I found the best Porsche 911 996 Headlight upgrade 

Is this for sale on Facebook?

Headlight covers on a 996 are like a mesh baseball cap on an otherwise handsome-ish dude.

when the 911 is so good that the worst one is still a good car

“I’m ….an idiot” Only sensible thing you said this entire video.

The headlights are iconic, one of the reasons i love the 996

Thanks Ed for doing your part in keeping the 996 affordable 😆

There is no way in hell I would put plastic on my 996 to pretend it looks better... lol. Im not one to follow the crowd ever. I bought my 996 turbo because its different from the average VW beetle head lights look on Porsche. I actually think its the best looking Porsche ever designed. I will probably buy this classic version of the 996. My Turbo version has the updated fried eggs look... but I want the first edition of the fried eggs headlights. Porsche can continue to make the same old headlights for years to come, but my 996 will stand alone from the crowd.

Not sure how covering up your own fog lights and front reflectors is an "upgrade."

My motor isn’t junk. My interior is just fine. I love my $18,000 911 Carerra C4 Cabriolet 996.2.

We need 11 likes for the 996

996 is amazing. The headlights are some of the most beautiful headlights ever made. What are you tallking about.

Great fix and a friend of mine fixed his headlight issue about 15 years ago by prepping the existing light covers and taped them off and sprayed them body color they still look great. Porsche did drop the ball on styling the lights.

Hilarious video! Still love the headlights on my 986 though!

Looks great. Subscribing to see how this car evolves over time

1997 air cooled 993, $100,000- $430,000. 1998 water cooled 996, $19,000. Throwing quality out the window, priceless.

I like the stock early 996 headlights.

Ed, I am the original owner of a 1999 C2. When this car came out it was heralded by the automotive magazines as one of the best 911's ever made. It tracked faster, had a better coefficient of drag, wasn't spin crazy, had a real air conditioning and smoked corvettes. In fact it was so good that it sold more copies than any other 911 model in history. Nobody, and I mean nobody hated the headlights. There is understandable resentment that it shared the front end with the Boxster. But again, nobody hated the Boxster headlights either. That all being said, I've had mine for 25 years, it steel runs, pulls and handles great. Interior while plasticky has in held up very well. I think the switch from air cooled to water and sanitizing of the car over previous generations were the biggest complaints (understandably). If you are a real fan of Porsche's, the Boxster and 911 of the late 90's saved the auto company and for that we should be thankful.

Great and fun video! Former 996 owner here. I strongly believe that the ONLY reason people (and when I say "people" I really mean Porsche fanatics because regular people couldn't care less about the headlights) is because the Boxster used the same headlights. While I do prefer the looks of the round headlights, the 996 lights aren't bad. I guarantee, if the Boxster front end was different than the 996, very few people would complain about them. Also, beside the head crack and the IMS, there is the RMS, bore score, AOS intermix, and a bunch of other issues with the M96 engine. Wonderful car but bad engine.

My very first 911 was a 1999 996 Cabrio in Arctic Silver with Red Leath. It will always have a special place in my heart.

funny nobody ever says that the 911 GT1 (996 lights) is ugly even thou exact same lights.. i have a 996 with gt3 body kit and looks killer.. if you want to improve the interior of those monocromatic interiors get some color accents, i swapped out alot of my grey interior for black (steering wheel, center console .. etc) if anything is bad about this gen 911 are the seats 100% uncomfortable ,,, some aftermarket Recaros and away we go!!!

Actually in Uk & Eu the 996 is very sought after even more so than a 997 :( Which i have :)

does anyone know where to find these 996 facelift items for sale/purchase?

One rule I've learned in looking into buying a 911 is to keep it as original as possible. For the 996, there will be about as many who will like this as who will hate that it isn't in the original state. This objectively looks better to me than stock, though.

I did the same mod a few years back. But, I really started to like the "fried eggs" and removed them. It takes a while, bit the "fried eggs" grow on you! Maybe they were just ahead of their time?

I can't tell if you are spoofing us or not. I appreciate that.

Am I angry you did this and called the 996 the worst 911? Yes! You have offended me and my honour! I am not happy. (I'm kidding btw, okish content here, at least you painted it so it blends in, but I do like the originals!)

By faar it loook woorse with those add ons, 996 is not that bad perhaps if it has ambar turn signals , just made them clear and thats it..... a stock 996 looks better than a conversion or else

The 996 is not the worst 911. Love the gen 1 headlights. Haters be damned...

I was going to write how much I like my headlights on my '03 the way they are, but seems I'm late to that party. Aside from your crrazy dislike for a car youve owned two of, I like your video. Do more. Thanks!

You know you can buy just the little triangle piece to fix those headlights instead of covering them. Which by the way, will cause more heat retention and kill bulbs faster. Lot of 996 haters just because of the headlights 🙄 that were designed to mimic the Le Mans LMP1 cars like the 957, 917K and 911GT1.

Years back I prepared the plastic head light covers pin stripped and masked off the same areas as your aftermarket covers and with the correct primer and top coat they have held up great and look 100% better probably 70 bucks invested.

The 996 has aged beautifully, the basic 996 Carrera has an elegance and purity of the original early air cooled 911. Yes, the cars have their issues, and build quality is not the 996’s strong point, however it carries the 911 DNA and was the basis for all the later water cooled cars that followed. The simplicity of design of this era 911 and indeed the 986 Boxster (with which it shares the front end - and headlights) has come into its own now when compared to todays over exaggerated and complex variants, proving that in many ways, less is indeed more. And as for the 996’s (and 986’s) headlights, though controversial at the time, they have become one of its defining features, and now look better than ever. Anyone who can’t see past the 996’s headlights is missing a trick, and although the 997 is indeed a better built 911 and has many of the purists design features reinstated, drive and early 3.4 996 and 997.1 back to back, and tell me which is the purer and more driver focused car?! - It’s the 996.

Big improvement! Thanks for the fun and informative video 😅

The 996 looks fine! As a 911S & 996 C4 owner remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

The headlights are iconic and (now) look fantastic. Those covers, however, are f*cking disgusting and anyone fitting them should have their keys taken off them.

your human is hilarious I find it very funny and charming 😂

Modifying a 911 immediately prior to sale when it's universally known that unmodified examples sell for the most money, regardless of generation. By any chance do you have an 'ugly' and modded GT3 to sell me too?

Probably the best 996 video on RU-vid

Other 911’s have had their issues, my old 77 911S was prone to head studs cracking. I think my 03 C4S is a fine looking car, the wide body 996’s look great from all angles. One thing all generations share is the sheer fun of driving them.

Literally the most honest insights ever about the 996 😂

When pinky lai sees this video he’ll have a heart attack

This isn't it man. it looks so unnatural. Love the OEM 996 Headlights by the way,

Will these fit the 986 Boxster too ?

Thank you sir for making this video. Hopefully it has convinced many people to just not buy the "worst 911". To everyone who stumbles upon this video, yes the 996 is in fact a terrible car, that will look terrible, drive terrible and whose engine will explode right after you purchase it. Do not buy them.

Those headlights are actually awesome. It’s the best looking generation of 911 for me.

how do I find these ?

From where I can buy it ?

will this fit on the 986 boxster?

Link so we can buy them?

Those headlights were good enough for the GT1!

Every time you said it was the worst 911 was like a dagger in my shriveled little 996.1 owner’s heart😭I don’t care what anyone says I love my runny egg car and it’s the only one I could afford so I have learned to love it, warts and all.

The previous owner of my 996.1 Cabriolet had added these light covers to make the headlights look round. I recently pulled them off, and, well, I think it looks better. I think the “fried eggs” have aged way better than anyone might have anticipated. The engine? Well, I’ve recently crossed 165,000km and the engine is running great. But I am vigilant and as soon as I see anything developing, I’m going to weigh my options carefully.

Stock headlights looked much better

Nice work and video. Got on with it and dealt with the naysayers eloquently at the same time.

Why change a porche design? It's unique and desirable

Great video. Currently own 2 over at Johnny's car care and reviews. Mostly love with a little hate. I will be dropping in the black headlight replacements once I figure out if I will put them on the black or red 911

I have had 4 996's. Why is it the worse 911? How are the 996 headligts ugly? Finished article? Ugly? Aftermarket look?

Never saw this option before. Personally I don’t hate the stock lights bad enough to do this. Almost picked up a 996 C4S last year but between engine problems and only 315hp I decided I need a 997 or newer turbo. Avoiding the headlamp problem all together

In fact, the 996 is one of the best cars ever made. It is effectively made by Toyota. The IMS will NEVER fail if you keep the revs up, and the gear low, when climbing hills. On top of this, the 996 Carerra is the prettiest and cleanest 911 of all time. It is a future classic, and prices are rising already.

I don‘t say this lightly: Time was kind towards the 996s optics and reputation. These covers on the other hand… They existed for ages and even Porsche themselves offered headlight covers… they did not sell that many. Looks like a highlighting afterthought imho. Edit: The fit towards the bumpers ruin it

MASSIVE improvement....great info and great job on sharing an extremely helpful bit of info that really resolves the aesthetic issue of that front end. Calling the stock headlights "Iconic" is the coward's way of avoiding the reality that they're simply ugly...and actually...no, they're not "iconic" when every other model of the car is round headlights....the round headlight is what's "iconic" as the ugly lights are and will never be an "icon" representation of the company. The silhouette of the bathtub shape of a 911 is iconic....but again...the adolescents will try and ascribe "glory" to ugly by using a fancy term that is wrongly applied. That's this era of idiots....over and over....instead of growing up they choose to live in a fantasy since it's just always easier and the easy life is what this generation is all about....not character, no growth, not hard work, not ethics, not love, not helping others, not serving others...just taking the easy way and denying simple obvious things as simple as "yes....the headlights that are ugly are actually ugly".

I own a 1999 996 C2 in black and are currently thinking of selling it and my rough 1979 928 both manuals and buying a early 80's air cooled targa. I'm 57 and always wanted an older air cooled 911 and wish I would have done so a long time ago when they weren’t 50k+.

F*ck those covers... Stock lights are unique

Love the 996 - not a bad add on ! Top video

I liked the look of the cover at first to make the headlight round, but looking more I HATE the shape and look of the cut out for the indicator.

Thank you for this video. I did not know about the IMS sticker. So I better go out to my car and look if mine has been replaced.

GT1 headlights look fine on 996.1 and 986. The tragedy is the 996 turbo and 996.2 ones.

It looks better now. , dose it have a fog lights, I ask like a normal question?

Check out the K997 project. Very cool swap. You can buy the kit too. Tuning by Nick.

I'd wrap entire car with that brick wallpaper hanging on the garage door, and go deliver pizzas with it.

Lens covers on a 996 are akin to spinner hubcaps. Yuck. AND the 996 is NOT the worst 911, your the worst owner.

Thanks Ed!

1999 didn't have the bearing and sleeve issue. One of the best engines made. Have you seen the interior on a 935 or 964? Vinyl over cardboard.

2:45 TBH I don't think the headlights are the main issue. a 2008 cayman and a 2009 cayman have a $20,000 difference, that's because of a the IMS bearing issue, and that issue plagues these cars too. Some people have grown to really like the fried egg look, if it was truly the case then we could easily find 15k models with under 80k miles in the market. I've still seen 996's going for $25k 30k and even 35k for that much.

There is no chance the adhesive on that tint is up to the task of holding all that extra mass on the headlight. These are 100% coming off on the expressway at some point.

I’ve had the pleasure of driving a 996 and it is great 10/10

I like my fried egg headlights as they are.

complaining about interior while previous models are equally as bare and simplistic

Huge improvement on those lights… love it 💯

In uk, this would be an MOT fail, as xenon lights must have headlight washers ( usually situated in the lower outer corners, you had removed them too) .. I suppose dirty headlights mean the powerful beams would be deflected)

I have a 2000 996 cab. And as a 34 years old man the "real" 911 is the 996. The one I've been dreaming of when I was a teenager.

the old 997 all models are far worse than 996 imo

OK, this video just randomly popped up and I watched it. I have to say you just ruined that car and probably lowered its value by a few thousand. Sorry but it looks hideous. The original headlights are pretty good and are actually bringing some much needed freshness to the porsche round headlight ideology. The IMS is not that big of a deal since most 996 sold today already had the new one installed. As for the interior, it is also not bad and is a big step up from the previous gen. All in all, I have to say a big thank you to all the porsche purists who managed to keep the prices of this beauty at an attainable level. 😂

Weird, I don’t like your 996 either and I own one, I do like your garage thou.

I have owned a 2003 996 C2 Cab for fourteen years and I love the mk2 headlights and I think it looks 100x better than your cover option. Just wait and see, in years to come people are going to want a 996 for the very same reason and 996s are actually going up in value not down.

Guys I dont think the creator of this video is a big fan of the 996..

well I'm all about Porsche, and love them all, i have never had problems with the 996 headlights. i do like them, back then Porsche had problems and as we all know the Boxster helped Porsche out of it, so it was a good reason $$ why they go with the same headlights and interior and basically half of the Boxster is a 911 996. half development costs made a 986 and a 996. after that the turbo got its well deserved facelift.

I’m very surprised to say that doesn’t look too bad indeecc

Now out of principle really want to see a new 911 with the classic eggs and those big rear lights, it would look amazing I bet. The new ones are simply too tryhard when this is a very simple and flowing design complimented by the lights being part of the panels, no canards here.

And Im Jamessss!

I'd never trade my amber lights for anything. They're what make the 996 so appealing!

Can you do this with a 997 pls?

I love my egg headlights!

LOVE my fried eggs!!!

Looks so much better now👌

after watching this, I still have an unanswered question, is this 911 the worst?

You are amazing!!

I like those covers. Gives it kind of a retro look

What about main beam?....

The headlights are fine as they are IMO. They just aren't round. So what?