon lights - are they referring to the litronic ones?

if not, why do the xenon's cost significantly more (~1500/light)? are they different?

thanks.

[z281974]

Litronic is Porsche's name for the Xenon high intensity lighting. You should be able to buy the Porsche Litronic upgrade kit (containing both lights and upgrade wiring) for under $1500 from one of the discount Porsche dealers, such as Sunset or Suncoast.

Tom

[5thtonbench]

Litronic is Porsche's name for the Xenon high intensity lighting. You should be able to buy the Porsche Litronic upgrade kit (containing both lights and upgrade wiring) for under $1500 from one of the discount Porsche dealers, such as Sunset or Suncoast.

Tom

Additionally, I would assume (since I've seen it on other cars) you can get an aftermarket xenon kit for your low beams, and stick with halogen high beams with the non-lightronic headlight baskets. In fact this is how my old Acura was set up, only from the factory with factory xenon's. Xenon lights differ from halogen in the gas they use, type of light they emit, and for DIY'ers, the fact that they require a seperate ballast to "fire" the bulbs, or in other words turn them on.

Litronic lights yes are the xenon factory option, however it also implies you are using the litronic headlight basket, which uses a projector lens, xenon headlight and a motorized unit to use the same light source as your low and high beams. This is more common now in high end cars, mostly because I would assume its more practical (somehow) than two pairs of xenon bulbs.

When I turn on my high beams, my headlights simply point themselves higher via a motor in the headlight basket. I'm not sure if headlamp washers come standard with those, but I have headlamp washers built into my lightronic headlights as well.

Edit:

Headlamp washers are apparently still an option, but can be had. I would assume you need a lot more than just the "washer" option, such as a resevoir etc. Here's the link mentioned for suncoast, but it can be had in a great many places.

http://e-partssales.com/Merchant2/merchant...y_Code=POTEBXEX

Edited April 3, 2007 by 5thtonbench

[rdragon]

hi,

thanks for the clarifications. yeah, i thought litronics cost ~ $1500ish. why is it that the body shop sells the normal (non xenon) headlights for 800+/side and the xenon ones for $1500/side?

the dealer quoted litronics at around $2200, so i wasn't sure why the shops were charging $3000+ for a pair of xenons.

thanks.

[986Jim]

The shop is probably saying 1500 for the pair not each, that is a typical price for them all over the place. The dealer is higher but thats normal isn't it?

[rdragon]

that's what thought at first and asked again and looked at his screen (at both body shops). i can't imagine 1500/side. so that made me question if those xenon's were different than the litronics...

[5thtonbench]

The only thing I can say is that if your on the fence, go for it! Xenon's make such a difference to me that its hard to drive a car without them now. However, I guess you could say thats a side effect: you get into a regular halogen car afterwards and you may wonder if the headlights are even on ;)

The prices I've seen are 1500 a set. Might want to check if the bulbs are included too, or that will be another 400 approx if I remember correctly.

[fab]

the cheapiest I've every seen them @ Suncoast for 1395.